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In Remembrance
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Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,002
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In Remembrance
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,002
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Quote:
Originally Posted by johannakat
Happy-
No one is saying that TOS and thyroid are related as one entity.
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Also, with all of the possible conditions out there - cancer, IBS, diabetes, etc. There ARE certain ones that seem to come up before, during or after our TOS diagnosis. We don't all have allergies, for instance. We don't all have spine disease or arthritis or RA. We don't all have cancers, or heart conditions. (My heart is perfect per my docs...)(Which is also not to say that TOS doesn't affects vascular systems.) But a couple of things keep coming up, and we note them. We discuss them. Thyroid, depression...these are a couple that can make TOS much worse... We LIVE this, so with all due respect, we do and will connect the dots, as many of us are extremely well-educated, enough so to read and comprehend an enormous amount of medical literature.
There ARE related body systems when discussing the autonomic nervous system and digestion, for instance, (I hope I'm saying this right), and sometimes IBS predates or postdates the TOS for the reason that the damaged nervous system is not signalling to urinate or release / digest the colon.
Hashi's I believe is waaaay too prevalent in our community to be a mere coincidence with gender and age as you assert. Thanks for the middle-aged woman jab, but I've got a little bit of sense by now, too...haha. (I was diagnosed with Hashi's at about 33, had it for years prior, and did not get or have TOS until end of age 42. Are they connected? Not directly.
But it is something we've noted that we have a LOT of, and, as already succinctly stated, any thyroid issues must be identified and fixed or they can be miscontrued as TOS symptoms or make the TOS worse.)
I can say my doseage of synthroid was "x" for about 8 years with regular maintenance testing, and when I got TOS, they had to quadruple it to get it to level properly again.
TOS is a complex disease...The nervous system, and neurological aspect of it are farther-reaching than most "ortho-hand" docs are willing to realize.
No one has EVER said TOS caused Hashi's, or vice-versa, or even has made a statement of a direct causation here that I have read.
But, being that our condition is rare, and that in my case, not a single of the 28 doctors agreed on much of anything, I sit as a scientist searching for my own treatments, therapies, health regimens and hope for a return to regular, functioning society.
Just as an aside, your Dr. Brantigan is not without his great breadth of thought on TOS and its reach...may I offer that when I saw him, he explained to me that I had TOS, but also had a debilitating immunological condition that most likely would not show up on testing nor have a name - he said there a many of these unnamed illnesses yet to be discovered. He refused surgery on me, due to the unknown aspect of his suspicions. Dr. Annest went ahead with surgery, and although I am still in horrificpain most of the time, it did help in other ways. I respect Dr. B. very much.
Lastly, I get tired of hearing that TOS is a MIDDLE AGED Womens' disease...it just isn't anymore. If you had come to my home, you would have seen several very young women there. I think that my TOS and others' was caused by overwork on the computer, and now, that can hit young women in highschool or college. That does not count those who get TOS via catastrophic accident. 
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