I don’t think that I will ever get use to having to take medication everyday. Gone are the days of forgetting to take something and the worst side effect is having some heartburn or getting pregnant! But, Take away an organ and that little pink pill rules your world..
I take my pill at 3am. Mainly because I am still on the calcium ritual (another new daily mantra), but also because I figure that I will always remember. right?? WRONG!!! I do get up in the night to go pee (yea…40’s) so I place it beside my night side table, and almost always take it as soon as I get up. A couple times, I have forgotten to place it beside me, or knocked it down while I was sleeping (im a restless sleeper).. When you forget your thyroid meds…. you feel it!! Thanks to the memory loss that accompanies this thyroid conundrum, sometimes I forget whether or not I took it and in case I did and just forgot.. I wait until the next night.. 1 thing to miss a dose, another to over dose on it..
Some mornings I get so annoyed that I have to take it everyday, I curse everyone that had anything to do with the surgery under my breath.. swears, curses and threats.. somehow that makes me feel a little better.. then I take my pill..
Because of the issue with my parathyroids, I also have to still take a ton of extra calcium.. The parathyroid (PTH) glands regulate the calcium production in your body
PTH controls calcium and phosphorus levels in the blood. … If the blood calcium level is too low, the parathyroid glands release more PTH. This causes the bones to release more calcium into the blood and reduces the amount of calcium released by the kidneys into the urine.
When the calcium gets low in your body, the warning signs are pins and needles in hands, feet, around mouth and tingling in the lips…also facial spasms, hand spasms, possibly seizures or death if it gets too low.. my current calcium replacement is a daily pill (surprise surprise), liquid calcium (tastes like liquid chalky dimetapp) and lots of tums throughout the day.. sometimes I take almost 20 tums in 1 day to keep the pins and needles at bay.. Eventually I am told that this will fix itself, when that lonely parathyroid gland wakes up. Easy eh?? Also, with Synthroid, you cant have calcium within a 4 hour window of taking it.. So that is why I figured the easiest way to take my thyroid med would be at night… no calcium is taken and I dont have to time anything..
What happens if you take calcium right after thyroid meds??? Your meds just bind up in your body and aren’t released properly.. My pharmacist told me that my #1 priority should be making sure my calcium is always being taken, then we can make sure the thyroid meds are on the up and up.. its alot of juggling.. not to mention the dosing.. I am not even getting into that part.. that I a mess all on its own..
so going back to the question…Can you live without a thyroid??? With Medication yes.. but is it as simple as just a pill a day??? God no!!! Nothing has been simple these days… If there is any question about having to have your thyroid removed… I would suggest in all honesty….. get all the facts and make sure it is an absolute last resort…
I agree with you. I had my thyroid removed in 2013 and I still struggle with trying to get the levels right. Apparently there are some people who do just fine by taking one little pill a day and then there are the rest of us. I can relate to the resentment of having to take the pill as well. I wish I hadn’t had my thyroid removed and that I didn’t have to take the meds but, all I can do is work hard to accept things as they are. One thing I would suggest is getting one of those weekly pill boxes (I know), and putting it by your bed with each days dose loaded in it. Then you don’t have to rely on your memory to tell if you took it or not. Take care.
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