Two to Eight? 2 to 8? Uh-oh.

I feel like the long window is a bad sign.

This is the Mets. Forget the dash, it's going to be 28 weeks.

This is the Mets. Forget the dash, it's going to be 28 weeks.

28 weeks for the parasites in Reyes' stomach to gestate and send him back to the DL until 2013.

[3] I didn't know Reyes was on the South Bronx Paradise diet!

My girlfriend has hypothyroid but would still probably outhit Luis Castillo.

28 weeks for the parasites in Reyes' stomach to gestate and send him back to the DL until 2013.

I thought those things were ready to burst out in a few hours.

One of the lesser causes of hyperthyroidism is the ingestion of thyroid hormones, especially ones that contain T3. Out of desperation to get better, did Reyes take substances purchased in the Wild West of pharmacies that is the Dominican Republic?

My girlfriend has hypothyroid but would still probably outhit Luis Castillo.

I doubt she could outhit him for average, but she could probably beat him for power.

I'm curious on what the diet changes would be. What do you eat that aggravates hyperthyroidism? Carbs? Spicy stuff? Some particular type of meat that contains hormones that interact?

One of the lesser causes of hyperthyroidism is the ingestion of thyroid hormones, especially ones that contain T3. Out of desperation to get better, did Reyes take substances purchased in the Wild West of pharmacies that is the Dominican Republic?

I was thinking just this, particularly as he was treated by a doctor who has been giving out hGH.

I was thinking just this, particularly as he was treated by a doctor who has been giving out hGH.

Accused of. He maintains that the amount he was caught with was enough for two doses, and was for personal use.

I'll admit that the timing does look really bad for Reyes.

Season over?

I really hate that Beltran and Reyes are not going to be playing on Opening Day. Just kills my limited optimism for the season.

I'll admit that the timing does look really bad for Reyes.

Anyone have any serious references to the relationship between HGH and hyperthyroidism?

For me the closest thing to being a Bruins fan (hockey) is being a Mets fan. Both teams have talent, tease you with division titles, make earlier-than-expected exits from the playoffs, and are run by incompetents who create teams that end up being less than the sum of their parts.

Oh, and both teams had epic power/scoring shortages from one year to the next.

For me the closest thing to being a Bruins fan (hockey) is being a Mets fan.

You can extend the comparison to budding dynasties undone before their time (early 70s B's/80s Mets), as well as the injury bugs afflicting both organizations of late.

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.....

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha, oh....

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha *wipes tear from eye*
...it just never gets better for them

I hope I haven't burned up my entire lifetime Schadenfreude quota on the last 3+ years of Mets baseball.

tease you with division titles

Does five Mets division titles in 48 years really qualify as teasing? Seems more like lulling to sleep. (By way of comparison, the Bruins have finished first in their division fifteen times in the same period.)

I've had it up to here with the Mets and their "doctors".

I wasn't a fan (or even alive much) in the 70s, so I missed the Bruins Heyday....

#13 Quoting now from an HGH side-effects page: "It is known that HGH therapy increases the metabolism which means that those with hyperthyroidism who already have and the normally high metabolism may worsen their condition."

(And suggests that over time it should work to mitigate the problem)

For me the closest thing to being a Bruins fan (hockey) is being a Mets fan. Both teams have talent, tease you with division titles, make earlier-than-expected exits from the playoffs, and are run by incompetents who create teams that end up being less than the sum of their parts.

But only the Bruins get the pleasure of satisfying hockey fans everywhere by sending someone out to pound Matt Cooke to smithereens.

SugarBear, this study (which is the one cited in today's NY Daily News article), appears to indicate that the link between HGH and hyperthyroidism depends on just which thyroid hormone is being measured.

GH replacement therapy may lead to alterations in serum TSH and/or thyroid hormone values in GH-deficient patients, but there is no consensus on the explanation for these changes. We examined the effect of GH administration (0.125 mg, sc, daily for 4 days) on thyroid function in 20 normal men. Serum T4 levels decreased by 8%, and serum free T4 index values decreased by 5%. In contrast, serum T3 levels increased by 21%; serum rT3 did not change. These changes were accompanied by a 54% decrease in the mean serum TSH level. While it is not possible to draw conclusions about hormone production and disposal rates from changes in serum levels, these data are most consistent with enhanced extrathyroidal (including intrapituitary) conversion of T4 to T3 and a compensatory decrease in TSH secretion.

Hey, zachtoma: go love yourself.

But only the Bruins get the pleasure of satisfying hockey fans everywhere by sending someone out to pound Matt Cooke to smithereens.

Julien & Chiarelli have lost the players to the point where I am worried that they will just wuss out and not retaliate. This is exactly the sort of case where I root for a guy to get carted off the ice--when the league gives career cheapshot artists like Cooke carte blanche to keep throwing hits like that, somebody on the opposing team had better eye-for-an-eye the bastard. If the Bruins don't hurt him, I'll be turning the TV off on them until they show a tiny amount of balls.

#24, No doubt it makes me a bad person but I have to say I'm not unhappy that Scott Stevens' career was ended by post-concussion syndrome.

And I wouldn't be at all sad to see Cooke's career end the same way.

And the Bruins were nice enough to send Joe Thornton over to the Sharks <ducks>

The Mets are the baseball version of the Boston Bruins? Does that mean that Bobby V is the new Don Cherry?

Bobby V doesn't wear eye-gouging suits.

And the Bruins were nice enough to send Joe Thornton over to the Sharks <ducks>

Yeah, he led the Bruins to Division Titles too. Good luck in the playoffs!

I'm not too bad about the Thornton thing anymore, because his teams have never won anything and even with the Bruins he was a great skill player who was lacking in the heart dept.

At least, that's what I tell myself before I cry myself to sleep at night.

EDIT: What Joe C. said.

since when do you treat hyperthyroid with diet?

what could you possibly eat that would make your thyroid gland make too much thyroid? and what would you eat to make it go down?

THIS is not in wiki

and why is he seeing the team orthopedic surgeon for a hormone problem???

WTF???

if i was jose i would INSIST on going to a real throid specialist - it is not like he can't afford it

This seems really terrible on many levels (possible connection to steroids, the sort of problem which could easily dog him for a long time). For someone who this disinterested spectator considers one of the most exciting players in baseball, this really sucks.

Season over?

I really hate that Beltran and Reyes are not going to be playing on Opening Day. Just kills my limited optimism for the season.

I'm bummed too. After last year it would have been great to see all the starters on the field for the opener.

Nonetheless, they could be on the field before April ends!

If it doesn't get worse here's the opening day lineup. Marquis's a righty, so it will probably look something like:

Castillo
Murphy
Pagan
Wright
Bay
Francouer
Cora
Blanco

Blanco's apparently going to catch Santana's starts. Tatis has a career OPS 129 points better than Cora v righties, and if you play Cora instead of him you end up with the 6 through 8 spots with career OBPs v righties of .300, .311, and .280. I have to think that would be the worst such stretch for any club. I'd roll the dice, put Tatis at short, and bat him sixth, Francoeur seventh, and Blanco tenth. Maybe with a groundballer on the mound for the Mets and a lefty starting for the other club playing Cora makes more sense, but against a righty and with Santana starting I'd like to not see Cora with a bat in his hands.

and why is he seeing the team orthopedic surgeon for a hormone problem???

WTF???

You didn't put nearly enough question marks after "WTF".

Marquis's a righty, so it will probably look something like:

Josh Johnson will probably start the opener for Florida.

what could you possibly eat that would make your thyroid gland make too much thyroid?

Other thyroid glands?

I was actually getting excited for the season to start last week, I'm glad that feeling's gone now.

I was actually getting excited for the season to start last week, I'm glad that feeling's gone now.

Yep.

I'd roll the dice, put Tatis at short

Tatis is a 35 y.o. 3B with 15 career innings at SS. That's all kinds of a bad idea.

If I was running the Bruins not only would Cooke be headed to the hospital but I'd be sending at least one another Penguin to the hospital as well (doesn't matter who). Getting even isn't punishment, it's getting even. Punishment requires that the perpetrator pay above and beyond what they did.

<baseless speculation>

You know, I think there's strong circumstantial evidence that Reyes was using HGH, his doctors know about it and believe it caused his hyperthyroidism, and are (correctly) keeping it quiet.

Let's start with the prescribed treatment: diet and rest. I have friends with thyroid problems, and one thing they've been told is that diet and rest basically do nothing for it unless you have been eating some profoundly weird ####. Google seems to agree: http://www.everydayhealth.com/thyroid-conditions/diet-and-hyperthyroidism.aspx
This is a really unusual way to treat a hyperthyroidism.

Now, there are very good endocrinologists, I'm sure, at New York Hospital. Reyes is not being treated by quacks. So, query: what sort of scenario would lead to "hold tight for 8 weeks, hoss" as the treatment for hyperthyroidism?

Answer: Reyes told the docs he had been using HGH. As soon as he stops using the HGH his thyroid levels will start to return to normal. So the correct treatment here is...to do nothing. To let things work themselves out.

But the docs can't reveal this (b/c of confidentiality requirements) so they make this amorphous statement about rest and diet, which is basically a load of #### to cover up the real treatment, which is "sit tight, drink lots of water, let your system go back to normal after you doused it with hormones".
</baseless speculation>

Another Penguins fan and I were talking earlier today about Cooke. If the Pens are smart, they send Cooke out for the first shift against the Bruins, as sort of a "there he is, do what you gotta do" kind of move.

Someone really needs to beat the crap out of Cooke.

Marquis's a righty, so it will probably look something like:

Josh Johnson will probably start the opener for Florida.

Crap. I was looking at the first game in April, which is the Mets spring training game against the Nats. Damned hyperthyroidism. Still and all, I think the lineup should still run the way I had it in 33 v. a righthanded pitcher.

I'd roll the dice, put Tatis at short

Tatis is a 35 y.o. 3B with 15 career innings at SS. That's all kinds of a bad idea.

As is running out the worst six through eight in the major leagues. Ordinarily I'd agree, of course, but desperate times, desperate measures... The lineup without Beltran and Reyes against a righthander is all kinds of awful. With a strikeout pitcher on the mound for the Mets and a righty pitching against them I'd go for offense over defense.

Answer: Reyes told the docs he had been using HGH. As soon as he stops using the HGH his thyroid levels will start to return to normal. So the correct treatment here is...to do nothing. To let things work themselves out.

Your "baseless speculation" is actually pretty persuasive.

My friend just told me she is recovering from thyroid cancer. She had the tumor removed a couple of weeks ago and is now on medicine, which she says totally makes her loopy. I guess they caught it very early and the prognosis is good going forward. The weird thing to me, which in our brief conversation she didn't explain, was that she's had issues with her thyroid for a couple of years now. Her levels were up a bit just last year. But I guess there wasn't cancer then. Just seems like an odd coincidence that they now detect cancer in the same area. Were her issues before likely related to the cancer. Any doctors know?

Benign tumors are quite common cause of thyroid problems, although sometimes they aren't referred to as tumors. Doctors often just let them be, and exam hormonal levels and ultrasound thyroid regularly, until they start influencing hormonal levels too much or there are signs that they may be turning into malign tumors. Sometimes doctors don't touch them for decades, but it is essential that patients have regular exams. (Not a doctor, but someone with several cases of thyroid problems in the family).
If hormonal levels aren't too much outside the normal values, I think it's standard treatment to wait for a while (up to three months) and retest hormones. It is possible that something has influenced thyroid (stress, other medicines, local inflammation,...), and with rest, thyroid will return into normal function. Rest has little effect if there is problem with thyroid, but if the problem is the result of stress or drugs, it should return to normal function with rest (and removal of the cause of the problem).

Your "baseless speculation" is actually pretty persuasive.

I have no idea if Reyes was on HGH, but Zop's explanation is a hell of a lot better than the one I heard from his agent, which is that he's eating too much seafood.

I have no idea if Reyes was on HGH, but Zop's explanation is a hell of a lot better than the one I heard from his agent, which is that he's eating too much seafood.

Maybe he dips his sushi in HGH instead of soy sauce?

I have no idea if Reyes was on HGH, but Zop's explanation is a hell of a lot better than the one I heard from his agent, which is that he's eating too much seafood.

So he's going to get over the thyroid issues just in time to have mercury poisoning?

Your "baseless speculation" is actually pretty persuasive.

Which is pretty sad, really, since it's not exactly a definitively proven scientific fact that hGH use actually causes hyperthyroidism. But these are the times we live in. Sure you can find a wiki page or even a real scientific paper that says people taking hGH sometimes have elevated thyroid hormone levels, but you'll find just as many that say that hyperthryoidism can lead to disregulation of hGH. But we're talking about a major league baseball player, so it must be the chicken; it couldn't possibly be the egg.

The reason you wait a few weeks before doing anything drastic is simply that the condition often resolves itself.