Observations after a few days of shots, more acupuncture, and more thyroid confusion

Acupuncture and thyroid matters

Yesterday my acupuncturist did the Four Gates again, plus some points on my lower belly.  It’s time to grow some really good eggs and build a comfortable fluffy endometrium.

(This is one of the Four Gates points. The other three would be the same point on the other hand and the similar spots on both feet.)

I told her about my recent TSH news — that my new number was lower than the first, but that the original normal range the nurse practitioner had provided was incorrect.  In fact American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists had narrowed the range back in 2002 and the top number is now 3.04.  My second number was 3.19. My acupuncturist, who is pretty up on these things, hadn’t heard about the new range. I told her that Dr. K had said that my clinic followed that new range.  But my acupuncturist told me that another one of her patients went to Dr. A, also at my clinic, and he only medicated her for thyroid after her 4th miscarriage, even though her TSH was over 4. All this makes me paranoid about them being slow about medicating women for thyroid problems. I will be ultra vigilant about this and ask for more info when I go in for my first ultrasound.

Shots: are they working or not?

The first few days of the shots I thought I was feeling some action in the ovarian region, but now I am not so sure.  Certainly I feel like there was MORE action at this point during the last IVF. I guess that is not surprising given that I’m now on the other side of 40 and I started with fewer follicles than last time. It’s hard not to compare one cycle to another. I just did my 4th dose of gonadotrophins about an hour ago.

And more thyroid angst

Also today I found out that my T3 is high but my T4 is right in the middle of the normal range. I’ve tried doing searches on this, but high T3 indicates hyperthyroid, while my high TSH indicates hypothyroid.  I only found this out after looking for information about it on the Web.  I went around and around with the nurse about it what it means and whether I should be medicated (she said that the doctor said no) but finally gave up and thanked her for calling me with the results. I will ask the doctor about it when I have my first ultrasound. I don’t know yet when that might be. Maybe Thursday, maybe Friday.

A peek under the hood

But by tomorrow afternoon the first data will be in about how it is all working when we get the first E2 blood test results. Believe it or not, I’m really not obsessing about this cycle very much. There are so many other things going on to distract me.

For example, we took Jack to his well baby pediatrician appointment tonight and managed to entertain him in a small room until the assistant came in to take all his measurements. He is in the 45th percentile for height, the 65th for weight and right in the middle for head circumference. He was developmentally right on for everything.  His pediatrician is such a nice, laid back kind of guy.  But then the assistant gave Jack four shots, including a flu shot. That part kind of sucked a lot.  But I worry a lot about Jack getting the flu and being very sick. I’m glad that this is available to help prevent that from happening.

I told Jack, hey, if it makes you feel any better, Mommy is getting some shots later, too.  He wasn’t impressed.

Comments

[Aurelia]

Hmm, maybe thyroiditis? Or just a weird result from the hormone changes going on with the drugs you are taking?
The good thing is that you can keep getting blood levels checked during egg retrieval and later during implantation and after. If you need treatment for hypo, thats easy. Hyper is a little harder, but still doable during pregnancy. You might need a specialist consult during pregnancy, but lots of women do okay, really.

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