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Your article states: Most of these neurocognitive changes improve after successful treatment of Graves’ disease according to self-report and objective measures. Our group is currently investigating the neuropsychiatric and neurocognitive changes associated with acute hyperthyroid Graves’ disease.
I was RAI’d 30 years ago for Graves and on T4 synthroid since. I’m 58. In the last few years my mood swings are getting to be too many and too much and are negatively impacting ALL of my relationships.
I am glad you are researching this aspect of the disease because I refuse anti-depressant medication. It doesn’t help and their side effects are awful.
I had been on T3 for about 6 years until it became unavailable in Canada around 8 years ago. I understand it is available again but my doctor will not prescribe it because my blood tests are within “normal” ranges. I’m not.
Will T3 address the Graves rage? I understand it is a neurotransmitter. How can I convince my doctor I actually felt calmer and happier with the addition of T3 years ago? Should he be digging out my old blood tests as a reference? Where do I turn for help?
To be honest, I’m actually leaning more toward NDT but doctor wasn’t taught to think that way. At my age, I do not believe I am converting T4 to T3 as “optimally” as I used to. Further, with T4 only, and assuming it converts optimally to T3, we are all still missing T2, T1, T0 and calcitonin.
Sadly, my blood tests indicate everything is normal (TSH, Free T3, Free T4) and so I’m declared euthyroid. I live in this body and my brain and its verbal assaults on people says something entirely different. It is no where near euthyroid!
Any suggestions beyond what I asked above? Am I on the right track? I’m curious about the research…..perhaps the research should be curious about people like me? I could give them an ear full and make them cringe!
We actually hear mixed reviews of T3/T4 combination therapy from Graves’ patients. Some patients report that combination therapy makes a positive difference in their quality of life. However, we also hear from other patients who felt it brought back a return of their hyper symptoms – tremors, insomnia, rapid heart rate, etc..
Following is a link to research that proposes a theory that patients with a specific genetic type might be predisposed to feeling better on combination therapy. Clearly, this is an area that needs more research.
(Note on links: if you click directly on the following link, you will need to use your browser’s “back” button to return to the boards after viewing, or you will have to log back in to the forum. As an alternative, you can right-click the link and open it in a new tab or new window).
http://press.endocrine.org/doi/abs/10.1210/jc.2008-1301
For a patient in the U.S. who wasn’t feeling well and was not getting answers from his/her doctor, I would recommend a second, third, or fourth opinion – although I’m not sure how easy or difficult that would be in Canada.
Also, keep in mind that it can be tricky to diagnose what symptoms are due to Graves’ and what might be due to another underlying issue. This video might be of interest:
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