R and I decided to have some fun this afternoon (and procrastinate on work) by going to see a movie. We figured that in keeping with the spirit of holiday cheer, we would go see "Four Christmases."
I'm a fan of Reese Witherspoon, and it was a cute movie, but a word to the wise: If you are feeling fragile about infertility and the holidays make it even worse, this is NOT the movie for you.
There was NOTHING in the movie previews that hinted at the subplot of this movie, and none of the reviews I found online mentioned it at all, either. I won't spoil it for those of you who are in a happy place and are planning to see the movie, but suffice to say this movie did not end up at all where we expected it to.
Fortunately I was in an okay place, so it didn't leave me in tears, but R has been struggling a bit lately, and he was pretty bummed by the end of the movie.
On a different note, I had an appointment with the regular endocrinologist on Tuesday. It did not go well. He basically told me that my TSH levels are abnormal but not abnormal enough to cause symptoms. (Never mind the rapid heartbeat, high blood pressure, tremors and dry eyes at the time of the hyperthyroid results, or the fact that I can't seem to stay awake for more than 8 hours at a stretch now that I am on the hypo side of things.)
The only thing he is willing to do at this point is have me keep coming in every month to get blood drawn. (Which, of course, he requires be done through his private lab, rather than any of the labs my insurance is contracted with.) So basically, I'm paying big bucks every month to pad his bank account while he sits there and tells me that nothing is really that wrong with me.
I pointed out that doing nothing about this isn't really an option, since we have 10 embryos on ice right now. His response was that even if he does something to address the TSH, that's a moot point because I have anti-thyroid antibodies since my issue is being caused by autoimmune thyroid disease. So he said that, combined with my history of miscarriages, means that in his opinion there is no way I will ever carry a successful pregnancy. Nice timing, now that we've already created the embryos.
The Monitoring System
2 years ago
13 comments:
Any chance of getting second opinion? This guys sounds like a world class JERK, who wasn't even really listening to you.
Oh my, I can't imagine an endocrinologist saying that. What a jerk. And I work for a big endocrinology practice. I wish you could come here...our doctors are amazing.
I'd look for another doctor STAT.
What a guy!
No kidding it's bad timing. If I were you, I would run, not walk to another RE. Have you thought about contacting Dr. Sher (SIRM) for a consult? He gives them for free, and he seems to specialize in immune issues, especially for women with repeated miscarriages. we opted for CCRM instead, but that's because that wasn't my problem, we needed the best lab, that they have at CCRM, but if I would have immune issues I would definetly go to him. At least do the consult. He will have you tested, which you can do from there, and have shipped. It may be something he can fix and help with. And if you find that he is the right RE for you, you could always have your embies shipped to him to transfer there. At least it would be better than your alternative, because this guy sounds like he's a real winner.
What an s**.
Find another dr who is willing to work with you. Enough said, except...
What an A** (in case I didn't mention that) and I am sorry--- ~Hugs~
Hey there,
I have a LOT (I mean a LOT) of experience with thyroid problems.
The "normal ranges" that are used by nearly all labs are wrong. (You can read about this on the Society of Endocrinologists of America website, as well as many others)
Basically, thousands, if not millions, of people in the world are walking around with undiagnosed thyroid conditions due to the incorrect lab ranges.
Most GPs and Endocrinologists still use the outdated lab ranges, unfortunately, and if you get an Endo who doesn't listen to the patient's symptoms (which is sadly common) many patients leave the office with a serious thyroid condition left untreated.
Thyroid disease is very difficult to diagnose and treat because it's really quite subjective. One person might feel sick at TSH levels of 4.00 while another feels just fine with TSH levels of 35. Every human body is different, and reacts differently to varying levels of hormones. It's frustrating that doctors (particularly Endos) don't seem to acknowledge the fact that they can't pigeon hole patients into the narrow lab ranges!!!
Basically, the research and most intelligent doctors agree: the best range for women TTC is in the 1.00 to 2.00 range.
But on top of that, as soon as any person has had ANY kind of thyroid condition, they actually do better when they keep their TSH levels in the 1.00 to 2.00 range at ALL times.
I know for me personally, if my TSH drops further than 2.50, I start to get sick.
I know you don't me (although I used to blog a lot at my old blog about IF, miscarriage, thyroid, etc., etc.) but if you like, feel free to email me your TSH, T4, T3, etc., etc., and I can let you know if you need to start medication, and possibly answer any other questions you may have.
I also have a very good friend who has an even more serious thyroid condition than I've had, and she is wealth of knowledge! (she has several serious autoimmune disorders as well) So between the two of us, we could probably provide you with a lot of information.
Oh, and RE: that "Christmas" movie -- I wasn't planning on seeing it, as it looked bloody awful -- and I saw a couple of clips with babies in it, and I just got this "feeling" that it might head in that direction.
But, not you've peaked my curiosity -- would you mind emailing me and telling me exactly what happened? I'm very curious! (and please spoil it for me, as I don't plan on seeing it ever!) Although I'm pretty sure that I'm right about what happens.... (something along the lines of not liking/not wanting kids to suddenly-OMG-the-biological-clock-is-ticking-let's-have-a-kid-immediately kind of thing!??! Ugh, GAG!)
Take care,
N
(You can email me at fluttershy (AT) gmail (DOT) com if you like )
Does the endocrinologist believe in doing IVIg? I have a meeting with Sher today. My natural killer cells came back fine so Dr. Coulam (another RI) said that intralipids wouldn't work for me and that IVIg is for ATAs. Since I have them too, I am very interested. So I'll ask Sher today. Keep me posted on what's goin on. If it is true about not carrying them, would you consider a surrogate? I think CCRM also arranges that. Or maybe I misunderstood the link on their site.
I commented a while back, saying that you and I have incredibly similar IF/miscarriage issues and now I see we have the same odd symptoms and no good explanation. Following my recent cycle, I have exactly the same symptoms you had when you were hyperthyroid (fast heartrate, high BP, tremors etc) and my T4 is 15 and my TSH plum in the middle of the normal range. I've started freaking ou about adrenal tumours now - must stay off Dr Google! Our CGH was on my eggs - one normal out of five - but the resulting embryo was slow growing and although it was put back we got a BFN. I'm left wondering how the embryo would have tested. I hope your fantastic harvest results in some good embryos to go back and that the endocrinologist is wrong. Could the anti-thyroid antibodies not be to blame for some of your history, and therefore, could treating that not improve your outcome? All the very best.
Hmmm..a second opinion perhaps?
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