I know there are lots of places in the world where women are treated like less than poo (I recently heard shocking figures about France!) but this really gets to me!
I think even dear old Ataturk is turning around in his grave...
Sorry, folks, I know you're expecting an up-date on baby stuff, and I promise, I'll get to it. Right now, just know that all is fine and we are in good health at the beginning of week 14! Yay! And so far, despite the agression inducing thyroid replacement hormones I've been out on, not a crumb of violence in this home!
domestic violence
I think even dear old Ataturk is turning around in his grave...
Sorry, folks, I know you're expecting an up-date on baby stuff, and I promise, I'll get to it. Right now, just know that all is fine and we are in good health at the beginning of week 14! Yay! And so far, despite the agression inducing thyroid replacement hormones I've been out on, not a crumb of violence in this home!
domestic violence
6 comments:
Why are you on thyroid hormones? Is this something new that doctors practice during their patients' pregnancies?
By the way, I'm the Anna to whom you suggested I should create my own blog, the one who irritated serbwife (but then she irritated me first...LOL! ;-).
Oh, here's my blog's name:
http://fieldofblackbirds.blogspot.com
Hi Anna,
Yes, I figured it was you. ;-) I think I already visited your blog... but I think comments weren't allowed then? Did you change the look of it?
Thyroid hormones: Apparently your TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) "needs to be" between 0,25 and 5,0 IU/ml (whether you are pregnant or not). These "normal levels" indicate your thyroid hormone (TH) is properly regulating your metabolic functions (& whatever else it's supposed to do). High TSH means low TH or hypothyroidism (what I've been diagnosed with here). In pregnancy, other hormones kick in and influence each other's levels. During pregnancy doctors like your levels to be kept stable and closer to the middle of the "normal" or acceptable levels indicated above (= around 2,5). So while my TSH levels are within tolerated norm at 4,8 (which is why I have never had to take any hormones before) the doctors here say it's safer to give me thyroid hormone replacement therapy. Apparently many babies born in Serbia-Montenegro in the '70s have some kind of Thyroid problem (mine and my sister's are inherited from the other side of my family's gene pool -so totally another continent!) I'm basically taking the stuff to be on the safe(r) side. I'm no doctor, but the idea is that with the hormones the babe will not compensate my hypo-TH by developing hyperthyroidism.
Although, to be honest, I'm not over the moon about taking the stuff, and am going to have all this double checked by my doc. in Switzerland when I'm there end of February.
Thyroid disease during pregnancy
Hypothyroidism
Ahhh, well...I have hypothyroidism and I'm very sure that it was triggered by my pregnancies -- whether the first or second, or both I don't know, but I suspect with the very first. It runs in my mother's side of the family, but I was never offered thyroid hormones during my pregnancies. Stay on top of this, Sandra, as this is a very insidious disease that affects every part of your body in such negative ways. And be careful because the doctors, most of them, live in the past and at the mercy of the drug companies and don't always treat this properly. I believe that the "normal range" of TSH, for example, has been revised and now it's probably debatable whether 4.8 is still in the normal range. The fact is that people who do not have thyroid problems usually are in the -.5 - 2.0 range, I believe. I suggest checking out these 2 sites:
http://thyroid.about.com/
http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/
As for comments on my blog -- they're welcome, but I do see them before I put them up. I know that other blogs that are similar get innundated by verbal attacks from "the other side" and I don't feel like cluttering up the site with all that.
You might like to explore this site if you don't know about it already, it's great:
http://byzantinesacredart.com
and
http://byzantinesacredart.com/blog
I have links to them on my blog.
Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy! It will be a great time in your life to look back on.
Thanks for all the links Anna - the "Stop the Thyroid Madness" one is a bit worrying - but I can use the info, especially considering the language barrier here (Turkish!)
I'm amazed at the amount of people who have either Hypo- or Hyper- thyroidism, and quite a few as a result of pregnancy. I guess as long as your symptoms are mild it's easier to do without the medication - luckily for me seems to be the case in my family. As for "normal rates" (of just about anything!) they keep getting lower and the span smaller; now days, 70% of those tested as “within norm” 10 years ago (cholesterol/sugar/etc.) are put on medication with the same rates being considered dangerous! So yeah, drug companies are doing well... If you know of a site/source on how to get this hypo under control without drugs - I'd be happy to hear from you!
I have been researching hypothyroidism for years as I absolute DETEST having this disease - the symptoms are obnoxious. The drugs bring your TSH to the supposedly normal levels, but in my opinion if you still have symptoms, then you're not really being helped a lot -- especially when Synthroid and the like are bad for you long term. But on the other hand, having hypothyroidism is hard on your heart, so not medicating isn't an option.
So far the only things I can offer you regarding the natural way to combat this is (1) avoid soy and (2) eliminate gluten from your diet (I'm testing this one right now). Dr. Hyman says that for SOME thyroid patients, going completely off gluten for at least 3 months can lead to the thyroid correcting itself. But gluten is in everything, so you have to become very adept at finding it to avoid it. Good luck!
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