In answer to the question of how long I’ve had this wretched disease — I’m new to it. I don’t know how long it has been going on, since, in retrospect, I can pick out mild symptoms for a while. But this summer (July) I began to feel really horrible with heart palpitations, muscle weakness and tremors, and quite a few other items on “the list”. My doctor kept treating me for anxiety, but my Mom has Graves, so I NAGGED for tests. It took a while. My doctor may have misread the blood work, because I was sent to a cardiologist, a neurologist…… I kept nagging. It was finally diagnosed in September and I went on PTU. But I did not react well to it. It did, apparently, bring my thyroid hormone levels down, but I still needed the inderal for the symptoms, plus I developed a cough and red blotches on my hands. So I had RAI last week.
I have found the support board to be very helpful, and I really appreciate finding it. Even though I am new to this, I am a bit of an info junkey, so I have been reading everything I can get my hands on from every possible legitimate source, and asking LOTS of questions of the doctors. Including friends who are doctors. The file of print-outs from the web alone is about five inches thick already. One bit of advice that I received, that helps me a lot, was to seek out humor. A friend read Norman Cousins book long ago and told me about it, after I was diagnosed. Apparently he was extremely ill, and decided, in addition to traditional medical treatment, to fill his life with laughter. He later wrote a book about it. Anyway, when I have found myself feeling depressed, preoccupied with the symptoms, I have taken this advice to heart and sought out funny movies, and friends are constantly sharing jokes in email with me. It absolutely helps. At least to get perspective back. A good dose of the chuckles seems to go a long way.
Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving.
Bobbi
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