[Shadoe]

#1058985

I have just increased my PTU from 3 tabs a week to 4 a week per doctors advice.

Hopefully this will bring my TSH #’s back up.

I have been reading posts on this site and there seems to be more people being dx’d with Graves lately.

Does anyone really know what sets off graves? I know it is an automune disease, but I have never gotten an answer from any doctor as to why some people get this condition and others never do.

I have done some research and I have read that it can run in families, no one in my family ever had thyroid problems; so for me that rules that out.

I also read that most people who get this condition are women in their child bearing years.

I was dx’d when I was 56 years old, past my child bearing years, does menopause maybe have anything to do with getting Graves?

Just questions that have never been answered for me; thanks for any input.

[Bobbi]

#1171376

The most common times for us (women, especially) to develop an autoimmune disease are puberty, pregnancy and menopause. I’m not sure what additional ages are more common for guys. But for women, those hormonal change periods are the most dangerous.

Boards like ours are most commonly visited by people who are newly diagnosed. Some of the folks on boards are people who, for one reason or another, are suffering complications of the disease. Most people who get well again, abandon coming to the board. So we are skewed towards disease, and towards newly diagnosed disease. That doesn’t mean the “more people are being dx’d with Graves” than in the past.

Autoimmune diseases tend to have a genetic link. Not direct — like eye color or whatever — but a “predisposition” it’s called. There are lots of different autoimmune problems besides thyroid issues. And there are, of course, mutation possibilities. Some of us may not know of a relative with an autoimmune.

What sets off an autoimmune disease? Only speculation here. It is currently thought that some type of “major” life stress can be a “trigger.” But other theories include viruses and other causative agents. Nobody knows for sure.

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