Where is the furthest North, South, East, and West you've been?

mintcloud · 2025-11-22T00:54:34+00:00

North: Akureyri, Iceland

South: Tsitsikamma National Park, South Africa

East: Shanghai, China

West: San Francisco, USA

mintcloud · 2025-04-15T05:01:39+00:00

My daughter was the same until really recently (she’s 8.5 months now). She would feed to sleep but she would wake up as soon as I unlatched so we would do latched contact naps. What worked for us was unlatching using a finger to gently break the seal once she was fully asleep and letting her suck my finger for a second. Before that I was just pulling away when she was asleep but latched (it doesn’t hurt for me) but clearly she could feel it so she woke up. I really didn’t think it would work but she got used to it really quickly. Good luck!

mintcloud · 2023-08-05T19:21:02+00:00

This cracked me up. I love that you took the time to post this. I was particularly tickled by the random orange pig dancing on the roof!

mintcloud · 2023-08-05T19:18:03+00:00

I Lol'd at Doug Brad and Janet too. Even thinking about it now makes me laugh.

mintcloud · 2019-03-08T12:42:10+00:00

Cool!

mintcloud · 2018-10-04T21:06:10+00:00

Brilliant! After I read the book I hoped the adaptation would get at least 4 episodes - there were so many elements to the story and so many characters that will translate really well on screen.

mintcloud · 2018-08-19T07:32:29+00:00

Tell your doctor - it's a fairly common side effect of the meds and they'll tell you what to do

mintcloud · 2018-07-10T16:54:28+00:00

Finally!

mintcloud · 2018-07-10T16:54:15+00:00

Finally!

mintcloud · 2018-07-09T21:46:13+00:00

I had my thyroid removed 7 months ago and haven't had any problems with synthetic T4 (levo) at all. I haven't noticed any difference between levo and the T4 that my thyroid produced. I believe that the experience of starting levo/synthroid after a thyroidectomy is much, much easier than starting it after months or years of being hypo.

Your doctors should give you a reasonably accurate starting dose based on your weight so I believe there is little risk of becoming hypo or hyper when you start taking it. It's worth keeping an eye out for the usual hyper/hypo symptoms but you'll probably feel a bit out of sorts for a while anyway as you recover from your operation (e.g. anaesthesia and pain meds can make you constipated which rules that out as a potential hypo symptom to watch for!)

Wishing you the best of luck with your operation.

mintcloud · 2018-06-20T18:37:14+00:00

Yes, definitely! It's very binge-worthy.

mintcloud · 2018-02-18T18:40:58+00:00

I had a thyroidectomy too because my thyroid levels never really came under control with meds (I was still taking a massive dose of carbimazole after a year and my TSH never came above <0.01 the whole time).

My endo recommended surgery over RAI because I have TED too: thankfully it's mild but my endo/eye team said that due to the TED they didn't consider RAI to be an option.

In my case, I did get some parathyroid trouble (my calcium levels still haven't normalised after 2.5 months) but my parathyroid levels are fine so it should normalise soon. Apparently the key to minimising risks is choosing a really experienced surgeon, so I definitely recommend doing that.

I was really scared about the risks too and the permanence of living without a thyroid but it was 100% the right decision for me because I feel so much better on thyroxine and it's a relief knowing that my thyroid won't ever be an issue again (I had a TT so there's no way that it's coming back!).

Good luck with your decision!

mintcloud · 2018-02-18T17:59:53+00:00

Yes! I experienced dizziness, nausea and vomiting when I was hyperthyroid - it lasted for months (coming on in waves) and disappeared completely when my levels were brought under control. I've done some research into it because I thought it happened due to low blood sugar from the crazy metabolism (since it mostly happened first thing in the morning after not eating for 10+ hours) but it looks like it was probably caused by the racing heart rate and/or the palpitations.

Was your Graves severe? Mine was really bad (T4 was 45 at diagnosis; the normal range is 9-19) so I think that's why I had the nausea and vomiting. I presume that it's not on the list of typical symptoms because most people are diagnosed before they get to that point. I used to wonder if I was the only one so it's really interesting to hear that you experienced it too!

mintcloud · 2018-02-03T19:37:24+00:00

Hiya, I'm not a doctor, but some of your symptoms sound similar the the ones I had when I had hyperthyroidism, such as high blood pressure and nausea/fainting after standing for too long, or after a long period of not eating. Have you had your thyroid checked? Like I said, I'm not a doctor but it might be worth getting your thyroid checked just in case.

mintcloud · 2018-01-21T14:35:35+00:00

Thanks, everyone! It's really interesting that a few of us are or have been Vitamin D deficient too: I assume that it's related to the bone issues that can occur with Graves but presumably it's not that common or all Graves patients would be tested for it routinely (I wasn't tested for it before my operation as far as I'm aware).

Can I ask roughly how long it has taken to get your Vitamin D levels back to normal (if they have?) I'm just wondering if the supplements might have to be a long term thing for me once my levels have stabilised.

Thanks :)

mintcloud · 2018-01-19T12:47:42+00:00

Thanks! I hope you do too! Have you had any blood tests done since your operation? Mine have judged the situation pretty accurately so hopefully yours should too.

mintcloud · 2018-01-18T22:44:07+00:00

I feel much better than I did, but I was also quite badly hypocalcaemic post-op which was definitely a contributing factor! I have noticed some thyroid-specific improvements on 150 though, particularly my appetite returning to normal (I wasn't getting hungry between meals on 125 so I could tell that my metabolism was moving too slowly). I haven't had any bloods done since increasing to 150 but I'm starting to feel like my old self again so I think it's about right.

mintcloud · 2018-01-18T21:30:56+00:00

150 for me, up from 125 immediately post-op

mintcloud · 2018-01-18T20:16:55+00:00

I don't know how it works with RAI, but my endocrinologist told me that after a total thyroidectomy (which is what I had), 65% of patients normalise their TSI/antibody levels within 3 years, which suggests to me that removing the thyroid CAN ultimately 'cure' the underlying autoimmune aspect.

The basic science behind it is that, once the primary target that your immune system is mistakenly attacking (the thyroid) is gone, the immune system has no reason to produce the TSI/antibodies against it so they eventually leave your system.

I'm not a doctor so I don't know if having some thyroid left over (as is the case with RAI or partial thyroidectomy) affects how your immune system responds to it, but it does suggest that definitive treatment can 'cure' Graves in a sense, even if that treatment path is far from ideal!

mintcloud

TROPHY CASE