Carrying On

At last, I saw my endocrinologist this morning. At 6:45am. Yeah, he's a workaholic or just plain crazy and after this morning's visit, I'm kinda leaning toward crazy. I'd already been warned about his bedside manner, or lack thereof. But still, it's always a little surprising to me when I encounter doctors who are so wrapped up in their rhetoric that it seems as if the patient, as a person, is totally forgotten.

Nevertheless, the long and short of the appointment was this: my lab results are still pending. After eight days. In the age of modern technology, all I can think is that those must be some pretty sophisticated tests.

The doctor did display a brief show of sympathy by noting that I obviously didn't feel well (not that he asked - the down coat which I was huddled under, despite the downright balmy temperature of the office, must have been a great indicator) and that we needed a short-term solution.

Of course the mystery is still unsolved in that my thyroid appears to be doing its job quite well but there are such decreasing levels of T3 and T4, even my blood pressure is remarkably low. In an effort to bring up T3 and T4, I am starting a high dose of thyroxine, which is a synthetic hormone. The thyroxine takes weeks and months to reach a therapeutic level if I can even tolerate the stuff. "It might make you jittery," the doctor warned. "Anxious, too."

Oh goody.

We will re-convene, the doctor and I, when the lab work is in. I expect that I will know before then whether or not the thyroxine might be a good solution for the short-term.

Thankfully, after a few weeks of calorie restriction, the weight gain seems to have stopped and I'm sliding back into "normal" range and back into my jeans, too. Dieting sucks though. I really hate it.

There is still a strong possibility that my pituitary gland is to blame for the absence of hormones, but for now, I'm glad to have a lifeline in the thyroxine.