[snelsen]

#1062903

Have you been on the ATD (anti thyroid drug) and beta blocker for a month, since diagnosis? Are your Graves’ symptoms improving? Is your heart rate down? Maybe call the endo, ask if you can play around with the dose of beta blocker, see if the finger spasms decrease or go away, see if your heart rate stays down. When you begin either of these drugs, they are frequently tinkered with to get the right dose. Of course the most important thing are how you feel, the labs and the Graves’ symptoms decreasing.

A long time ago, quinine was given for leg cramps. It cannot be prescribed for that now. BUT, buy some quinine water, tonic water, drink a glass of that toward evening, see if it helps your finger spasms. Worth a try! I have suggested this to others who used to depend on quinine for leg cramps, and it worked. An easy safe thing to try.

Welcome to the boards. You will like this site a lot.
There are plenty of folks who have had RAI, some very recent posts about it. You might find them helpful to read, since you are planning to have RAI.
Shirley

[DHood]

#1018141

So, I am very new to Graves, just diagnosed a month ago. And from what the doctor said I had a lot of the classic symptoms: shaking, weight loss, frequent bathroom trips, muscle soreness, fast heart beat, etc.. etc..however, he was a little confused over two of them. Does anyone else have poor circulation in their legs or finger joints that catch, especially at night? I was marking the finger joints up to the beta blockers since that started shortly after beginning those – but can’t find any literature that gives that as a side effect.

I am so new to this, I guess I’m not sure what to expect. Once the RAI takes effect (cross my fingers) and I’m on hypo meds I guess other than the potential eye problems or skin issues I figured that was going to be it…am I totally naive here?

Thanks for any info!

[DHood]

#1062904

Hey Shirley,

Thanks for the reply. I’m not on any anti-thyroid medication. Just beta-blockers and anit-anxiety pills. My had my first endo send my OB (who was the one who told me to get to an endo in the first place) send her all of my labs. When she saw the numbers/diagnosis from my uptake and scan she intervened and got me into the top endo in the area. When I visited him, he confirmed the diagnosis, answered all my questions, and gave me two options…RAI or ATDs. Since we want to have another baby soon (I have an eight month old son) and the ATDs were a 50/50 chance and I may have ended up at RAI anyway…we went straight for the RAI.

I will call my endo and ask about some more questions about this. He said the poor circulation in my legs could possibly be the result of my heart working so hard but wasn’t so sure about the finger joints. He changed me from Atenenol (sp?) then because I told him I was having horrible nightmares and he said that could happen with that drug and put me me on propenenol (something along those lines anyway).

Thanks for the suggestion!
Denise

[Bobbi]

#1062905

I’m not sure what you mean by finger joints that "catch". Shirley mentioned the ATDs because sometimes they cause arthritis-like symptoms. If the problem may be occurring due to muscle cramping (Shirley thought of that, too), or spasming, that problem does occur while our thyroid levels are out of whack. Usually we see folks report it about the larger muscles though, not the smaller ones. Anyway, I do hope it goes away, and soon, after your treatment. ; ) It doesn’t sound like fun.

Good luck, and I hope you are feeling much better soon.

[Ewenme]

#1062906

Hello! I have had Grave’s since March, 2010, and have been on ATD’s since then.
When you mentioned your finger joints ‘catching,’ I could not help but wonder if this is not related to your thyroid. There is a condition called ‘trigger finger’ which causes a catching sensation in your joints. It can be so severe that one has to manually ‘unlock’ the joint to get the finger to straighten out. I know because I had it and was treated for it by a hand surgeon. I don’t believe this is a condition just old folks (like me ) get. It is possible this just happened coincidentally at the same time with the Graves’. If what you are experiencing is muscle spasms, that is something different again. Just a thought. Best wishes on your recovery!

[snelsen]

#1062907

Hi ewenme,
I thought about trigger finger also. (My last job in a hand surgery center.) But because she mentioned "fingers" and only at night, I dismissed it. Maybe it is a good idea for her to see a hand surgeon if this persists. Good thought.
Shirley

[DHood]

#1062908

Well…it’s my pinky and ring finger on both hands. It’s odd because it happened on both hands the same night but my left hand is much worse. Basically, when I wake up in the middle of the night, or in the morning, the knuckles seem to be popping. If I just keep my fingers straight and move them up and down (like just doing a a finger wave) they just pop along on those two knuckles instead of moving smoothly. Once I massage them a little and move them around a bit they seem to loosen up and move a little bit more smoothly. It just seemed odd to me that it started right after starting the beta-blockers.

[Author]

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