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My 24-year-old daughter was diagnosed with Graves Disease this past year and had RAI in August. She is on Synthroid now. Her vision has deteriorated some and now her vision is blurry quite frequently. Her doctor told her not to see an eye doctor until her thyroid level stabilizes. You guys seem to have good knowledge about these things. Should she go see an opthamologist now or wait?
Also, she is having these problems and her doctor is telling her that they are not related to her (now) hypothyroidism: Nausea, vomiting, insomia (which causes her to be tired during the day), unusually long periods-2 weeks and heavy flow, shaky, dizzy, and highly emotional mood swings. Any suggestions as to the cause? What should we say to the doctor or what can we do?
Also, I cannot find the posting regarding Aspartame warning you are talking about. Is this something she should be concerned with?
Sorry for so many questions… The poor girl is trying to work and manage a house and cope with her significant other and no one but me seems to understand that her problems are real and not an excuse to be lazy and irrational. She is trying so hard. She cries a lot and says she is sick and tired of being sick and tired. I keep telling her that, hopefully, it will get better as her thyroid levels return to normal, but it is hard to see her so despondent…
I wish she had a computer, so she could get online everyday and have the support you people offer at her fingertips. I will print out everything that is helpful, though, to show her that she is not alone. I am always there for her, but I am not suffering as she is and so my encouragement sometimes is not enough. Thank you all for being here. Anything you can write here to encourage her would be appreciated. Thanks. VirginiaHi “Mom”,
Your daughter is going through a very rough time right now. Beleieve me, things will get better with time. Let me assure you, she is not going crazy or losing her mind. Let her know we are all here for her support.
As far as the nausea and vomiting, could be her eyes making her that way. What she needs to do is get an Opthalmologist who deals with graves disease to give her a baseline eye exam, NOW! Then she should have one yearly hereafter. The quicker you catch the eye portion of this disease, the better off she’ll be. She needs to be certain if she has this or not.
As for insomnia, that IS part of the disease. Ask anyone here on this board. You did not say if your daughter was seeing an endo or not, but sounds like she may want to find one. These are the doctors that treat autoimmune diseases, such as graves, diabetes, lupus, etc.
Now, as for being despondent, your daughter may want to ask the doc for a mild antidepressent, such as paxil, zoloft, etc. This will help her through the tough time she is having and make life more bearable for her and those around her. It really does help. Many people on this board use it .
Aspartame? Hmmm, not sure how this one got started. It really doesn’t pertain to graves, per say, however, many graves patients use it and also have diabetes. Before you enter the actual Board there is a place to change the posts you are viewing. Try clicking on the last 30 days and let it load. I think this started after the new year, so somewhere between there and here, you will find all the posts pertaining to aspartame. I hope this helps.
Feel free to e-mail Jake or myself with any questions or concerns you may have.Wishing your daughter wellness,
JAN, NGDF
on-line facilitatorAspartame does pertain to Graves! It can trigger or cause Graves’disease! You can find more info on http://www.dorway.com
It sounds unbelievable but I’m starting to notice it’s all true.
EVERYBODY PLEASE STOP USING ASPARTAME, IT’S POISON !Karla
I understand how your daughter is feeling. FINALLY, after a year and a half of being SICK & TIRED of being SICK & TIRED, I’m starting to feel like my old self again!! Was beginning to think it would never happen! Now I just have to fight a weight problem – started gaining weight after going on Synthroid, then stopped smoking, which added another 15 lbs., so now I have to lose 30 lbs. Never needed to diet – always ate whatever I wanted, had plenty of energy, etc. Now at 59 I’m exercising every day, watching the fat intake etc. All I can say to your daughter is to hang in there – everyone says it takes 1 – 2 years to get stabilized, and I believe that’s true – it was just about a year and a half until I started to feel “normal” again. Good Luck!!
Hi Virginia:
Glad you found this board for your daughter.
By all means, she should have her eyes checked
and if she has not already it is important to get a good ey exam. Even if her doctor thinks the eyes will improve if her levels change the eye disease is still a mystery.
The progression has no pattern and it can go away on its own. move fast or gradually sneak up on the eyes.The symptoms you described she is going through I have been there too. Once you get the right dosage for your body things do improve. If I look at myself from where I was a year ago and where I am today, my life is not 100 percent to where it was before but at least it is about 95 percent. It really helps in learning to know your body.
If you are showing overbearing signs of hypothyroidism
call the doctor have then check your blood levels so they can adjust upward or downward your medication.Keep visiting and asking questions, good luck to you and your daughter.
Dee
Virginia- Please tell your daughter that all her symptoms are just like mine. Before I was diagnoised with Graves I was being checked for intestinal problems. I even had exploritory surgery to try and find out what was wrong with me. The doctors were giving up but my GP didn’t he sent me to the Mayo Clinic for more test that is where I was finally diagnoised. I still have terrible stomach pains, constant cramps. My periods are very heavy and last long to.(the opposite of everything that I have read.) The Dr.s keep telling me that things will get better. All I can do is believe him. Does your daughter live close to you? I wish you and her the best of luck. Just tell her she is not alone.your friend JoJo
I developed Graves 2 years ago and last year in February, I noticed my vision was blurred – I panicked and contacted my opthal. who immediately referred me to a neuro-opthal. because he felt they were more qualified to deal with Graves and the vision problem. I had 10 radiation treatments to my eyes after trying predisone (which drove me up a wall) but they say it is standard to try that first. Anyway, the radiation cleared my vision up to the point I could drive and read again after a couple weeks.
I’m just letting you know what my experience was. I was completely distraught when I couldn’t see – it hit me like a two-ton truck. One day I could see, the next I couldn’t. This was my experience.
JoanHi,
Your daughter is having a tough time of it now, and I’m sorry. There is hope, and an end to the feeling crumby, but it does take a while. As far as some of the symptoms you have described none of us here are doctors, so you have to keep that in mind. We have a fair amount of experience relating to doctors, however. ; )
As far as the very heavy periods — that can be associated with having too little thyroid hormone. When we have too much thyroid hormone our periods tend to lighten up; with too much, they tend to get very heavy. This will go away once the synthetic hormone dose gets your daughter’s body into the right range.
As far as the vision: Go to an ophthomologist. Yes, it is probably true that the ophtho will not be able to do much right now if the vision changes are due to the thyroid problem. But I got very blurry vision — especially at night — and it turned out that I had developed cattaracts. The ophthomologist was able to prescribe different lenses which helped my vision. The doctor told me that early cattaracts sometimes occur when someone has been very ill with something else — our bodies just aren’t working optimally in a lot of areas. But the only doc who is going to be able to tell your daughter what is what, with regard to her eyes, is the ophthomologist.
Insomnia can also be related to the Graves. There were periods of time when I was dizzy, also. The mood swings — YES! Think back to when we were teenagers and the hormonal changes brought about by puberty kicked in. And menopause. Hormonal swings inside the body can cause mood swings, depression,….well people can describe it in a lot of different ways. Depending upon how bad the symptoms are there are things the doctor might be able to do to help your daughter out. Sometimes, just knowing what is causing them can make them easier to tolerate until her body is back in balance again.
The thing is, however, that it is altogether too easy to blame this that and the other physical thing on the Graves and sometimes it has nothing to do with it. Only a doctor can tell your daughter what is what. My own insistance, however, is that if the doc says something is NOT related to the Graves, I expect him to look for what IS causing something if I am feeling sick. When we are as sick as we get with the Graves OTHER things can go wrong, too. We can be more prone to infection, because we are so run down. I developed gall stones, which my doctor said was often a result of too much, too rapid a weight loss. Your daughter needs to make sure that her doctor is listening to her. She may also need to prioritize her activities so that she is allowing herself plenty of time to recover her strength. We do get healthy again, but we have to take care of ourselves much much better than normal until our bodies get back to normal.
I hope this helps. And please, give her my best wishes for good luck, and good health.
BobbiI have had GD for a long time, but just had a recent bout of overactivity. I have never had any eye involvement. This time it seems that I get blurry vision. This is not all the time. Can this be a side effect from this GD?
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