<gustav begins to pack his bag for tomorrow's journey to the pappagram clinic>
(Such a sweetheart, that guy...)
I mean, ahem, make sure you include the icepacks -- I've heard that they help with post-pappagram swelling.
If swelling is a problem, Gus, just remember to keep your balls higher than your heart.
Standing on your head is a good way to do this.
sozobe wrote:Yeah, that's kinda poking me in the back of the brain ("quit!!") but I have the mammogram on the 16th, not too long of a wait, hopefully something more conclusive then.
My doc actually wasn't that worried, he said to wait and see what happpens, see if it's grown at next years' physical, I was the one who was saying nonono not with my family history, I want to get this checked out.
WTF???!!!!!
That sounds like bozo medicine to me.....and I have worked on a specialist breast cancer unit.
Good on you!
sozobe wrote:Question:
Do levels ever fluctuate on their own, sans medication?
E.G.'s take was something like, "Well yeah, that was when you were feeling like crap, so they do tests and say 'gee, this indicates that you are feeling like crap.'"
They do move but not enough to make that big of a difference, like Eva said. I know that I have good days and bad days.
Checked this morning, I'm on 75 mcg of Unithroid, which I think is the generic version of Synthroid, or is it the other way 'round? Anyway, no matter. Oh yeah, Synth and its progeny are pretty safe, and you're probably starting on 25 mcg (this is where I started about 10 yrs ago) which is rather small. The main thing is consistency in taking it, which is why I do the BCP at the same time. Just easier to remember that way, for me. Whatever works for you.
And re the wait for a mammo - ai - that's absurd. Here, they line us up in what is essentially an assembly line, all day long at St. Elizabeth's Hospital. If you had to slip in an appointment, it would be no problem, I'm sure. It's practically a water balloon-squeezing factory. And insurance would certainly pay for a mammo on someone with a found lump, even for someone under 40. It's a freakin' diagnostic test. So it makes no sense re having been told to wait.
If there is any sort of a finding, they haul you in for an ultrasound, too. This has happened to me twice (I have cysts, as do my mother and maternal aunt, and so did their mother). You hang out in the ultrasound room, they gel you up (you know about this because you've had a kid, but it's a somewhat new experience for those of us with no children) and take a look. For me, the first time, they also drew all over me with a purple magic marker, so as to make sure they were targeting the right areas. And I swear after a while they were just drawing stuff (it was Xmastime). We were all laughing and stuff, at how bizarre it all was. I wanted to know if there was a picture of interest if they connected all the dots.
And they didn't find anything untoward, but it was a good experience in the sense that, it could have been terrifying, not knowing if I was all right, but instead it was jokey and silly. I hope that's how it goes for you.
When I read about the lump, I thought I remembered reading something about that....and here it is!!
Quote:It is thought that the development of Fibrocystic Breast Disease may be due in some cases to an increase in the oestrogen to progesterone hormone ratio. Hypothyroidism and low iodine intake may be the cause of breast lumps in some women.
Remember that this ailment is fairly common and that a woman with this problem should not worry unnecessarily.
Source
I read it in several other places as well. It seems that there is a possible link between
non-cancerous breast lumps and hypothyroidism.
Good memory there, Bella!
My memory and concentration is improving! I must be getting better!! Yippee!!
Osso, help me out here. J_B called me to task because I labeled her avatar a lungwort. She claims dicentra.
Now maybe that is a dicentra in the foreground, but that sure as hell is lungwort in the background.
Isn't it?
Morning dew on the leaves dear Gus, not spots.
Soz--
Not to belittle your worries, but dear little Iffy has been on thyroid supplements for a year.
She's been sleeping more and more and more and her coat was most lackluster.
When she went to the vet, she ignored all joyous possibilities for new sparring partners in the waiting room.
A week later, onn .5 Soloxine she strutted back into that waiting room with the light of battle in her eye. The vet cut her back to .4.
She still sleeps a lot--but then she's going-on-12-years-old. She's not as fond of sustained, meaningless barking--although when burglars aproach, a girl does what she's gotta do in the Cry Havoc department.
The lump sounds more worrying. Cancerous and benign lumps have a very different look. If the surface of the lump is pitted and eroded--like popcorn or an old coal clunker--this is bad news.
If it is obvious bad news the technician will suggest with great urgency that you see your doctor immediately. If the results are good, she'll just tell you the doctor will give you the reading.
Hold your dominion.
Lovely find, Bella, thanks!
You also asked what caused it -- that's something else I'm interested in/ confused about. I'm not sure I've ever been tested for it before. There seems to be a link between hypothyroidism and pregnancy, and that's what would make the most sense to me at this point. I've certainly been more tired and have to work harder to keep depression at bay since then, but there seem to be good reasons for that! One thing that could point to a link -- a minor one -- is that I definitely noticed my hair changed after pregnancy. That's common during pregnancy, but in 5 years it doesn't seem to have changed *back*. I remember mentioning it here, that it had coarsened (a symptom of hypothyroidism), and ehBeth saying that's not right...
Another thought, I was on a very low-sodium diet for most of 4 years as a teenager, when they were trying everything to stabilize my hearing. 2,000 milligrams a day. Do you think that could have anything to do with it?
I still rarely use table salt.
On the other hand, Eva's comments about 9 hours of sleep struck me -- I've pretty much always needed 9 hours of sleep. Would that indicate something more longstanding?
From what I can tell of the lump, it's pretty smooth/ slippery. (Doc showed me where, I've been prodding the thing a couple times a day.) One other thing I probably did not state clearly was that his first assumption was that it was something I'd had for a while, sitting there benignly, and in high lipreading mode I agreed with that before processing caught up with me and intervened (with "wait, actually, no I don't think I knew about that..."). So he thought it was something sitting there benignly and my first response confirmed that for him, before I jumped in to clarify.
We'll see.
Very interesting finding from Bella. I knew you guys would be a veritable fount!
Soz, we got ya covered.
If you have other questions we can't answer, this forum is very good. One Drewdad (i think it was him) found for me.
Mediboard
Thanks for the run-down on mammograms and ultrasounds too, Jes, I'm not actually that worried. Pap smears I can't stand, but I'm used to having my boobs grabbed and smooshed and subjected to all kinds of indignities by a fond baby-to-toddler.
One other thing I haven't noted is that I really appreciate Eva's perspective as someone with NO thyroid, doing fine -- that's what worried me in Jes' description of taking meds but her thyroid steadily failing, anyway. What happens when it fails? Seems like that end point, if it happens, is not automatically too distressing.
And CJ's perspective of having taken it for ~20 years with no ill effects. Good to know.
Soz, I would expect that once you've been on the Synthroid for a few weeks, you'll probably need less sleep, heal faster, have less dry skin, and be a little sharper mentally.
(Uh oh. We're all going to be in trouble around here if she gets any sharper!)
I was reading an article yesterday in an alternative medicine magazine on soy. It was about the debate on soy and whether it is, or isn't good for you, the types of soy products, etc.
Anyway, one of the things they said is that soy is clearly contraindicated in people with thyroid problems. I reread this thread and noticed Bella's list of foods to avoid on page one includes soy.
It made me wonder if the rest of the folks here have been told to avoid soy, or if the meds you are on allow you to eat the foods on the 'avoid' list.
gustavratzenhofer wrote:
Osso, help me out here. J_B called me to task because I labeled her avatar a lungwort. She claims dicentra.
Now maybe that is a dicentra in the foreground, but that sure as hell is lungwort in the background.
Isn't it?
I am moderately familiar with dicentras but know nada about lungworts. I looked them both up on google images, and it looks like you're right, Gus.. in that I didn't see any dotted dicentra leaves - as far as I looked - and did see white dotted lungwort leaves. Plus dicentra leaves, while varying with different varieties, are different in shape than I think I see in the avatar photo... those look more like the lungwort shape.
On the other hand, maybe the avatar is from J_B's garden and she planted dicentras...
