Chapter 8: What Exactly Is "Normal"?
It took approximately three more months for my thyroid hormone levels to finally reach and stay within the “normal” range. I put the word normal in quotations because doctors consider lab values normal if they fall within a standardized range of numbers. But experience tells me, what is actually “normal” for someone may fall just above or below that range, and not necessarily in it. I’m emphasizing this point now in my story, because later on it will become part of the issue that eventually caused me to end my relationship with my endocrinologist.
I was now eight months into my treatment which consisted of drug therapy with methimazole and herbal treatment with my selected list of vitamins and herbs. I had gained one pound - a VERY big deal when you’ve lost 16 - and I was neither feeling or displaying any signs or symptoms of hyperthyroidism. My hair was still not growing back, but I was confident it would eventually. I was continuing with the diet I had chosen for myself, and I was getting enough rest. I felt so good, in fact, that I felt like I wanted to begin exercising.
I tried yoga because I thought it would be a good choice. Unfortunately, I still did not have the strength or the energy. I was very disappointed. I had gotten yoga pants, a nice mat, and I certainly had the motivation. But my body told me “no“. So instead, I dragged out my one pound dumbbells and just did a few reps every night. I figured….hey…I gained a pound so I can lift a pound! Baby steps.
It was also at the end of this eight months that I was looking forward to the end of my treatment. Four more months to go.
My methimazole dose had been reduced to the point that I honestly felt like I was going to beat this thing and become part of the elusive “30%“. However, by month eight, my lab values and my dose had both just plateaued. Everything seemed to come to a grinding halt. My doctor was pleased, but it was not what I wanted. I had hoped at this eight month visit that my dose would be reduced to the point that I could begin tapering off at my next visit, month ten. I would then have two months left of my treatment and I thought that was a good amount of time for my body to readjust to being back on its own without the drug. My doctor did not agree. There was no tapering off that was going to be done. It was going to be cold turkey. Or so she thought.
So…me being me…I took matters into my own hands…again.
Many years earlier, while studying herbology, I had come across an herbal recipe known as Essiac. I have provided you with a link to the story of this recipe to the right under Helpful Links. It is worth your time to read it. I was so incredibly impressed with it years ago, that after telling everyone about it who would listen, I filed it away in my mind for the future, and I never forgot about it. I thought of it as the “miracle” combination of herbs that if I should ever get sick….I mean really, really sick…this is what I was going to use and it was going to change my life. Well…now was the time.
Life Lesson #8 - Know what’s best for you.
Graves Disease Note #8 - The normal course of treatment for Graves disease on methimazole lasts 12 to 18 months. However, if you choose to do so, you can stay on it indefinitely, but you will be flooding your liver with toxins and you will need frequent blood testing - indefinitely. You will also be seeing doctors and paying for prescriptions - indefinitely. Normally, this would be the only choice for someone who did not want radioactive iodine or surgery. Unless, of course, you attained remission, and in that case - good for you! But, the threat of relapse is always there unless you have learned to control the autoimmune disorder, not the thyroid. Learn to control the autoimmune disorder! An endocrinologist will consider the thyroid “controlled” when your lab values fall within the lab’s normal reference range. This does nothing to address the cause of Graves disease, nor does it acknowledge the fact that all bodies are not the same, and therefore there is no possible way that we could all fall within the normal range. Did you know that internal anatomy can vary from person to person? It’s true. So why should our lab values all be expected to be the same to be considered “normal”?
- Dorian A., RN, CHLC
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