[Butterfly1981 August 8, 2012 at 3:00 pm Post count: 6]

#1059264

HI there,
Just been diagnosed with Graves Disease after suffering symptoms (tremor, weight loss, sweating, palpitations, double vision) for some time. Blood results in May showed my TSH to be just out of range but T4 normal, August results show TSH to be well below normal, and T3 & T4 to be well above. Have started on carbimazole but as yet have seen no improvement. Can’t take Beta Blockers for the palpitations due to having Asthma. I have an appointment in 6 weeks in the thyroid clinic and am being referred to a Thyroid Eye specialist.
Just wanted to say hi, and see if anyone can give me advice and support for my future appointments?
Butterfly1981

[KimberlyOnline Facilitator August 9, 2012 at 10:44 am Post count: 4294]

#1173730

Hello and welcome. I’m sorry to hear about your diagnosis, but I’m glad that you found us.

One suggestion for your upcoming appointments is to request a lab slip for your *next* set of labs at each appointment. Then you can have bloodwork done in advance of your next appointment. The down side is that this does require separate trips to the lab and to the doctor’s office. (Which some insurance plans might have an issue with). However, this allows you to spend your time with the doc actually looking at your labs and being able to ask questions, rather than having to decipher a phone message after the fact as to how to adjust your dosing.

Take care — and please keep us posted!

[Carito71 August 9, 2012 at 1:41 pm Post count: 333]

#1173731

Welcome to the forum. I’m glad you found us.

I was diagnosed in early June and started Methimazole a week later. I’ve been on it for 7 weeks. I just wanted to share with you that the medication takes some time to seem like it is working. At least it did for me. I started to feel like something was finally happening around week 3 of taking it. So, hang in there.

As for the heart, I’m so sorry you can’t take a beta blocker. One of the things I hate to the 1000 power about GD is the tachycardia. I was so glad when it went away with the beta blocker. I personally feel that Metoprolol is better for me than Propranolol. My Dr. said that it would make me feel less out of breath. Metoprolol is a cardioselective beta blocker. It specifically targets beta receptors in the cardiovascular system. You should ask your Dr. about it.

Something very important that has helped me is the increase of protein intake. When we are hyper we loose weight and with that we can also loose muscle, so protein helps rebuild tissue loss. When I was at my worst, I was eating 3 protein bars plus my 3 meals a day.

I agree with Kimberly about asking for a lab slip. I’m doing that as well. As a matter of fact, I had labs today in preparation for my 8th week appt that is coming up next week.

Wish you all the best. Please keep us posted. Feel better soon.

Caro

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