[gdtatuiowa]

#1058703

I’ve been hypothyroid for years, having to take a daily dose of thyroxin to compensate. Recently, I have been having eye problems — severe eye strain and increasingly, double-vision. 3 weeks ago I saw an ophthalmologist who saw that I had a history of thyroid problems. They did (I think it was) an echocardiogram of the muscles of my eyes and said that the results were consistent with Graves Disease. I have an appointment to see a neuroophthalmologist, an expert in Thyroid Eye Disease, middle of next month. My question is that everything I read associates Graves with hypERthyroidism and so far as I know, I’ve always only had hypOthyroidism. Can Graves develop in a person who is hypothyroid?

[Kimberly]

#1169465

Hello and welcome – The eye disease that comes with Graves’ actually runs its own course when compared to the thyroid involvement. A presenter at our 2010 conference noted that about 40% of patients experience thyroid and eye involvement at the same time, about 45% experience thyroid issues first, and the remaining 15% experience eye issues before having any thyroid involvement.

I don’t know if you received a specific diagnosis for your thyroid condition, but on rare occasions, Graves’ *can* cause hypOthyroidism instead of hypERthyroidism.

There is a surgical procedure (strabismus surgery) that can correct double vision, but the usual process is to wait until the eye disease is “stable” for a certain period of time. The concern is that they do not want to do one operation, only to have your vision change *again*. In the meantime, eye patches and prisms can provide temporary fixes for the double vision.

That’s great that you are getting an expert involved; hopefully, he/she will be able to shed some additional light on the process. There are many regular posters here who have been through strabismus surgery, so they are also a great resource if you have questions.

[gdtatuiowa]

#1169466

Thanks Kimberly. I appreciate the answer and this wonderful online resource. It seems a confusing disease with many aspects, so this forum will obviously be a great help. I’m so glad I discovered it. Thanks again. Gregg

[COASTALGAL]

#1169467

After being diagnosed with a hypOthyroid, I took Levothyroxin for 10 months successfully. I lost the extra 30 lbs that came on out of nowhere, stopped feeling cold all the time, and my hair actually started to grow again. At the 10 month mark, I started to develop tremors, anxiety, racing heart, insomnia and sweats. My Dr. referred me to a cardiologist to rule out any heart related conditions. I passed my stress test with flying colors, so my doctor told me to just cut my levothyroxin in half. I thought it must be the medication causing the problem, so I stopped taking it. I stayed off of any meds for 4 months, but the symptoms were so bothersome, I went back to the Dr. Way too much blookwork, an ultrasound, and 2 nuclear uptakes later, I’ve been diagnosed with Graves Disease. I went from hypo in July of last year to hyper in July of this year. I don’t know if it’s typical, but it happened to me.

[pumphreyp]

#1169468

Hello in 2000 my thyroid shut down and I started on synthroid meds and was during fine on them and in the last part of 2002 my eyes started to swell, first under one eye and then the other and then the swelling continued to the top of my eyes.my eyes then began to bulge my poor husband got where he didn’t want to go out in public with because he was afraid people would think he was beating me or something, I was sent to an excellent eye dr who told me I had graves.I didn’t understand because 2 years earlier I was told my thyroid had shut down and I was hypo with Hashimoto’s and then I was being told that I had graves and would need radiation treatments. the radiation did work although it was a long process thank god the double vision was only when I looked up or down. I just found this site a couple of nights ago and wish I had found it back then when I felt alone and confused to hear other stories just like mine . I went thru several doctors before finding out what was really going on, my doctor kept sending me to different ones because I kept going back to him knowing that something was wrong and wanting to find out what. the not knowing is very stressful and frustrating and that don’t help. good luck Pauline

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