[npatterson]

#1072922

The information we have available about tudents and Graves’ may be of some help to you. It addresses the needs of college students, and the accomodations that schools must make for them. Email me at "nancyngdf@bellsouth.net", and I will send it to you.

[Ski]

#1019624

by adsau++ on Wed Mar 11, 2009 7:05 am

My son was diagonised with Graves disease a week back and he has started on his medication. He is at the university and he is 22 years old.The doctor said he has to be on medication for two years. Does Graves disease get cured for good and one regains a normal health? Has anyone ever recovered from this disease? help me out.

Hi adsau,

Graves’ Disease is never cured for good ~ it is a chronic, autoimmune disease that causes hyperthyroidism. However, ALL of us return to health with proper treatment. Your son will need to learn a lot about this disease, its symptoms and treatment, in order to be a full advocate in his own care. This is something that will be a part of his life from now on.

The medication your son has been prescribed is the first line of defense to attain a remission. Remission is, by definition, a temporary period of time when the patient can maintain normal thyroid hormone levels without any medication. About 40% of patients achieve a remission on the first try with the medication. Right now, your son and his doctor are working to get his thyroid hormone levels under control with this medication. At first, he will take large doses. The dose levels will drop as his hormone levels drop, and ultimately he should find himself on a very low maintenance dose. After a couple of years, he can stop taking the medication and see if his body has entered a remission state. If not, he’ll have to either go back on the medications long term, or pursue one of the treatment options for destroying his thyroid.

There are a couple of rather serious side effects the medication can cause, so his doctor should be checking his white blood cell count and liver enzymes fairly regularly right now. If either elevate beyond certain levels, he should consider taking the other medication for this (there are two that can be used, they work in slightly different ways, so if one causes a problem, you can investigate using the other).

If both of the medications cause these side effects in your son, destruction of the thyroid is the only way to protect against the hyperthyroidism. Following destruction of the thyroid, we take replacement thyroid hormone daily. Replacement hormone is not toxic to the liver, as it is chemically identical to the hormone our thyroid produces.

Whatever one thinks about the treatments we have available to us, none is as dangerous as remaining hyperthyroid. Your son is lucky that this condition is treatable. It takes time to recover, no matter what, so be particularly helpful to your son right now. You say he’s at a university ~ he may need to adjust his schedule for a period of time to make sure he has enough energy and mind power to get through successfully. He’ll come back to himself, but right now is not the time to push it. He can probably handle some courses, but not a heavy load.

Let us know how things are going, and feel free to ask any questions that come up! Please let your son know that he’s welcome here, we’ll be happy to help him along the way.

[catsmum]

#1072923

Nancy,

My daughter is in a similar situation to Adsau’s son. Would you be so kind as to e-mail me the information regarding students & Graves too? Many thanks.
W

[Ski]

#1072924

As far as I know, no danger of impotency in males due to taking Inderal, but definitely a good question to put on your list for the doctor. Hopefully your son can get an answer to that over the phone.

[Ski]

#1072925

It’s tough to keep stable weight with the metabolism issues we experience ~ once his levels come into the normal range (and stay there) he should have more luck keeping his weight down. For now, he should just concentrate on controlling portions and eating smart ~ low fat, high fiber, fresh foods. When we’re hyper, we can literally eat anything and it doesn’t affect us, so sometimes it’s tough to go back to our old habits. We can also gain because hyperthyroidism "eats" muscle mass, and when our levels begin to normalize, that muscle mass returns, but as soft, baby muscle. He’ll need some work to re-strengthen that muscle mass, but eventually his weight issues should return to what they were before. It will definitely take time. Not a month or two, but more than that.

[Ski]

#1072926

There are possible side effects with carbimazole, but the doctor typically tests for those side effects at the same time they test thyroid hormone levels, and if they see a problem they will discontinue the meds and the side effects will reverse. One potential side effect is elevating liver enzymes, the other is lowering white blood cell count. Both of these are extremely rare, and as I mentioned, reversible once identified and meds are stopped.

Weight gain is a very common occurrence during treatment for Graves’, for several reasons. The most important reason is that the hyperthyroidism contributes to "muscle wasting," so our strong muscle mass disappears. That’s the weight loss most people see in hyperthyroidism. After treatment begins, the muscle tissue returns, but it is soft, not strong, tissue. We must strengthen it before our body returns to the state we knew before, but we must be careful with that because exercise is dicey if we are hyperthyroid. Until he can get to a physical therapist and start returning the strength to his muscles safely, he should eat VERY carefully, fresh foods, high fiber, low fat, and watch portion size carefully. While we are hyperthyroid, we can eat three plates of food and still be hungry AND lose weight. Once treatment begins, we sometimes need to "re-learn" what a normal portion is. It can be complicated, and we all feel for him. Once his thyroid hormone levels normalize, and stabilize, he should be able to get to the weight issue and successfully handle it.

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