[Bobbi]

#1066684

I can only give you my experience on this issue — but I had to work my way back to strength and stamina very slowly, but with utter consistency. I pumped iron for the first time in my life (I was 52), and dragged myself out for short walks even when I wasn’t "feeling like it." It helped to make me feel better.

We’re all different in the amount of damage the hyperthyroid condition did to our bodies. If you lost a massive amount of muscle while hyper, as you said, you do need to condition the returning muscle so that it works well. I joined a "health club" sponsored by a local hospital. They have their exercise rooms in the same place as the out-patient physical therapy. It was great for me, because I wasn’t having to exercise along with "cute young things in thongs": everyone else was a debilitated as I was. And there was an exercise physiologist there who evaluated me and gave me a course of exercise consistent with my levels of strength, etc. He told me that according to his computer, I had 8% of the strength of a normal woman 52 years old. EIGHT PERCENT. That’s a whole lot of ground to make up.

So, obviously, I had to start with what seemed like idiotically light weights (literally I used small paperback books for arm "weights" at first). My point: it may help you to get back on track to get professional advice, and to recognize that you cannot simply go back to pre-illness normal exercise, etc., without working up to it.

I do wish you well, and hope you are able to regain that strength and stamina.

[StellaC]

#1018721

Hello guys … I’ve been reading posts on this board for almost a year now and I can’t say how happy I am that there are people out there who have been through the same thing and understand what Grave’s Disease and the fallout are really like. I was diagnosed with with hyperthyroidism in late July of 2008. At that time my TSH was undetectable and my FT4 was about 25 … needless to say I was very miserable at that time. Less then a month later I had a thyroid storm – it sucked. My local hospital could not get my heart rate under control so I was transferred to a bigger facility where I stayed on the cardiac wing for a few days – I was the youngest person there at that time (I was 30 then). Massive doses of PTU and Inderol helped but not enough – I was so sick and still having so many heart issues that I opted to have RAI in November of 2008. I wish I’d been able to wait longer to see if I could have gone into remission but for me that really wasn’t an option. I was fully hypo by Feb. 2009 – and that came with its own set of challenges. I think that after nearly a year of slowly adjusting my synthroid I’m at a level that my endo at least is happy with (I take 175 mcg 6 days a week). I’m not the person I was before I got sick – i gained a massive amount of weight very quickly once I went hypo – the Graves had wasted my major muscles so badly that coupled with the stalled out metabolism once I was hypo I guess I shouldn’t have been so surprised at the weight gain. I’m frustrated now that over a year after RAI I still don’t feel "right." I’m obese now (before I got sick I was a 5 day a week jogger and was comfortable with my weight) and I’ve also never really been able to shake the panic attacks that started when I was hyper. I’m thankful to not be hyper anymore and I’m also thankful that I don’t feel so sluggish now that my synthroid dosage is pretty well adjusted, but I had hoped that by this time I would be "over" all of this. Do we ever go back to "normal" after Graves Disease? How long did it take you to feel like your old self again? What kind of exercise did you find helped you regain your muscle mass (I’ve tried to go back to running but honestly it hurts to do it now – and I’m still so fatigued). Sorry to whine so much, but I thought maybe you guys would understand. Thanks, Stella

[StellaC]

#1066685

Bobbi – that’s a great idea and thanks for mentioning it – I’ll talk to my Endo and PCP about maybe getting into a physical therapy program – the army of "cute young things in thongs" at the local gym is a downer …

Thanks, Stella

[Bobbi]

#1066686

Well, even if you cannot get into physical therapy, and have to use a local gym, keep in mind that you are where you are at right now because you have been very sick. Even though the trimmer bodies make you feel bad in comparison, they have NOT been sick. You don’t need to apologize for problems created by illness, and you should not put off exercise (if your doc has OKd it) because you are not in the same shape they are. Wrap yourself in the concept of Graves WARRIOR and do what you need to do to make you feel whole and healthy again.

[hyperm]

#1066687

Hi, I haven’t posted on this board in ages and am ashamed but life has been hectic to say the least the last 6 months post op.

You sound very like myself in relation to your graves. I know how you feel about the weight gain. I had a TT in July and since then I have put on 2 stone ” title=”Sad” /> The only time I have been this heavy is when I was 9 months pregnant with my 10lb3oz first born! To be fair my TSH was 32.1 for a few months but thankfully before Christmas came down to 5.1, however the weight is still going on. I have been extra careful with my diet. I have found it hard to be more active in the sense of workouts, however am very active with my kids and am never off the go. I have decided to buy the Wii fit as I have heard from friends that you can set your own fitness programme as I know that at this moment my exercise tolerance is very low after such a long period of illness (I am on occupational therapist so am rehabing myself ) that I would be shaking with fatigue if I were to attend the gym or a class. Could the Wii fit and balance board be an option for you?

I also wonder if thyroxine isn’t the med for me. I gained so much weight the last time I was on it with the blocking treatment and when my new endo took me off it I lost 9lbs in a week just from fluid alone. I have heard there is an alternative (does any one know the name?) but the GP’s in the UK are reluctant to prescribe due to funding. Has anyone else found problems with thyroxine? My hair is still falling out and I think that its mainly to do with the meds.

I feel such a benefit since my op that I can now think – there is health in store for me… I will feel well again one day. My attitude has changed from "this is me for life" to " I am going to get my life back". I know I will always have that weakness there but now I am eating for health and aiming toexercise for health. As Bobbie said our bodies have had a real workout with GD – if we had cancer (God forbid) we would cut ourselves more slack most likely.

I have ordered my wii Fit – so will let you know how I get on xxxxxx

[ewmb]

#1066688

Hyperm,
I love my Wii Fit but be warned. It can be so much fun that you over do it early on. I did 38 minutes last night and now I am paying for it….. Sore, sore, sore. I really didn’t know that my balance was so bad but it is. I need to really work on that I decided before I get my cardio in gear. I too have the shakes when I over do it.

ewmb

[ewmb]

#1066689

Question for those who have or are getting back into shape as they heal. Did you find that it took you much longer to recover from a workout, however light the intensity? I worked hard on Sunday afternoon and yesterday afternoon I was really sore. This morning, Tuesday, I work up having tremors in my hands. I thought that that had gone away for good. Do you think that might be muscle memory acting on my fingers now when they have been used a lot? My legs are also feeling not as sore today but I’d rather not walk too far. I felt very wobbly and somewhat off kilter. I am going to keep trying on the exercise but maybe I should do only a few minutes at a time?

ewmb

[Bobbi]

#1066690

What is the goal? If the goal is to increase strength and stamina, starting out with an exercise program that exhausts you and creates pain and tremors (which can be a sign of weakness) is counter-productive. It doesn’t matter if your mind tells you that you had "light intensity" exercise. What you called light intensity may have been true pre-hyperthyroid. But we lose muscles while hyperthyroid. Post-hyperthyroid, light exercise can have a completely different meaning. I was serious when I mentioned that I started "pumping iron" with very thin paperback books. The reason for that was because I could not do 15 reps with even 1 lb. weights. I certainly could not do three sets of 15 reps with 1 lb. weights. But I could with very thin paperback books. And I worked up to 1 lb weights fairly quickly, without injuring myself. But when I tried to do too much, too soon, I got pulled muscles, shin splints, tennis elbow, you name it. So, it would probably help to readjust your thoughts about things and start out very, very carefully. It is probalby preferable to spend a week doing too little — i.e. only taking 10 minute walks each day, for example — than trying to do too much and feeling awful afterwards, and taking days in between to recover.

There’s a saying in the exercise world "if there’s no pain there’s no gain." I did not subscribe to that while I was trying to work my strength back. When there was pain, I quit. The point was to keep making progress, not to quit. The point was to feel more energy, not less. And I kept that firmly in mind as I worked my way back to strength.

[hyperm]

#1066691

Ewmb,

I know when treating patients who have perhaps been bed ridden for a long period that they can only manage short spells of rehab (15 mins or so). I certainly feel that I have muscle wastage as I feel like my legs are going to seize up after climbing the stairs. I know realistically that it is going to take me around 9-12 months to get back to a "standard" level of fitness that normal people who don’t even exercise have. I have accepted that hard though it may be.

What do you do on the Wii? Looking for some ideas xxx

[ewmb]

#1066692

I have mostly been using the Wii Fit program to work on my balance. I have tried a few of the slower aerobic games. Most things last only a few minutes for one go so they weren’t getting my heart rate up very high at all.

I really didn’t have any pain while I was doing it so I guess I’ll have to limit my time so I don’t get into this state again. The pain and suffering was latent so stopping when I felt bad didn’t happen, I got no signal from my body. My goal is to work my way back to somewhere near my old self. I don’t always remember how long it’s been since I was my old self. Going on three years now. Time does fly doesn’t it…….?

ewmb

[Ski]

#1066693

Hyperm ~

Thyroxine isn’t really a "medication" per se, it’s chemically identical to thyroid hormone, so it’s much more likely that your continuing issues have to do with the fact that you have not stabilized at a good thyroid hormone level for you yet. The fact that you were on it before through block-and-replace would create a different set of circumstances, chemically, in your body, so it’s hard to draw parallels from then to now.

Just my two cents, gotta go! ” title=”Very Happy” />

[Julie3588]

#1066694

I can definitely relate to the frustration of going back to exercise after bouts of being hyper.

I remember the first time I attempted to exercise after being hyper for over a year. I was being stabilized with ATDs and got onto a stationary bike at the gym for 15 minutes. I ended up feeling incredibly sick and wobbly by the time I finished and felt sick for a few days after. I could not believe that I had become so weak. I was 19 at the time and had a regular gym routine and had previously figure skated semi-competitively. It took almost a year of rest with occasional walking and then later adding 3 months of 3 times a week yoga and persistent walking to even begin to feel "ok". I was at least able to go to the gym again without fear of collapsing.

When I went hyper again during a relapse this past summer I hadn’t even gotten back to my normal fitness level and it felt like I was being kicked to the ground after working so hard. I had RAI in June and have completely lost the fitness I gained during my short remission. I’m a college student so I don’t really have a choice but to walk all day and this has helped, but some days it just wipes me out to the point that I have no energy to do anything else. I am trying to incorporate yoga back into my routine since it helped so much the first time. I like that I can make it as gentle as I need and that it is a completely judge free environment. I hate going to the gym when I feel this weak since my fitness level is closer to that of an 80 year old instead of someone that’s 22! I’m like an old women trapped in a young body, lol.

[StellaC]

#1066695

Thanks for the replies and support you guys. The muscle wasting and subsequent weight gain after my thyroid was "killed" were brutal. In a lot of ways I know I’ve spent the last several months mourning the body I had before Graves. I’m so very grateful that I survived the thyroid storm and then the very slow process of building back up to a normal range of T4 – I need learn to be patient with myself and my body and to keep things in context – this too shall pass – and hopefully before I know it I’ll be strong and healthy again.

Stella

[hyperm]

#1066696

Hi Ski- thanks for the info… so very true regarding before and now. How long does it normally take for your metabolism to stabilise once they have your levels stable ( If you know what i mean ” title=”Very Happy” /> )
xxx

[Ski]

#1066697

Once again, it’s different for everyone, but at the very least you can look forward to daily improvement once your levels are stabilized at a good level for you. We didn’t get this sick overnight, and we don’t get well overnight ~ it has a lot to do with the level of "damage" in your body and the rate of healing, but it will definitely be better all the time once your levels are no longer a worry.

[Author]

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