[Anonymous July 31, 1998 at 6:57 pm Post count: 93172]

#1050081

Years ago, 29 to be exact, I had my first encounter with my thyroid…At 12 yrs. of age, I woke up spinning. I crawled from my bed, down the hallway, to my parents’ room….as if they could help. Now, at age 41, I have experienced 4 major, life-changing “Reoccurrences” of wack-out Graves Disease. In the old days, RAI was not an option for a young, adolescent female. Surgery left me with the 5% on one side, 10% on the other….Synthroid has been the “drug of choice” mostly all my life. I found this bulletin board (and all the lovely info) two days ago. What a relief! But, has anyone else ever had this totally “unique” distinction of “Recurrent” tacked to their diagnosis? I have experienced every laundry list symptom Except the Vascular/leg/Gail Devers one. I guess I feel extremely alone with this recurrent attack cycle thing…..newly added to the list: asthma, loss of vision, aura’s (eye), polyarthalgia, and last, but not least, fibromyalgia. Disabled? YES! The worst part is the loss of the “Manic Depression” of yesteryear – Now, I’m just “Major Depression”….I long for the manic days of hyperactivity and extreme abilities….who cared if the old heart rate WAS 140 +….This depression now doesn’t allow for any Manic anymore. That’s the biggest loss of all. (Take heed, use your manic times for positive creativity!) Anyhow, can anyone out there relate to this scenerio? I never had a decent time with any endocrinologist….I go to an Internist, Psychiatrist or Rhuematologist, depending on where I am at the time! The HMO setups just LOVE ME!!! but, that’s another story!

[Anonymous August 3, 1998 at 9:41 am Post count: 93172]

#1148463

Hi Jelly,

As I read your post the word “recurrent” in it just jumped out and
grabbed me. I recently had a conversation with somebody who knows all
about this Graves’ Disease. The fact that she mentioned that the symptoms of when and if they do recoccur can be addressed. Having the awareness is half the battle. At least this is what I thought she said.

After saying that, I did go to the conference this year and found out some cool tips to help me out. Not to say that I hadn’t already been trying things out ahead of time at home to help me out. I am doing things to help me feel ok.

I also have Fibromyalgia and attend a support group class this year offered by the Arthritis Foundation. It was excellent.

Without sounding like a nerd, the wellness idea kinda also comes from my attitude about things. This concept was reinforced from some of the information I received at the conference.

You mentioning that you have a HMO also made an impression with me.

I would like to share with you some of the things I personally found helpful. So drop me a line if you would like.

Michele B.

[Author]

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