Posted by Mitch on November 17, 2001, at 15:59:26
In reply to Re:Lithium/thyroid » Mitch, posted by Chloe on November 17, 2001, at 9:07:50
> Hey Mitch
> I did have a TSH drawn by my gyn (not my pdoc!) because I was having some heavy bleeding. I think I had been on the Li for about a month at the time. And I didn't have any scalp pain at the time, but I did have dry hair. And I had a level of 1.97.
>
> The thing is I don't have "unusually" dry skin. But do have problems with my hands and feet. I have *always* had to moisturize constantly, esp after showering. My biggest problem is the dry hair. Which isn't so bad until the scalp pain emerged. My follicles are killing, probably because they are so dried out and brittle from all these meds.
>
> It just seems to me that I have a short window of success on these psych meds. I get stability and relief from depression for a month or two, then bam! I get whalloped with side effects that I can't tolerate and I have to go off.
>
> Thyroid is something that my pdoc should have monitored. But she seemed to have backed off from doing anything more for me. Last week, She called in a different brand of Li, then asked a collegue about the scalp treatement and called that in...Now all attempts I have made to reach her and discuss this have gone unanswered. I think she is really busy and burned out from working with someone who is in constant distress from meds. If I am not suffering from side effects, then I am suffering from depression and instability.
>
> God, I am down to 225 mgs of Li and still no relief at all from my scalp pain! It wakes me up in the night. When will this go away? Could thyroid augmentation help this?
>
> Your fartlette got my wheels turning...
> Thanks ChloeChloe,
That TSH level is on the edge of hypothyroid. From what my endo said, I believe the "normal" range is now between 0.6-2.0 (anybody correct me if this is inaccurate). I would ask your pdoc about a *little* T4 augmentation. Hey, just enough to pull you back into the "middle" of the normal range and see what happens?? Maybe you can stay on 300mg of Lithobid with your other meds and your skin won't be as dry. Another thing: What about supplements for your hair, hair folicles, etc. Maybe you need some extra B-complex, vitamin E, etc.
Mitch
poster:Mitch
thread:84008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20011113/msgs/84519.html