[shakira7]

#1059399

Hi everyone,

It’s me Shakira7 again.
Has anyone started Graves disease treatment with only 5mg of Methimazole per day?

My previous msgs don’t indicate my introduction at all.
So here it goes.
39 yo physically active/sporty single female…after 2 months of increased palpitation, hair loss, reduced menstruation cycle…I went to get a blood test.
My blood test results on Sept 12th 2012 is as follows:
TSH <0.01
Free T4 = 35.7
Free T3 = 18.0
TSH Receptor Antibodies = 2.5
ALT=108

Then my thyroid scan proved that I have a Graves diseases.

I spent several days constantly crying, as it was very hard to accept myself that I’ve been diagnosed with an illness; for someone who doesn’t drink, doesn’t smoke, doesn’t eat junk food, exercise….I couldn’t handle the reality.

I spent a lot of time figuring out if I can get away with conventional treatment and go with naturopathy; to avoid weight gain, to avoid side-effects…etc.

Thanks to this website and thanks to Kimberly’s reply, I decided to follow the conventional treatment, meaning going with endocrinologist.

@Kimberly, thank you so much for your advice.
Simultaneously, I decided to continue the homeopathy products, as they don’t interfere with the medication.

Yesterday, I saw my endocrinologist. I guess the secretary told him about my fear of putting on weight, since I called her last week to inquire about this.

He prescribed me 5 mg of Methimazole for the next 6 weeks, until the next appointment. He told me the following,
“I know you are very worried about the weight gain. Methimazole 5mg is a very conservative dose. I’ve had patients who refused to take medications and they came back more ill 4 months later.”

He told me the lower dose would also be safe from drop in the white blood cells.

He also okayed that I do my personal training, my fitness…etc.

When I went to get my prescription, the pharmacist asked me if there is a reason why the 1st prescription dose is so low; normally, people get at least 20mg per day, for the first time. 5 mg is a dose that people take once their TSH level comes back to normal.

Now I feel like I should call my endocrinologist on monday, and ask him if he should increase my dose to 10mg a day.

Has anyone started Graves disease treatment with only 5mg of Methimazole per day?

Should I ask him to increase my dose or should I just wait for another 6 weeks?

Would 5mg for 6 weeks have any effect on my TSH level?

Thank you.

Shakira, the worry wart.

[adenure]

#1174483

Hi Shakira,

I was started on 5 mg daily of methimazole as well. My hormones were balanced quickly on just 5 mg. I started feeling better around week 2 and at my week 7 labs, my hormones were normal. Unfortunately, I was one of the 1% who had liver problems (elevated enzymes 8 times the normal range) due to the methimazole. I had to stop taking it right away and my liver enzymes returned to normal and my ultrasound of my liver/ abdomen showed everything was fine. So, even though it is only 5 mg, you can still have problems- I would ask for a liver panel/ labs just to be safe. I didn’t have any symptoms like fever, sore throat, jaundice, dark urine etc…

My levels stayed normal for 6 weeks off the methimazole while I waited for surgery (which I had 3 months ago) to remove my thyroid.

I too am a very athletic, energetic person- I’m 38 y.o., have 4 boys, work out, I weigh 118 lbs & am 5′ 4″, small frame. So, if you are similar, 5 mg. might be the right starting dose. Methimazole is very powerful. It is good that your endo. started conservatively and is testing your blood 6 weeks later. I didn’t gain any weight on the methimazole except for some that I had lost from being hyper. I was (and still am) too thin. I’m usually 124 lbs., but I’m working on getting healthy again. It’s not easy. Good luck to you & don’t worry. Haha! I should talk! I worry quite a bit! I too cried a lot when Graves was confirmed with an uptake scan. It’ll be okay.

Careful working out while you’re still hyper though. That can cause problems- muscle waste, heart strain/ palpitations. My endo had said to only walk and take it easy until my levels were normal before getting back into full on workouts. I’ve just started in the last month being able to work out about 1/2 way of what I used to do.

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