What my doc doesn't want to say and I don't want to ask
What my doc doesn't want to say and I don't want to ask
My recent visits to my endocronologist have been a little uncomfortable for some big reasons. The 100 mcg of Synthroid that I take daily is helping me to stay awake, but many of the other symptoms have not been resolved. Don't get me wrong, staying awake is fantastic, but I'm beginning to think that I may have come for the hormones and will end up staying for the tumor.
Last week, I had high blood pressure for the first time in my life. That, in combination with a 2 day menstrual cycle made me very nervous about what is going on with my body. For the constipation, the doc prescribed Amatiza, but its $227 a month with insurance and I just couldn't see ponying up that kind of money for something I wasn't sure about.
For the last couple of visits, my doc has been asking me some very strange questions. He keeps asking me if I'm nauseous and I always say no. Constipated - yes. Nauseous - no. The constipation that seemed to be gettinb better with the Synthroid stopped getting better. I assume that is because some hormones would help anything for a tiny bit of time? He also asks me if I'm dizzy. Not really...but I guess I do have some bouts from time to time with temporary dizziness. Stop that! No blonde jokes! I never looked up any symptoms for a tumor because I thought that maybe he would say something when he thought it was time to get an MRI. I'm sure that he will - I am just beginning to think that the symptoms are starting to show up on their own.
Here are the general symptoms of pituitary tumors:
I have the ones in red:
All pituitary tumors and craniopharyngiomas:
headache
decreased libido (interest / desire in sex)
menstrual disorders
cold intolerance
excessive perspiration (sweating)
decreased appetite
vision impairment, blurriness, blindness (particularly poor peripheral vision)
excessive thirst and frequent urination
growth failure delayed or premature puberty Doesn't really apply to me at this pointnausea my doc keeps asking about this one
dry skin Very itchy dry skin too!
constipation
fatigue
low or high blood pressure
hypernatremia (high sodium in the blood)
frequent urination (diabetes insipidus)
Now, we know I wasn't diabetic a few months ago, so we can rule that out. The vision impairment hasn't showed up yet but it may if a tumor starts to press on my optical nerve. I don't know about high sodium in the blood. He asked me if I was having trouble sleeping at night but I'm not sure if he is worried about too much synthroid or insomnia which is a symptom of a more specified tumor.
Needless to say, I need to make a decision this week on when I should get an MRI done. I appreciate the web for all of the information that it gives me about medical conditions but I always fear that I am "dreaming up" a condition.
I'll keep everyone up-to-date on what I decide to do. If I ever stop talking online, you can always contact Rosemary and she'll tell you if I'm okay. Afterall, she is my bestest friend :) She'll freak out about me even suggesting not being able to be on PNN.
Until then, I'll keep the blogs rolling!




