Originally Posted by
frogbiscuit
I had papillary thyroid cancer about 12 years ago, complete thyroidectomy followed by a dose of radioactive iodine. There was a lot of things that should have pointed towards this- depression, roller coaster weight gain and loss, but what ya gonna do?
BUT lately I feel like a lot of the same symptoms have returned, doc says TSH is normal. I am also on BP meds and I wonder if my potassium level is screwy again.
Ditto, all the above. Although I don't take BP meds routinely (I occasionally take a beta blocker for severe headaches). I do take some OTC supplements, including potassium and magnesium. Seems to help a bit. Hard to be sure with most supplements, as there's seldom any immediate or definitive effect.
Six months after surgery I still don't feel quite back to normal. And the remaining thyroid lobe on the right side feels a bit swollen, and I'm having some mild swallowing issues again. I'm kinda wishing they'd gone ahead and done a total thyroidectomy, but I understand the logic. Diagnostics at the time revealed no problems, and they were hoping to preserve some functioning thyroid and parathyroid.
My endocrinology followup is in June. Meanwhile I've experimented a bit with my levothyroxine dosage. They've gradually increased mine from 25 to 75 mcg, but I wasn't feeling any better. I know my endocrinologist is being cautious because there's a delicate balance in thyroid and parathyroid effect, and a bone density scan revealed enough indications of bone loss to concern my doctors. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised but I was anyway.
This weekend I added a 25 mcg dosage just before bedtime, in addition to the 75 mcg morning dose. I suddenly had more energy Sunday than I've had in more than a year, and got up early for a long casual group bike ride. For the past six months it's been hard to drag my aching, zombie body out of bed before the crack of noon, let alone ride a bike early in the morning. I'm in physical therapy for the injury from last May's collision, and I've had to schedule my sessions no earlier than noon -- it's that difficult to get started most days.
But my positive experience this weekend is too limited a trial. Might be coincidence. So I'll repeat it this week. If all goes well I'll ask my doctors about it. As the saying goes, it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission.