Who wants a ticket on the Thyroid Rollercoaster?

Stand in awe of my Mad MS Paint Skillz. You love ’em. Also, I’m pretty sure that roller coaster car is actually a hotdog with mustard and ketchup.

So I had my regular thyroid monitoring appointment this morning. Dr. G. seems to have forgotten the “I’m not your doctor” fiasco of early March, and we talked things like estrogen, swollen feet, and nausea. With topics like these, oh how I wish this could be an OB visit, but it was just GYN/RE. The swollen feet debacle last week was definitely a result of my body not only getting estrogen for the first time in over a year, but from a sudden drop in thyroid hormone (TH). PS- here’s a handy thyroid function primer. The estrogen in the birth control binds to the proteins in my thyroid hormone, so hypothyroidic folks can double their current thyroid medication just to maintain the right level of hormones in their body while on the pill. It’s pretty amazing stuff how intricately our bodies are designed to work.

So my TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) has nearly tripled since my last visit in January. Higher TSH means my thyroid is functioning less. It’s functioning less b/c it’s not receiving enough TH, b/c the birth control is eating all of it. We’re bumping up my dosage to 137mcg and I’ll be back again in 8 weeks. If my feet start swelling again, cut the birth control for a couple of days.

Pretty standard stuff, and since I’m not pursuing ART, I don’t need to work with him on protocols and IVF stuff. The rest, from here on out, is just maintanance. He wants to watch my adrenal function (anti-thyroid antibodies with POF almost always spell anti-adrenal antibodies) every other year or so. My hope is that once I find the right balance of TH with my birth control, I’ll probably stop seeing Dr. G. I’m actually hoping to transfer my PCP to another doctor in the practice, one that’s a) closer to where we live instead of schlepping a half hour to Wellesley for a 20 minute appointment and b) specialized in autoimmune thyroid and adrenal dysfunction.

Hashi’s has nearly beaten me, but for the first time in over a year, I feel like I’m winning the war.

Other medical news: Larry and I have begun seeing a nutrionist. And they’re not Diet Nazis! In fact, they don’t even weigh you. We don’t keep food journals. It’s down-to-earth food and nutrition counseling with someone who appreciates food like we do. Our second appointment was last night, and while pounds are necessarily falling off of us, we’re making real, positive steps to lifestyle changes.

A text I sent to Larry today: I’m fit as a fiddle and feelin’ fine. Feelin’ fine indeed. Edit: I forgot to add – this isn’t sarcastic at all. I’m actually feeling the best I have in almost a year; I’m tired a lot, but I’ve got my mental acuity back, as the Hashi’s had all but robbed me of when I was in a constant haze of brain fog. I’m also knee-deep in working on my entry for #ProjectIF. I’m hoping to post it next week. It’s… involved. I’ll just leave it at that. Still working on Iron Commenter status… happy commenting this week for ICLW!