[cathycnm]

#1075180

JDCSA – The short answer is "Yes" once your thyroid gets regulated. I am assuming you are on thyroid replacement and/or being monitored for hypothyroid – which can definately make you less energetic.

I am sitting here with an awful cold – Feel like I am the turkey being basted in juice! After RAI – First I had headaches for 5 weeks until I started thyroid. Then I had a chest cold for a month. Just got over that and now just a good old fashion cold – but the worst I have had in a few years. Anyone who thinks we go for one RAI and we are fixed is certifiably nuts. I even had the tech who handed me my RAI pill say "once you swallow this, it is all behind you." There are a lot of misperceptions out there and I value the NGDF so much for this work.

At the same time, if it has been 4 years and you still feel sluggish, I think you need a good workup by your doctor. Cathy

[jdcsa]

#1019945

ever since I took the radioactive pill, in 2003, I have lost my get-up and go! will I ever get it back?

[jdcsa]

#1075181

I had tremmors. I went through 2 dr.s before I was diag. with graves. on my first appt. with my endocrinologist, I was diag. with atrialfib. went on blood thinner, had a cardioversion. then took the RAI. was diag. with sleep apnea. this year it was bi-lateral carpeltunnel sugery. my legs ache, but I still go to work every day. oh yea, in April of this year, I was diag. with diabetes

[Ski]

#1075182

It’s time to have a frank discussion with your doctor and look over all of your lab results ~ it may help to have a symptom diary to show the doctor as well. Start it today ~ I think there’s one available as a bulletin from the GDF. For the most part, make a daily diary to outline your symptoms and judge their severity (scale of 1-10, perhaps). Doctors love data ~ it’s harder for them to respond to "I have no energy."

If your thyroid hormone levels are normal FOR YOU (not just "in the normal range") your energy should have returned by now. It’s possible to adjust your replacement hormone and not leave the normal range. That’s why you need to discuss it with your doctor. Some symptoms come with both imbalances (little high or a little low), so the symptom diary may help you both to put it in perspective and try to figure out which side of "your normal" you may be on. Each dose change will make you feel a little weird for the first couple of weeks. It doesn’t indicate that the dose is incorrect. Give your body about six weeks to adjust to a new dose before you get it checked again. It’s a long process, but if you FIND your normal and get your energy back, it’s worth every minute.

If you have trouble with this ~ if you find there’s nowhere on the normal scale where you feel as if your energy begins to return ~ then you may have to discuss other things that may be causing your symptoms.

I wish you luck ~ please come back and let us know how things are going!

[DianneW]

#1075183

I agree with the other posters. Have a good talk with your doctor, and be specific about your symptoms. If your doctor tries to tell you that the way you’re feeling has nothing to do with Graves’ Disease or your thyroid levels, request that s/he find the cause. If another cause is NOT found, your doctor should be willing to take a closer look at your thyroid levels and, as Ski suggested, determine whether a different part of the "normal range" might be more normal for you. In the event that you need to look closer at thyroid levels, be sure that s/he tests both your Free T4 and Free T3 levels. (My Free T3 was borderline low, and I didn’t ever have normal energy until I took a replacement hormone with both T4 and T3.) For many valid reasons, doctors don’t like giving both hormones, but in some cases it’s warranted.

If you have been having steadily changing thyroid levels since your RAI (needing a higher dose every time you see your doctor), then THAT might be part of your problem. It seems to be important to have stable thyroid levels before patients can begin to really heal and feel better. Once we’ve been on the same dose that’s right for us for six months or more, it helps a lot with how we’re feeling.

Best wishes in finding something that helps!

Dianne W
GDF Online Facilitator

[tracyl]

#1075184

I had a total thyroidectomy in March of this year. I have gotten my energy back to some degree, but not to post-Graves levels. I have had both patients and doctors tell me that we have to get used to a "new" normal. Do that people on here believe that this is the case?

[Ski]

#1075185

I’m not sure about a "new" normal, but I can say that it takes a while to undo the damage from being hyper, and only then can we begin on the road back to any kind of normal. Believe it or not, March was not that long ago, in "thyroid" time.

For the most part, we get back to something that feels very VERY close to our old normal, over time.

Remember that your body was under assault, and assaults have effects that you may not recognize right away, that may not be completely fixable. That doesn’t mean your treatment wasn’t effective, it means the disease took a toll on you.

If you continue to feel sub-par after a certain period of time at one specific normal thyroid hormone level (months, at least), then speak with your doctor and talk about adjusting your dose, in small small increments, so that your levels remain in the normal range but move a little toward what you feel you need. Keep a symptom diary throughout the process (even now), so you and your doctor can correlate certain symptoms with certain lab results, and ultimately hone in on what is probably YOUR normal thyroid hormone level. Your "normal" state is a different thing, and it will take some time at the right level before you really feel that returning. I think everything is a little more difficult after thyroid disease, but I also think everything is still possible after thyroid disease.

[jdcsa]

#1075186

I do want to thank ya’ll for your input, I have been back to my Dr. and I did discuss my no energy, situation with him. So we are trying something new. But I do think that the input has helped me to seek answers to my health.

[Author]

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