Well my thyroid is all out of wack again and they want to run some test. When they do a blood test to check your thyroid they check the T4, T3 and TSH which is your functioning thyroid and TSH is the thyroid horomone. If you remember I was hypothyroid during my pregnancy which I had a high TSH level and soon after I gave birth it went back into the normal range. But then I began to have symptoms again so I got my levels checked. My T3 and T4 are in range but my TSH was 117, normal range is 2-4 but my functioning thyroid was in normal range meaning I wasn't hypo or hyper. This through off my doctor because usually if you have a high TSH your functioning thyroid is off as well. Mine wasn't.
So I went to an internal medicine doctor and they believe I have Graves disease, an autoimmune disease where your body attacks your own thyroid gland causing it to go haywire.
My thyroid is extremely enlarged and I have a goiter. You can feel it in my neck and I can even see the enlargement. I'm also extremely fatigued even after 12 hours of sleep, I have muscle aches and weakness and I'm losing my hair.
So they ordered a thyroid uptake scan to look for a blockage or growth that could be causing my TSH levels to be so high. This requires me to take radioactive dye and I cannot nurse Brody for 5 days! I'm extremely upset by this and I'm frankly trying to pump as much as I can to get 5 days worth so that I don't have to supplement with formula. Not only do I have to not nurse for 5 days but I also have to pump and dump during those 5 days. Nothing erks me more than wasted milk! It's so hard to get that milk in the first place and pumping is such a task and then to have it wasted!
So I've done a little research and I'm going to call the doctor back this week because I've read that there are other blood test I can have to diagnose the problem instead of the uptake scan. I can have an antibody blood test and if my body is producing a certain type of antibody then we know that it's Graves disease. I also think they got it backwards and it's not Graves disease but Hashimoto disease(the same thing except Graves is for hyperthyroid and Hashimoto is for hypothyroid) but both attack the thyroid gland.
With all that said please say a prayer that I can avoid the uptake scan. If I have to have the thyroid scan that my symptoms don't worsen as I cannot take my thyroid medicine until the scan is finished and that Brody and I get through those 5 days ok without having to supplement or throw his schedule completely off. And that they don't find any kind of tumors/growths that would require me to have surgery. Cutting open my neck while having a blood clotting disease doesn't sound like too much fun to me!
Love,
L
Senior Year
4 months ago
4 comments:
Keeping you in our prayers!
I know you don't want to hear this...but I've been told many many times in all this crap I've been going through that God never gives us what we can't handle - and I'm beginning to really understand that. I know it SUCKS...trust me (I've wondered JUST How Much he thinks I can handle, but you'll get through it, you are One tough cookie)...I've gone through the ringer with nursing and even having to supplement with Nina...but in the end, if you have to...he'll be fine and if you don't, well that's awesome too. Either way, he will be fine and in 5 days he won't forget who you are or what you do for him...it affects us Momma's much much more than them I think. I hate that you are having to deal with all of this, as if you don't have enough to worry about with your Factor V...Hang in there, it will soon all be but a distant memory...as long as they figure out what is wrong and can help treat you, that is what matters most!!! Love you Girl and Praying for you!!!
XOXO
You can ask for Technetium Thyroid Scan;unlike RAIU this one should not have adverse effects.
I am so sorry to hear about this, LeAnn. I hope you will be able to avoid the uptake scan and that there are no tumors/growths causing your problems. I will be praying for you.
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