"But I Am Not That Smart"

The new specialist mentioned that during my appointment in August. He was referring to rare diseases or complicated ones, I suppose.

Is that a heartening statement? I implore you; if you wield any power in your life over people that need your services, do not say that to a client. Especially one that will be billed regardless of your capacity for thought. Egads. For goodness sakes, you are billed as a research scientist and scholar.

So, I did manage to make it two months hormone-free and finally went to the lab for some blood tests.

TSH elevated, T4 low ~ secondary hypothyroidism still there

low Estradiol, LH and FSH ~ hypogonadism persists

8am cortisol & ACTH normal ~ woohoo! but without midnight serum & salivary results. I don't want to waste time doing any tests until there is some sort of agreement on what a "valid testing procedure" entails.

fasting insulin level is high ~ 20uU/mL on a range of 0-17

DHEA is low *insert adrenal mumbo jumbo*

RCDW high ~ ?

IPTH is high 80 on a range of 10 to 65, with 45 being a commonly considered high result for people under the age of 60 but a useless result in some senses since the Calcium level is currently pending

Bicarbonate is my only low electrolyte result, which is common for me.

All of that means... absolutely nothing to me! ;) Ok, it probably means something to someone somewhere.

I am not sure which way to go. One of my specialists better start coughing up answers, or handing out more lab slips, or Googling for me, or something...

Once again, it points towards something genetic, endocrine and usually an autosomal dominant trait. Which scares the beejeesus out of me, with two small children.

Sherlock

I had some major oral surgery this past Wednesday afternoon. After years, I'll finally admit to it. One of the loveliest and most embarrassing side effects of chronic overexposure to steroids? Tooth loss.

I am a chronic flosser and brusher, so I really can only attribute the demise of one, or *maybe* two, teeth to personal neglect. The loss of 14 others, all molars, I'm not sure who to thank. Osteoporosis? My teeth look fine, then break off at the gumline with no warning. Such beauty. *rolleyes* I cannot have implants due to bone issues, so partials will be ordered when my gums calm down.

Something strange happened after this surgery. It has happened before after my pituitary surgeries, but I explained it off as a sort of post-op *reset* to my system.

Less than 12 hours after the oral surgery, iv sedated then minus 5 teeth, I felt GREAT. Not good, but really great. I dropped 10 pounds of water. My feet stopped hurting. Lots of energy and I'm in a great mood. The only thing I need for pain, if at all, is Aleve (like usual).

WHAT ON EARTH IS THIS FRESH HELL? I thought I knew why this has happened previously, but now I don't have a clue.

I'm not smart enough to put it all together, but it does have me wondering what elective surgery I can sign up for in order to have a *real* scheduled vacation. A guarantee of feeing awesome?! WOW. What can we cut off next? =:)

I wish there was a supah-schmart medic that could piece this together for me. What does IV sedation, which all of these have in common, do for my system?

Is this a vasopressin situation? Side affect of an unknown Aldosterone antagonist? (my aldosterone measures super low)

I am stumped.