u/Dependent_Occasion58

My husband is currently meeting with doctors about options and the main difference that’s making him confused is salvage options. We are aware that after surgery, radiation is a salvage option, and more surgery is also possible.

We also know that surgery after radiation is difficult. What are the salvage options after the initial period of radiation? More/different radiation? Especially interested in hearing from folks who’ve needed more treatment after the initial round of radiation and hormone therapy.

I used to take Tirosint with Cytomel 5mcg twice a day. While I was on that, I felt pretty good and my TSH was nicely suppressed and stable. We reduced the dose to once a day because I had heart palpitations and then discontinued it because it is so fast acting that I was on a daily energy roller coaster. I’m thinking I need to go back to it and wondering what everyone else’s timing is for their T3 meds. I’m wondering if I can time 1 dose well enough or should split the dose into two and take less twice a day to avoid the heart problem and the roller coaster.

How often do you take T3 and at what time(s)? Do you notice the roller coaster effect when it wears off?

Even at my highest weight (360lbs/5’4”), I always had normal blood pressure. After being on Zep for 7 months and finally getting up to 10mg and staying there for a month or so, my BP was suddenly high (140s/100s) so we started a beta blocker. I took that for six months and now that I’m tapering my Zep, my BP is suddenly low (90s/60s with dizziness) so we are now tapering the beta blocker, as well.

I can’t find any literature on a correlation but I’m wondering if there is one, at least for me. My best guess is because Zep can increase the heart rate, which it definitely did in my case, maybe it inched my BP up with it and reducing the Zep dose eliminated my need for BP meds. Have any of you heard anything like this?

I just got back my labs ahead of my local endo visit next week. In March, my TSH was 0.6 and my thyroglobulin was 3.0 with negative antibodies. T3 and T4 both in the normal range. Now, T3 and T4 are about the same but TSH is 1.4 and Tg is 4.1. I haven’t changed dose or timing or anything else. No other weight or supplement changes either, so I just don’t get it.

MD Anderson visit is in July and they said they might order additional imagine based on what these results showed so now I’m freaking out about a (slow) upward trend appearing. I messaged them, so we’ll see what they say. My husband was just diagnosed with prostate cancer so the timing of a possible recurrence is just awful.

My husband (63) was diagnosed after a sudden jump in his PSA (went from 2.5 to 5.4 in a year). 11 out of 16 biopsy cores were positive for adenocarcinoma, which was surprising with a PSA still in the 5s. Gleason score was 7 (3+4). PET scan last week showed no mets but there is concern of micromets and unclear margins with that volume of disease in the prostate. The urologist recommended either surgery or radiation with hormone therapy and referred us to outside high-volume surgery and radiation oncology. The choice is ours. Obviously, we are trying to balance all the factors with all the side effects and I will let him decide which route he is most comfortable with because it’s his body. The surgeon consult is a month out which is making him nervous. The radiation consult is in 3 weeks.

The urologist said he wanted to keep moving quickly while it still appears to be contained and then handed the reins to us about the final treatment decision, once we meet with everyone and hear out the pros and cons. Are these normal timelines and how quickly does treatment start once a decision is made?