[Bobbi]

#1062168

Muscle starts to come back when we regain normal, controlled levels of thyroid hormone. It is "baby," mushy muscle, if you will, and needs to be strengthened, but you can regain your strength — or at least a lot of it — if you are careful. One thing you will need to make sure of, is that your trainer re-evaluates your level of fitness, and doesn’t just whoosh in and try to rush things. I had a trainer who did evaluate my condition. According to him, I had 8% (yes, eight percent) of normal strength by the time I was able to start exercising again. It does come back. But we have to work at it, and we have to be smart about how we work, otherwise we s can set ourselves back with strains, sprains and shin splints.

[ZachB]

#1062169

Thanks Ski and everyone for the support, it is definately a wild experience after RAI. I didn’t experience this the first time I had RAI but am now embracing this change. I’m much more mellow and finally leaving work when I should be. I’m definately Hypo but feel better, am able to gain a few pounds and gaining some upper body strength. I’d definately recommend doing the RAI to anyone w/ Graves debating it. It was a very hard decision for me both times, I felt with Graves like I could take on the world and never got sick and ate anything I wanted without gaining weight. Looking back I was working my life away taking on too much and was all over the place. Now I feel like I can focus much better, work isn’t overwhelming and i’m enjoying life more. I’m taking steroids and its helping my eyes.

[susan]

#1062170

An interesting thing happened yesterday- when I didn’t feel good, I stopped and rested. I put my health first! I came home from work and for the first time since I had RAI 1 week ago, I didn’t feel right. The last two days I had mental confusion(imagine looking at a class of students and drawing a blank on their names-ugh!) and suddenly felt my neck hurt and very drained. I canceled my plans and put the vocbulary tests, that needed to be marked , down. I am very proud of myself. I guess I have GD to thank for it=forcing me to be my own champion.. I woke up this morning after 9 hours of rest and feel ready to take on the day! How about that?!!! Oddly enough I credit this site in helping me by being part of a community of people in the same boat as I am! Thanks!

[snelsen]

#1062171

Susan!
How empowering! Once you do something like that, it is "money in the (psychological, physical emotional) bank," thus it will be easier for you next time! And what a marvelous payback! I am so happy for you!
Shirley

[susan]

#1062172

Now that I am 10 days post RAI and 2 weeks till my endo wants to see me, I was wondering- after reading various posts…when do you "go hypo" and when does the endo put you on synthroid? I am on Propanolol (160mg) and saw my internist who said to start to wean off of that..instead of two pills a day, just one. I am a little more tired and my heartrate seems to have slowed down a lot. Am I hypo? Can you be hypo and still feel jittery? So much of this is confusing AND i am menopausal! ” title=”Confused” />

[Ski]

#1062173

Hi Susan,

It’s really hard to say when any patient will go hypothyroid, but for the most part it doesn’t happen this quickly. The excess thyroid hormone that was in your bloodstream on the day of RAI may take six weeks to get out of your bloodstream, so typically our doctors will start monitoring carefully around that time. It is very normal to go through a period where you feel up/down/all around, because of all the chemical changes in your bloodstream just after RAI. In addition to that, there can be a period of a few days, right around the two-week mark, when you feel even more hyperthyroid, because the thyroid cells that are being destroyed are also "dumping" the thyroid hormone they’d been storing, so until there are fewer cells being destroyed (a couple of days, as I mentioned), you can experience a brief period of a kind of super-hyper. Not every patient feels that (I didn’t), but it’s good to know it’s possible.

You should know that symptoms of hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism overlap, to some degree, so a few of them belong to BOTH sides. For that reason, the only reliable way to know whether you’ve gone hypo is to get blood tests done. I thought I was hypo about a million times, and it must’ve been because I felt hypo compared to the hyper feelings of before, but in any event, the lab tests proved I was mistaken. (Oh, one thing though: make sure to ask for T4 levels as well as TSH — early on in the process, you can learn more from having both, because TSH can remain suppressed for a while after T4 drops into hypo territory.) Keep a long list of potential hypothyroid symptoms, and log your own experience with those symptoms, including how severely you are feeling them. When you can point to 4 or 5 classic hypothyroid symptoms that you are experiencing with high frequency, it is likely time to get blood tests run. It can be a relief to have an open order at the lab, so you can go whenever you feel it may be appropriate, but do be careful, as it can get expensive, and the doctor may revoke the privilege if you abuse it.

Once you’ve been confirmed hypo, it’s a good idea to keep the symptom diary going, because it may help you dial in your very best normal point within the normal range. Doctors are much more swayed by that type of data than by our vague statements that "I’m always tired." If they can see you took naps every day for a week on top of sleeping through long nights, they listen more and are willing to participate in the process to find your best normal.

I’m glad you’re feeling better, I hope this helps!

[susan]

#1062174

Hi Ski,
Thank you so much for the information. The last few days I feel a bit more tired than usual and remember this feeling from when I had Thyroiditis. My neck is swollen and sore and my voice is hoarse one day and the next day all clear!I am very grateful you let me in on the information and will look out for the things you said. I love the idea of a "symptom " journal to help the endo help me.Appt is the 24th. Having this time beforehand wets me focus on my symptoms. Not sure I get the part about monitoring the T4 and TSH.
I made an appt for an eye examine and the doc said there is a possibilty that the endo burned out just the right amount and I will be "normal." I love positive people….is it possible? The technician that did my uptake madea point of telling me(unprompted) how good my endo is at prescribing the best dose of RAI and that he is conserrvative…What do you think???

[Ski]

#1062175

Glad we can help!

The T4 and TSH are the two sides of the thyroid hormone "seesaw," if you will. T4 is the inactive thyroid hormone that travels in your bloodstream and is converted to T3 whenever your body needs fuel someplace. TSH is the Thyroid Stimulating Hormone that is released from the pituitary gland in response to the T4 it senses in the bloodstream. In other words, if the pituitary senses there is not enough T4 in the bloodstream, the levels will rise in order to instruct the thyroid to release more hormone. If it senses there is too much, the TSH level will drop in order to instruct the thyroid to slow down on thyroid hormone release. For that reason, the two have an inverse relationship ~ when a typical patient is hyperthyroid, the T4 levels will be above the normal range, and the TSH levels will fall below the normal range. After a lengthy period of hyperthyroidism, sometimes the pituitary takes a while to "wake up and smell the lack of thyroid hormone," so it can remain suppressed even after T4 levels fall into the normal range and below. For that reason, it’s good to see BOTH on a lab test, so you and your doctor can see more clearly the reality of thyroid hormone in your bloodstream. After you’ve been through a period of adjustment, replacement, or treatment and have arrived at a stable level, the TSH level is the best possible measure of how you’re doing, but during this middle period of time, it can be helpful to watch T4 levels also.

Conventional wisdom these days says that it is always better to go for complete destruction of the thyroid with RAI, because any thyroid tissue remaining active can still be affected by the Graves’ antibodies and forced to overproduce thyroid hormone. Even if it’s just from a small portion of your thyroid, the volatility can make it very difficult to feel truly healthy again. In addition to that, cells that are completely destroyed are gone. Cells that are just badly damaged can start to act truly wonky, creating even further problems. Better to have an RAI that takes the whole thing out, because trying to chase normal when you’ve got thyroid tissue that isn’t acting in a predictable way can be very frustrating.

[susan]

#1062176

Going to the doctor tomorrow…my neck hurts when I cough or yawn..probably Thyroiditis…at least I will get some labs done………It has been 2 weks post RAI… On the up side someone who hasn’t seen me in weeks said I looked better! Yay! This really is a day to day thing…finding I get angrier quiker…sooo not me! Overall feeline like myself. ” title=”Very Happy” />

[susan]

#1062177

Hi All,
One month post RAI and my first set of labs came back-NORMAL! TSH 2-65, T4 1.3, T3 2.7…and no script for synthroid!!!! Feeling great..Not one regret doing RAI….Don’t know what will happen with this 1 month from now…but hey, just for today! >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Susan ” title=”Very Happy” />

[JaneG]

#1062178

Hi All,
I have so appreciated all the previous posts. I am 3 days post RAI and was happy to begin the laundry and cleanup process and after 3 hrs of not doing too much, I’m ready for a nap. In this world of most everything being instant, it seems we who have Grave’s must work at being patient. Thank you Ski for your informative posts as they are very helpful.

[paulahend]

#1062179

Hi,
I just want to know what are the signs & symptoms of Graves disease? at what age does a person likely to have this? Can a school kid get this? I think a family member is starting to have graves but I still have to confirmed it. Thank you for any answer that can enlightened me.

[Kimberly]

#1062180

@paulahend – Can you give us some additional detail? This board has been hit lately with a lot of general posts from "blog commenting services", so I’d like to confirm that this is a legitimate request before someone takes the time to make a lengthy reply.

The following bulletin from the ATA has some good info on Graves’. (You will need to use your browser’s "back" button to return to the boards after viewing).

http://www.thyroid.org/patients/patient … raves.html

Thanks!

[Progressiv]

#1062181

This forum is a God send. It is great to be able to get first hand information from people who are actually having the experience rather than only the theory from pamphlets. My best friend is having a hard time adjusting and I feel so sorry for him and his wife. After RAI he complains about the constant itching that don’t let up until he uses Aveeno lotion that has oatmeal in it. Everyone just keep your head up and stay prayerful.

[Author]

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