I have Graves Disease...

[vr4chick]

Dr. said I am the text book example with someone who is suffering from Graves Disease or Hyperthyroidism. Its been rough the past 2 years. Anyone else here have Graves Disease?

I keep losing weight, I have to eat a ton of food to maintain my wait. Dr put me on MMI for the next at least 2 months. After my thyroid is under control, they will give me the radiation iodine pill to render my thyroid useless. After that is synthetic thyroid for the rest of my life. :shake2:

[2fnloud]

Linda,

An attempt to help calm you, shared this news with my wife (pharmacist), She shared that this is an easy disease to deal with and that the synthetic thyroid drug is cheep and all insurances cover it.

I can only imagine the frustration you was experiencing up until you had a proper diagnosis.

[j2k4]

Damn, Linda, that's rotten news.

My wife has hyper-thyroid, recently diagnosed and managed.

Here's hoping you can stabilize things and get back on an even keel - for what it's worth, Missus J feels appreciably better than she did before this.

Prayers for you.

Kevin

[Granny]

I don't know anything about Graves Disease but thankfully it sounds like it can be managed.
Hope you feel better soon. :)

[green-lantern]

Like I said before Linda, I know somebody that went through this and she is doing fine. I can't wait to put my Geiger counter on your neck after that Iodine treatment.......that sounds bad. ha

[vr4chick]

If the dr will render my thyroid useless...why not remove it? Kind of scary having a dead organ in your neck

[vr4chick]

My enlarged thyroid...

http://3sg.org/events/brg/2012/images/DSC_6144.jpg

[green-lantern]

Don't know, I assume it doesn't hurt.

[green-lantern]

My enlarged thyroid...

http://3sg.org/events/brg/2012/images/DSC_6144.jpg

Ha ha, pain in the neck anyway.

[vr4chick]

Don't know, I assume it doesn't hurt.

Look at my neck distortion in the above pic. It hurts now...the dr said he doesn't know how much the swelling will go down. At the size it is now, its pretty dangerous, considering your thyroid sits above your trachea.

Asking someone to take a radiation iodine pill is like asking someone with erectile dysfunction to swallow a biological warfare pill...in my head anyways

[vr4chick]

Ha ha, pain in the neck anyway.

:lo5l:

[Roybatty]

I have it also. It's no big deal eventually you level out and you are taking synthroid daily, like a vitamin. Hyperthyroidism is worse on your system. I remember having a hard time one night after doing the iodine pill but otherwise you will recover.

Sent from garage

[vr4chick]

I have it also. It's no big deal eventually you level out and you are taking synthroid daily, like a vitamin. Hyperthyroidism is worse on your system. I remember having a hard time one night after doing the iodine pill but otherwise you will recover.

Sent from garage

Living 15 months with it before treatment has been hell :(

[Roybatty]

I am only aware of a handful of people in my social circles that have it. The commonalities of Hyperthyroidism I am aware of are all from the high metabloism/heart rate:
The jitters. I had trouble holding a cup of coffee steady.
Heat, its always too hot.
Weight loss.
On edge...I jumped down some peoples throat for no good reason.
Weird rash. Had some strange rash on my leg, biopsy revealed the Graves disease.

They don't know what causes it; but at least it can be dealt with and its not life threatening, but whenever you hear Graves....people always think the worst.

Go ahead and schedule the therapy and get it taken care of. You will be okay =)

[j2k4]

Living 15 months with it before treatment has been hell :(

Nowhere to go but up then, Linda.

You should be feeling much better soon. :)

[vr4chick]

I am only aware of a handful of people in my social circles that have it. The commonalities of Hyperthyroidism I am aware of are all from the high metabloism/heart rate:
The jitters. I had trouble holding a cup of coffee steady.
Heat, its always too hot.
Weight loss.
On edge...I jumped down some peoples throat for no good reason.
Weird rash. Had some strange rash on my leg, biopsy revealed the Graves disease.

They don't know what causes it; but at least it can be dealt with and its not life threatening, but whenever you hear Graves....people always think the worst.

Go ahead and schedule the therapy and get it taken care of. You will be okay =)

The rash thing is called cystic acne but its not as it sounds. I'm currently undergoing treatment for the rash. Dr isn't sure exactly how to get rid of it...apparently it can be quit expensive :(

It can also cause mental disorders :o

[vr4chick]

Nowhere to go but up then, Linda.

You should be feeling much better soon. :)

:)

Its just hard knowing you will be pill dependent for the rest of your life. :(

[Roybatty]

The rash thing is called cystic acne but its not as it sounds. I'm currently undergoing treatment for the rash. Dr isn't sure exactly how to get rid of it...apparently it can be quit expensive :(

It can also cause mental disorders :o


:)

Its just hard knowing you will be pill dependent for the rest of your life. :(

I never got a full diagnosis on the rash; it was on my lower leg...but went away after the radio iodine treatment. I want to believe your docs have it together; in my case I got sent to an endocrinologist specialist right away. I didn't have the goiter, but iirc all should subside after treatment. If your doc is
spinning wheels on your skin ...makes me think you need to dump him and go see a specialist.

A couple other noteworthy issues i didn't mention: eyes are affected...mine bulged some and it seems to have subsided, but not back to the way it was...probably going on 4 years now. Once your treatment is completed...your thyroid no longer hyper...you will have a low metabolism...yes if you are not careful...as my 5 year old would say...you become mr/ms fatty pants! But as stated, its all manageable. One little -they are literally small- pill a day is easy. People take daily vitamins, allergy pills, birth control, etc. Get to the gym and do cardio on a regular basis, use eye drops, hug your loved ones =)

As u know...there are much worse things out there. :bigthumb:

[vr4chick]

I never got a full diagnosis on the rash; it was on my lower leg...but went away after the radio iodine treatment. I want to believe your docs have it together; in my case I got sent to an endocrinologist specialist right away. I didn't have the goiter, but iirc all should subside after treatment. If your doc is
spinning wheels on your skin ...makes me think you need to dump him and go see a specialist.

A couple other noteworthy issues i didn't mention: eyes are affected...mine bulged some and it seems to have subsided, but not back to the way it was...probably going on 4 years now. Once your treatment is completed...your thyroid no longer hyper...you will have a low metabolism...yes if you are not careful...as my 5 year old would say...you become mr/ms fatty pants! But as stated, its all manageable. One little -they are literally small- pill a day is easy. People take daily vitamins, allergy pills, birth control, etc. Get to the gym and do cardio on a regular basis, use eye drops, hug your loved ones =)

As u know...there are much worse things out there. :bigthumb:

I have the eye bulging. Did they give you a steroid to help it? I want them to go back to normal, even if they have to do surgery

[green-lantern]

It can also cause mental disorders :o

That explains a lot :p

[Roybatty]

I have the eye bulging. Did they give you a steroid to help it? I want them to go back to normal, even if they have to do surgery

IDK...surgery + eyes...I always cringe at that...and its a last LAST resort. IIRC my optometrist-who teaches eye surgery-reccommended not for me, as its not too bad...still my handsome self AFAIK....well ...wife hasn't dumped me yet. I believe extreme cases they do perform/require surgery.

I tried some steroid drops at one time. I don't think they did too much. I see the my eye doc monday...will ask him about it again.

[vr4chick]

Looks like my abnormal thyroid level may have damaged my liver :(

Thyrotoxicosis?

[Roybatty]

Never heard of that... Now alcohol will damage the liver fo sho ;)
Eye doctor has me on lotemax... Pricey.. Will let u know if it does anything.

Sent from garage

[2fnloud]

Never heard of that... Now alcohol will damage the liver fo sho ;)
Eye doctor has me on lotemax... Pricey.. Will let u know if it does anything.

Sent from garage

And Lotemax will do what for her?

[vr4chick]

Never heard of that... Now alcohol will damage the liver fo sho ;)
Eye doctor has me on lotemax... Pricey.. Will let u know if it does anything.

Sent from garage

Its probably congestive heart failure lol. I have no idea why

[vr4chick]

Honestly, its probably The Atenolol I'm on

[Roybatty]

And Lotemax will do what for her?

Suppose to reduce eye swelling... By product of subject.

Sent from garage

[Roybatty]

Honestly, its probably The Atenolol I'm on

I remember taking that... Slows down your bpm... Yeah u need it... Sounds like they are taking care of you by the book... Fixing to get you the radioiodine treatment.

Sent from garage