Hi Ray
Congratulations on your final! I agree it’s awful trying to be a student on Graves. I wasn’t even diagnosed until I graduated, and now at least I know what was going on during that last year!
I hope you “pass” your bloodwork test too. My own levels went down between June & December, but I actually felt worse on some symptoms (though better on others) by December, so I really don’t think I could tell from my symptoms, which way I’d be going.
I think this uncertainty contributes in many ways to the mood swings of Graves, too. Bouncing in from doctor to doctor, over and over, being poked & poked again, waiting and waiting… it would ruin even Pollyanna’s outlook.
In my experience, a lot of people have a hard time understanding when a relatively “silent” disease like Graves strikes. When you have a cough, they understand that you’re sick, but when you are tired all the time, they understandably think that you just haven’t had enough sleep. And often, people seem to think you can think or excercise your way out of it, or just wait for it to go away without any treatment.
I have a friend with chronic fatigue, and I remember fighting myself to keep from saying things like that to her. Even though I knew intellectually that this was a REAL problem, with no simple solutions, I still had the urge to wish she’d do something to feel better. I’m not sure why. Maybe it was so I could feel less worried about her. People tend to relate their own experiences to those of others, and sometimes we just don’t have enough experience to understand what’s really going on, I guess. I knew what exhaustion felt like, but never the kind that’s not self-inflicted and doesn’t go away.
Now that I’ve got Graves, I understand her better. Now if everybody I know could just have a taste of one of these auto-immune disorders, then we’d all understand one another. But that would be a terrible thing to wish on people. By the nature of their relationship, parents are even more likely to give advice, etc. than friends, and I hear sweet but not very helpful advice like “cheer up” or “don’t be so grumpy” all the time myself.
It’s hard because at work, at school, etc., I can do it. I can be happy , friendly, energetic, or at least I can be level. But by the end of the day, I’m coming apart from the strain. Maybe that’s why family members “gang up” on us. They see the bad side more than others do, because we’re freed from the necessity of all that suppression when we’re with them.
On a good day, we can do it though, right? Now if we just had more good days…
Kirsten
Anonymous
Post count: 93172