Greetings everyone! It's been awhile. I have some new news.
Eye Movement: Apparently my eyes are still on the move, as they have continued to move in and out but after a period of stability they're changing again. One eye receeded 1mm, the other eye moved outward 1mm. And the right eyelid is beginning to retract again, and this time, you can visibly tell.
For the longest time my right eye looked virtually normal, and only my eye specialist could tell there was the slightest hint of an issue with the lid retraction. But this past Tuesday when I met with him at the Kellogg Eye Center he informed me that my right eye had changed, noticeably this time. The fissure measurement, which measures total eye opening, has increased in my right eye. That's caused by the lid retraction.
In addition, the oil glands that surround my upper and lower eyelashes are plugged, which is causing Blepharitis which is a swelling/inflamation of the eyelid. My right eyelid is a bit swollen and you can visibly tell. He has me doing a warm compress in the morning and again at night, then pushing down on the upper lid with my fingers, and pushing upward on the lower eyelashes, to help secrete the oil from the now-warmed glands. And he also gave me a prescription eye ointment (Erythromycin, for use not as an antibiotic, but as an aid to open up the oil glands. (He explained it has this purpose beyond the antibiotic nature of the medicine.) Because of the lid retraction and the blocked glands, of course it's expected my eyes would become drier and they are. So I'm using my eye drops throughout the day to keep the eye surface comfortable.
Meanwhile, I saw my endocrinologist on Friday morning and had the usual tests for the TSH, T3 and T4. In addition, I'm having neck pain in the area of my thyroid gland. My doctor has asked me to have another ultrasound of my neck, which I'm going to have this Friday. I'll report back then. He also ordered a C Reactive protein test with the standard battery of blood tests to determine if there was any inflamation in my body (this test can't tell you where the inflamation is located, but it can be useful when done with other tests such as ultrasound where you're looking for something suspicious, or possibly inflamed.) Like the thyroid. I already know I have thyroid nodules, one is 3mm and the other is 5mm. So we'll be trying to determine if I have more, of if their size changed. Again, I will post more when I know.
I spoke to my endocrinologist this afternoon, and he explained that my T3 and T4 levels are in the normal range, but my TSH went from .21 last time (and .24 before that) to .024 this time. So the TSH level is suppressed to say the least. So beginning this weekend, my PTU dose will change from once daily, to once daily M-F and twice daily Saturday and Sunday. We'll see if that makes a difference.
I've been on a prescription dose of Vitamin D (50,000 IU) once per week, and that improved my levels to 44.5, when 30-74 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL) is normal. So that's good!
So there is quite a bit going on. But that's the latest. I'll let you know how the thyroid scan goes this Friday. I'm hopeful there is nothing new but we do need to get the neck pain checked out.
Thanks everyone and good night.
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