ONE-YEAR (almost) LABS

And I am VERY pleased!  All the biggies are normal:  protein, albumen, iron, Vit Bs, D, calcium, cholesterol (great numbers), glucose, it's all good!!!  My T3 is a tad low, suggesting hypothyroidism, which could explain my sluggish weight loss rate.  That is something that runs in my family and my mom was diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis right about my age now, so it's possible I will need some supplementation in the future.  We are going to sit on it for a bit and redo bloods in 3 months and see what the numbers look like then.  Also one of my liver enzymes (ALT) was a bit high (42 U/L where a range of 0-35 is normal).  This is usually linked to a fatty liver, which is not consistent with the rest of my test results, so we are going to recheck that as well in 3 months.  (I LOVE my PCP, Dr Steven Hirsch of Wilmington Internal Medicine!) Let's see, what else?  PAP smear and mammogram were normal.  That's always good news.  And I also had a bone density scan which indicated osteopenia in the lumbar spine; normal hips, though.  I had been diagnosed with osteopenia a good 6 years ago (maybe more) and had taken Fossamax for it, then Boniva, but stopped for the past year as I have always found those drugs to be harsh on the stomach and didn't want to irritate the pouch.  But now it will be back on the monthly stuff to rebuild some bone mass which should work just fine with all the calcium and vit D we take!  He sent me home with a script for a new drug to prevent osteoporosis called Actonel.  It might be a little easier on the stomach, but we are going to put me on daily Nexium as well for safety's sake and because I have been experiencing a little acidic type of discomfort in my stomach at night lately. Well, there you have it, ladies and gents!  A bit more information than anyone might be interested in, but I do like to be comprehensive in case anyone else can benefit. Oh, and I lost 3 more lbs since my last dr visit 6 weeks ago!  ALMOST in those 120s which I thought I would NEVER see again!  LOL

Glad to hear your one year went so well!   I was dx with hypothyroidism a few months after surgery and my PCP said it is common after surgery and also with being in menopause.  I am on a small dose and it made a huge difference.    Take care, Pam

To be honest, Pam, I was kinda tickled when he said my T3 was a bit low!  I thought: An answer to my prayers!  Just Rx me .01mg of L-thyroxine and watch those pounds go!  Not to mention better hair and skin and energy levels!  SO I am keeping my fingers crossed that the next T3 will also be low!  (Is that like making lemonade?)

I agree with you Suzanne....i hadn't lost about a lb in like 3 weeks and was only 2 months post so you know i was relieved when they dx me.   Good luck on making the lemonade...lol.

Pam

Hey Suzanne,

Congratulations on such a fabulous report. Hopefully the tweaks will have things continuing to move in the right direction.

Wishing you continued success,

Barb

Unfortunately, I had to delete this post due to privacy concerns.

Sounds like good results Suzanne!  I know it's always a relief to see normal numbers, and I'm glad that your 1 year is just that!  :)  It's nice that you can see the "lemonade" side of possible thyroid issues...here's hoping the next number is just what you want to see (whichever way that would really be)  :) 

Suzanne: Glad that you got some good results from the labs and that you have some answers coming by way of the tyroid as well.  Congrats on the 3 pounds.  By the way, had the osteoepenia progressed at all or did it stay the same as before when you were first diagnosed?  What were your numbers like? I think mine were like -2.4 or something to that matter in the lumbar as well. Mine is not in the hip either.  How much calcium do you take currently and what are you taking? I know I am asking lots of questions but I don't know anyone who is in the same boat with me except you....lol. I did put in a call yeterday to my PCP to see what he would like to try but I am going to ask him about the nexium to go along with that. We shall see what he says. Anyhow, enjoyed the chat and I will be in touch! Lisa

Good morning, Lisa! I also enjoyed our chat yesterday and hope we can get together soon. The lab results still need tweaking.  VitaLady wants me to do some additional testing with the next go-round.  We'll see if the insurance covers... My standard deviation on the bone mass was 2.0.  The range for it to be called osteoporosis is 2.5 or greater.  I don't know what the original reading was so I have no idea if it is better or worse.  I do seem to recall (it was a long time ago) that they said I had osteopenia in the hips as well originally.  They say the meds improve the bone mass when coupled with calcium and vit D.  I take 1200-1800 mg calcium a day (not as religiously as I should however) and at least 800 mg of vit D3 which I am going to try to increase since VitaLady says the med ranges are nowhere near what we really need.  She also says my iron levels should be a lot higher as well, despite what the labs consider to be "normal."  I am going to keep a spread sheet of my lab results going forward to I can keep comparisons handy and can tweak as needed. The other advantage with the Actonel is you only have to withhold food for 30 mins after taking it instead of an hour with the Fossamax and Boniva.  Hope this helps.