↓
 
Some posts contain affiliate links, marked with an asterisk *
Daily Journal with Mitochondrial Myopathy

Day by Day with a Movement Disorder

My Journey with a Mitochondrial Disease - "But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." Isaiah 40:31 KJV

  • About Me – My MITO Story
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us
Home→Tags thyroid

Diagnosis in 2006 - Parkinson's Disease and Peripheral Neuropathy, then in 2007 - Essential Myoclonus. Finally in 2011, after a muscle biopsy, I was diagnosed with Mitochondrial Myopathy as well as Peripheral Neuropathy.

Share my journey - coping with the testing, the medicines, nutrition, digestion problems, exercise, the emotions, uncertain diagnoses and no telling what else!

Tag Archives: thyroid

Still Being Poked, but Optimistic

Day by Day with a Movement Disorder Posted on September 7, 2011 by DBMay 18, 2016 4

Well, I was hoping to wait until I had something definite to add, but it looks like that’s not going to happen any time soon. Since I’ve written last I’ve had two more sets of liver enzyme tests with varying results, but still high. I’ve been to the Endocrinologist, and he’s run all the thyroid tests again and done an ultrasound of my thyroid.  He is satisfied that all is normal there. The liver biopsy results came back normal. So far so good.

But, I asked at my last Gastro visit if muscle atrophy could cause the liver enzyme numbers to be high, based on some information I found on the internet. So he added a Creatine Kinase test to the orders for the liver function panel, and the CK numbers were elevated. I’m not sure yet what that means, as I’m having a routine colonoscopy this week and won’t see my Gastro again until the followup appointment for that.

I’ve decided that the variation in AST and ALT numbers I keep getting is determined by how much walking I’ve done prior to the test. When I had to walk a long way to the lab the numbers have been higher than when it was close by. I really do think all the abnormal numbers have something to do with whatever is making my walking so labored and oddly gaited.

I have a feeling I won’t get any answers until I see the Neuromuscular Movement Disorder Specialist at UAB in October. But at least we’ve ruled out several things that could have caused this weakness.

I’ve finally reached a point that I’m no longer worried about them finding some horrible something wrong with me, and I’m very thankful for that. I am not as weak as I was back in March when this all started, and I’m VERY thankful for that. I feel good enough to have made a dent in the backlog of work that accumulated when I was so very weak, and that helps my outlook, too.

I’m thankful to God that most of the scariest possibilities have been ruled out, and I’m no longer anxious about the final results of all this testing.

Posted in Tests | Tagged Creatine Kinase, difficulty walking, Endocrinologist, gait, liver biopsy, liver enzymes, MDS, Movement Disorder, Neurological Disease, thyroid, weakness | 4 Replies

Liver Test Results Still Abnormal = Liver Biopsy

Day by Day with a Movement Disorder Posted on July 21, 2011 by DBMay 18, 2016 7

My liver enzymes tests came back abnormal again, higher than they have been, so I had a liver biopsy this morning. It will take about a week to get the results.

We had read online about what the procedure would be like, but what they actually did was a good bit different. And I’m still hurting, although not as bad as I was right afterwards. I’m still not able to take a full breath without a sharp pain at the entry point. If feels like I’m getting stabbed every time I inhale with any breath that’s not shallow. Morphine and Lortab barely cut it at the hospital, and they’ve long since worn off. I don’t want to take Tylenol, as I think it would be a waste of time. If I’m still hurting this much tomorrow, I’ll call my Gastro and ask for a prescription.

I’m guessing that my diaphragm is having myoclonic jerks from the irritation to the nerves in the diaphragm. And of course I’m not taking any Myoclonus meds now.

We’re praying that the results of this procedure will give a definitive answer as to whether or not I have any kind of liver damage. Reading all the side effects that the various meds I’ve been on and off for the last six years, it wouldn’t be too surprising if I had Drug Induced Liver Disease. Or it could be Fatty Liver Disease, as I used to weigh 182 pounds. I’m a small boned 5 foot 2 inch lady, so I was way overweight up until about a year ago.

My Neuro is waiting for all these liver tests to be dealt with before he will proceed with referring me back to the Movement Disorder Specialist at UAB. He’s the Head of Neurology there at one of the best diagnostic hospitals in the USA. He’s the one who gave the dx of Essential Myoclonus. But now I’m not jerking and almost too weak to walk.

I also have an Endocrinologist appointment next month. So I’ll see him, if the liver biopsies come back as normal, to check for thyroid problems.

Dr. House, Where ARE you???????

Please keep us and my doctors in your prayers. We need an answer.

Posted in Tests | Tagged Drug Induced Liver Disease, Endocrinologist, Essential Myoclonus, Fatty Liver Disease, Gastroenterologist, jerks, liver biopsy, liver enzymes, Movement Disorder, pain, prayer, thyroid | 7 Replies

Limbo Land is No Fun!

Day by Day with a Movement Disorder Posted on June 24, 2011 by DBMay 21, 2016 4

Well, the blood test came back normal, as did the Jolly test. I’m still having all the same weakness, gait problems, and hoarseness, though. From what I’ve been able to research on Google, neither of these tests is totally reliable, so I’m not ready to breathe a sigh of relief just yet.

I have asked that my Neuro refer me to a particular Endocrinologist, though, so maybe I can get an appointment with him next week. Well, I mean get the authority to make an appointment next week. No telling how long I’ll have to wait to actually SEE him.

Hubby and I are hoping I turn out to be Hypothyroid, as all my symptoms fit that disorder, and our daughter takes medication for it. All my thyroid tests were normal, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have a thyroid disorder. THAT would be easy to fix with medication, so we’re hoping that’s it.

I’ve all but quit jerking, too, even though I cut the Primidone from 3 at a time to 2 at a time, so I lowered it to one tablet morning and night yesterday, and I’m still not jerking. Very weird.

It sure would be nice and neat if medical tests were 100% accurate in every case, but this is real life. There are always exceptions.

Posted in Tests | Tagged balance, blood tests, difficulty walking, Essential Myoclonus, hoarseness, Hypothyroid, jerks, myoclonus, Primidone, thyroid, weakness | 4 Replies

Jerking Has Been Much Worse

Day by Day with a Movement Disorder Posted on November 16, 2010 by DBMay 17, 2016  

I’ve postponed writing about the increase in my jerks and twitches over the last few months, hoping that it was due to more stress than usual and would go away on its own. But it hasn’t. I called my Neurologist about a month ago to let him know that I was getting worse, and his nurse called back to tell me to increase my dose of Primidone to 2 pills twice a day. I did that for a couple of weeks, with no help at all, so I called back. This time he said to take 3 pills twice a day. Well, that didn’t help, either.

So I called the other day to see what he’d suggest, and I went to see him today. He’s added Neurontin (Gabapentin) to my 3 at a time Primidone dose to see if that helps. He asked me if I had ever been on it, and I couldn’t remember that I had. It wasn’t until I just now did some Googling for Neurontin and Essential Myoclonus that some of my old posts on this blog popped up. I have been on it before, and I had really bad nightmare problems with it, and it didn’t help with the jerks, either. Since I will be in his office building tomorrow, while I’m there I’ll see if he wants to try something else instead.

I had shared some very disturbing to me loss of memory incidences of late, so he has scheduled an MRI for tomorrow. He also had some blood drawn to check for thyroid problems and B12 levels. I’ll probably get those results later on this week. I can’t imagine that my B12 would be low, considering what we eat, but a thyroid problem is certainly a possibility.

The jerks are nerve wracking for me and worrying my dear sweet hubby, so I pray that the added medicine will help. I pray that the blood tests and MRI will help my doctor decide what might be going on with my memory. It may just be a side effect of the very medicines that help me to have a good Quality of Life in other ways. Primidone is one of the ones I take that can cause memory problems, and I’m now on 3 times as much as I was originally taking! And the Triavil I take at night helps to keep my digestive system behaving itself. And he named one other prescription I was on that could cause memory loss, but I forgot which one he said. (ironic?)

Posted in Symptoms | Tagged blood tests, brain fog, Essential Myoclonus, Gabapentin, jerks, memory, MRI, Neurontin, Primidone, Quality of Life, thyroid, tics, twitches | Leave a reply

Recent Posts

  • Mitochondrial Disease Treatment in Phase 3 Trial October 21, 2019
  • God’s Healing Sunlight March 31, 2018
  • Immune System Issues, Slowly Recuperating January 25, 2018
  • Flu Shot? Yes or No? December 20, 2017
  • Nutrition Information Sources December 14, 2017

Archives

Tags

balance blood glucose brain fog care giving depression diabetes diagnosis diet difficulty walking elimination difficulties Essential Myoclonus exercise exhaustion Friday Date Day gait gas Gastroenterologist GERD God insomnia MITO Mitochondrial Myopathy Movement Disorder muscle spasms nausea Neurologist nutrition pain Parkinson's peripheral neuropathy Physical Therapy prayer prescriptions Primidone PWP Quality of Life Requip Sinemet Sleep Apnea stomach stress symptoms tremors weakness Zelepar

Our Websites

  • Dirty Butter – Cherished Memories Dirty Butter – Cherished Memories
  • Dirty Butter Plush Animal Shoppe Dirty Butter Plush Animal Shoppe
  • Plush Memories Lost Toy Search Service Plush Memories Lost Toy Search Service
  • Yesterday's Memories Yesterday's Memories

Blog Friends

  • A Catholic Life – A Family Dealing with MITO
  • Anuket's Crusade
  • Baby Food Steps
  • Gilbert Guide Blog
  • Gimp Parade
  • GodsPlans
  • Leafing
  • Life According to Liz
  • Life with Shaky
  • Living in the Slow Lane
  • Mito Families!
  • Mozart Movement
  • My Father's Hand
  • My Life as a Mighty Mito Mama
  • My Own Arcadia – Spanish Language Blog with Parkinson's Information
  • Parkinson's Straight from the Horse's Mouth
  • Parkinsonism – Road to Diagnosis
  • Patients Like Me (All Kinds of Diseases)
  • PD Plus Me
  • Princess Leah Diaries
  • Shake, Rattle, and Roll
  • Taking Baby(food) Steps
  • Today with Pokie Too and PD
  • Wheelie Catholic
  • YOPD

Mitochondrial Myopathy Resources

  • Correcting Human Mitochondrial Mutations
  • mitoACTION
  • Mitochondria Research Society
  • Mitochondrial Bottleneck Cracked
  • Mitochondrial Cytopathy in Adults
  • Mitochondrial Myopathy Disease Foundation
  • Mitochondrial Vitamin Cocktail – A Guide for Patients
  • Muscular Dystrophy Association
  • NIH – Monkey DNA Swap May Block Mitochondrial Disease
  • Overview of MELAS
  • Research Match
  • Scientific American Article about Using Glutathione as a Marker
  • UAB Researchers Explore the Mystery of Mitochondria
  • When Cells Face an Energy Crisis

Nutrition Resources

  • Keto Calculator
  • Ketogenic Diet Resources
  • Maria Mind Body Health
  • Treating Constipation without Destroying Your Gut

Products I Use

  • RubyLux NIR-A Infrared Bulb
  • The Energy Blueprint
  • Satori Qigong Flow Form

Parkinson's Disease Resources

  • Parkinson's and Movement Disorders Center
  • The Brain from Top to Bottom

Peripheral Neuropathy Resources

  • About.com Guide to Peripheral Neuropathy
  • An Algorithm for the Evaluation of Peripheral Neuropathy
  • Brain Tumor Dictionary
  • Charcot-Marie-Tooth Association CMTA
  • How to Choose and Use a Walker
  • Jack Miller Center for Peripheral Neuropathy
  • Peripheral Neuropathy Fact Sheet

Radial Neuropathy Resources

  • The Wrist Drop of Saturday Night

Subcribe to Our Feed

©2022 - Day by Day with a Movement Disorder - Weaver Xtreme Theme Privacy Policy
↑
Translate »