Grave's... new here

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-14-2006
Grave's... new here
6
Sun, 02-04-2007 - 5:19pm

I was diagnosed with Grave's disease the first week of January. I originally went in to see my general pratitioner because I was concerned with a substatial weight loss, shaky hands, fatigue, and a racing pulse. The doctor said it sounded like a hyperthyroid condition and she ordered a number of blood tests. She also sent me to a cardiologist because she heard a heart murmur that didn't exist before. Once my bloodtests came back, she sent me to an endocrinologist who did more tests and stated that I have Grave's disease. I am curently taking 3 Methimazole pills a day, as well as 1 beta-blocker. I was told that I will neeed to get a blood test every month to see if I am responding to the medication. I have been offered the RAI treatment, but I want to see if the medication will send this into remission.

After a month on this treatment, I am still not putting back on any weight. My shakiness has ended, but that is due to the Beta-blocker. I was told that the drug therapy does not work for everyone (it only sends 35% of cases into remission). I am a little scared of the RAI treatment and it will affect both my personal and my professional life (I am a mom of three and a 2nd grade teacher).

I am looking for someone that I can talk to someone who has had this diagnosis and/or RAI treatment. It would be nice to chat with someone...I don't know anyone else who has gone through this.

Avatar for cl_calley7
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-20-2003
Sun, 02-04-2007 - 8:32pm

Hi ms_ing,


Welcome to our board.


You will find quite a few other members here that have been through the same diagnosis and have tried the meds or had RAI.

 

Calley7

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-14-2006
Mon, 02-05-2007 - 12:09am
Thank you for the links and the warm welcome.
iVillage Member
Registered: 02-03-2007
Mon, 02-05-2007 - 8:13am
I too am new to the board and was treated this past September to the radioactive iodine pill. My symptons were like yours right down to the inderal/beta blocker. However, I chose to do the ri pill (my doctor felt this worked better than the daily pill saying that the other had a larger failure rate) after reading up on the treatments and speaking with a close relative who is also a endo I felt I had no other choice.I dont know what your blood work is like but I didn't register a tsh .o and all my others were also off the chart.As far as your concerns about taking the radioactive pill, I too was very concerned and everyone assured me it had no side effects other than they recommended removing yourself from your family for a few days and small children abit longer for precaution reasons. They say the dose given isn't harmful to others and that the federal government doesn't even have guidelines for the pill. So moving on... I took the pill in september waited 6 weeks and was retested and my levels had come down some but was still quite hyper. somewhere between that time and 6 weeks later I went from .0 to 36 tsh. Needless to say it hit me hard! I was expecting a period of hyper to normal to possibly hypo. The endo treated me with synthroid 125mcg from the start and 4 weeks later (i couldn't wait till 6 weeks) I went back to her and though my levels had dropped to 11 I was still feeling terrible. She changed my synthroid to 137mcg and I'm presently feeling abit better but I wont be back to the endo for another 3 weeks. I feel for you... Im sure prior to being diagnosed you never heard of graves. I didn't! All I can say is though graves appears to be more dangerous to your heart when left untreated, going hypo is a life long adjustment to meds and really paying attention to how you feel and finding a doctor who listens to how you feel along with your blood results. P.S. Prior to me finding out I had graves, my son was diagnosed with Hashi moto(hypothyroidism). So I have seen up close what to expect from hypo and just how the body works with the meds. Also if you don't know why you have it you should ask close family if they have it or if they have ever been tested and remember just a tsh level test isn't enough always make sure they test antibodies too. The range is very broad .07 to 6 though most patients don't feel well until there at least a 2 or below. Which is why knowing how you feel is always most important. Use the internet search under thyroid conditons it will really help you there are tons of websites out there. Good Luck and keep in touch.
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-14-2006
Tue, 02-06-2007 - 2:35am
Thanks for your reply tew221...it's good to hear from someone who is going through the same thing. I go back to the endo on the 15th to reevaluate my current med dosage. I hope to hear that the medications are helping, but I know that is not a very realistic expectation. Maybe we can check-in with each other from time to time and encourage one another through this process.
iVillage Member
Registered: 02-03-2007
Tue, 02-06-2007 - 7:37am
Yes, it will be nice to finally relate to someone who is going through the same thing! Good luck on the 15th, I'll be at my endo the following week. Talk to you soon.
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-14-2006
Tue, 02-06-2007 - 7:50pm
Good luck to you, too. Let me know how things go.