[Anonymous January 21, 1998 at 7:33 am Post count: 93172]

#1052147

I do have graves disease but i don’t have
bulging eyes. However, i do have bags under them.
Bags that I believe are exacerbated because I have
graves (of course, my dad has HUGE bags under his
eyes without graves but he’s 69). I’m 39 but
I feel these bags make me look 49.

I’ve been on Tapazole (or whatever the politically
correct term for it is) for the last 2+ years with
a 4 mo lapse that resulted in a major relapse/

I feel ugly but when i’ve mentioned it to the 2
diff endo’s i’ve had, one says that my thyroid must
be under control – the other (latest butthead-but approved
under my insurance) says i don’t need it-Thanks – you
try living with it!!!).

I’m a bit worried in investing in plastic surgery if it will
revert. On the other hand, I’ve heard bags under the eyes
are just fat deposits??

comments?

[Anonymous January 21, 1998 at 8:12 pm Post count: 93172]

#1153343

Hi Beth,

I also have the bags under my eyes. I plan on asking my optho about that when I go in for my next follow up in March. I think the bags under my eyes are due to my eye muscles swelling up. My eyes stick out some and I had to get the eye lid surgery back in November. My current optho has been very understanding about the pain I was in too.

I still hope and pray that my eyes go back to normal. I have a feeling that they will figure out how to stop the eye problems someday. I already had the eye radiation treatment which I think was to stop the progression of my eye muscles from swelling.

My first signs of eye problems were the watering eyes which occured from the winter cold and wind in 1996. My entire year of 1997 was one great big year of Graves’ Eye Disease troubles and treatments.

Your endo saying that your thyroid must be under control after you expressed your concerns reminded me of my old primary care doctor telling me that I did not need the anti-body test because I must have the anti-bodies because I had the eye problems.

I think it is a good idea to see an optho who knows about Graves’ Eye Disease just so they have a baseline guide on your eyes. The reason I say this is because when I did finally get to see an optho when my eyes really started acting up, he said for me to come back in a month so he could get a measured reading. I just laughed and said that he could take my word for it that really my eyes were normally really little. Turns out that I was back in his office before the month was over due to my vision was getting messed up. I was starting to wonder about this doctor because he seemed unsure of what to do, so I got the courage up to ask him if he had any other patients with Graves’ Eye Disease. He said yes but none that were as severe as mine. That was a scarey way to find out how bad off I was, both in terms of doctoring and health.

Well, I guess I have lived and learned.

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