[gatorgirly]

#1061217

Hi Mike,

Just wanted to let you know I also was prescribed the purple pill. My insurance didn’t balk entirely, but my co-pay was $90 for a 30-day supply. So I decided not to fill it. Instead I buy generic omeprazole. My gastroenterologist says it should provide the exact same symptom relief as the purple pill. I’m not sure what your official diagnosis was, but mine was gastroparesis. I am on a really high dose (40mg twice a day), but my GI doctor did mention that taking 2-4 Tums between meals also could help… as long as those are taken more than 4 hours after taking Synthroid. I find that on crazy days at work when I forget the Tums between meals, I get bloated, gassy and my insides become quite vocal. So next time you pick up your generic (whether OTC or prescription), try some Tums, too!

I hope you find relief quickly from your GI issues. The symptoms can be scary when they mimic cardiac issues, and even when you know they are "just GI issues" it still ups your anxiety level, causing more problems in the end!

[MikeLSU]

#1061218

Omeprazole is what I am taking Gatorgirl. OTC twice the dose per doctor recommendation. My breathing distress is gone. I walked about 2 miles today at bootcamp march speed and never got short of breath. Heavenly, i do have a horrible headache from the heat though. Gotta love that part of Graves. Ice pack on my head is doing the trick.

Florida gator? I will not hold that against you. GEAUX TIGERS. ” title=”Very Happy” />

[gatorgirly]

#1061219

I also take a double dose, or maybe it’s a quadruple dose? 40mg before breakfast and 40mg before dinner.

I use the elliptical and other cardio machines at the gym. My heart rate gets up to 160 or so, and I am beat red in the face, but my endocrinologist says my heart is strong and it’s OK to get up that high. I look disgusting and often wear a hat to hide the fact that it looks like I just stepped out of a 250-degree shower (my hair is soaking wet), but it sure helps me sleep at night! Sometimes it’s a challenge not to fall asleep on the couch as soon as I get home from the gym at 6 or 7pm. I look forward to Florida "winter" (I’m originally a New Englander. It’d be much more tolerable to have Graves’ in a place where there are actually seasons!).

And yes, I am a Florida Gator – went there for grad school 07-09. My birthday always falls during UF vs. LSU week. I was at the game last year… not a birthday/gameday I want to remember

[ldalr]

#1061220

Insomia has got to be the worst. I cannot stand not being able to sleep. I didn’t see anyone mention Melatonin has anyone tried it?

thanks

[snelsen]

#1061221

I tried it, did not help at all. But others have said that it did help a lot. Because it is not FDA controlled, it has been tested, and a stated 3mgm tablet does not always have 3mgm in it, sometimes more sometimes less. It is OTC, might want to check it out, try it. I take trazadone for sleep, 100mgm. I know people who go right to sleep with 50 mgm. It is an old time anti-depressant, which is not used as much now [b:28cwrodp]because[/b:28cwrodp] of the side effects of sleepiness. For the sleep deprived group, sleepiness and sleep is a desired outcome!! Not a harmful one, I don’t think habit forming (except liking the habit of getting some sleep.) It is an RX drug, and super cheap. Talk it over with your doc. Sleep deprivation is awful. I also have Ambien for those "special times" when I must get some sleep. My understanding is that Ambien can be habit forming. Frankly, I don’t really care, except that I understand that like other drugs, your body can get used to it, and its’ effectiveness decreases. That is why I have it as an insurance policy med.
Shirley

[gatorgirly]

#1061222

ldalr,

My family medicine physician highly recommends against the use of melatonin. I told him it had worked for me on the few occasions I needed some help falling asleep. However, he warned that because melatonin is something our bodies make, if we continue to take it on a regular or semi-regular basis, our bodies will recognize there is enough and will stop producing it.

I kept the bottle (Sundown Naturals 300 mcg/0.3 mg) anyway and have taken one pill maybe once every 2 months or so on those nights where I am simply not tired but know I need to get to sleep in order to function the next day.

As with any drug, please check with your physician, especially your endocrinologist, about taking melatonin with your current combination of thyroid medications.

[MikeLSU]

#1061223

Chaz you are at the 8 week point of no meds for insomnia?I hope it is going well. I am not looking forward to that. I experimented with not taking an Ambien on Friday and Saturday. It took a while to get to sleep the first time and I woke up over and over. Sat I went to sleep faster but woke up several times again and woke up hot and panicky at 7am.

The key difference is I had no breathing issues and could bring it all under control once I cooled off. The stomach meds for indigestion control really helped. Chest pains are gone, inability to take a deep breath is gone, fear of the bed is gone, panic attacks almost gone. I will be moving much closer to where I work soon. I will then completely drop the Ambien as, in case of a bad night’s sleep, I won’t be on a Houston interstate with the reaction times of a drunk when driving home.

I must say Ambien is an amazing thing. Once you get used to it the effect is 100% predictable. I can almast set a 45 second countdown just before i fall asleep (it is the engineer thing…must analyze everything). When I first started the Ambien as soon as I woke up I had to get up as I was immediatly restless. About 6 weeks into the prescription I can stay in bed if I want to. From reading elsewhere I understand this is a signal you can try to stop taking it. My experiment this weekend pretty clearly indicates there are some rebound effects. All day Sat I was pretty tired but Sunday was a little better. I am guessing it will take several days to reset to a semi normal sleep routine. We shall see.

I recently had a full thyroid panel done again. Euthyroid. Doc has me on Atenolol and that massively turns down the volume on panic attacks or even panicky feelings. The weather is also cooling off so it’s just better all around. Retire in Florida? Oh HELL no…Alaska!

Um, gatorgirly, about the LSU vs. Florida game this year, sorry ” title=”Very Happy” />, LSU#1

[WendySue]

#1061224

"Dragon552":3lnm0n3m wrote:

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.[/quote:3lnm0n3m]

Hi Gordon! Sorry to hear about your vision problem, has your ophthalmologist tested you for dry macular degeneration? In my opinion, I would look into this matter ASAP. I have "drusen" or spots on my retina that have multiplied over the years, At the moment, they are not affecting my vision, however I now wear glasses that have 100% protection for UVA and UVB, to help protect my vision, since I began wearing the glasses, the drusen have remained stabled, I get my eyes tested once a year. Here is a link that goes into more detail: http://www.ahaf.org/macular/about/under … forms.html

I also have had bouts of ocular migraines, they last for about 30 minutes, my vision becomes very distorted, I see halos, sparks, lights flashing, I have kept a journal as to when these happen, usually they come in threes, and most recently when I was hypo during the week I had my period, so mine are def related to fluxes in my hormones.

Good luck and best wishes.

[MikeLSU]

#1061225

I have been off of the Ambien for about 3 weeks now. The first few nights were non work nights so I could deal with light sleep. I was able to sleep but woke up a lot. I also found I was really hitting the restroom more often than usual. After 3 nights I only woke up twice. Now it is usually once. I am still not back to normal sleep but am close.

I am still on the Atenolol and omneprezone.

[snelsen]

#1061226

Hi, I have also stopped Ambien. I could not see that it made that much difference in my sleep, and prefer not to think of a lifetime of taking stuff to sleep. Having said that, when I was sleep deprived, I was only too happy to take whatever worked for sleep. It seems to me that once I did get some sleep, it was easier to continue to get a reasonable sleep. I was also taking trazadone for sleep, REally can’t tell if that makes a difference, either, but I sure can tell you that when it was increased to 100-150 mgm I felt like a total zombie for the first few hours of the following morning. I am older, so I get up at least once, sometimes twice, to use the bathroom, but seem be able to go back to bed and to sleep. It’s COLD outside of those covers! If I had a night with little sleep, I probably would try another Ambien for a night or to to see if it does make any difference at all. I certainly did not become dependent on it,and stopped it with no problems in one night. But I understand this can be a problem.
Shirley

[THOMAS]

#1061227

I used to be quite hyper now im hypo ive had thyroid problems since the 80s it has been said to be graves but also has been called hasimotos with me i was in the military and it could be troublesom this was before I was diagnosed but I knew I had a problem I had complained about sleeplessness and restlessness but they didnt figure it out when I was in so I tried to handel it myself and did quite well I took up wearing myself out running the jim or even going out it worked for me but sometimes it wasnt enough so I would have a couple drinks to knock me out its a neucance but it can be dealt with you need to find out what works for you I had a recent bout of hyper had to come off the thyroxin for a short time but you can use it I got alot of work done Its been along time for me as I said im usually hypo now thats why I think its most likley hasis or maybe both but being hyper again was kind of interesting I did think to much and that seems to be part of it but if you keep a positive attitude you can work with it some of the funest times of my life was when I was hyper just a thought were all dealt a hand and this thing can be dealt with I wish you all the best TOM

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