[Krissyg74]

#1059480

Hello,
I was diagnosed with Graves this past August, 2012, at the age of 38. My TSH is .01, T3 5.4 , and T4 2.1.
My symptoms include extreme heat intolerance, sweating, insomnia, anxiety, restlessness, extreme hunger, and increase in heart rate with occasional palpitations.

I have gone thru the scan and uptake, ultrasound, throat xrays, EKG’s, and endless blood draws.

I also have asthma, therefore, my Endo will not prescribe a beta-blocker. I have tried methinazole, with a bad reaction and had to stop.

My levels are on the rise and my Endo wants me to do the RAI, however I am very reluctant to try it. In the back of my mind, something is telling me not to do it. I would rather have the surgery. I have voiced my concerns with him, but he is insisting on the RAI.

I need a little advice as to what I should do with my treatment…HELP!

Thanks, Krissy g

[Bobbi]

#1174953

First of all, welcome. Second — don’t take advice from unknown people online about what you should do, or not do, treatment-wise. We are not doctors. This is a major issue for you to face, and there’s a tendency online to discuss treatment options in the same way we approach football games or politics. (If someone decided to do “X” they then become a cheerleader for that approach. It’s understandable, but it doesn’t help you to make a wise decision.)

Understand, too, that boards like ours are weighted towards illness, not health. People who get appropriately treated for Graves, and get healthy again, do NOT tend to populate online boards. It takes time out of our busy days to read and respond online, and once folks get their health back — no matter which treatment option they choose — they disappear. You can verify this for yourself by going into our archives and looking at who is posting and what they are saying. The stories are the same, year in and year out. The names change all the time.

There’s a bulletin board thread at the top section, posted by Kimberly, about treatment options. There are pros and cons to each one. And each of us has specific other medical issues (like asthma, for example in your case) which gives a slightly different slant to how we need to look at our treatment options. That special slant needs to come from our medical doctors. So, what you need to do is have a sit-down with YOUR doctor, and discuss the pros and cons of surgery with him/her. There may be valid reasons why your doctor does not side with surgery. And there may not be. You need to find it out, though, through discussion.

[vanillasky]

#1174954

You have all the symptoms I have. Please be assured you are not alone.

[Khadijah]

#1174955

You are not alone, indeed! I’m going to the endo tomorrow to most likely get put on meds. Out of curiosity what side-effects or bad reaction did you have to the Methinazole? I’m curious what look out for when I start. I am very sensitive to medicine so this will be interesting.

[Krissyg74]

#1174956

@ khadijah I was on the meds for six days. I had sharp shooting pain down my leg, kind of felt like somebody cutting my leg with a knife on both sides at once, water diarrhea, balance was off, and it felt as if I was not in my body. I normally do not have side effects to meds.

[Ninajanet]

#1174957

I have asthma and I needed a betablocker but it made my asthma worse! Even when they try switching it. I can’t tell what’s best as treatment it’s up to you and surgery if you want that well the next day, you will be on hormone replacement. Asthma and betablocker are horrible together it caused my asthma to get bad and wheezing but idk that was me.

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