dlstump
I was feeling almost dead just over a year ago now. I had ballooned to 267lbs and was so tired, I could have slept 24hours a day and still was tired. The weight gain started in my mid to late 20's and I ballooned 50lbs for no reason at all about 30 years old. Around Sept 2008 a friend of mine and I both were having issues with weight and we started researching our sympoms online as we were both diagnosised with PCOS in early 2008. In our research I found my symtoms matched more with a thyroid condition then it did to PCOS. I had been to many Endos over the years to only have them tell me I needed to exercise and loose weight. I would hear the word diet and gain weight. I have tried Atkins, South Beach, Weight Watchers and many many many more only to loose a little then gain that plus back, I was in a never ending circle. So my friend and I found ratemd.com and started looking for a endo with great reviews (5 stars) and one who would prescribe Armour Thyroid or equiv natural thyroid medicine. We found Dr Abelove in Weston Florida, he is 82 years old and practices because he was bored with retirement and he loves to help people. His reviews were fantastic although he did have people complain about the wait time. Well the wait time didn't bother me if I had a doctor that would help me. My first visit was him asking questions about my weight. The first question he asked is "So why are you so heavy", I was a bit taken back, but I went head and answered him. I hardly eat anything and I can't loose weight. He asked questions about my family history. I told him about my Mom who has Graves and my Aunt who had a goiter and paraThyroid cancer, and a cousin who went from hypo to hyper many times as a young boy. He then said that the likelyhood of me having a thyroid condition was high. He ordered blood work and set an apointment for 1 week later. When I came back, the nurse handed me a copy of my blood work and I looked at my TSH 4.434, T4 Free direct .90 and my T3 which was 2.749 all within the normal range and I had been tested for these before by other doctors. I started crying because I thought he would tell me, as the other doctors had told me, I didn't have a thyroid problem. I noticed that there were a bunch of other thing on the blood work that were out of wack but didn't understand what they were. When Dr Abelove came in the office, I said please don't tell me I don't have a thyroid condition because I read the labs and I'm in the normal range. He smiled and said, you have what is known as Hashimotos Thyroiditis. I asked him to tell me what test shows this, he stated the Thyroid Peroxidase (TPO) ab which was 285, he stated that I was hypoglosimic, my cholesterol and Triglycerides and I had enlarge red blood cells. I already was on a C-Pac machine for sleep apnea. He started me on 30mg of Armour, Adipex 1/2 of 27.5mg and a water pill. A month later he increased my Armour to 60mg. I stopped loosing weight about September 2009 and started researching on the internet and found an article a Doc in California wrote http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kent-holtorf/long-term-weight-loss---m_b_192933.html. I took this article to Dr Abelove and asked if he would test me for this. The results came back high for Leptin, Serum but my Reverse T3 was fine. Dr Abelove stated that I was doing fine, but with the Leptin resistance I needed more thyroid medicine then someone without Leptin due to my body not absorbing correctly. He stated that my Leptin, Serum was 36.8 and was higher then normal but not bad enought to have to take shots and that an increase in Thyroid Meds should do the trick. I am on 180mgs of Armour now, and feel fantastic and I continue to loose weight, its slow but I'm not gaining. I also joined a gym to help with the weight loss. Amazing things I have found since loosing 50+ pounds, bending over to tie my shoes, seeing the light through the space between my legs, not feeling winded when I walk a 1/2 block, and not sleeping all the time. Oh and by the way, I don't have PCOS. :) Sometimes I think the doc's diagnosis people with PCOS when they don't know what's wrong with them. Good Luck to all of my Hashi Sisters and Bothers out there in the world, I hope my story helps you. Please feel free to email me if you have any questions about my story or please let me know how you are doing with your Hashi's. My goal 160lbs. 50lbs to go!
I am a 30 y.o. female with no family history of breast cancer. I found a lump in my right breast a short while ago. Over the next few weeks I had 2 sets of mammograms and an ultrasound done. I ...
dlstump commented on Anonymous' post Why would I have an enlarged lymph node in my breast?