[Loulou]

#1170993

Hi all. Yep, I’m another one diagnosed with Graves this week! Actually, I firstly discovered Graves disease in 2010 when I suddenly lost a huge amount of weight and had my family and friends all concerned. The weight loss was my main sympton and after a year on Neomercazole ( is this the same as Methimazole? I’m from Australia) I was in remission. This time round I am shakey and have a racing heart, palpertatins, teary etc… No weight loss though so it is totally different. My doctor wants me to research both RAI and an operation as he believes the likely hood I will go into remission, from meds again, is approx 5 percent. I have three kids 13, 10 and 7 and I am a teacher with young students 5 to 6years so thinking the op may be the way to go……
Then again! It is so hard to know. I have a while to decide as I need to get back to some normality before we do anything. So it’s back onto Neomercazole for a while.
Loving this site as I am learning a lot about Graves and it is so good to know we are not alone!

[Kimberly]

#1170994

Loulou wrote:

My doctor wants me to research both RAI and an operation as he believes the likely hood I will go into remission, from meds again, is approx 5 percent.

Hello and welcome! The latest guidance from the American Thyroid Association and American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists notes that remission rates in the U.S. are around 20-30% after 12-18 months on Anti-Thyroid Drugs (ATDs), although one study out of Europe showed 50-60% remission rates after a 5-6 year course of ATDs. (I haven’t seen any stats for Australia). The guidance notes that patients with the best chance of remission are women, non-smokers, patients without large goiters and patients who do not have persistently high antibody levels.

All three treatment options do have pros and cons, so it’s great that you are doing your research.

Take care!

[Darcy43]

#1170995

Hi AnnaJ

Here is my experience with Meth. (thimazole)

Hair Loss. I don’t care what is being said that it doesn’t cause hair loss – IT DOES. It takes about 1 month and you feel great then POW, in the drain , brush, shower….I am miserable. Maybe it varies with others. I never experienced itching. I do have tender joints (I hope I am not going into HypO, but that my be why my endo drastically reduced my intake (from 30 mg a day to 1/2 a pill a day). The texture of your hair will change also. I heard this is temporary (and abnormal hair loss is listed as one of the side effects for this pill). It is working I feel, although I am still anxious so now I have incorporated Yoga and Pilates for exercise (safe due to heart problem from GD) and it keeps the weight maintained – but yes you will gain weight because it slows down the metabolism…way down.

Not to scare you, but I am telling the facts based on what I am experience and I go to my endo regularly and I trust her. I am looking forward to the “balancing out” portion so I can begin to feel like myself. hang in there and welcome to the club.

beware of Graves Rage…yep I am have been quite evil….

[PolishTym]

#1170996

I was bummed about hair loss and the mood changes because my wife had previously told me my hair and humor were my best qualities. My scalp would even hurt! So I switched to Burt’s Bees shampoo and conditioner. While not 100% natural, it helped. After surgery, the hair thickness improved and the scalp discomfort was significantly reduced. I cut out the hair products with significant artificial ingredients.

I don’t know how many this will help because it is a men’s product, but I used a thickening cream which helped with styling the thinning areas.

[Darcy43]

#1170997

Thanks PolishTym

I will give the Burts Bees products a try. The hair loss is maddening and it has been 8 months. I would think now that my levels have evened out, this excessive shedding would stop…

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