Tag: Graves’

2023-01-17

Ecstatic that my thyroid labs came back with results in the ‘normal’ range for the second time since this summer. Vitals also remains good with BP of 127/71, pulse of 55 and weight stable at 156.4 . And no excitement with Covid or pneumonia this year, thank goodness!

Here are the numbers:

The only other item of note was that my white blood cell count is still below the reference range pf between 3.4 and 10.8 at 3.1, same as the last test. My doctors aren’t concerned over this so I’m not going to worry over it anymore either. And with 2 consecutive ‘normal’ reads, I did ask my endocrinologist to stop taking the methimazole (2.5mg daily) and then see how I do at my next visit in July. Fingers crossed that all stays good!

As I close in on my 60th trip around the sun this spring, who would have guessed that my health would be as good as it has been. I owe a lot of that to my retirement in The Villages, FL and the active lifestyle I’m leading (can you say pickleball?) and the abundance of friends I’ve made here.

Laissez les bons temps rouler!

Pulled Pork! 2023-01-14

Standing Rib Roast! 2023-01-14

Jan 21, 2021

My thyroid levels are still way off (TSH: <0.005; T4: 2.75; and T3: 269) and are worse than the readings from last summer. The only thing positive is that I am still not experiencing any negative impacts and, begrudgingly, my endocrinologist is allowing me to continue with my current prescription of 1/2 of a 5 mg tab every other day – a super low dosage. I am acutely aware of my condition and unless my symptoms (radical weight loss, muscle tremors, and constantly feeling warm) reappear, I will stay the course for what I’m doing to stay well. Onward!

2020-07-20

Or at least, that’s how it seems with my labs. Back in January, my thyroid levels were as follows:

TSH: 0.431 (just below the normal range); T3: 123 (normal); T4: not measured

The labs from July 10 were:

TSH: < 0.005 (very low); T3: 164 (normal); T4: 2.39 (very high)

My vitals remain great with a weight of 181.4 (w/ clothes, down from 192); bp of 122/77, pulse of 54, and oxygen saturation of 98% (with a mask).

I remain asymptomatic but the doctor is, of course, concerned with regards to my TSH falling back to a super low level. He prefers I either go through one of the procedures to remove my thyroid but I again declined since I remain asymptomatic. Absent that, he wanted me to increase my dosage of methimazole but I didn’t agree to that either as taking that med is one of the reasons it was difficult for me to drop any weight.

I showed him my stats from my bike rides as he was also concerned about heart palpitations and I assured him that rapid heart rate hasn’t ever been a problem (from my last ride, I did reach a heart rate of 183 on a sprint) and how many people at my age can claim a resting pulse of 54?

I am distinctly aware of the warning signs for my particular set of symptoms from Graves. The most specific signs are muscle tremors and extreme weight loss, neither of which have expressed themselves since the initial diagnosis.

But due to his concern, and me being resistant to more aggressive treatment, he wants to check on my bone mass as bone loss is a possible symptom that is hard to observe physically so I will have a x-ray scan performed early next month and see whether that is the case. More to follow….