[justmej]

#1060589

Hello,
I am happy that I found this site. Thank you to everyone for sharing your experiences.

Has anyone gained weight? I have gained 30 lbs in one month,. I have been diagnosed Graves with A-Fib given Lasix (which isn’t working) propranolol, Tapazole, and a low dose aspirin. All over the last 3 weeks. My oxygen levels are good lungs are clear but I have shortness of breath. Curious? how does everyone work and get to all these appointments? In the last 3 weeks I have seen my Dr (4x) the General surgeon, the Cardiologist, been to 2 different hospitals for labs and RAIU and have appointments with the Endocrinologist, my dr and the General Surgeon oh and the Cardiologist wants to do an ultrasound of my heart. I fear I am going to lose my job, but I need to feel like myself again. Any suggestions on how you all got thru this? I have tried to make late appointments but with my shortness of breath no one wants me to work (I am a press operator in a metal shop).Hubby is supportive but I feel like I am letting us down by not pulling my own weight (does that make sense?)

Thanks

[Kimberly]

#1183544

Hello and welcome – I’m sorry to hear about your diagnosis, but I’m glad that you found us.

Some patients do gain weight while hyper, and it’s not well understood why. Interestingly, this phenomenon is better recognized by pediatric endocrinologists than by endos who treat adults.

The shortness of breath is a common symptom of hyperthyroidism; hopefully, you will see some relief from this as your levels start to stabilize.

On the appointments, are you able to use sick time for doctor’s appointments – or a longer lunch hour? I was lucky in that all of my doctors were close enough to my work to be able to get most tests scheduled over a lunch hour, but hopefully, others here will chime in with suggestions.

If your doctor has asked you to temporarily stop strenuous activity, it sounds like you will need to involve your manager and your human resources department. They *should* be willing to give you a temporary assignment to accommodate. Your priority right now is definitely getting through all of these tests and getting yourself back on the road to good health.

Take care – and keep us posted!

[justmej]

#1183545

Hello,

Thank you for your suggestions, unfortunately all appointments average an hour round trip. I have spoken with my doctor who has agreed that a medical leave is probably the best option. He said he has never seen levels as low as mine and would like to get everything stable prior to releasing me, not to mention my A-fib.

Since this is all new I do not have any of my numbers but definitely will make sure I get hard copies.

I will make sure to read everything I can on this too.

J:)

[snelsen]

#1183546

Hi!!!
So glad you found us! I am hoping that your docs are coordinating with each other, and your visits are less frequent. I am so sorry that you have to deal with any of this. It is very, very hard. And I TOTALLY understand the complexity of having afib, too. I developed that a couple years ago. So now doing the warfarin dance, trying to get a good balance of green vegetables and red wine! (:

Since I am a fellow fib person, and this is new to you, I have a suggestion for you to follow up with your doctors. It is relevant especially, if you are taking warfarin (Coumadin) for the afib. Ask them if you should be taking aspirin. For it is my understand that both are anticoagulants.

As you know, we are fellow patients, and this forum is to share our experiences, and occasionally express our concern, and always we feel support for each other.

I am glad you and your doc have decided that a medical leave makes sense for you right now. I agree. You’ll be able to schedule appointments more easily, and hopefully group several of them in one day, until all of this calms down.
I am sure your husband will understand. He is probably scared and worried about you,and about all things.

I think it is very helpful for all of us who have Graves’ to remember that most of of us have never, ever heard of it, not did we know one thing about it. That is where our friends, employers, co-workers and families are. They don’t understand it, nor do they have a clue about the multiple implications of having it.

It’s important for you to know now, that you will be better after all treatment decisions are made, and followed through and acted on. This is a great site for you to read. The facilitators are great, and there so so much knowledge and support from others for you to consider.

I am not familiar with weight gain when hyper, but as mentioned by Kimberly, it has been my experience that pediatric endo seem to have had more experience with this. I lost weight from 130 down to around 100 when super hyper. You will read my history at the bottom of my post.

Things DO get better. They DO settle down. You WILL be better. And I totally understand that is nice for you to know. but now is now! I am so glad that you are taking the medical leave. You have a lot on your plate. WE all get it. It might be helpful for your husband to read some of the posts, too.

Shirley

[PattiMeg]

#1183547

Hi there!!
Well my heart just went out to you, reading your post and hearing the anxiety and the feeling of being overwhelmed. As Shirley said so eloquently in her post, none of us had ever heard of Graves when we were diagnosed! You just have no idea how serious and complex a disease it is.
Having to deal with all of this stress, and suffering from a disease that exacerbates the stress and makes you sicker. Not working might be a struggle in the short term, but a medical leave is exactly what you need and deserve. I ended up going part time (with huge anxiety about the money loss) because I was just so sick. Working less is what helped me to heal more quickly. So I encourage you to allow yourself to do that.
Yes you will get better! I had RAI 5 years ago, have been euthyroid (that means normal thyroid hormone levels) for the last 3 1/2 years. Never really went real hypo, my thyroid levels have been really stable. I did develop TED but I am in a small minority. Most folks with Graves don’t get the eye disease.
So welcome and know that you will now have a place to share your thoughts, and get some feedback and encouragement.
Patti

[cannwynn]

#1183548

Hello Justmej

I totally understand about having all the doctor’s appointments and trying to manage work. I had a talk with my direct manager about my health issues and the fact that I have so many doctor’s appointments, endo, opthalmologist, general internist, etc. Not to mentioned that I’ve fired two endo’s. Thank God my manager has human compansion and understands. Right now, things are going okay with me but I was very worried when I had to keep going to different doctor’s appointments. I need to work but like my husband said, your health is more important. You have to get that taken care of first. He is the one that suggested that I have a talk with my manager and inform her what was going on with me. Try try not to stress because I find that it makes things worse with me. I just read down that you decided to take medical leave. Good for you. That will take some stress away.

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