Hashimotos vs Graves

I've been a little baffled as to why there are two different names for this. The root cause seems to be the same- an autoimmune attack on the thyroid. This can lead to hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism. So why different names?

If your autoimmune attack lead to hyperthyroidism, it's Graves. Otherwise, it's Hashimotos. But since the attack can lead to fluctuations between hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism over periods of name why not just say "x" leading to hyperthyroidism, or "x" leading to hypothyroidism? It doesn't seem to me that two different names are needed.

I can't help but think that there is little more do it. So far the only difference I can really find is that anti-thyroidperoxidase antibodies are more common in Hashimotos and that Thyroid Stimulating Imunnoglobulin antibodies are more common with Graves.... but both can be present with the other.

Someone forgot about her blog

Hello!

The current state of things: I'm still much better off than I was 3 years ago. Still less brain fog, more energy. The bad news? There are some unresolved issues. I can't pretend to be "cured". Notably, I still have chronic tingling in my hands and feet.

As of right now, I seem to have lost the will to continue visiting doctors to get shit fixed.

But... I'll get back there again. It is a must, while I still have decent health insurance.

You see, as soon as I did get some energy, I took it and ran. I've been more productive over all, and have managed to move along on some long many-year standing life goals.

I am 2 months short of graduating with a B.S.! (heh, heh, BS. That is, Bachelors of Science).

There are quite a few drafts for posts drifting about in this here blogger account. I will see about getting some of those out.

I'm sure there are new things to report. For example: I found out that I have an extra lumbar vertebrae!

Hmmmm?

During my latest appointment with the physicians assistant of the doctor treating my Lyme, I was quizzed on a few things that seemed odd to me. I get the feeling that they were expecting a... marked improvement, after 2 months on antibiotics.

My hands and feet are still tingling away, however, and I've had plenty of those odd shooting pains in the last day, week, and month.

I am left wondering about a number of things. I think I may have "given up" trying to understand, at this point. Either the antibiotics will help, or they will not. Either I do in fact have Lyme, or my troublesome symptoms have another root. For now I can only focus on summoning up my meager scraps of energy for what work I might get done on a given day.



This doctor also asked me to do a heavy metal test. I am quite full of Mercury. Really. It's... appalling. No more tuna from pick-n-save.

You know, I've seen a few stories on the news about mercury in fish. I did assume that, given eating 2-3 cans of tuna per week, maybe I'd have a bit more mercury in me than I ought to.

But after seeing the test result on just how full of mercury I am... I am shocked and appalled.

This or That?

My MRI showed "some narrowing" that "might be causing symptoms".

My rheumatologist would like to get me evaluated by a neurologist.

I'm not really surprised that it is not a herniated disk or something like that. If it were, the shooting pains would be a bit less wide-spread, more specific to the segments of the spine that were involved. I've gotten shooting pains in all fingers, not just 2/3 of them, all toes, arms, legs, torso, you name it.

I was still hoping for something more conclusive, though.

In the mean time, I learn that the Lyme ELISA was negative, but the western blot was positive. My follow up appointment isn't even until December 10th with that practice.

If you thought it was hard to find a good doctor when it comes to thyroid disease... nothing compared to this whole mess regarding Lyme disease.

There is a lot of controversy about this Lyme disease. I'm going to have to do some more reading.

MRI

I had trouble getting the MRI scan of my cervical spine; The first time I went in, the tech refused to run the MRI on account of the ear surgeries I'd had.

I was a bit peeved, but he was really in the right. My father had had ear surgery for the same problem, with the same doctor, and does actually have some metal in his head. All these years- I've missed out on the opportunity to joke about him receiving signals from aliens.

At any rate, my ear stapes-replacements, or whatever they might be called, are MRI compatible.

I went in for the MRI this morning. I'm pretty sure they intended to run some music, but they either forgot to turn it on, or the earphones were not working.

I'd hear some knocking, would I? How about car horns and machine gun fire.

It was not that bad though, once the first minute passed, and I become more certain that no bits of metal were going to come bursting out of me.

I await the results of the MRI with interest. Will this be another test that shows nothing, or, will something interesting be revealed?

Long time no post

Still alive and kicking. Well, not kicking. Alive and sitting. ;-)

I'm doing fairly well.

To remind you, I've had problems with aching, fatigue, joint pains, weakness, and such for years. But after I got the flu two years ago, these symptoms were magnified quite a bit. The first few months were terrible. But I've slowly improved.

With the other problems dropping back off to pre-flu levels, one thing that I've come to notice more and more is: shooting pains. These pains are short, sharp, sometimes pulsing... arms, legs, torso...

These shooting pains were not around prior to the flu.

So what are they?

I have no idea.

I have finally gone to a rhuematologist that wants to get an MRI of my neck. Apparently such problems could be caused by some sort of neck injury, or narrowing of the neck... something about the nerves in the spine...

::baffled::

I'm also getting tested for lyme. I don't remember any rash, but if I did get infected with lyme disease bacteria, it would have been 10 years ago. I'm not known for a supurb memory :-p

I shall be back to update you on the test results, I promise.

Lumpless

Long time no post... lets get to it. As far as I can tell, this post is unrelated to my thyroiditis.

I can see it now in the photographs, so obvious now that I look. One side of my face has always been puffier, and, my smile was less energetic on that side.

Undoubtedly this is related to the parotid (salivary gland) tumor I just got sliced out on that side. Nothing cancerous; Just a benign pleomorphic adenoma. Already I have much less "TMJ pain" on that side.

You see, my main complaint of pain was of course on that side, in that area. The tumor itself did not hurt. And it was a rare situation. I have to be in the middle of chewing AND faced with amusement. If I am amused- before I even smile much at all- muscles around my jaw hing and/or the back of my cheeks tighten. Combined with whatever position my jaw was in, this caused a LOT of pain. But it was a rare situation, despite the fact that doctors seemed to assume that this meant I had pain when chewing at any old time. The key, however, was the chewing AND the muscle tightening.

Of course the involved muscles were the ones going around where my lump was.

At any rate, my lump was removed over two weeks ago. It was only at the base of the parotid gland, so I only lost a small bit of that. The swelling from the surgery has gone down, but that cheek still looks a little puffier than the other, as it was before the surgery. I'm hoping that the inflammation will subside, now that the aggravating factor is removed.

I am lucky that this was dealt with- I'd previously mentioned the lump to a doctor, and to a dentist, to no end. I had this lump for at least 6 years.