Lab Results

[2bflawless]

T3 3.9 (2.3-4.2)

T4 119 (0.80-1.80)

TSH 0.06 ( 0.350-5.50)

Ferritin 65 (34-182)

IMHO, my Ferritin may be low, not sure. I do feel better now, the past few days I have been able to rise without feeling awful and seem to have more energy. I think my labs are pretty good, right? T4 in mid range and T3 3/4 the range. Or should my T4 be higher?

My doc said he doesn't want to change or add medication (Currently on Liothyronine, T3,15mcg) and if I start to have a racing heartbeat to notify him immediately. Guess he is fearful I may go hyper? Thoughts?

[nonstickpam107]

Once again, you need a FREE T3. NEED it. Can you afford to get it through Online Lab Tests: blood work, blood testing and laboratory tests ?? Your ferritin is fine, don't sweat it. Once you see your FT3, you can prolly figure out you need to raise the T3 a bit more.

Otherwise, the doc is thinking that you're gonna go hyper looking at your pituitarymeansnotathing numer. Oh, I mean the TSH. Grin.

Pam

[2bflawless]

Ooops please see post below.

[2bflawless]

Originally Posted by 2bflawless

T3 3.9 (2.3-4.2)

T4 119 (0.80-1.80)

TSH 0.06 ( 0.350-5.50)

Ferritin 65 (34-182)

IMHO, my Ferritin may be low, not sure. I do feel better now, the past few days I have been able to rise without feeling awful and seem to have more energy. I think my labs are pretty good, right? T4 in mid range and T3 3/4 the range. Or should my T4 be higher?

My doc said he doesn't want to change or add medication (Currently on Liothyronine, T3,15mcg) and if I start to have a racing heartbeat to notify him immediately. Guess he is fearful I may go hyper? Thoughts?

Sorry, Pam, I posted these wrong, these were definitely Free T's, I saw the order.

Free T3 3.9 (2.3-4.2)

Free T4 119 (0.80-1.80)

TSH 0.06 ( 0.350-5.50)

Ferritin 65 (34-182)

Although I feel so much better now, my right foot is killing me, not the toes like before, now its in the heel and quite painful and I did not injure it either. Could that be related to my thyroid or diabetes?

Thanks for your help.

[nonstickpam107]

But you're saying the FT4 is 119...do you mean 1.19? Cuz the range is .80-1.80. I'm 'assuming' you mean 1.19?

WHEN did you take the T3 before the blood draw and how much? Cuz that FT3 is right on IF you took half daily dose and had blood drawn four to five hours later. BUT, if you didn't take any T3 at all morning of draw, you are probably bordering on being over replaced (if I have too much T3...my plantar fasciitis acts up badly...but if my DH doesn't have ENOUGH..the same happens to him). Do you take insulin for the diabetes (injectable?)

Pam

[2bflawless]

Pam, I took my Cytomel in the morning and it was probably 6-7 hours later that I had the blood draw. I take Metformin for my diabetes 1500mg per day (3x a day) and eat LC. And yes, I meant 1.19 for my T4. Gosh, I hope its not too much T3 cause I actually have more energy on the 15 than I did on just the 10. Oy, I told my DH i feel better but now I cant walk cause my foot hurts. Arggg!

[nonstickpam107]

Get to the podiatrist (or whoever will do 'feet' for ya..my regular doc is becoming a 'pro' at sticking my feet with cortisone lately, I can't afford to be off of them right NOW).

Yeah..it's good...don't sweat it, but a doctor who doesn't know his FT's 'might' look at that and demand you get off the T3 or lower it way down, KWIM?

Sorry the foot hurts so bad..I know what that is like, I JUST went through plantar fasciitis and then a broken bone in the foot...didn't take any time off work...my doc kept me going but I'm really going to have to have new inserts made and stay off them more...our slow season is coming up.

Oh, and on the 'bright side'..I JUST got the ok to go back to the gym Sunday...woohoo!

Pam

[2bflawless]

Originally Posted by nonstickpam107

Get to the podiatrist (or whoever will do 'feet' for ya..my regular doc is becoming a 'pro' at sticking my feet with cortisone lately, I can't afford to be off of them right NOW).

Yeah..it's good...don't sweat it, but a doctor who doesn't know his FT's 'might' look at that and demand you get off the T3 or lower it way down, KWIM?

Sorry the foot hurts so bad..I know what that is like, I JUST went through plantar fasciitis and then a broken bone in the foot...didn't take any time off work...my doc kept me going but I'm really going to have to have new inserts made and stay off them more...our slow season is coming up.

Oh, and on the 'bright side'..I JUST got the ok to go back to the gym Sunday...woohoo!

Pam

On being able to get back to the gym, Pam. <jealous> We had to let our memberships expire because ever since my business tanked (Recruiter here) we've had to cut back on everything including our 2nd car. I walk 2 miles 5x a week to get my daughter to school. Starting Dec 1st it'll be 4 miles cause DH won't be able to drop me off one way and me walk back anymore. He'll be back to the midnight shift. So I need my feet to be pain free. I can't believe I have to make an appt with another doctor. If it wasn't so funny I'd cry.

I thought my labs looked good now just to feel like my old self again!

[nonstickpam107]

I sure know about the walking, heh heh. (I can't drive I'm sight disabled. Have prosthetic left leg...crushed base of thumbs so had special 'lifting gloves' made). If DH has to work over, it's a five mile walk to home at 11pm at night..usually I just wait it out. I couldn't get a membership at the 'fancy schmancy' gym cuz the owner doesn't want me in there as a liability ('cept to swimnastics...with the 80 yr. olds..hehheh) so I joined Anytime Fitness (I LOVE this place too) and both get to go anytime for 50 bucks a month.

I'm sorry about the job...I couldn't work for almost five years (ovarian cancer, than lung cancer from a treatment meant to 'help' one of my autoimmune diseases). If it weren't for inatic (over on the Muscle Matters board) and lite showing me the 'lifting way' I don't think I would have survived mentally (I was turned down for disability after waiting for a judge for four years to hear my case, sigh)...29 people have died in my little county waiting for disability.

I'm happy to report: "I don't NEED no stinkin' disability"...heh heh.

Hey, there's something online that helped my plantar a LOT... search for 'HTP heel seats'..they are blue....they kept me on my feet till I could get in to see a doctor, maybe they'll help you...under 30 bucks WITH shipping.

Pam

[dollface#10]

The rocker shoes help also, they take the pressure off your heel. There are several brands now. MBT's are very expensive, but I believe there are some less expensive ones out now.

[Lisa46]

flawless, girl, you have sure faced your set of challenges. My heart goes out to you and I am hoping you find an answer with your foot problem as well as everything else. I'm here for ya girl!

[2bflawless]

Pam, you sure have been through a lot. It's quite humbling and makes me feel like a total wimp for my foot pain. I am usually NEVER sick, NEVER. Chalked it up to being healthy and motherhood. Ya know, mom's are never sick gene. But the last two years it was just fatigue not actually sick then bam, a few months ago..."death won over" feeling. Well, I WAS feeling so much better this week and sure enough I had to jinx it cause I just woke from a two hour nap because I couldn't keep my eyes open and DH just went to pick up DD10 early from school cause I couln't chance it. Suckfest indeed and my labs actually "looked" good. Does this up and down EVER stop? This can't be life as I know it now, not really.

Dollface, Thanks for the tip, I am going to google those rocker shoes. Are they cute at least? I am a heels or heeled-boots girl for sure. Only time I wear sneakers is to lift. If I have to wear 'em they must be flaweless. <sad>

Lisa46: I am just glad to be getting a handle on this and I am glad you are too. Any relief from the Cytomel yet for you?

Got to run DD10 will be home any minute...and with that some mild drama. Girls <sigh> I am blessed with two!

[watcher513]

Ummm, no, they're not cute, sorry. Sketchers makes them also, Shapeups. Kohl's has them on sale right now this weekend. I just happened to see them online a little bit ago (midnight CA time)About $100, on sale, but quite a bit less than the MBT's. Some MBT's are over $200. I think the least I've seen them is 160-something at Zappo's.

[nonstickpam107]

Hey, go take a look at what I wear to work, heh heh. They are called Mozo Guru chefshoes...just google that. BEST BEST pair of shoes I've EVER had. And those HTP heel seats fit into shoes....any shoes, can't be seen.

Pam

[dollface#10]

As watcher said they are not pretty. I have come to grips with the fact that comfort is more important than beauty. Both would be nice. Pam I'm going to ck out your shoes, they sound interesting. Will they help me be a good cook?

[nonstickpam107]

Originally Posted by dollface#10

As watcher said they are not pretty. I have come to grips with the fact that comfort is more important than beauty. Both would be nice. Pam I'm going to ck out your shoes, they sound interesting. Will they help me be a good cook?

Heh heh, can't guarantee as to the 'good cook' thing...but being a chef means walking and RUNNING up to 12 hours a day with NO breaks/lunch, etc. And these stand up to the traffic...they also come in a 'closed heel' style. We get a 'break' on cost of them through our restaurant...but these are the BOMB, and I use the closed heel ones at the gym for lifting (lifting heavy tears up my plantar!).

Pam

[2bflawless]

Aw, so you're a Chef, Pam. My dream job as I love cooking, my family says I am very good at it but I am never really satisfied. I must say that once I started eating low carb I learned to really appreciate fresh herbs and spices and to experiment more. <Thank you, Dr. Atkins>


Ok Chicas, I googled all the shoes you suggested, and they are all quite ugly. OMG, couldn't they atleast try to make them cute? However, for comfort I may get a pair for walking my DD10 to school. They are pretty expensive, even the $100 pair is out of my range at the moment. <sad> I will definitely look into the inserts they may do the trick. Right now I cant even slip on my boots, the second anything touches my heel its excruciatingly painful. Grrrr.

Energy was ok today better than yesterday but now I have body aches in my hips and legs. Actually kept me up last night, WHY? IS the T3 not enough? This is so frustrating.

[watcher513]

2b - LOL, I knew you'd hate them (can you say U G L Y?). What the hey tho, for walking I'm sure they'd work, at some point (I hear ya on the price, it's lean times out there). Pam, those HTP's look good too.

Those Mozu's look interesting. May look into them for DH who works nights in security and is getting close to needing new shoes (has some now old closed Berki lace-ups). Going to try to find them locally if possible so he could at least try them on. I sent a question off to them from their website. At 60 y.o. I'm definitely all for comfort anymore!

[nonstickpam107]

Yep, I'm a chef, but the 'rare breed' chef..I'm a pastry chef One out of about every 100 chef's becomes a pastry chef. I was in environmental techinician (I did crime scene clean up and body part burning for a long while..paid well...but wasn't on my feet a lot)...but returned to being a pastry chef after being down with cancer for quite some time. I didn't EVER think I'd be able to do this again..and if you can imagine at 55 yrs. old..I'm 'keeping up' with the young guns, heh he. Really a fun job where I'm at.

I also cook (especially at home...DH is so very spoiled, ha ha)..but the pastry chef thing requires me to be especially careful that I don't 'ingest' the flour (I have Celiac) and all the young'uns at work laugh when they learn that I don't eat the stuff.

I'm very into Italian cooking (my DH is first generation American...the first born here in his family and I've received a very good education in Italian cooking/baking..I can make cannoli with the best of 'em)...they think I'm 'weird' cuz I sub out pasta for other things...zuchinni 'noodles' etc. I'm quite inventive...but it DOES require me to be on my feet for ten, twelve hours with NO breaks, no lunch, etc. It's hard...I'm another four years at it, and then we retire...I'll be working at a five star restaurant in PA/NY line and there I'll be just monitoring what others are doing, teaching my craft. I promised DH I'd 'give it a rest' then.

watcher..ya wanna find a restaurant that deals with Sysco product...they sell those shoes...perhaps you'll be able to have DH try them on. They have a 'customized' insert type of thing. I love these shoes...and I've tried a LOT of different ones on.

Lisa, if you're 'never satisfied' than that makes for a very good chef/cook! Whenever someone new comes along and yearns to learn...that's what I look for...the mark of a good chef is to feel that we 'fell short' while all our guests think that we are 'perfect'.

Pam

[watcher513]

Thanks for the tip on the restaurants Pam. My best friend knows lots of kids that work at restaurants around here, Chili's, Applebee's, Olive Garden/Red Lobster, etc. so maybe I can connect up somehow. Omg, cannoli's, I'm salivating, lol. I grew up next to an Italian family. She babysat/watched me way back when. There was a little pizza shop around here years ago that made them until they stopped and only did them for catering. Don't think I've had one in about 10 years. They're so good.

[dollface#10]

Pam you are so interesting! Just wanted to say that. It is fun to read how others make their living and about their lives.

[maile]

Originally Posted by nonstickpam107

I also cook (especially at home...DH is so very spoiled, ha ha)..but the pastry chef thing requires me to be especially careful that I don't 'ingest' the flour (I have Celiac) and all the young'uns at work laugh when they learn that I don't eat the stuff.

Pam

I was going to ask you about that! do you find it difficult with the flour in the air? I love to bake but just a home baker but have to admit it has fallen off since the celiac thing cropped up.

have you tried any gf pastry recipes?

[nonstickpam107]

I don't do gf for myself because I also have HIE (Hyper IgE Syndrome). So...that means (even though I had Xolair injection) that I'm allergic to, or can BECOME allergic to whatever passes the lung field. I wear a mask at work and after mixing dough...I will freeze that dough, then bring it out and work with it later (that really helps me, plus I can turn a loaf of frozen bread dough into over two dozen different breads).

I take steroids DAILY (oral as well as inhaled) as well as seven other meds (down from 16 woohoo!!!).

gf recipes use a lot of nut flours (I'm allergic and so are many of our guests) and I don't 'do' rice..it's too high in carbs for me. I CERTAINLY do not use soy flour (again, allergy source, as well as binding ones thyroid hormones...soy can stop a thyroid in it's tracks and trigger Hashimoto's autoimmune hypothyroidism if you carry TPO antibodies..and about two out of every ten women DO).

I've developed several recipes that use eggs, and cheese, and guar gum, and such as that...our guests LOVE that...they can only get it where I am at. I pretty much stopped eating any type of 'pastry/breadstuffs' when I was so miserable with HIE and Celiac...and when I went lowcarb, a LOT of my serious allergic reactions (I'm still anaphylactic to Navy beans....I don't go near it at work when they make soup and no peanut oil or soy oil around me...my workplace adjusts THEIR life to mine...I'm so very fortunate) cleared up.

Pam

[2bflawless]

Watcher, the shoes are dreadful and the more I look at their perculiar design, I swear I'll kill myself attempting to walk in them.

Pam, I absolutely love baking, cooking and inventing new dishes. I have discovered so many new recipes because I have had to change the way I eat. I'd love to be at your table for Thanksgiving dinner. There is something so soothing about the aromas of pastry baking. I swear IF I could eat breads and other pastries without fear of my rear exploding or diabetic coma, I'd eat it and smile. I tell my DH all the time that in heaven I will eat bread again!

I must admit after begining low carb I began subing regular flour for soy flour. I stopped using it about 6 months ago. I'd hate to think that using soy (which before lc I ate soy rarely even as tofu) may have triggered my thyroid issues. <sigh> I made these ginger chicken bites with soy that we all loved, even the kids which to get them to eat anything is a challenge. Gosh, maybe it was the soy? Unbelievable.

Well, my feet and toes still hurt. I am having frequent charlie horses in my toes. I eat a lot of potassium (avocados) and drink a lot of water. I am not sure if its the colder weather thats triggering it or what. I feel weak and lousy again, as if I wasn't medicated at all. This is crazy, I hesitate in calling my doc again for fear he'll think I am nuts and cut off all my meds, but I was actually feeling so much better and heck my labs were pretty good too. I just want to feel better. I am even reconsidering my WOE at this point. I just don't know anymore I'll do anything to feel better. Maybe a cleanse of some sort? A healthy one not one of these weird ones like lemon water diet or where you have to take all these pills. I don't know VERY clean eating? Any suggestions? I am going to try yoga too since lifting wears me down so badly now. I am desperate and ya know, life is so short and I am tired of feeling like this! I keep saying "mind over matter, Lisa" but so far its not working. I must get over this and D$%%$&t, I WILL!

[nonstickpam107]

I won't be at my table for Thanksgiving and we'll be 'skipping' Christmas as well. Family isn't too happy about my being back in the chef biz. It means not seeing me for days at holiday times. But the Inn guests will be loving it...

My suggestion is time. It's gonna take time. And what supps are you taking? Oh, the soy thing..no I'm talking about folks who eat soy couple times a day for months. Soy formula gets the thyroid thing 'started' too.

Seriously...check out getting those HTP heel seats...and are you taking magnesium with your calcium?

Pam

[2bflawless]

Originally Posted by nonstickpam107

I won't be at my table for Thanksgiving and we'll be 'skipping' Christmas as well. Family isn't too happy about my being back in the chef biz. It means not seeing me for days at holiday times. But the Inn guests will be loving it...

My suggestion is time. It's gonna take time. And what supps are you taking? Oh, the soy thing..no I'm talking about folks who eat soy couple times a day for months. Soy formula gets the thyroid thing 'started' too.

Seriously...check out getting those HTP heel seats...and are you taking magnesium with your calcium?

Pam

Yes, maam, I take calcium magnesium and zinc every night before bed. Been doing that for over 2 years. I was taking a Hair, skin and nails supp until I ran out a couple of weeks ago. Keep forgeting to restock and it did help my hair. Last night around 10pm the "energy" kicked in and I couldnt sleep till 1 or 2. So I decided to give you idea a try again. 10 mcg in the am (around 7:30) and the second dose at 12 and see if that "kicks in" in the afternoon crash time. <<fingers crossed>> I hope that does it!

Well I am sure your family will miss the holidays with you. Its really my favorite time of year, your guests are lucky!