[Bobbi]

in reply to: How much Methimazole is ok when Breastfeeding? #1176635

Nobody here can tell you whether or not the 20 mg dose of methimazole is safe for YOUR baby.

What I gleaned from reading your post, hmm0304, was that:

1) you waited months to get into a specific endocrine practice that comes highly recommended;
2) you were told that the dose of methimazole you were on was not providing you with normal levels of thyroid hormone, so you are still sick;
3) the nurse practitioner in this highly recommended practice does not feel comfortable with the idea of you continuing to breast feed on the higher dose that you (probably) need to have normal levels of thyroid hormone yourself.

In addition:
4) FACT: methimazole crosses through breast milk into our babies;
5) FACT: the methimazole that crosses through to the baby LOWERS your baby’s thyroid hormone levels; The issue is whether or not it is lowering those levels sufficiently to harm your baby.

And this last issue is, at least in part, a judgment call that none of us here are qualified to make. The nurse practitioner is qualified; an endocrinologist is qualified; your baby’s pediatrician may be qualified.

You are indeed in a difficult spot. But listen to the professional people you have hired to provide you with guidance and medical expertise. And, keep in mind, that your health is important. Your baby needs a healthy mother.

[Bobbi]

in reply to: Unsure about response from Endo re: Eye problems #1176622

I didn’t see any comments above about “whites of the eyes,” so I’m not quite sure what Shirley meant. But, in GENERAL (a broad caveat) when there are questions about whether our eyes are truly protruding or whether we are suffering from upper lid retraction which is more commonly associated with “being” hyperthyroid and has nothing to do with TED, the whiteness visible in the eyes is a casual guide. Or at least it was when I was going through tED. When we look at your eyes in a mirror, typically we do not see the white of the eyes except at the sides of the colored part. If you can see the white ABOVE the colored part as well, it may mean that there is “lid retraction.” This is a situation in which the muscles that work the upper eyelids spasm, or tighten, which causes the lids to be pulled back, exposing more of the eyeball. If, on the other hand, you can see the white of the eye UNDER the colored part of the eye, it is more suggestive of actual protrusion. I’m truly not sure how scientifically valid this is, but it may help to explain whatever comments were made to you, WWWI2, about seeing the whites of the eyes.

[Bobbi]

in reply to: Pretibial Myxedema questions #1176596

My dermatologist gave me a regimen of using moisturizers (two) prior to spreading a prescription strength cortisone cream on my legs. She told me that she felt the use of the moisturizers helped the cortizone cream to penetrate better. And, I honestly do not remember how long it took for the raised,thickened skin to go away. That was about 14 or 15 years ago. The problem with the cortizone cream use, however, is that over time it can thin the skin layer, allowing for infection to set in. I had to go on antibiotics at one point due to that problem.

[Bobbi]

in reply to: Pretibial Myxedema questions #1176593

I’m one of the folks who “won” the trifecta (thyroid imbalance, eye disease and pretibial myxedema). I went to a dermatologist, and, over time, the skin on my legs cleared up.

Wishing you good luck,

[Bobbi]

in reply to: 12 days Post TT…now what? #1176601

To perhaps rephrase what Kimberly was talking about:

What makes us ILL is having aberrant thyroid levels. While we still “have” Graves once those levels are controlled in the normal zone, we are (to my way of thinking at least) no longer “ill,” once our bodies have had a chance to heal. I know others don’t look at things this way, but it is, to my way of thinking, the healthiest way to approach something like Graves. We may not be able to get rid of the antibodies which cause the problem, but if we have health, that is a good thing.

[Bobbi]

in reply to: New to GD, Had RAI – Feeling OK? My First Post! #1176374

I’m very glad to hear that you are feeling better, linzyyyy.

[Bobbi]

in reply to: thyroid/graves question (thyroidectomy & RAI treatment 34 years ago), San Diego area #1176588

You can help to minimize the double vision problems by using an eye patch. The doubling is caused (in the case of TED) by the eye muscles no longer being able to move properly, which causes each eye to “look” at a slightly different spot. The brain does a terrific job, normally, of combining the two focal spots into a single “vision” but when our eye muscles get stiff from TED, they no longer give the brain much to work with. Anyway, with a patch, we give the brain one, single image. It is important to alternate the eye being patched, so that you don’t weaken one. It is also important to note that you lose depth perception when you have one eye patched. So do NOT drive with a patch on one eye, unless you have practiced a lot off road, and know that you can make the appropriate adjustments to the lack of depth. (Note: I scraped off the side of my car, trying to enter my garage, while practicing with an eye patch. No harm to anyone else, thank goodness, but it taught me that I really would be a hazard on an actual road.)

[Bobbi]

in reply to: Anyone from the Cincinnati, Ohio area? #1176575

Christina De…. Hyperthyroidism — whether full-blown or subclinical — needs to be treated. The damage that being hyperthyroid causes — like bone loss and muscle wasting — may occur more slowly with subclinical hyperthyroidism, but it DOES occur. You need to stop it. I can fully understand why you would prefer to ignore it. From what I’ve read, that is not necessarily in your best interest.

[Bobbi]

in reply to: thyroid/graves question (thyroidectomy & RAI treatment 34 years ago), San Diego area #1176585

Graves disease — both the thyroid version and the eye version — are caused by antibodies. None of the treatments control the antibodies. So it is indeed possible to develop the eye disease long, long after we’ve had our thyroid problems treated. You need to see an opthamologist, not an endocrinologist, if you suspect the eye disease.

Shirley, who contributes here frequently, developed serious eye disease decades after her thyroid issues were controlled by surgery.

[Bobbi]

in reply to: Cytomel and itching #1176550

If your “patient reports” of itching while on cytomel came from online, rather than from documented studies, your results may not have any real value. Please, though, talk things through with your own doctor. Sometimes intense itching can be a sign of an allergic reaction to a drug or to one of the inert ingredients that turn the chemical into pill form. Continuing to take the medication might not be safe.

[Bobbi]

in reply to: New to GD, Had RAI – Feeling OK? My First Post! #1176373

Certainly many folks have been put on the atds after RAI to help keep their levels normal while they’re waiting for the treatment to have its full effect. I do understand, though, why you think that would put another new wrinkle into your numbers, etc. I honestly don’t know what I would do in a situation like yours, with a baby, etc., but that doesn’t matter. What matters is what you think is best for you at this point. If you can find some quiet place in your mind, where you go over the pros and cons as you see them, you might be able to find your way to a decision.

I do hope you start feeling the full effects of the RAI soon. The waiting-for-hypo limbo is the pits, I know.

Hugs,

[Bobbi]

in reply to: wife of graves disease #1176526

And I did the iodine treatment — we call it RAI, here — 16 years ago. My mother had had it done 25 years before me. The treatment made us well again.

I realize that a lot of folks do not want to give up their thyroids, which may be a part of your husband’s reluctance to consider surgery or RAI. For me, giving it up, getting rid of my thyroid, came from the realization that my thyroid was throwing my life into chaos from time to time. I know we get into discussions — debates — about the fact that it is truly an antibody that is making our thyroids malfunction, but, regardless, getting rid of my thyroid made me well again without the periodic bouts of intense illness that I experienced before diagnosis. People can, and do, live healthy lives without their thyroids.

I recommend sitting down with your husband and, using Kimberley’s good link, make a list of the pros and the cons of each treatment option. Try to be objective about the pros and cons before letting emotions play into things. Then, once the objective lists are made, bring in the emotional response and try to figure out what treatment option your husband is most comfortable with.

I do wish your husband good health soon. Do keep in mind that it is possible to have Graves AND have good health. Our treatment options work.

[Bobbi]

in reply to: Labs While On ATDs #1176541

I have no idea why — specifically — your endo asks for the tests he/she does. Why not ask when you next see your doctor? I remember asking about some of my tests when I was going through your stage of things, but that was so long ago that the answer I got a) might not still be relevant and b) may be locked away in faulty memory banks. It was 16 years ago. Anyway, keep a list of things you want to ask your doctor about. Prioritize the list in terms of importance (to you) before seeing the doctor, and then ask when you have your appointment.

One thing to keep in mind as you travel around the web collecting information: do not trust any anonymous source on the web to interpret your blood test results or give you dosing instructions. A reputable doctor won’t do it, and the rest of the folks who often will do it are not qualified.

[Bobbi]

in reply to: Taking Levoxyl and Prevacid. #1176517

I have to do something similar, Ellie T. Do get info from your own pharmacist and doctor (endo) about this issue. What I was told to do by mine was to take the replacement hormone, with a good drink of water (to propel it into the intestines more quickly), then wait a half hour or so before taking the PPI (prevacid-like drug). THEN wait a half hour or so before eating. Pain in the neck. But it seems to work for me.

[Bobbi]

in reply to: Sports Injuries and Graves Disease #1176500

I think that when our thyroid hormone levels get back into controlled normal — by whatever means — the muscles heal….OVER TIME. An endo at one of our earliest conferences told us that the lost muscle slowly returns (whether “all” of it returns or not, I don’t know), but that it is “mushy” muscle. I.e., it needs to be restrengthened, retrained. So, think about things from the standpoint of someone who has been seriously ill for months, who has not been able to exercise. You need to slowly test out the limitations of your current state, and work from there. Going back to exercise, full bore, that you did before you got sick will likely cause muscle strains if not sprains and tears. You need to rebuild strength and stamina. I had an evaluation by an exercise physiologist at a local out-patient physical therapy/health club run by the local hospital when I got my hormone levels back to normal. That fellow told me that I had, at that time, approximately 8% (yes, EIGHT) of the strength of an average other woman my age. So, if you think about it, if I had tried to do what the average woman my age would be able to do at that point in time, I would be overworking my muscle condition. In order to do 15 reps with a weight on my biceps, at that point in time, I could only use paperback books as “weights.” Now you may not be anywhere nearly as impacted as I was, but you need to find out by slowly testing your limits and rebuilding from where you are, not from where you WERE before you got ill.

[Author]

Posts