[snelsen]

#1062030

Hi Sally, I read this post after I responded to your most recent post.
Yep, we always have Graves;, and we will always need labs. I had a thyroidectomy, too. After the remaining circulating antibodies are gone, reflected by labs and how you feel, then the endo probably will begin by prescribing a small dose of thyroid hormone-I take Synthyroid. So expect the frequent labs you are probsbly having now, but later on, when you get tojust the right amount of hormone, you will feel good, like "your old self" and have less frequent labs. Over the years, I have had rhyeoid labs once a year, and more often if I begin to have feelings of hypo.

Over a lifetime, thyroid production can change, especially as we age, in the normal population, too. So there are people (mosrly female) who may begin to take a small dose od thyroid in their 40’s (fatigue, feeling different than usual.)
Shirley

[SallyB62]

#1017982

I just had a total Thyroidectomy on 03-25-2011. I kept going hyper each time they took me off of methimazole. But, the endo only kept me on that for about 2 months at a time. From what I read on the other posts, most people are on the suppressor drugs for at least 12 – 18 months. Was two months treatment too little time to get the thyroid into remission?

I have the eyelid retraction with no eye protrusion or pressure build up. But, I do have the ‘some days blurred, some days double, some days dry as a desert, some days perfectly ok’ vision. The endo says that the eyes should / may get better as time goes by. Is this true? If I am still producing the antibodies, can my eyes progress in the eye disease part?

With the total thyroidectomy, am I still considered to have Grave’s disease?

How long does it take to recover from the Grave’s disease symptoms? I read in some of the posts that it could take years?

[SallyB62]

#1062031

Thank you Shirley for your advice. Even my endo shied away from answering the question "Do I still have Grave’s Disease or am I cured after the Thyroidectomy?"

But, my endo does not want to repeat the antibody tests ever again. Says that would be useless, with no information. What if I am still producing antibody? Shouldn’t we find out in a few months if the antibody titer has gone down appreciably? If I still have antibody, wouldn’t my eyes still be getting attacked?

Sorry, I may still have the Grave’s anxiety. (Does that ever go away?) But, I still worry about these things.

Michele

[Kimberly]

#1062032

Hello – Some eye docs (not all) believe that there is a positive correlation between TSI and the *current* activity and severity of TED. In patients with active TED, these eye docs will monitor TSI over time to try and determine when the patient is out of the "hot" phase of TED.

However, to my knowledge, there haven’t been any studies done to show that TSI is a predictor of *future* TED. So I’m not sure how much value there would be to you in knowing your TSI numbers right now. But if your insurance will pay for it – and it will give you some peace of mind – hopefully, your doctor’s office will work with you to get the testing done.

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