[Brianna78]

#1018077

Hi, i was diagnosed in the e.r. on January 30, 2011 with hyperthyroidism:( i had strep throat the end of december and went downhill from there…… i kept going to back to the dr. and they kept telling me it was just anxiety. well my heart started racing January 25. I knew something was terribly wrong. Anyway my resting heart rate got up to 175. It was so scary. I had also hyperventilated. Which had never happened in my life. I was put on propanolol and methimazole. which made me feel super bad @ first, the first 3 weeks i was bed ridden. But kinda hard when i have 3 young kiddos to take care of. Thank-goodness for my uncle who moved in to help well after 4 weeks my thyroid levels were almost normal. then i broke out in hives so the endo dr. took me off the anti-thyroid meds and switched me to atenolol. which i felt so much better then i was put back on just 5 mg. of methimazole. now i am on 10 mg. as of yesterday cause my levels are still a bit hyper…… i am choosing to try the meds @ this point to see if i go into remission otherwise i will opt for surgery, if in one yr. i haven’t went into remission. i have lost 15 lbs. since january. i totally changed my eating habits. i am back to walking 3 days a week. i have been pretty active my whole life. i think what triggered this disease is the death of my mother and the birth of my last beautiful daughter and postpartum depression. but i am starting couseling soon and i have totally improved since being diagnosed. just worried about the eye part of this disease……… any info. will help me thank you also i am against rai!! i will have surgery set up the first part of May if my labs are not within normal range by then. i jsut wanna give the meds a chance. the atenolol i am on helps alot !! i don’t have a racing heart or high blood pressure anymore. so i am doing fine on meds @ this point. i just seen my endo on Friday too , so everything is going the best it can @ this point

[Bobbi]

#1062562

Hi, Brianna, and welcome to the board.

I have read that since the development of soft tissue imaging machinery (MRIs, CATscans, ultrasounds, etc.) that many doctors have begun to believe that all of us have "some" eye muscle changes. I don’t know of any comprehensive studies, random and double blind, to confirm that. What is known, for sure, though, is that getting "some" eye muscle changes does not mean that the person will develop full-blown, awful eye disease. The majority of people who develop the visible symptoms of the eye disease — double vision, a bit of protrusion, etc. — do NOT go on to have disfiguring eye disease, nor do they go on to have disabling eye disease. So, if you start to see signs of TED, do not panic. (Easier said than done, I know, from experience.)

Periodical eye exams are beneficial, no matter what one’s medical history, so it might be worth your while to make an appointment with an opthamologist. This is the MD who specializes in the eyes. If then you begin at some point in time to exhibit symptoms of the eye disease, you will have established a "base line" with an opthamologist, who will be able to monitor the development — or lack of development — of any TED issues.

Wishing you luck with the methimazole. But a point: being hyperthyroid in any degree whatsoever is a setback and is bad for your body. We lose muscle and bone while hyperthyroid. If it turns out you cannot tolerate the drug, please act sooner, rather than later, to eliminate your thyroid. There are huge numbers of us that live well without our thyroids.

[trulydee]

#1062563

Sunday morning. I am sitting here in tears wondering if I should even be here. It’s been 6 days since I was told I had GD.

I’ve been on the meds for 5 days. I don’t feel an improvement, I am depressed, I cry a lot and I don’t know what to expect.

I went to the Doctors for an unrelated issue, mentioned how run down I have felt, started rattling off some symptoms, and he said "let’s run some tests" A diabates test and the thyroid lab. "You have an overactive thyroid" he said on my answering machine. I guess I should feel lucky that it wasn’t diabetes? And I know other people have way worse health problems than GD, but it doesn’t help to think of that. It’s me. I am broken.
I didn’t hear back from the Doctor for almost a week. My symptoms seemed to be getting out of hand. One morning, in the bath, a chunk of hair fell out. I was hysterical. I called the Doctor crying, and within the week I was at a specialist, an endocrinologist.
Tremors, night-sweats, I feel hot ALL the time, heart racing 24/7, feeling run down and sleeping way too much, losing weight over the holidays, and the rages, broke my cellphone in half one day over a spat with a good friend. Lost a relationship this past year, was told I was being irritable and mean to him.

I just don’t know what to expect. Is popping these pills going to make it better? What else can I do?

I need to know someone like me.

[Bobbi]

#1062564

Being emotionally unstable is huge when we are hyperthyroid. Do NOT trust your emotions to lead you to proper behavior. They are out of whack, and can disrupt what would normally be good relationships. Recognize that you are OVERreacting, and moderate your behavior whenever possible. It is not easy, but if you do keep in the forefront of your mind that you are overly emotional, you will be able to control you responses better.

We DO get well again. The treatment options — any of them — have been proven to control thyroid hormone levels and allow our bodies to heal over time. If you do not get treatment, however, you will get sicker and sicker and sicker. But there are two basic treatment options. The first is to take medication that interferes with the chemical reaction by which the thyroid takes iodine and makes thyroid hormone. Typically that means a medication called methimazole. The second option is to remove the thyroid, either chemically (RAI) or with surgery and then go on replacement hormone. That, too, has been demonstrated time and time again to help us to regain our health permanently.

The first step is usually to go on the meds. That gives you time to regain normal levels of hormone, and then to evaluate more objectively your other options.

I do hope you are feeling better soon.

[Brianna78]

#1062565

thank-you for your reply bobbi i will be choosing surgery the first part of May when i see my endo again, if my labs have not improved. but i have a feeling i will be o.k. within 3 weeks of starting treatment my thyroid levels were almost back to normal so they dropped my dosages down on my meds. i am on 10 mg of methimazole and 12.5 mg of atenolol. and 5 to 10 mg. of valium just to deal with this whole thyroid issue…… i am surprised i am hyper and not hypo, because my maternal grandmother and maternal great aunts are all hypo….. also trulydee thats how i felt @ first. it will get better it just takes time! usually 6 to 8 weeks of being on meds. if you want i can post my lab results so you know were i am @ in the healing process. also what helps to boost the immune system.

[lhc11]

#1062566

Hi Brianna,

Glad you are feeling better. Keep in mind that remission = being off the meds entirely for a certain amount of time (I think it’s a year? someone else will know better than I) without symptoms/raised thyroid levels once your thyroid levels normalize *on* the ATDs. It does happen for some people, but not for a lot. I hope it does for you! I personally chose surgery over waiting to see if that would happen for me, since my levels were so high that my doctor thought it would be extremely unlikely.

And, Trulydee, please hang in there. It really does usually take at least 6-8 weeks for the meds to make you feel like yourself again — in my case, it was 8 weeks to the day of my diagnosis (which will have been a year ago at the end of this month) that I finally did, and it was amazing. In the meantime, it was the hardest, longest, worst 8 weeks of my life, with all the symptoms you describe. It really does get better, and in the meantime you have this board to vent on every time you feel awful, and to research your treatment options on (meds, RAI, or surgery). Everyone on the board is either like you right now or has been like you at some point, so you are in very good company and you have absolutely found the right place to be for support and accurate information. Be as kind to yourself as you can; it is hard to wrap one’s head around this diagnosis and think clearly about it when you are in the worst active phase of GD, but the folks here, especially the moderators, will help you.

Best,
lhc11

[susanne13]

#1062567

Hi Brianna,
I know you have had a lot of great responses already but I thought I would share my story as we are almost exactly a year apart from diagnosis – I was diagnosed at the ER on 2/8/10. I was VERY hyper and had all classic symptoms and basically thought I was going crazy1 I first took PTU but it was damaging my liver and switched to methimazole, which brought my levels to the normal range.

As far as symptoms, as others have said, it can take awhile for them to go away, even if your levels are "normal". My hair continued to fall out (not nearly as much, thankfully) and my heart rate was no longer fast but still "strong". Knowing that I didn’t want to be on methimazole forever, I decided to have a total thyroidectomy (TT) last May. The surgery was completely uncomplicated and I had a wonderful recovery. However, I will tell you, as others have probably gone through as well, getting on the right synthroid dosage can take a long time! I went through a period where I was very HYPO and it was AWFUL! Making sure you have a good relationship with your endo is key – I knew something was wrong so I called and did my levels early and found I was indeed very HYPO. Of course as soon as I was "stable" I became pregnant and had to increase my dosage again and now get my levels tested once a month again ” title=”Smile” />

Anyway, everyone is different and I hope things work out for you however they are meant to! If you have any questions about TT or meds or anything, feel free to e-mail me! I know I had a ton of questions and found this board so helpful. Most of us have been through the crazy symptoms – anxiety, sweats, hair loss, tremors, exhausted but can’t sleep, heart rate and BP off the charts, etc – and IT DOES GET BETTER!! Sometimes you don’t think it will but it does, our bodies have been through the ringer and it takes time to heal!

Best of luck!!
Susanne

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