[Anonymous August 1, 1997 at 9:40 am Post count: 93172]

#1158751

Very good. I like it ;}}

Pat

[Anonymous August 1, 1997 at 9:54 am Post count: 93172]

#1158752

You know, I gave up enabling a long time ago. Comfort zones are easy to get stuck in. My comments just gave some another complaint, enjoy and good luck in your efforts to get better. Nocomment2 are you there and what do you think? For those who maybe new on the bb, graves does not have to consume your life, there are some things you do have control over in this disease and many people here know that while for some, graves really isn’t the issue, just the smoke screen.

[Anonymous August 1, 1997 at 10:03 am Post count: 93172]

#1054467

I hope this is the right place, I mean I think Thue and Dianne said this was it. Is it safe to bite a cat with feline leukemia while on anti-parasite meds? Will I be more susceptible to things like, say, cat scratch fever? I don’t want to blame all my symptoms on Dog Diseases but hey, my memory is shot. I can’t remember where I buried my last bones. My cycles are all messed up and I can’t tell you when the last time was I went into heat. My social life is shot – I don’t have the energy left to chase cars and postal workers, or to complete the third rotation when I lay down at night. Those dang anti-parasite meds are giving me dog breath. My goiter is making it very uncomfortable to howl or bark at the moon (since I have insomnia, I see the moon an awful lot). No one understands that I am very sick, even though the tests don’t indicate it being a big name disease like Distemper or Rabies. I need support, not another dog telling me it’s not as bad as I think. I know what, we need a celebrity spokesdog like Lassie or RinTinTin!!

[Anonymous August 1, 1997 at 11:23 am Post count: 93172]

#1158753

I have never considered listening to, sharing with, and supporting others with similar life situations “enabling”.I am guessing you mean “enabling ” in that old buzz word sense and not literally. As far as control of Graves goes, the only control any of us have is to follow docs orders, take care of ourselves and try to stay positive. Not a lot when you think about it. Each of our bodies will react how they will react. There is no tried and true expected result from any form of Graves treatment.And re giving people something else to complain about, I guess what it boils down to is differing opinions are to be considered “complaints”.

[Anonymous August 1, 1997 at 11:40 am Post count: 93172]

#1158754

nocomment, You don’t have enought information to make the determination whether Graves’ is the issue, for anyone but yourself. Dianne N

[Anonymous August 1, 1997 at 12:34 pm Post count: 93172]

#1158755

Sick Pup,

I know exactly what you mean. I hope I’m not barking up the wrong tree by complaining about my symptoms on this BB. Maybe I don’t have Dog Diseases as bad as some others do, but I don’t want to be “hounded” because I need a little sympathy and compassion. I can’t keep a stiff-upper lip because they just kind of flop around. Can’t keep my chin up ‘cuz my tongue needs to hang off the side. (Got to cool off somehow, I’m heat intolerant, y’know?) I’m just not the same pooch I used to be for the Dog Disease. My once silky coat is dried out, frizzy and falling out everywhere, I look like I have mange, for goodness sake. I’m anxious about the long term side effects of my Heartguard and those anti-parasite meds. Some days I just want to roll over and play dead! (But instead of chasing bunnies, I feel like the energizer bunny) Well, these ARE the Dog Days of August, y’know – I hope we can find some understanding out there.

What d’ya call a dog with no legs? You can call him anything you want, but he still won’t come.

[Anonymous August 1, 1997 at 4:54 pm Post count: 93172]

#1158756

I quote: For those who maybe new on the bb, graves does not have to consume your
life, there are some things you do have control over in this disease and
many people here know that while for some, graves really isn’t the
issue, just the smoke screen.

---

What exactly are you trying to say by this? I don’t think anyone here wants Graves’ to have control over there lives. This just happens to be the place where they feel free to dump about it. How can saying how you feel and having a mysterious disease at the root of much of it be “just the smoke screen?”

When I first found this BB, I was going out of my mind with Graves’. I had thyrotoxicosis in a bad way. I had just been through a high-risk pregnancy, c-section, gallbladder surgery and suddenly I felt like I was going insane. I, who ever before was cool as a cucumber, was having panic attacks, continuous anxiety, couldn’t drive my car or leave my house. I had to stop breastfeeding my baby because not only was the disease making my milk very thin and the baby wasn’t gaining weight, but I decided to take PTU and didn’t feel safe having it consumed in any small way by my child. My resting heart rate was astronomical. I couldn’t sleep, and there are surely documents that will tell you what sleep deprivation will do to you. My mother had to come babysit me (and my three girls) every day for two months because there was fear that I would have a stroke or heart failure during the day (and I couldn’t take betablockers at first). My skin became so fine and thin that my own sweat and tears burned and left red tracks! I had a rash on my stomach from sweating constantly. I would experience sudden numbness and weakness in my limbs and be unable to move for a few moments. I couldn’t read and couldn’t talk without stuttering. I had bizaare and irrational fears (and the therapist I saw said they were definitely from the thyroid hormone poisoning). I could go on and on about the things that happened to me. I had to be strong and put up a brave front so that my children wouldn’t be scared that their mother was going to die. I had to be strong and keep a stiff upper lip for my husband, whose company was going through major reorgnaizations. I had to every day put up a front of “being okay, able to handle it” but some days I felt that dying would have been much easier. My mind racing out of control, electric surges running through my quadriceps, unable to sleep, exhausted, stabbing pains in my legs…

Thank God for this BB and everyone on it. I felt I finally had place where I could cry, talk about the anxiety I felt was making me crazy, find out if symptoms I had were experienced by others and related to this disease. It’s bad enough that most of the people I knew never heard of Graves’ and assumed it was “no big deal.” I know for a fact that before this disease, none of this crap happened to me. I also know that this BB helped me mention symptoms to my doctor that I didn’t realize were related to Graves’ and helped me obtain some valuable piece of mind. If that’s not what this BB is for, than what the heck do you think it is for???

It is positively ludicrous to think that just because people post their speculations on their own symptoms and what is causing them, do a little a blaming things on Graves’ here or there, etc, that they are “letting Graves’ control their lives.” You only see what they post here. You don’t see their bravery out their in the world. You don’t see what they are doing or how they are handling it the other 23 1/2 hours of the day. To make those comments is so ridiculous, so absurd and SO pathetic.

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