[GDRobM]

#1072352

Hey Christy, hang in there, it takes a while but it does get better bit by bit, when you look back six months (for example) you can really notice the difference, but in the mean time, just keep an eye out (metaphorically) for those little forward steps. Sometimes they are tiny, but they are there. Also, focus on the good things in your life. You will also get more comfortable with the types of available treatments and if you can you should take lots of time to think through them all and then you will be happier with whatever course of treatment you take.
Rob ” title=”Wink” />

[Christy]

#1019543

Hello all!
I am in serious need of a little encouragement. I am just having a really hard time dealing with my GD diagnosis. I have never been one who let’s a sickness get her down, but this just has me at rock bottom. I am trying to be upbeat for my family (I have 4 children and a hubby) but on the inside I’m just cringing with the thought of the available treatment options and living the rest of my life with this. Any words of encouragement would be a blessing!
Thanks for listening to my rambling
Christy

[catsmum]

#1072353

Hi Christy,

Hang on in there. My 17 year old daughter has just been diagnosed too & I have ME/CFS so I know how much of a struggle it can be. Take every day as it comes, there will be good days & bad days so enjoy the good ones & know the bad days will pass. Focus on the good things in your life, your 4 beautiful kids, and remember that you have an immense strength inside of you (to look after 4 kids you must be amazing!) and you can deal with this.
There are a lot of people out here to support you when things get you down. Together we can do it.
Take care,
Catsmumnx

[Ski]

#1072354

While it’s true that you’ll have to consider this as a part of your life from now on, you won’t feel ill for the rest of your life ~ there will come a day when your chosen treatment has returned you to health, and I swear to you that you will find yourself living many days in a row (perhaps longer!) without even thinking of Graves’. Promise. ” title=”Wink” />

And in the meantime, you’ve been given perfect suggestions ~ focus your attention on the good things in your life, because there are MANY. In the end, this is a tiny little bump in your life’s road. The love of your family and friends far exceeds anything Graves’ is capable of doing to you ~ as a matter of fact, many of us here are so incredibly grateful for meeting each other that we wouldn’t go back in time and "un-get" Graves’, even if we could. It has brought me incredible joy, and at this point, that’s really the biggest part of what I’ve taken away from it.

I don’t want to minimize the struggle, because I know it’s hard at first. We’ll be here for you every step of the way. Lean on us and we’ll get you through the hardest parts.

[hyperm]

#1072355

Hey,

Its not easy being newly diagnosed, scared with all the literature and trying to raise a family while being symptomatic! We all have been there and you will get there I promise! A day at a time in the first instance then as Ski said you start feel better with the meds and pick up.

Its not easy but you will get there and this board has the best support I have found, in down times so many private messages arrived giving words of comfort and strength,

We are all here for you!

M xx

[belldandy112]

#1072356

Christy,

Hiya! Weighing in here just a little bit late, but better late than never! ” title=”Very Happy” />

It gets better. What you must have: PATIENCE!

” title=”Very Happy” />

That’s really all there is to it. You might not feel great tomorrow … or next week … or next month. But you WILL feel better. And you will probably even feel like yourself again! Just keep your eye on the ball … keep on the medication … know that there are going to be really bad days … but eventually, you’re going to be okay.

It might be really soon, too. My GD was so incredibly manageable after I got my medication dosage right, I couldn’t even tell that I’d ever been sick. It was like a bad dream that never happened. And since that first time, I have never really felt truly sick. Keeping up a normal routine, getting back to work, getting back to exercise and all of the normal things really helped.

I don’t think of this as a "handicap" at all, even though one endo had the gall to suggest that I file for disability so I could stay home longer and "get better" — LOL! Are you kidding me? There are people with far worse diseases than Graves who go to work every day of their lives (one of my bosses had cancer; a co-worker had M.S.), and they manage to have careers, families, friends, hobbies, etc. As long as I think of this as a "condition" rather than an illness, it seems to make a great deal of difference.

Patience, patience, patience! That’s my key ingredient. ” title=”Smile” />

Melissa
Austin, TX

[DianneW]

#1072357

Hi Christy,

It’s really normal to go through emotional stages when first learning we have a disease that will be with us (in one form or another, if nothing more than the need for a yearly blood test) the rest of our lives. It will take time to process those emotions, which will follow the same path as in the grieving process when we lose a loved one or a relationship. Why? Because we’ve lost something important: the perfect health of those affected parts of our body.

For anyone who isn’t familiar with the stages of grief,

The stages are:

1. Denial:
* Example – "I feel fine."; "This can’t be happening, not to me!,"
2. Anger:
* Example – "Why me? It’s not fair!"; "How can this happen to me!"; "Who is to blame?"
3. Bargaining:
* Example – "Just let me live to see my children graduate."; "I’ll do anything for a few more years."; "I will give my life savings if…"
4. Depression:
* Example – "I’m so sad, why bother with anything?"; "I’m going to die . . . What’s the point?"; "I miss my loved one, why go on?"
5. Acceptance:
* Example – "It’s going to be okay."; "I can handle it with change"; "I can’t fight it, I may as well prepare for it."

My suggestion is that you let yourself work through this process in the way that makes sense to you. As long as you don’t get stuck too long in any phase of the process, it’s all very healthy. It’s even normal to move back and forth between some of the stages for a period of time. The only thing that might be bad is if you should find yourself feeling angry or depressed, unable to move on to acceptance. In that case, counseling would be in order. I’m sure you’ll do just fine though.

For most of us, finding support on this board is a helpful way to help process some of the emotions. For me it was a lifesaver when I was diagnosed 13 years ago. I’m feeling well thyroid-wise, still dealing with eye issues, but very much in to the acceptance stage of the emotional adjustment. I was angry for a long time in the beginning, though.

Hang around here and keep us updated on how you’re doing. You’ll get lots of support and help understanding what’s going on.

Best wishes and big hugs,

Dianne W

[hyperm]

#1072358

Hi how are you feeling today?

I think Dianne’s advice is great….its not easy and you may even be reading these posts and thinking will I ever get to the stage of feeling able or well but believe me you will. We are all here for you – good days and bad and if you need to vent it out then this is a great place to do it. I thought I was going off my head a few weeks back and I got so much support and never once felt silly for posting on here.

Take lots of care and be gentle on yourself.

m xx

[Christy]

#1072359

Thank you all for your thoughts and kind words. I’m trying to take each new day as it comes! Thanks again

[DianneW]

#1072360

"Christy" wrote:

I’m trying to take each new day as it comes! /quote]

Christy,

That’s the best anyone can do, and really the secret to making it through.

Stick around and let us know how you’re doing.

[lakeview]

#1072361

Hi Christy
I just found out I have GD too… and appreciate the support of this board. It is so good to hear that it does get better. Right now my biggest worry is how I am going to manage my 8 year old son. I don’t want him to be hurt by this – my anxiety, tears, fear, and sickness. I am scared.
Hearing people say it gets better gives me hope.

[Ski]

#1072362

My children were near the age of your son when I was initially diagnosed, so I do understand. I handled it by being very open with the kids, and explaining as best I could, in simple ways, what was going on. I started before I was even diagnosed, because I knew something was wrong. The worst time was after I had symptoms (puffy eyes were the start, for me), and before I had a diagnosis, but I would explain what I did know, what I didn’t know, how I felt, etc. etc. There were a few times that "story time" ended with me crying, but they knew I felt that the problem was coming from ME, not them. I think hiding it from them lets their fears take over, and their imagination is worse than the truth, no question. Try having a talk with him when you’re feeling okay, and warn him that you may have a short fuse for a while. Try not to be extremely threatening when you say such a thing. I always loved the way Jake handled it ~ in the midst of a roaring fury, he would change the words he was saying, so he would be yelling "I LOVE YOU! I DON’T WANT TO HURT YOU! I WISH I UNDERSTOOD THIS BETTER!" and in some cases, it could actually start a few giggles, which of course breaks the moment and lets everyone calm down to some degree. In any case, it is the best example of being honest about what’s going on. Let him know there’s an end to this. Let him know it’s going to take a while. Make sure he knows that it won’t kill you, that you’re lucky you know what the problem is, and that you’re taking care of yourself, but you just might need a timeout of your own sometimes, to keep it together. Maybe the two of you can arrive at a phrase he can use to alert you to the fact that you might just be having a Graves’ moment. You have to promise not to yell at him for saying it, which means you should pick something that sounds terminally cute. ” title=”Very Happy” />

[ely2009]

#1072363

One of my biggest concerns through this whole process has been how it’s affected my children. I have a 5 yr. old and a 9 yr. old. I also have my nieces with me every day – 2 and 3 yrs. old. There’s been a tremendous amount of guilt involved for me that I’m not doing things the way that I always have for them.

I have to say that I do a lot of pretending. I really try to muddle through the days, even when I’m feeling bad. That’s not to say that they don’t know what’s going on. We’ve talked to them about what’s happening and answered a lot of questions. But I know how much of "me" GD has consumed and I try REALLY hard not to let it affect them. That’s part of the exhaustion – trying to keep things normal for them.

I have a great support system – family, friends, and neighbors that are helping out. I’m much more willing to ask for help than I used to be. I used to be able to DO IT ALL!!!!!

We don’t usually watch TV, so that’s been a treat for them. When I’m feeling like I need to rest, we’ve been popping in a video and cuddling on the couch.

In my years as a teacher and a mom, I’ve seen how resilient kids are. My 5 yr. old was in the hospital for 8 days last year with chest tubes. Sum it up to say it was a horrible experience. She, however, remembers that she got to be pulled around in a wagon to see all the giant aquariums throughout the hospital. She remembers the sherbet that she got to eat and all the balloons. When we have to go back for a blood draw or something, she actually gets excited to see the fish. Thank God that’s how she remebers it, because I certainly have different memories of those 8 days!

A good friend suggested that I journal to help me get through all of this. I’ve started my lists of threes – and one of them is "3 ways I was a good mom today." If you see it in writing it becomes more real. I’ve discovered that I actually do more with them than I thought I did – I just have slightly lower expectations of myself.

Happy days tomorrow!

Emily

[mamabear]

#1072364

You can always kick Graves’ Disease’s Butt!!!!!! It was how I tried to get through it.

FInd out what the problem was,
Figured out it was not something I could cure but had to either put into remission or get rid of it with RAI or surgery. Ok there were my options. Did the meds for it and prayed it worked. It did, but I was lucky not many can say that the meds worked and worked well enough for me to go into remission and stay in remission. I did have a relapse then another but it’s been almost two years now that I have been without meds and no problems.

IT’s not a question of when will it come back, I know it can but oh well I’ll take care of it if it does. Again not knowing is the hardest thing. Now you know, you can do something about it and arrange your life accordingly.

You now know you are tired, so make lists so that you have them at the ready for your kids.
Plan you meals per week and go shopping for a weeks worth of food at a time.

I do my menu’s usually on Wednesday’s and go shopping on Thursday’s. I take into consideration left overs as well. Or if we order pizza or chinese food. A well stocked pantry is your friend.

Make checklist’s for your kids so they know what you expect. My 2 middle children (ds6 and dd4) have lists that I make sure they do everyday and we check them off as they go. It doesnt’ have to be perfect but it does have to be done. My oldest ds14 had his own list and he knows if it doesnt’ get done he gets zip!!! dd2 is learning to pick up her toys and she dresses herself and I keep all the closets that have clothes in them locked so htey dont mess them up.

I have lists for a well stocked pantry,
I have lists for kids checklists,
I have a master grocery list ,
I have a daily to do list,
I have a room by room list that is detailed cleaning in case you choose someone like dh or a kid to do a room(from fan’s to floors is on there, it’s great)
If anyone wants them please send me a pm and I’ll email to you. I have no problem sharing what I have learned to help keep order in this house.
Oh and dont’ forget that there are times that we don’t follow these rules and the house goes to crap, but hey we pick up and start over.

I taught myself to crochet to do something good for others (kids/family/church) and it has helped. I wasn’t able to get pregnant while dealing with graves disease, it was hard and I had to keep occupied with something else so crocheting helped.

Reading helps too and puts your mind in a different state so you might want to try that. Anyone with kids should try to work on a routine to make sure kids are in bed at a decent hour so that you and you dh can have time to hang out by the tv, the fire or just on the cough to have a drink(of any kind) and just chat or sit quietly and watch tv and laugh together. My dh and I make sure we do that always.

This is really for everyone if they want to pm me and ask for any of the lists that I have.
Welcome here and i hope that you find it as warm as I have here!!!

[anniekate]

#1072365

Hi I am also newly diagnosed and right now they switched me from meta to ptc. I have been taking it for about 3 months now and suddenly I have bumpy scaley skin on my tummy, chest and shoulders. What is it?

[Author]

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