[kimmy]

#1060632

Hello All,

I was a healthy 33 year old who works in a highly stressful family-run ad agency – I was a runner and a ‘gym-rat’ and overall fairly active.

I was diagnosed with Graves’ a little over 2 months ago and was put on both neo-mercazole (15mg twice a day for the first 2 months) and atenolol for a month for my really high heart rate – I would wake up at 135. During the first 2 months my heart rate stabilised, my ‘fogginess’ got better, my fatigue got better… in general I started to feel much better especially near the second month.

At the end of the second month (the end of April) I did a schedule drop in neo-mercazole to 10mg twice a day and did a blood test last Thursday and I’m supposed to see my endo next Thursday.

My questions:
1. Should I be still suffering symptoms at this point? This past Thursday (the day of my blood test) I went for a walk/run in the morning and felt weakness in my legs. Over the weekend my fatigue came back and I’ve been feeling crappy ever since.

2. I’m suffering from depression which I had thought would lessen when I started on medication for Graves’/Hyperthyroidism. Are there any resources on a link between Graves’/Hyperthyroidism and depression? And how to manage it?

3. Are there any resources or tips you can give me on stress and it’s impact on Graves’? I’m always stressed out and tend to work really long hours. I’m now worried that I physically can’t keep up with my job and I don’t know how to manage.

Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[Kimberly]

#1183808

Hello and welcome! Here are a few thoughts…

1. Symptom relief is very individual. Some patients will see immediate improvement once their levels reach the “normal” range, while others take longer to recover. In particular, patients who didn’t get a correct diagnosis right away can take more time to heal. I would check with your doctor on his/her recommendations for activity – it might be helpful to ease back in a little more slowly.

2. Having thyroid levels out of balance can absolutely cause symptoms similar to depression or anxiety disorders. Usually, the symptoms will resolve once levels are stable, but occasionally, there is actually a separate issue that requires treatment. This is a nice video from our 2012 conference in San Diego:

(Note on links: if you click directly on the following links, 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).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CB8_5rbCso8

3. Many patients report symptom flares during periods of stress – and some can actually cite a significant stressor (divorce, death in the family, car accident, etc.) as a trigger for their Graves’. Creating some “down time” into to focus on activities that bring joy and provide energy is helpful. Examples include meditation, gentle yoga, walking, reading, watching funny movies, or attending a live musical or theatrical performance. Also, paring down commitments is helpful if possible. See if there are tasks that could potentially be “deferred, dumped, or delegated”. This is a nice piece on “The Relaxation Response” from Dr. Herbert Benson, who has done a lot of solid research on mind/body medicine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mea202U9wgQ&list=UUONJaoWexqoz1cr6m5313Dw

Take care – and please check back to let us know how you are doing!

[flora]

#1183809

Hi Kimmy,
You’ve found just the place for support and encouragement, just when we need it most. Reading your post, I know that many of us are nodding our heads, recognizing the very symptoms and feelings we experienced in those first long weeks after our diagnosis. For me, I pretty much had to crawl through the 10 weeks plus, after starting my ATD (including that empty feeling of like watching life through a plate glass window, or something like that). But Kimberly’s tips will help, and you will feel so much better in a while – and maybe sooner than I did! So I’ll add my welcome aboard, too, and please keep us posted as you go along.
flora

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