10 June 2016
I admit I’ve been pretty lazy about updating my blog, mainly because I didn’t have much to report. My health has been holding up, although back in Feb, my thyroid hormone level had swung completely in the opposite direction (TSH at 8.9!). While I was able to get my labs back, I had a snafu with a follow-up message regarding my prescription that I didn’t receive until my check up today. After the labs came in, the doctor sent a note telling me to reduce my methimazole intake by half to 5 mg a day. Whoops as I’ve been continuing at 10 for the last 4 months now!
Despite that, as I said, my health has been fairly steady, with the only notable change being creeping weight gain. That’s been going on since recovering from the initial dramatic weight loss and I had always put the blame on the methimazole. I’m up to around 203 lb. now, which is pretty close to my heaviest weight which was when I was still seriously working out with weights. My doctor is actually surprised that I’m not more screwed up and not exhibiting other physical signs of trouble. We’ll find out how screwed up my thyroid levels are when my new blood test comes back next week. But other than that, did I mention that my health has been relatively stable? Pulse 68 and blood pressure was 110/72, surprisingly good for carrying all that extra weight and without putting any serious effort towards a consistent exercise routine. Counting my lucky stars….
For now, my doctor said I should just stop taking the methimzaole (yes! – that was my goal) starting now. We’ll reassess once the blood test comes back but I’m guessing that it will continue to show that I’m too hypo and will likely stay off methimazole for at least another 4 months and then get another read to see if I’m within a ‘normal’ range again. The other good news was that he said I shouldn’t have to be concerned about iodine intake now and can resume eating whatever I want. Bonus as I have a big summer vacation planned with mom to go on a whale watching cruise from Alaska to Vancouver, followed by a short stay in Vancouver and then another in Seattle before flying home. It was going to be pretty darn tough to avoid seafood and now I don’t have to!
As for my journey going Mercury-free, I did experience one set back which led to having a root canal and crown put on for one of the tooth that had a big Mercury filling replaced. Apparently, the new filling came too close to the nerve, which eventually abcessed. Other than when I had the kidney stone, probably the second worst pain I had to endure only because it was so constant and caused my entire left side of the mouth to become inflamed. It was bad enough that I had to be put under antibiotics to get the infection under control so they could proceed with a root canal. Chewing, cold, hot, or anything on that side of the mouth pretty much caused excruciating pain. But that’s done now (as of Memorial Day weekend) so all I need to do is keep staying healthy.
Cheers!
johnnykongblog 