[Anonymous]

#1056574

Hello all.

Karen B, your question re: iodine for the rest of life or just while
on antithyroid meds is a good one. The impression I got is that
the American diet is extra high..and extra high iodine is an on-going
compromise. However, why? The problem with GD actually is an immune
system problem…so I don’t know, but not overfeeding ourselves,
especially the weird sources of iodine seems right. I called this local( out on the California
rolling hills coast) dairy that does “organic” (read expensive)
milk in glass jugs and they do not give iodine to the cows or wash
the implements( vats etc) in iodophors. This is rare ( read expensive)
and it means that when I want to pretend I am a kid and drink
milk, I can. Someone recently told me in their state of MI that beer glasses
are rinsed ( as in end rinse) in iodophors… It is everywhere.

I loved LUCI’s rant…WE know you don’t have a wand..had some other device.
but you must have been reading that old line about the power of the pen.
Having said this, I suppose you’ll tell me you twirl pistols….

THANK YOU, SHANNON, for the mag reference. And the posted casual”abstract”
of it which prompted my request.

Rochelle, will we ever recover from eating and losing!!! When I do the
survey entries and I see that someone did all the same other suffering
symptomwise (except maybe hyperbowels) that most of us do, but that they
GAINED weight instead of losing…I think how hard that would be. So
gaining a bit back, not lost honestly by me, so to speak, is hard but
not as hard as those who gained while hyper. I saw I had to adjust
eating quickly. Boy do bad habits grow faster than tarweed!

GLYNIS ASKED A QUESTION re: if beta blockers effect T-4 to T-3 conversion.
I had been told and mentioned it on this BB that it is thought that
beta blockers do have some reducing effect in this process.( There was never any suggestion
that it would be sufficient treatment for being hyper, not is it the primary intended effect
when they are prescribed for GD). This info came to me from my doctor,
but he is only an endocrinologist…..Then REDHEN paraphased out of some
book in this regard… and I remember it was not identical but of similiar implications,
and I am sorry I don’t remember the full gist of that.( too lazy to scroll back for that post today)
BOBBI, you seem emphatic in your comments to Glynis in this regard,
perhaps your source would help us understand better? I wanted off beta blockers with my BLN
(blood levels normal) and was being told to stay on for a bit longer. That was the context in which the doc offered the comment to me.
Contrary to what you all might think, I don’t actually go around asking
questions all the time;( you see how self-conscious this survey has made me?) sometimes I am
just sitting around, wondering if all the nouns I once knew will really
re-enter my once fluid word retrival system. Ah, sigh, I am sorry, did
I forget what we were talking about? That was just to remind all our
friends who have been writing the ever useful word “DUH” in, around or
about their posts, that yes,..forgetfulness is a bear and NBL (remeber that is normal blood levels)
chase that bear back into the woods, so don’t despair.
I can only speak for taking antithyroid meds, and my case in particular
of course, I don’t know about RAI. Course I am learning a bit about all the treatments from reading all the survey
entries and so shall you all. We now have 125!!!thank you each and everyone.

MIKE, how neat your friend has you for a friend. Best wishes to the both of you.

HI SUMMER….welcome here. 3 years of GD….we could probably learn alot from you.
If you haven’t heard..there is a survey regarding symptoms , treatments and post treatment experience
of GD in progress…( I don’t remember entering your name) Please join us if you would?
You can access the questions at
http://www.support-group.com/links/graves/survey.htm

Thanks if you do…

Okay, I’ll stop. Bye for now Jeannette

[Anonymous]

#1163786

Jeannette: I guess I was emphatic about the beta blocker thing, and this could just be a question of semantics again. I don’t remember where I read the strong warning — I’ll go back through the books I’ve got and see if I can find it. From what I understand the beta blockers work by blocking the response of SOME nerve impulses to in SOME parts of the body. Thus they have the effect of interfering with the thyroid hormone, which is acting to stimulate those same nerves. This is a different kettle of fish, however, than saying that they “lower” thyroid hormone, which is the way I read Glynis’ post. And apparently, they don’t work everywhere, but only on certain types of nerve responses. Anyway, my emphasis on this undoubtedly came from my own experiences. When my GP misread my blood tests, and decided that I did not have any kind of thyroid problem, I was sent first to a cardiologist (for a stress test) to figure out if there was a heart problem causing the palpitations. There wasn’t. Then when the muscle weakness and tremors started, she sent me to a neurologist, who prescribed the beta blockers, even though he could find nothing wrong neurologically. In his defense, the very first question out of HIS mouth, when I described what was going on, was “Have you had your thyroid checked?” Because my doctor had told me the thyroid was absolutely normal, I told him the thyroid was fine. And THEN he prescribed the beta blockers. At some later point in time, I read that taking just beta blockers, when the problem is really the thyroid, could lead to masking the build-up of thyroid hormones in the body, until you reach toxic levels, and the danger of thyroid storm. I was darned lucky. I don’t like taking medicines when there is no diagnosis. So before starting the beta blockers, I went back to my GP for one last nag about the thyroid. In conversations with my mom (who has Graves) the symptoms I was experiencing were just too similar for me to feel comfortable with no diagnosis. But had I just taken the beta blockers, I could have gotten into a medical crisis situation. So, this topic obviously pushes one of MY “rant” buttons. Like many other folks I equate “feeling better” with BEING better, but in the case of the beta blockers you could be feeling better while being a whole lot worse.

This leads to a question I’ve been mulling over ever since that whole mess occurred. I’ve really lost faith in my GP, and I’m trying to decide whether to continue going to her, or try to find another primary care doctor. She is board certified, and one of the doctors MOST recommended in the area. When she started me on PTU, after the thyroid scan, I asked her how she could monitor the progress of the treatment, if the bloodwork didn’t show the problem in the first place. She admitted then, that the thyroid numbers had been “somewhat” off on that bloodwork, but that she had not interpreted it as a problem. My endo subsequently told me that the problem was OBVIOUS from the first bloodwork. On the one hand I have the feeling that my GP will, in the future, not automatically assume I’m just neurotic when I tell her something is off. On the other hand, I could have been one very sick puppy had I assumed she knew precisely what she was doing, and taken the initial medical advice. It’s scarey to be a lay person and realize that doctors can misread something like this. So I don’t know whether to search out another doctor, or not, and I don’t know how to try to figure out if THEY would know what they’re doing, either. Anybody have any suggestions/input on this issue?

Bobbi

[Anonymous]

#1163787

Hi, Miriam:

While some people feel dreadful when they are hypo, I felt fine. It is one of those “individual” things that happens in Graves. And it doesn’t matter much, apparently, what the TSH reading is. I had a TSH of 12 and other than some bloating around my eyes, was fine. Luci, on the other hand, said she felt like death with a TSH of 6. So, my advice is not to worry about it before it happens. You may, in fact, be pleasantly surprized. I was. As far as feeling “jittery” right now, your hormones are changing, and rapidly from what you say. So your body is going to need time to adjust. The jitters may just be the way your body is responding. It doesn’t sound like hypo to me — especially with the elevated heart rate. But, then, I’m not the doctor, either.

Colleen (I think — re three months’ supply of hormone): my endo was rather put out when she found out that my insurance company will NOT let me fill a three-month supply of hormone replacement at one time. I have to get it one month at a time. At the time I thought it was a nuisance, too. I’m sure the pharmacist is correct — but if you should happen to improperly store your extra meds, there MIGHT be some deterioration. The Federal Register report stressed that the synthetic hormone breaks down with light, humidity and heat (especially heat, apparently). I had been keeping my meds next to the kitchen sink (which is near the stove). I have decided a cupboard is probably better. This would perhaps be especially true if I had ninety days worth instead of just the thirty days I get.

Jeannette: I don’t really know, in answer to your question. None of the books I’ve read have addressed this issue head on. I do remember a conversation with a friend of ours, who is an internist, about the difficulties I had getting diagnosed. He mentioned that he calls for a free T3 test when there are hyper symptoms,even though the overall levels are still in the normal range. It is, after all, the T3 that is the potent hormone. Also, that endocrinology textbook did mention (and I think I put this on the board), that there is a WIDE range of normal for thyroxine (T4), so wide that an individual’s level could be doubled or halved and they would still fall within the normal range, although it would not be “normal” for them. So, it strikes me that if your T4 is at the high end for YOU, that your T3 could then be out of whack as your body converted the T4 to T3.

JAKE: I hope all is well. Hang in there, Warrior.

On a personal note, in a few days, I will be leaving on vacation — I’m going to the COLD, Steve — and deliberately, too. I booked myself on an Alaskan cruise (as an antidote to “Empty Nest Syndrome”). I’m really looking forward to it. Especially since I’ll get to meet SAS in Vancouver. Anyway, the tasks are mounting up here, and I’m not sure how much time I’ll get to spend online before I go. I wish you all a healthy and happy week or so.

Bobbi — Bobbi1436@AOL.com

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