[pbarilone]

#1018093

Hi,
I was diagnosed Jan 20th this year after about a year of thinking I was "hormonal". Not feeling right at all and being irritable and crying all the time for about a year.It was when I complained about sweating and not finding my car in the parking lots that my doctor did a thyroid test. I have all the symptoms except weight loss which ended up as weight gain (after losing a lot of weight that needed to come off). I went from 160 to 215 lbs recently. I feel horrible and tried to go back to work full time. It lasted 2 difficult 12 hr days so I am part time starting Feb 1st after being off since Nov 1st.( I was on total disability from Nov 1st to Jan 10th.) I am scared as I have been the only one to take care of myself and am afraid that I won’t be able to return to work full time(my disability time is about over).I went into a-fib the first time right after the doctor said I had hyper thyroid and was playing tennis, so I decided not to get that active again, then I went into a thyroid storm while taking the uptake test. I have successfully gotten off the propanalol. I am generally a very active person and love to hike, bike, kayak, and play tennis. Now I play sudoko on the beach and will go for a light walk. I tried to ride my bike and was short of breath just after a couple of blocks. I work my 6 hours then take a nap and go to bed early to work the next day. It just seems I am in a dark tunnel and I can’t get out. Is there any hope out there of being normal again?

[Bobbi]

#1062667

Hi, and welcome to our board.

What you are describing is very common for someone newly diagnosed. Being hyperthyroid makes us hideously sick. But the treatments DO work to make us well again. It takes time for them to correct the problems created by being hyperthyroid for a while. The first step is getting your thyroid levels controlled back in the normal zone. You didn’t mention how that is being treated. (Propanolol does nothing to control thyroid levels.) Typically our doctors put us on an antithyroid drug (ATD) like methimazole or PTU. These drugs interfere with the thyroid cells’ ability to make "new" hormone. But the thyroid cells also store hormone previous made, so until those stored supplies are used up (and this typically takes a couple of weeks or more), you won’t feel much difference, even though the drug is working as it should. Once your thyroid levels are under control, by whatever means (ATDs or removal of the thyroid), your body will need a few months AT normal levels of hormone in order to heal.

So, try to be patient. WE get well by increments, not all at once. So watch for progress, improvements over time.

[Author]

Posts