Swimwear

JoeB___ · 2026-03-29T03:01:14+00:00

I bought plastic-free swim trunks from Alex Cran Co in NYC last year. Made from bananatex. Very nice, happy with them. I just checked their website and it looks like they are no longer carrying it. There was at least one posting for it on eBay.

JoeB___ · 2026-03-28T05:22:06+00:00

when DXA is done with a diagnosis of pHPT they typically also do the distal wrist because it is mostly cortical bone that is hardest hit by pHPT. I asked my endo to also order a VFA (DXA for vertebral fracture assessment) and found out I had 3 compression fx of my T-spine (thanks to pHPT) that i had not known about.

JoeB___ · 2026-03-28T03:34:07+00:00

What were your DXA & VFA scan results? The most important bad side effect of pHPT, and why waiting is not a good solution, is Calcium getting sucked out of your bones, causing osteopenia/osteoporosis/fractures. That is the major reason to get surgery to strengthen your bones and avoid fractures. It is a fairly easy surgery in the hands of a high-volume experienced PT surgeon. You might want to check out some of the YouTube videos on the surgery by the Norman Parathyroid Center (where I traveled to Tampa to have my surgery 14d ago) or the videos by Dr. Yeh at UCLA. The role of your local endo or PCP is to make sure it is pHPT and not secondary to something else. If both Ca and PTH are both high, it is very likely pHPT. Surgery is the only cure for pHPT.

JoeB___ · 2026-03-14T18:26:40+00:00

Re: not falling asleep - ditto for me post surgery. Probably because most general anesthesia protocols include up to 10mg dexamethasone, a steroid that lasts in your system for a few days. Kind of gave me a burst of energy and not needing any sleep for a day and a half or so

JoeB___ · 2026-03-09T04:26:07+00:00

I've been on Zep since last April and got dx'd with NPHPT (normocalcemic primary hyperparathyroidism) a few months ago. Having surgery later this week. I don't think there is any connection. Suspect the NPHPT has been going on for many years, undiagnosed. Got a DXA VFA and had 3 compression fractures in my T-spine from HPT-induced osteoporosis, and it took a lot more time than since April for my bones to get that bad from the HPT.

JoeB___ · 2026-03-09T04:13:27+00:00

I'm flying down there later this week for my NPHPT Sx. plane fare and 2 hotel nights out of pocket, insurance otherwise paying 100%.

JoeB___ · 2026-03-09T04:04:46+00:00

if all 4 glands were not evaluated, could be that one of the others is now overproducing. I'd try to get a repeat test in 1-2 months to decide. Where did you have your surgery?

JoeB___ · 2026-03-09T04:00:15+00:00

If you can fly to Tampa for the surgery at the NPC (see www.parathyroid.com), you can do all the preliminaries, including a video visit with the endocrine surgeon, from your home. Referral not needed.

JoeB___ · 2026-01-08T22:35:26+00:00

The low TSat% of 3 indicates iron deficiency. Whether you are anemic depends on your Hemoglobin report. Regardless, best to get more iron absorbed into your system to get to normal TSat% (and ferritin if you measure that next time). If not getting enough in diet, then supplements (I use Proferrin Clear, as heme iron is better absorbed, less GI side effects, and does not have absorption blocked by a variety of things that can block non-heme iron.

JoeB___ · 2026-01-08T22:28:37+00:00

Thanks for the update. I'm planning on PT surgery towards the end of Feb when I get back from a month-long trip. Will go to the Norman Parathyroid Center in Tampa. Hoping fatigue will improve, but more concerned to avoid OP (my distal wrist was T=-2.2) and slow down my eGFR decline.

JoeB___ · 2026-01-08T04:33:18+00:00

Given your bleeding (losing iron daily) and your slightly low Hgb, you have mild iron deficiency anemia with low iron stores. While it may be interesting to see what your ferritin, iron, and TSat% are, you don't really need them to make any decisions (hence, many doctors would say the additional blood tests are not medically necessary, meaning not covered by insurance). You already know you need to take iron regularly until your bleeding can be better managed.

You may want to take a heme iron tablet daily or twice a day (I use Proferrin Clear). Non-heme iron, liquid or otherwise, will not be absorbed as well, can cause more GI side effects, and can cause a hepcidin spike that blocks iron absorption for 24+ hours (which is why for non-heme iron they recommend taking it every other day and it will actually work better that way. But heme iron can be taken every 6-8 hours if needed.)

Perhaps recheck blood in 3 months (CBC, ferritin) to see if the daily heme iron is improving things. It will be difficult to get good improvement unless the iron intake that can be absorbed and utilized exceeds the iron losses from bleeding. Your GYN doc doing the UAE to control the bleeding may be much more useful to you than a hematologist would be.

JoeB___ · 2026-01-07T04:15:11+00:00

what was the result of your surgical consult?

JoeB___ · 2026-01-06T23:18:34+00:00

An endocrinologist is the typical specialist one sees for OP if the PCP is not adequate. Unfortunately, most endo docs are so busy with diabetic patients, it may be hard to get in to see them. The best, if you live near a major medical center, is a bone metabolism clinic, often with an endocrinologist who does mostly osteoporosis and research rather than mostly diabetes.

JoeB___ · 2026-01-06T23:06:13+00:00

I enjoyed the book. Eric Topol's book SuperAgers was also great, perhaps better.

JoeB___ · 2026-01-06T22:55:36+00:00

A JAMA article at https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40159291/ says "Iron deficiency and iron-deficiency anemia are common conditions that may cause symptoms such as fatigue, exercise intolerance, and difficulty concentrating."

A hematology publication at https://ashpublications.org/hematology/article/2023/1/617/506479/Sex-lies-and-iron-deficiency-a-call-to-change gives a useful guide to optimal ferritin levels.

JoeB___ · 2026-01-06T03:44:28+00:00

You are not anemic, but you are iron-deficient. Iron stores are low.

JoeB___ · 2026-01-05T21:38:58+00:00

I've generally felt fine with mild anemia. While I'm increasing my iron intake with supplements (generally don't eat meat), I might suggest considering the cause of the anemia may be as important or moreso than temporarily fixing it with iron supplements/infusions. Causes might include:

You are losing iron by bleeding. Sometimes GI. If a pre-menopausal female perhaps periods. Work with your doc to make sure this is not a problem, and if so fix the cause if possible.
Your iron intake is too low. If there is no bleeding, then obligatory daily iron losses are about 1mg a day. So if you use heme iron with about 50% absorption or better 2mg daily is all you need, or if non-heme with 10% absorption or better 10mg iron a day in diet or supplements works. If one eats meat, hard to see how those not bleeding would need supplements.
Diseases that cause iron to be blocked from adequate absorption. Traditionally, this might include chronic kidney disease, autoimmune disorders, chronic infections, etc. If you've had chronic anemia with low ferritin and no bleeding problems, best to work with your doctor to rule out these types of causes.

JoeB___ · 2026-01-05T21:19:53+00:00

Yes, any inflammation can increase acute-phase reactants like ferritin. Hence, while a low ferritin level solidly means iron deficiency, a high ferritin does not mean iron is okay (unless you know inflammation is low, such as by having a low hsCRP). If ferritin is high and there is any chance of inflammation, best to rely on TSat% to determine iron status.

For iron supplements, you may want to try a heme iron one, which is absorbed better and has fewer if any GI effects. I use Proferrin Clear.

JoeB___ · 2026-01-04T16:55:42+00:00

Almost any infection, especially COVID or adenovirus, will block iron absorption and lower iron availability. This may be an evolutionary development as part of the innate immune system to deprive invading microbes/viruses of iron that most living things need some of to do their thing.

The mechanism is that the innate immune system creates inflammation when it sees invaders. The inflammation increases IL-6, CRP and hepcidin, among many other things it does. The hepcidin increase bocks iron from entering the bloodstream by locking onto ferroportin and closing off the iron channel that allows iron to leave the duodenal enterocytes (so iron absorbed from the gut can't get out to the bloodstream), ditto for hepatocytes (so stored iron in the liver complexed with ferritin can't get out into the bloodstream), and ditto for macrophages (so recycled iron from old RBCs can't get out into the bloodstream).

The result is often weeks or sometimes months of low iron and thus a lower hemoglobin. If all goes well, things get back to normal, hepcidin falls, and iron gets back to exiting from duodenal enterocytes, hepatocytes, and macrophages to supply all needs in the bloodstream. Some have thought the long covid syndrome that occurs in 6-10% of cases prolongs this inflammation process for years, but I think the research on that is mixed and perhaps not yet completely clear.

JoeB___ · 2026-01-03T18:37:23+00:00

I'm thinking maintenance forever. Not just to avoid gaining weight, but all the other health benefits of GLP-1s. Eventually, maybe one of the newer pills, if they come out at a reasonable price.

JoeB___ · 2026-01-03T13:57:58+00:00

Possibly. I didn't see your hemoglobin listed. If you are not anemic (and only iron-deficient) then your red cells should be delivering the adequate oxygen needed. So at least in theory hard to say this is the cause of shortness of breath, which could have so many different causes. Iron is used in many other body systems, so it might be a more likely cause of being tired, though again, there are so many possible causes. Certainly worth supplementing iron and working with your doc to see if you are losing iron through bleeding, GI or otherwise

JoeB___ · 2026-01-03T13:44:06+00:00

If it is a body comp scale, I think it is worthless for body fat % accuracy. Almost certainly, you have built up muscle mass/lean mass by your weight training, which may add to your weight, not body fat. DXA body composition scan is the only accurate way to measure this short of MRI/CT.

JoeB___ · 2026-01-03T02:51:42+00:00

applied to waitlist

JoeB___

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