[heatherwh]

#1060678

I mostly want to thank you people for this forum. I am grateful for the overall positive tone this forum has–people can find support here instead of just reading jaded, frustrated experiences. It’s wonderful. You guys are wonderful.

My experience so far: I have never dealt with anything medically wrong with me before, so this all new for me. I was recently diagnosed with Graves’ disease (it was confirmed a few hours ago). I started noticing symptoms about six weeks ago, which included a racing heart beat and weight loss. My family doctor did a TSH test and then I was referred to an endocrinologist (who did a lot more testing). I know I am incredibly lucky: I like my doctors and I got a really quick diagnosis. I have three kids, including a five month old baby–I decided to stop breastfeeding him. I’ve been on atenolol and will start on methimazole–and I’ll meet with my endo again next week. Thankfully, my daily life hasn’t been overly interrupted. And I have been mostly upbeat throughout all of this, which is a little uncharacteristic of me and I think simply a gift from God. We’ll see how this plays out.

This site has helped a lot in my constant searching (because I am the sort of person who tries to get rid of worry by shoving information at it). So thank you.

[Kimberly]

#1184084

Hello and welcome – I’m sorry to hear about your diagnosis, but I’m glad that you found us. (This is a great place for information and support!) And it’s really good that your doctors were quick to discover the root cause of your symptoms. We unfortunately hear from a lot of patients who were initially misdiagnosed and were *extremely* ill by the time they finally received a correct diagnosis.

If your insurance will allow, see if you can make arrangements to have labs done *before* your next endocrinologist appointment. It’s helpful to be able to spend the office visit discussing the results, rather than trying to do this via phone or e-mail after fact.

Take care – and keep us posted!

[flora]

#1184085

Hi Heather –

I’ll add my “Welcome” to the forum, too! I remember that I felt exactly the same way as you, in Spring 2013, when I happened upon this wonderful site – sooo grateful! You’ll find lots of encouragement, support and many kindred spirits here. Some time to browse around, with a good cup of tea, and sharing experiences with your new Forum Friends will make the “waiting to feel better” time go by – not as fast as we would like – but a lot more bearably.

All the best,
flora

[snelsen]

#1184086

Hi Heather,I agree with all the responses. And there will be more! You are fortunate to have had good and early diagnosis, and also I think this site is a lifesaver. You are one busy person, with 3 kids! I imagine your baby boy is seriously considering sitting up by himself in the next few months.

As you have read, we are all over the map regarding how much TED and Graves’ has impacted our respective lives. It does sound like Graves’ has not impacted you life as much as it might have! I am so grateful for that!

You might be interested in exploring the index putting in words that will have you see posts of people with kids, people with babies, etc.

This is one super site!

Shirley

[Author]

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