"HYPO HELL"

Today is day 9 on withdrawl from the temporary thyroid they had put me on. Day 30 off of the regular one. The difference is the regular one stays in your system for a long time and the temprary doesn't.

 So, what is happening? My body is without any thyroid horomone.The symptoms have started with a numb, puffy, fat face, neck and eyes, very foggy thoughts, PAIN in my calves, feet, arms, hands, neck and head. I'm very tired and very weak. Unfortunately this is going to get worse before it gets better. The very worst will be closer to my I-131 Radio Active Iodine (RAI) treatment on April 10th.
 
As the withdrawal continues, my finger nails and hair will constantly split and break. I will become noticeably short-tempered and temperature intolerant. My whole body will have numbness throughout and limbs will go to sleep when bent or pressed and even for no reason at all. My arms/fingers will be the worst when typing as I rest my arms on the desk and keyboard. My thoughts will be slower and lacking comprehension. My desire to do will be there but the ability to do will not. Even just a smile will feel funny. Walking on tingling feet will hurt and sitting will be uncomfortable no matter the position.


People will see me in a daze and wonder why I look lost. I will pause and have to gather my thoughts to be able to answer questions that normally would require no thought. I may say or ask things twice without remembering that I had. I will not recall where things are placed. Basically, my overall whole body will function slow or delayed. (Already there!) 


During this time, I also have to remove all iodine from my body. The low/no iodine diet stinks! Here's the diet in a nutshell: no iodized salt, no dairy, no egg yolks, no sea food, no soy, no red dye/coloring, no chocolate, no molasses, no processed food, and no restaurants. 

 April 6th, I will go in to the Nucleur Medicine Department and they will give me a trace dose of the I-131 (RAI) On April 10th I will go in for a Whole Body Scan and depending on how much thyroid tissue (cancer) shows up and if and where it has spread, will determine how much of the BIG Whole Body Dose they will give me. I will now be at my lowest point and I swallow a radioactive iodine pill that lets me light up like a Christmas tree. I then go into isolation for several days so that I don't radiate anyone. I will have a follow up scan on the 18th to see if the radiation is doing it's job. Somewhere at this point I get to start eating normal again.

This is what they call HYPO-HELL and now I know what they are talking about. If you see me around you will know why I have puffy eyes, puffy cheeks and a puffy half smile. I look and feel like I have the flu but I'm not contagious.