[ablasa]

#1058638

Hi, I am new to GD and TED having been diagnosed less then 2 weeks ago. Not really sure when the symptoms started, 5 months ago I noticed trouble swimming, couldn’t get my right arm out of the water, 3 months ago my husband started complaining that I was keeping him up at night, had cravings and ate an enormous amount of junk food, I knew that was bad, but I didn’t gain any weight. (I completely cut that out), and some other odd symptoms that didn’t make sense to me. In my endocrinologists words I do not have a mild case. Sometime between when I had my first blood test and the thyroid scan I developed more serious symptoms that came on overnight, full body twitches, weird speech patterns, walking up stairs became challenging, and now odd aches all over my body that I have never had before, although I did do some strenuous physical stuff the other day that may have triggered my aches. My endocrinologist doesn’t seem all that interested in my symptoms, just my numbers, next blood test is in 2 weeks. Currently he has me on 50mg atenolol 2X daily and 10mg methimazole 3x daily. I am not noticing an improvement in my symptoms yet. On my own I have increased my calcium and vitamins. He does not think I am a candidate at this time for RAI because of the TED, and he doesn’t think I need to eliminate things like iodized salt or find a vitamin without iodine, just not that much iodine in them to make a difference. I see the neuro-ophthomologist in 2 weeks but until then I really don’t know what my eye prognosis is.
My questions: Is what I am experiencing typical? What is the general attitude about vitamins and diet? Does holistic medicine, herbs, or acupuncture prove helpful, not instead of but in conjunction with medicine?
Thanks

[Kimberly]

#1169130

Hello and welcome!

We aren’t doctors here, just fellow patients…but you are certainly describing many typical symptoms of hypERthyroidism. Keep in mind that the methimazole starts working right away to block production of *new* thyroid hormone, but your body needs some time to burn off its existing stores of thyroid hormone before you really start to see relief from your symptoms.

I do know of many patients who have used complementary therapies for relaxation and stress relief, but there isn’t really one particular therapy that stands out for Graves’ patients. There is a division of the National Institutes of Health that looks at Complementary therapies from a science-based perspective, so you can get more info on the various approaches here. You will need to use your browser’s "back" button to return to the boards after viewing.

http://nccam.nih.gov/

Definitely check with your doctor before adding any herbs/supplements to your regimen — there are some out there that are touted as "cures" for Graves’, but can actually make hyperthyroidism worse!

The iodine issue is somewhat controversial in the medical community. My own doctor said to *avoid* taking a multivitamin with iodine, but didn’t give any further advice on diet. Other docs will recommend severely restricting all sources of iodine in the diet. The most common advice we hear is to avoid *major* sources of iodine, such as seaweed/kelp. And, of course, the more you can focus on limiting processed foods and eating fresh, nutrient-dense foods, the better.

Hope this helps!

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