I can definatley relate with what you are going through. Heck other than feeling a bit psychotic and multiple other symptoms with the hyperthyroid issue before RAI was kinda nice as I was losing weight over night. I’ve never in my life been as thin as that time, but clearly I was very sick and had to get this fixed. I too gained tremendous weight post RAI. It’s taken me more years than I care to mention to tackle this problem effectivley for long-term now. I don’t know about you but with Graves and intermittent symptoms I’ve experienced fluctuations with depression. That only makes the weight gain worse and you really have to watch out for this and stay on top of it. It can become a vicious cycle. So some form of daily exercise is great. You just have to have low expectations for awhile. My muscles ached for months, I was short of breath and week it seemed for 4 months or so until I rebounded from a heavy hit with the RAI. ALLOW yourself a tremendous amout of time to recover. This isn’t I’ll be back to normal in a few weeks. I found it’s learning a new way to live. Realize what does work for you and what doesn’t. Maybe swimming might be a better way to exercise for awhile until you build back your stamina. And then save some of your energy to you and your family. sometimes to me it feels like I literally have a "gas tank". As I empty that tank I don’t have anymore to give. So I have to balance out how and where I expend that energy so when its a dry tank I have to stop and fill that tank again. That might mean some down time.
As young women many times we are very focused on what the image in the mirror tells us. There’s a lot more to it than that. YOu are recovering from an illness that will take awhile, its a marathon and not a sprint. Take care of yourself first with good medical management, nutrition and expercise, and spirtitual support. It will come together, BUT it does take time. That’s what I have learned.
