[MikeLSU]

#1061202

Wow Denise, I am so sorry you have been struck so hard. ” title=”Sad” />. Biiiiiig ” title=”Sad” />

I hope you can get relief somehow. Have you tried the hypnotic therapy per the gentleman that posted earlier?

General update: the Atenolol seems to be working nicely on controlling the onset of minor or major panic attacks. It is still over 100 every day in Houston and I was out in it a lot today. The feeling now is far more relaxed than it was a week ago. I am taking a 25mg pill in the morning. The Ambien works like a charm for now. We will see what happens when I try a night without the Ambien.

[SharieS]

#1061203

Hi Mike,
Sorry to respond so late, but I am not reading posts very often anymore.
Regarding finding someone who does hypnosis, I researched in the area I live in. They can be used to influence your behaviour and choices for many things. Mine has 20 yrs experience and a good reputation. It was the first time I had ever tried it.

He recorded an actual session of mine, and that is what I listen to every night. It is like undergoing a light hypnosis everynight, but it works……. and I have been sleeping, usually 6 to 7 hours/night. No medication hangover or drowsiness, as he said I will awaken feeling well rested and re-juvenated and ready to face the day! During hypnosis, you are aware of what is being said (both during and afterwards), but during the session you are in an altered state of consciousness, so you are absorbing all the things they are teaching you…….in my case, how to relax my mind and body, so that I can fall asleep. My friend used it to quit smoking (in 1 session), and another friend used it to improve the mental aspect of their golf game. My therapist also helps movie stunt men/women to have confidence and no fear. Hypnotherapy is being used for many things.

I’m grateful it worked for me, but probably would never have tried it except that I was desperate after having slept poorly for 2 years.
I hope you get your rest, with or without meds.
Sharie

[CGkayaks]

#1061204

Hey folks, I’ve been following Mike’s post with interest since I suffer similar symptoms, albeit a bit less severe from the sounds of it.

I recently started acupuncture treatments for some of the symptoms, anxiety, sleep disturbances, weight gain, hot flashes, and cold hands. My acupuncturist was clear that treatment cannot ‘cure’ GD, but may help with the symptoms. After the first treatment, I noticed I slept through the night for the first time in months and had no trouble going to sleep.

I’m now three treatments in and have no more anxiety, have lost weight, my hot flashes are now just warm moments (no more profuse sweating!) and my hands don’t feel icy any more.

I committed to a series of 6 treatments, once a week and then will move to one a month treatments. They take about an hour to an hour and a half each time and although I was nervous at first (you know, that weird feeling you get when you do something completely outside your normal comfort zone!) I now look forward to it.

My health insurance covers most of the cost and my Endo said "can’t hurt to try" so, I went for it.

I am SO glad I tried it! ” title=”Very Happy” />

[COASTALGAL]

#1061205

I’ve been unmedicated for 4 months and it feels like 4 years. I’ve opted for RAI, but only because the tremors in my hands and legs have become intolerable. Any tiny amount of stress and it starts. The insomnia I have is due to how much I heat up at night. I really think I could spontaneously combust! I joined an aerobics group 3 times a week. It tires me out and I can get about 5 hours of sleep (slightly interrupted) on those nights. That’s way more than what I was getting before!

[MikeLSU]

#1061206

Although a brief description insomniagal it sounds identical.

Atenelol and Ambien…still working. Texas heat, still kicking my…teeth in. I took a 15 minute nap Saturday without drugs. Small but significant progress. Ambien is about to flip my switch, have a good evening.

[MikeLSU]

#1061207

Atenolol/ambien cr week 4 update.

I am now starting the 4th week of my course of 2.5mg Atenolol in the morning and Ambien to sleep.

When I get a little hot I can feel the nervousness trying to build but it simply stops at a level almost comfortable. I say almost because the feeling is still unnerving but it goes away fast as soon as I take steps to cool off. I can feel the panic attacks trying to set in as before but they do not hit like they did pre Atenolol. I have not had a panic attack like described before in the last 3 weeks. I have had my heart rate spike once or twice but it dropped off fast back to normal.

The Ambien works like a clock. Take it, get in bed. ~30 minutes i can sleep. If I try to stay up after taking one it is a fight to stay awake at the one hour point. At 1.5 hours my wife says I am entertaining to talk to. My short term memory has returned and I can "learn" new things. My energy levels are much higher. I think if I stopped the Ambien I would not sleep very long but could get some sleep. I suspect I will have to have some neurological scans and an apnia (spelling?) test to make sure I do not have some complicating issue.

I still do not have a feeling of normal. I do feel better though. I suspect I am just recovering from the panic attacks. I am able to keep a very calm train of thought from my military training. Even in the panic attacks I typically was able to analyze what was happening but knew this was just about as much fun as being shot at; but in this case, there was nobody to shoot back at. I can REALLY say the panic attacks and resulting fear of immenent death are #%^}ing horrible.

This is a strange thing to be worried about but I used to have migraines anytime it got hot. I have not had a migraine since my insomnia kicked in.

I am hopeful I can start exercising soon. I suspect that will help my mental strength as right now I have zero stamina compared to 7 months ago. I can still walk 2 miles at high speed but forget anything strenuous or longer term.

I will update again in a week or so.

Mike

[Denise321]

#1061208

Hi Mike. I am glad to hear things are getting better for you. That is great. In response to you suggestion of being hypnotized, it does not work for me. I am unable to be hypnotized. I smoked for many years and tried to quit by being hypnotized and all I could do was giggle. I just can’t concentrate enough. I am on Wellbutrin and Trazodone right now. The doctor thinks I am depressed. I tried to explain that my Grave’s is getting much worse, and she doesn’t listen. The Trazodone works great for my insomnia. But lately my thinking is getting really bad. I forgot how to walk down my stairs this morning. I know that sounds crazy, but it happened. And I am continually spelling that by typing taht. I do not have dyslexia and have actually always scored far above classmates in my English. Never had spelling issues. My spell-check is working overtime at this point. I am really happy you have found some relief. It gives the rest of us some hope that we might too. ” title=”Very Happy” />

Denise

[singh]

#1061209

Mike,

I have the same symptoms. I am really troubled about:

– Sweating issues. I am hot all the time. I’ve tried everything under the sun – doctor says it’s in my head!
– Insomnia. I get good sleep only once or twice a week. Xanax has helped but i don’t want to get addicted to it.

My right eyelid is also droopy. It’s cosmetic but it has become a social problem now. I avoid big social gatherings and traveling in summer is a big NO-NO for me. My TSH has been stable for over ~2 years now but the heat insensitivity has not gone. It is ruining my life.

I’d appreciate if someone can provide any suggestions – exercise, yoga, medicines; anything that works for the sweating problem.

Best,
Singh

[Kimberly]

#1061210

Hello – Is your doctor testing Free T3 and Free T4 in addition to TSH? Since you are still experiencing symptoms, it would make sense to check those levels just to see where they are. Also, keep in mind that the “normal” ranges for TSH, FT3 and FT4 are fairly wide. Some patients feel better towards the upper end of “normal” for FT3/FT4, while others feel better closer to the middle of the range. Some doctors assume that anything in the “normal” range is fine – when the real goal should be to find the levels that are OPTIMAL for you.

[Dragon552]

#1061211

To Mike and others that have posted here,

My name is Gordon and I have been dealing with GD since aprox 1986 and really ran through the mill with some doctors about it at the start, but that is all in the past. When they finaly found my problem my TSH level was at 5.9 and they tried to correct it with radiation they did the proceedure twice and really did a job on the thyroid glad. So yes I take that little pill every morning like a good little boy. I have been dealing with the insomnia, the bulging eyes, the extreme light sensitivity, blurred vision, and double vision ( which is fun seeing 4 lanes on a 2 lane highway ), so I can relate to what a lot of what you people are dealing with. But I have found one recurring statement if most of your backgrounds that for some reason is reversed to my own case that I can’t figure out why so far… the excessive sweeting for me is mainly while I am sleeping and more so if I use sponge type pillows or anything more than a cotton sheet to cover with, or if the temp hits 86 degrees or higher, for some reason if the temp drops down to about 76 or lower I feel as if I am freezing all the time.

Now I have a question for anyone reading this mesage thread…. Has anyone once else had a problem where you seem to be totaly losing sections of your eyesight due to blurriness, or sections of your vision that look like say heat waves raising off a dessert, or even the worst one yet for me right now is the total center of my vision just seems to be missing. I know it sounds strange but if I look directly at say the letter "H" on my keyboard I can still see the letters U and N but everything else on the left side of those keys is totaly non existant to my vision. Looking at my 18.5 LCD monitor I will see maybe at most 2 inches of it on the right hand side and the rest is so blurred you can even make out anything on it including colors. I hate to say this but darn I feel as if I may be going blind and that is a scary thought.

[Kimberly]

#1061212

Hello – Many eye conditions will continue to deteriorate if left untreated, so I would try and get this checked out as soon as possible by a neuro-ophthalmologist. Your general practitioner might be able to pull some strings to get you a quicker referral.

Thyroid Eye Disease usually occurs in conjunction with hyperthyroidism, but it *is* possible for it to occur years after treatment. I’m not a doctor and can’t tell you if what you are dealing with is TED, but this situation is obviously having a huge impact on your vision…you deserve to get a definitive diagnosis and treatment to bring you some relief! If it turns out that you [u:72vs940b]are [/u:72vs940b]dealing with TED, there are emergency surgical procedures that can literally save your vision.

Also, you mention insomnia…have you had your thyroid hormone levels checked recently? The dosage requirements for thyroid hormone replacement can potentially change over time, so if you are having symptoms, it’s worth getting those levels checked just to make sure everything is OK.

[snelsen]

#1061213

Hi Dragon,
My thought is that you need to know NOW what is going on with your vision. It is not optimal, but if you cannot get an appointment with a neuro-ophthalmologist, or another eye doc who knows how how to do visual fields, and other tests for optic neuropathy (pressure on the optic nerve) I suggest going to the ER, saying "I am losing my vision," then insist on getting an eye doc involved in your visit asap. That sure is not the preferable way to go. But, your loss of vision is potentially very very serious, and there IS a possibility you could lose vision in that eye, and you need to know.
Kimberly’s suggestion of calling your endo, or primary care doc, or anyone who you can find, tell them your symptom, ask them to facilitate an emergency visit to a good neuro eye do or good eye doc.
Then you know that if there is something wrong, you can be helped, and if there is not any immediate answer, you will be established with doc who can figure this out.

I am speaking from my own experience. I did have optic neuropathy, and did need an orbital decompression to save my vision in my left eye.
shirley

[MikeLSU]

#1061214

Why not to have a snack 30 min befor an Ambien.

After taking this stuff for about 1 month (I have 1 left and appt with GP Wednesday) I have a routine I usually follow. I did not take my acid reducer pill before a snack this time and paid formit. I took my Ambien and a gas pill. The gas pill lost the battle. Mega bloat and now the Ambien wants to start the sleep up. It is true a full stomach dimenishes the effect. I would have serious difficulty writing right now on an empty stomach dose. Now, I just see two of all works as my eyes are crossing a lot. So, off to bed. As soon as I laid down the burp attack hits. You know the one, it is there, you know it is there but it holds on tight. Several gorilla scale burps later and I feel muuuch better. I must say the fear of sleeping with that kind of gas in unnerving.

"Kimberly":28ih4njv wrote:

Hello – Is your doctor testing Free T3 and Free T4 in addition to TSH? Since you are still experiencing symptoms, it would make sense to check those levels just to see where they are. Also, keep in mind that the “normal” ranges for TSH, FT3 and FT4 are fairly wide. Some patients feel better towards the upper end of “normal” for FT3/FT4, while others feel better closer to the middle of the range. Some doctors assume that anything in the “normal” range is fine – when the real goal should be to find the levels that are OPTIMAL for you.[/quote:28ih4njv]

Hi Kimberly,

Yes he checks T3 and T4 also. I get my results on my iPad with my lab’s ap. (File is called Gazell FYI). T3 T4 normal.

Except for the first time I was tested in 2009, I have been normal but antibodies remain high. How would you test for optional? Light dose for increases and some sort of chemical scrubber/binder for lower?

Have a good evening,

-Mike

[Bene37]

#1061215

Hi Mike,

I have some of the same symptoms as you. I am on methimazole and my TSH is getting better and my Free T4 is in the normal range, but my TSI antibodies was over 800. I too have insomnia. Either I fall asleep quickly and wake up anxious in the middle of the night or I can’t get deep sleep.

I also have migraines from the heat. I make sure to drink lots of water and stay in air condition when it gets really bad. For the insomnia, I know doing tai chi and meditation helps if I do it for at least half an hour a day. I read in one of the posts and in a thyroid book that anxiety can be an enduring symptom of hyperthyroidism. I’m hoping it will go away though. Before this, I slept 8 hours a day.

[MikeLSU]

#1061216

Bene,

I hear you, the anxiety got old real quick. It can also bring on stomach issues…

Update as of last post: I had my 30 day checkup with my GP. He extended my Atenolol and Ambien prescriptions. I was in my right mind since I have been sleeping via the Ambien so I was able to ask semi intelligent questions. I mentioned I have had some horrible stomach gas as well as an almost constant inability to take a deep breath. My GP prescribed a strong pill similar to the "purple pill". My insurance balked and I await their approval but i bought a 14 day supply of the generic purple pill. It worked! I have not been short of breath all day! A truly wonderful thing. It supposedly takes 2 days to hit full effectiveness so tomorrow may be even better.

Today when driving home I had a "in touch with my femnine side" moment and started crying when I realized my breathing had been normal all day. I think the heat induced anxiety caused a lot of stomach unrest and that turned into extreme acid reflux and gas. The gas and bloating puts pressure on the heart physically and causes breathing stress. My GP agreed.

Oh thank goodness for real progress. The Atenolol and Ambien are crutches.

My GP took blood again to check my thyroid again just to see if I am starting to go hyperthyroid.

Thanks for all your replies. They have all been helpful directly and indirectly. I’ll keep updating as things move along.

Mike

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