[Ski]

#1074060

There are actually two questions here. One, how long do you usually take PTU? Second, how long does it take to recover? The two answers are rather different.

Typically, doctors advise taking PTU (or methimazole, whichever ATD you choose) for at least a year, sometimes two years, before stopping to see if you have attained remission. Remission is a period of time when your levels are normal without taking any medication.

The standard process for using either ATD is to take high doses at first, so you bring the hyperthyroidism under control rapidly. Then you take less and less, until you are taking a dose that keeps you steady at a thyroid hormone level that feels healthy for you. Then you keep taking that dose (with levels regularly monitored) until you and your doctor agree that you may be ready to see if you’ve attained remission.

Once your levels are in the normal range, and steady, then your body BEGINS to recover. Hyperthyroidism is extremely damaging to the body, and there is much that needs to heal before we really, truly feel well. That period of time is shorter than the 1-2 years of taking PTU, but much longer than most of us would prefer. You need at least six weeks just to flush the excess thyroid hormone from your bloodstream, and after that, you may chase "normal" for a while, then once you’ve found that normal, as I said, you will BEGIN to heal. We can’t give you any hard figures, because each of us is different. The more things in your life that you bring into balance, I think you’ll have a quicker recovery, but none of us can expect truly RAPID healing.

Be good to yourself in the meantime. Take it easy. LET your body heal. Overdoing will only make the recovery last longer.

[MonikaOH]

#1019788

Hi,
I am pretty new and I was just diagnosed with Grave disease.
I had a baby 8.5 months agonand I lost 67 lbs and 50% of hair since.
I had to stop breastfeeding in order to take PTU, which is really hard on me and the baby.
American Academy of Pediatrics claims PTU is compatible with breastfeeding but 2 pediatricians I talked to said, there are many cases of mental retardation if baby’s thyroid gets accidentally killed.
Does anyone know how holg do i need to be on PTU?
I am very sceptical about IRA and will try to avoid it as much as I can.
Monika

[amyl]

#1074061

Hi Ski,
You said that GD is very damaging to the body and your body needs to heal. What exactly is damaged?

Thanks!
Amy

[Ski]

#1074062

It’s hard to know, exactly. The best known effects are muscle wasting and bone loss, but since thyroid hormone is literally the "gasoline" that fuels every cell of our body, having too much is capable of damaging just about everything. For the most part, people who have been diagnosed rather quickly end up with fewer problems, probably because they are hyperthyroid for less time. People I’ve known who took far longer to be diagnosed correctly (years, in some cases) have endured longer lasting issues, but they don’t each experience the same, or even similar, problems. It’s possible that we are more susceptible in various parts of our body, maybe they have had prior injuries, perhaps they were weak for another reason we don’t know.

Once again, there are two things to consider. First, is a particular issue related to our thyroid hormone levels, in other words, can we improve our symptoms by adjusting thyroid hormone? Second, if the answer to that is NO, what IS causing the issue? Sometimes after we’ve gone through hyperthyroidism and treatment, we tend to point to Graves’ for every subsequent problem. It may be or it may not be caused by Graves’, but the real issue is finding relief, finding a solution, so we all (including our doctors) need to remember to keep investigating each symptom that impacts our life.

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