I was diagnosed with Graves in June of 97 (hospitalized for five days
with heart rate of 200 and atrial fibrillation); things have settled
down with respect to my cardiac status, and my condition is more or less
controlled with PTU and beta blocker, but I’m tired all the time and I
think maybe I don’t need the beta blocker at all. I had bllod tests and
the results haven’t come back yet, but I was curious whether everyone who
is being treated with antithyroid drugs also needs beta blockers? My
heart rate was really high when I was still in fibrillation, but the
fibrillation stopped late last summer, and my resting heart rate is now
mostly around 60-65. I’m really hoping to do without the beta blocker.
I’m sure a lot of my difficulty is the unhappiness associated with
my husband’s death; he died from melanoma at the age of 59 four months
ago–he had been undergoing treatment for the melanoma for a little over
a year, but had chemo for more than five years before that for
lymphoma/leukemia, so it’s been a long stressfull time (and yet he was
able to keep on working until two weeks before his death!).
Patricia
