[StephenE]

#1058907

Hello,

I was recently diagnosed with hyperthyroidism, most likely Graves, about a month ago. I have been on Tapazole for about three weeks now. While I’m feeling better, I’m still having the heart palpitations. I can’t take beta blockers because I metabolize it too fast and it makes the palpitations worse. I am an avid runner and cyclist and detected my problem right away when my endurance started dropping and my resting heart rate started rising. The doctor told me not to exercise to the extent that I was previously to having the hyper symptoms. Slowing myself down is the hardest part of this disease. I had just signed up for a half marathon the week before going to the doctor for the first time, which I was under the assumption I was having issues with asthma. I have been out on my bike and snow skiing the past few weeks but I tire quickly and have to take a lot of breaks.

I’m on the Tapazole for three months and then they will do another blood test to verify Graves and to check to see if I’m in the 1 out of 3 that goes into remission. If I’m not I will probably seek out the RAI as my uptake was very good.

My question is to those that are on Tapazole: (I know everybody is different, but I’m looking for some prospective)

How long did it take for your heart rate to go back to normal?

Does the Tapazole affect your athletic ability?

Thank you for this site. It’s been very helpful,

StephenE

[Bobbi]

#1170820

First of all, trying to exercise while hyper is both very hard on the body and risky. It’s risky because your heart is over-taxed just by being hyper. And it’s also risky because we lose actual muscle, and we tend to have more injuries (shin splints, pulls, etc.) It pays to really slow things down until you have controlled, normal levels of thyroid again.

The tapazole is a chemical block to the production of thyroid hormone. ALL it does is interfere with your thyroid’s ability to take in iodine and turn it into thyroid hormone. So it has no effect that I know of on your overall athletic ability, other than the effect of potentially returning you to health. You have to be on the proper dose of it, which can take some time to find — and that dose requirement can fluctuate, so there may be dose changes needed from time to time. Antibody levels wax and wane for no well-understood reason, and when levels lower, we need less of the ATDs.

You mentioned that you were “recently” diagnosed. One thing you may not know is that the thyroid not only makes thyroid hormone, but it also stores it for future use. When we start the ATDs (like tapazole) they start immediately to block the production of NEW thyroid hormone. They have no impact on any stored supplies of hormone. So it can take a few weeks before we feel noticeably different.

In addition, depending upon how long we were hyper, it can take some time AT normal levels of hormone for our bodies to heal — for muscle to return, for stamina to come back — so you may not feel “normal” even though your doctor is reporting “normal” levels of hormone again. You need to be particularly careful with exercise during this time, because you will feel OK, but your body will not be a full strength, and if you try to go back to your previous levels of exercise too quickly, injuries happen.

Wishing you a quick return to health,

[StephenE]

#1170821

Thank you for the reply Bobbi. I have stopped all running and high intensity cardio workouts, but for sanity purposes I still need to get out once in a while for a low impact workout. I mainly stick to lifting weights at the gym because I feel it is important to maintain muscle and bone density while fighting this monster. Being from Tahoe as well, skiing is a hard activity to give up, so I still go but I take a lot of breaks to rest and keep a constant watch on my heart rate.

Your information is much appreciated. I hope in time I can give feedback that will help others as well.

Regards,
StephenE

[Kimberly]

#1170822

StephenE – Hello and welcome! You might check with your doctor on the weight workouts. I don’t have any specific studies to cite on this, but I have heard that weightlifting while we are still hypER can actually do more harm than good.

By the way, as a cyclist, you might be interested in this project, which was started in 2011 by a Graves’ patient:

(Note on links: if you click directly on the following link, you will need to use your browser’s “back” button to return to the boards after viewing. As an alternative, you can right-click the link and open it in a new tab or new window).

http://www.greaterthangraves.com/

Please check back and let us know how you are doing!

[StephenE]

#1170823

Thanks for the link Kimberly! What a great event, I may have to see if I can do one of the days with them when they are in my area.

I have talked to my doctors. My GP said to take it easy and the Endo said there is no problem with exercise. Luckily my company has a great program called 2nd Doctors, which is a group of doctors from around the country that reviews all my medical information and gives me feedback about my condition and treatment. I will ask the question on exercise when I get my debriefing next week.

Once again thanks for the feedback.

[StephenE]

#1170824

4 weeks to the day of taking Tapazole and my heart rate is finally starting to drop. Very happy finally some change.

[StephenE]

#1170825

Hello all,

I finally heard back from my 2nd Doctors program. I was fortunate to have my case reviewed by a doctor and professor of Endocrinology at a medical school in NY. The doctor gave some great feedback in laymen’s terms. I can start back running and exercising now that my heart rate is back to normal. He also suggested for my case, that I go on a year of Tapazole with a reduced rate after 3 months and wait see if I can go into remission. The other thing was based on my relative small size of organ (thyroid) that going with RAI would be the most popular choice. That was the first time I’ve heard of size as a factor. Another question for folks to ask their doctor about.

Since I have not experienced any side affects in the last two months on Tapazole, I think I will consider requesting going a year with my local Endoc Doctor.

Hope you all had a good Easter weekend,

StephenE

[Kimberly]

#1170826

Hello – That’s great news that you were able to connect with the doc in NY.

I wasn’t sure if you were talking about spending a year under your local doctor’s care — or going a year in between appointments. Just a quick note that our levels can sometimes change due to stress or other unknown factors, so you definitely want to get periodic lab tests done. I’ve required numerous tweaks in my dose of methimazole in order to keep my levels in the “normal” range.

Take care!

Kimberly

[StephenE]

#1170827

It’s been exactly one year since I was diagnosed with grave disease. I was put on beta blockers and Tapazole to treat the symptoms. I stopped taking the beta blocker after about 3 weeks because it was increasing my heart palpitations. After about 4 weeks on the Tapazole I was starting to feel somewhat back to normal although I still had palpitations from time to time. After six months on Tapazole, I started to break out in welts and hives in the evening and it lasted until the next morning. My Endo figured I developed an allergy to the meds so he took me off of the Tapazole and I’ve been good ever since. The palpitations stopped and my blood work has been in the normal range now for 6 months. I think the welts and hives was a result of my body telling me I didn’t need the meds anymore. Good luck to those out there with this disease. There is hope!

[Robboford]

#1170828

Hi StephenE,
Great news, congratulations and here’s hoping you continue to stay in remission. Thank you for sharing your journey and hopefully it will help others who find themselves on this Graves’ journey we are, or have experienced and for some of us who are are still navigating. Stay well.
Cheers
Debbie

[Kimberly]

#1170829

Thanks so much for stopping by with the positive report — we love success stories! Wishing you all the best!

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