RedSquirrelUK
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,744
Location: The UK's beautiful West Country
Aug 2, 2014 13:03:45 GMT
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Post by RedSquirrelUK on Aug 15, 2020 15:18:22 GMT
Did anyone else wonder what DR was a new abbreviation for? (bad grammar I know) I did a mental run through--DH, DD, DS, etc and wondered what DR was meaning. Opened the thread and then did a head slap "DUH." Same here. That was why I opened the thread to find out what it was all about - lol! OP - I'm sorry you're struggling, and you've got some good advice here. I did want to point out that being overweight is not necessarily a feature. I'm not overweight, and I'm still having to fight to get any kind of testing beyond playing drugs roulette. Our doctors mean well. Of course they do. But at the end of the day, they are only trained in medicine, and that isn't holistic. There are lots of other options out there as well as the medicines.
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Post by birukitty on Aug 15, 2020 16:34:16 GMT
You do not have to feel this way. You do not mention how old you are, but ask to have your hormones checked - testosterone and progesterone. I started on those supplements around age 40. I see a great DO who treats more like a functional medicine doctor. I actually did a genetic test last year on my neurotransmitters and found out that more of my neurotransmitter genes (I think there are 33 genes they tested) have anomalies/mutations than don't and were causing inflammation. The recommendation was to take LDN - low dose naltrexone (4.5 mg). In high doses it's used to treat opioid addiction (50 mg), but in low doses it works to fire on your neurotransmitters helping mood, energy levels and weight loss. It was a game changer for me. I have a renewed energy and outlook that I hadn't had for a long time. I'm turning 48 this weekend. Also ask her to check for an MTHFR mutation. It's estimated that 60% of people have an MTHFR mutation which interferes with methylation and the body's ability to detox. If you do have a variant in your MTHFR gene, you simply take a Methylated Vit B. You can buy them over the counter. But, taking a regular B vitamin when you have this mutation can actually cause more problems. This should be a simple blood test. If you do go the route of anti-depressants, I had great luck with Viibryd (Vilazodone). No side effects. Unfortunately, there isn't a generic and it is quite costly, but it was worth it to help me see the forest from the trees. Good luck. I hope you find some resolution. And, if your doctor won't look into these things, maybe find a DO or functional medicine doctor who will spend the time to dive into your whole health and who will treat your symptoms, not just by the numbers. I agree with this post 100%! Sometimes we have to go to doctors other than PCP's to get to the bottom of things. Face it-in our current medical system in this country most PCP's are allotted about 15 minutes or less to see a patient. Instead of seeing the patient, hearing the problems and looking at the patient's body as a whole and then acting as a medical detective to try to figure out what medical problems could be causing all of the symptoms throughout the body ie the underlying causes that are producing the symptoms; almost all PCP's hear the complaint from the patient, and find a prescription to fix that particular complaint. That doesn't work long term to truly heal the body. It just fixes symptom after symptom. I've been using a doctor called an Integrative doctor for several years. This is a doctor who is a board certified internist but also practices alternative medicine. No, not crazy alternative things. Mainly it means the opposite of what I wrote above. Each year before I see him for my yearly exam he does a full blood panel on me and I mean full. Then we meet for a full hour to discuss my blood work and any issues I might be having. My guess is the doctor above (the DO) is something like this too. I have two markers for the MTHFR gene mutation but no doctor caught it (this was before I found Dr. W-the Integrative doctor). I spent 10 years with what was diagnosed as "treatment resistant depression" because of this. My psychiatrists (there were 3 by the time 10 years had passed) tried antidepressant after antidepressant on me and they'd work for awhile, but then they'd stop working-on to the next pill. Another effect that having MTHFR has if that if your B12 levels drop too low (even though my blood work said they were fine) year after year you can end up with this depression. After Dr. W gave me a blood test for MTHFR he prescribed the correct form of B12 to take for me and after about two weeks that horrible depression vanished completely never to come back again. I tell everyone with depression to get a MTHFR blood test. It's just a blood test but if it can help anyone avoid the 10 years of pain and struggle I had it's worth it. As betsyg mentioned in her post 60% of people have it and don't know it. I'm also hypothyroid and there is a great website called stopthethyroidmadness.com if you haven't heard of it that offers tons of help. It shows you the correct tests to ask for from your doctor when you are being tested (I think there are 6 of them-there might be more), not just a TSH test. Also there is no such thing as a "normal" result when you are treating hypothyroid. It truly is best to treat to the results because each person is different-not to a certain number. My Integrative doctor is so popular (he's amazing so it stands to reason) and is booked solid so he doesn't have to accept health insurance and doesn't. I pay him $150.00 for a visit for my yearly exam but then I get to email him throughout the year with questions and he responds the same day. To me that is so worth it. I love having him in my corner. If I have to see him more than that he charges less for a return visit. If I were you-this is where I would start. Find a Integrative Medicine doctor that works the same way or a DO that does. Get to the bottom of things. You might be clinically depressed in which you would need an antidepressant (at which case if this were me Dr. W would send me to a psychiatrist) or it might just be your thyroid that is causing most of your conditions. But I would examine the physical causes first. Also I would certainly check first if it's MTHFR since that can be fixed easily with the correct supplement and can cause depression if you have it and it's not being treated. I wish you the very best of luck in your health journey. I've been there with crappy doctors. Once an endocrinologist I was seeing before I found Dr. W.-I was complaining how my hands and the rest of my body was always so cold. Her reply? "Well are they blue? No? Then you are fine." Needless to say I never went back to her again. Never forget-doctors work for us. We pay them. Don't hesitate to fire a terrible one and seek out a better one.
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Post by kernriver on Aug 15, 2020 19:33:52 GMT
Not all depressed people want to commit suicide, or even consider it. They just stop enjoying anything. It’s a sneaky, gradual process that doesn’t just happen one day. Some depressed people don’t even realize what is wrong.
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pridemom
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,843
Jul 12, 2014 21:58:10 GMT
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Post by pridemom on Aug 15, 2020 21:45:04 GMT
Peas, I am finally ready to ask for help. For at least the past 10 years, I have just been going thru the motions of raising a family and trying to be a good wife, daughter and friend. I don't feel really feel happy or sad, I just "am" and it is not who I truly am. I used to be bubbly, outgoing, and had a lot of energy. I am ready to FEEL again - ALL the feelings. I have been hypothyroid since 1997 and have had "normal" levels for most of that time (after the birth of my first child I really felt off exhausted, weepy, gained weight, etc and my thyroid meds had to be adjusted and I sort of snapped out of it, but not totally). I used to be a teacher but have stayed home for the past 17 years with the kids. I have gained tons of weight over the past 15 years - almost 90 pounds over weight, I have become very introverted (I hate going anywhere - I do go out when I need to, but I don't enjoy it), I have so many projects around the house that I want to do, but have no energy to accomplish them (I just do enough to keep the house tidy and every one fed and in clean clothes). COVID has really done a number on me - I feel such a heaviness on me all the time, I have even less energy, I feel pretty lost with what to do with my time now. On top of all this, my oldest is a senior this year and we are starting the whole college app process and it is hitting me that my first birdy is leaving the nest soon. So, I am finally able to admit this all to my doctor. I have told her about my lack of energy, hair loss and inability to lose weight, but we don't get much further than checking my thyroid levels and make adjustments as necessary, Vitamin D levels (they are always low and I take supplements to get them higher) and iron levels. But, I am finally ready to pursue the possibility of maybe taking an anti depressant to "snap" me out of this very long funk. I want to feel happy and energetic again. I want to tackle all the tasks weighing me down. But, speaking of weighing me down, I don't want to take a med they may lead to weight gain or lack of sex drive. That's a common side effect of these meds, right? Are there meds that don't have these side effects? So, have you been in my shoes? What helped you turn your moods around? Where should I start? I sick and tired of feeling sick and tired! Thank you so much! It sounds like you need a better treatment for your thyroid. Even if your levels are “normal”, your symptoms are all common with undertreated hypothyroidism.
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Post by Linda on Aug 19, 2020 4:03:41 GMT
((((Hugs))) and prayers shanniebananie -I hope your doctor is understanding and helpful Thank you for posting btw - your post prompted me to talk to my doctor and I've been prescribed Bupropion - I'll start it as soon as my mail order pharmacy gets it to me. I've taken in the past (many years ago) - it can help with weight loss (not a lot ime but a little) and it can also increase libido (although I don't remmeber if it did for me)
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Post by kluski on Aug 24, 2020 23:09:05 GMT
((((Hugs))) and prayers shanniebananie -I hope your doctor is understanding and helpful Thank you for posting btw - your post prompted me to talk to my doctor and I've been prescribed Bupropion - I'll start it as soon as my mail order pharmacy gets it to me. I've taken in the past (many years ago) - it can help with weight loss (not a lot ime but a little) and it can also increase libido (although I don't remmeber if it did for me) Can you make the call for me? Yesterday I had talked ,myself into calling first thing this morning. I didn’t call...again
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Post by Delta Dawn on Aug 24, 2020 23:29:52 GMT
((((Hugs))) and prayers shanniebananie -I hope your doctor is understanding and helpful Thank you for posting btw - your post prompted me to talk to my doctor and I've been prescribed Bupropion - I'll start it as soon as my mail order pharmacy gets it to me. I've taken in the past (many years ago) - it can help with weight loss (not a lot ime but a little) and it can also increase libido (although I don't remmeber if it did for me) Can you make the call for me? Yesterday I had talked ,myself into calling first thing this morning. I didn’t call...again Do you need help calling? I am the one social services had to get involved because I was going to live in a homeless camp. I will help you call tomorrow and it will be ok. This is urgent not a hang nail. It can’t wait 2 weeks. You can call tomorrow.❤️🙏🏻🤞🏻
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Post by hop2 on Aug 25, 2020 1:12:57 GMT
tracyarts I follow a few functional medicine doctors and they say just because it's common doesn't mean its normal. Sometimes it's hard enough to get doctors to listen then they only treat the symptoms not the underlying cause. Hair loss, weight gain, fatigue are all symptoms of hypothyroidism. Just because your levels are "normal" doesn't make them acceptable. Say normal was 50-150 if you are at 51 or 145 the doctor will say you are in the normal range. I wouldn't consider that normal if I was still feeling crappy, normal should probably be the middle of the road. Maybe your thyroid is fine and you also have depression. Good luck in finding out what's wrong. This was me. My general thyroid panel is the low side of ‘normal’ but my T3 is very low. OP & those of you all who have ‘normal’ thyroid numbers. Have them test the thyroid hormones in a panel. Also Try both the real/natural hormone & the synthetic hormone. I actually do better on the synthetic one but others do better on the natural one. Also T3 can be treated separately instead if treating with levoxothryrine it’s treated with triiodothyronine Whatever the situation you gave to keep pushing, asking questions and advocating for yourself
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Post by Linda on Aug 25, 2020 1:39:50 GMT
((((Hugs))) and prayers shanniebananie -I hope your doctor is understanding and helpful Thank you for posting btw - your post prompted me to talk to my doctor and I've been prescribed Bupropion - I'll start it as soon as my mail order pharmacy gets it to me. I've taken in the past (many years ago) - it can help with weight loss (not a lot ime but a little) and it can also increase libido (although I don't remmeber if it did for me) Can you make the call for me? Yesterday I had talked ,myself into calling first thing this morning. I didn’t call...again ((((Hugs))) and prayers. It's hard to make those calls. I was fortunate to have a regularly scheduled med check (I'm diabetic and have quarterly appts) and the doctor asked how I was doing and I almost said "doing okay" because that's what one says but I decided it was time to be honest and actually tell her I was struggling and not doing so well. She took it from there. I hope you can call - even just to make a regular appt and then are able to tell the dr what's happening when you're there. I'll pray for you
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Post by misadventurous on Aug 25, 2020 1:44:11 GMT
((((Hugs))) and prayers shanniebananie -I hope your doctor is understanding and helpful Thank you for posting btw - your post prompted me to talk to my doctor and I've been prescribed Bupropion - I'll start it as soon as my mail order pharmacy gets it to me. I've taken in the past (many years ago) - it can help with weight loss (not a lot ime but a little) and it can also increase libido (although I don't remmeber if it did for me) Can you make the call for me? Yesterday I had talked ,myself into calling first thing this morning. I didn’t call...again I remember feeling this way for a while before I got help. I knew something was wrong (my family history is full of clinical depression and bipolar disorder, so I've always tried to keep an eye on my mental health) but I was already at the point where I was having a hard time getting motivated enough to make that first call. I'm so glad I finally did. Set an alarm for yourself right now for tomorrow so you can make that call. OP - I took Lexapro for about a year and it was very effective, but the toll on my libido was intense. I'm now trying a newer drug - Trintellix - which has given me so much energy that after talking about redoing my downstairs bathroom for ages, I went out to the hardware store on Saturday and have already done the primer on the cabinets and painted all the trim. I'm on a serious roll!! Anyway, I'm going to see if this medication has less of a libido-killing effect. If not, the next stop is Wellbutrin. Good luck in finding the right medication for you. It does sometimes take a few tries. Oh, and a little vent that antidepressants are often referred to as 'happy pills'. That actually bugs the crap out of me. They don't make you happy, they just restore you to your usual self. I formerly felt depressed, and now I feel 'normal'. It just so happens that my 'normal' IS 'happy'.
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seaexplore
Prolific Pea
Posts: 8,430
Apr 25, 2015 23:57:30 GMT
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Post by seaexplore on Aug 25, 2020 1:47:14 GMT
Also ask her to check for an MTHFR mutation. It's estimated that 60% of people have an MTHFR mutation which interferes with methylation and the body's ability to detox. If you do have a variant in your MTHFR gene, you simply take a Methylated Vit B. You can buy them over the counter. But, taking a regular B vitamin when you have this mutation can actually cause more problems. This should be a simple blood test. My fertility doctor called this the "motherfucker" mutation. LOL. I LOVED him. He was very real. Anyway- I never had the test because he said that they found it didn't really have much to do with pregnancy. I don't know that I believe that but whatever. Just thought I'd share that funny to make ya smile.
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