[Carito71]

in reply to: What causes a bad day? #1175451

I’m so sorry all of that has happened to you. Our body is amazing in all its functions and therefore also complicated to understand at times. I hope you hear back from your Dr. soon. Since you are having abdominal pain I would think he would want to order ALT/AST to make sure it is not your liver. I hope the stomach pain has gone away and that you have a better night tonight. Being a woman sure is hard. I’m not looking forward to menopause.

Hang in there but if you start to feel a lot worst (vomiting blood, unexplained bleeding, rash, sharp pain in right part of the stomach, high fever …) please get immediate help.

Hope you feel better soon,
Caro

[Carito71]

in reply to: TT #1175476

My $0.02.

ENT Drs. can also do TTs. From what I’ve heard from people around, TTs are not that uncommon. Patients with thyroid cancer have no option but to have a TT (some I think I read are treated with RAI but not 100% sure) so here we talk about Graves but Graves is not all that is out there when it comes to thyroid problems.

Hope you find the answers you need soon so that you can feel well.

Caro

[Carito71]

in reply to: How long does a Methimazole dosage change take to reflect on a blood test? #1175487

Hello emmtee,

I’m currently on a 2.5mg/day and have been taking it for 2 weeks. I had labs yesterday and the changes are already showing.

I agree with the other comments, please call your Dr. and get a new set of labs but make sure you tell your Dr. exactly what dose you have been taking so that he/she can make the necessary adjustments.

Also, as for the irregular heartbeat, please let your Dr. know. This is very important. If you are having an irregular heartbeat, it can be anything from a mild irregularity to something life threatening such as (atrial fibrillation) A Fib. The medication changes might have nothing to do with it. If I understand it correctly, you were on vacation when your heartbeat started to become regular. Therefore, it could just be that you being relaxed made your heart be regular. The important thing is that it is irregular now that you are back to your daily activities. Your Dr. needs to listen to your heart and probably even get an EKG to make sure you know what is going on. I don’t want to scare you but with A Fib you will need other medications to prevent clots, stroke, heart attack.

Please talk to your Dr. and let him/her know what is going on as soon as possible.

I hope you get the answers/treatment you need soon so that you can start feeling well.

Caro

[Carito71]

in reply to: What causes a bad day? #1175448

Hello vanillasky,

I’m sorry you are not feeling well today. Looking at your TSH and Free T4, your numbers are within normal range. I know that sometimes doesn’t mean much because we are different and feel different even within normal ranges, but maybe your symptoms are related to your FSH and female hormones.

The FSH is a hormone produced by the pituitary (just like the TSH) to stimulate your ovaries to produce eggs. When the ovaries don’t respond the way they should (for reasons such as menoupause, ovarian failure, etc), the pituitary keeps producing more hormone b/c it doesn’t know what is going on with the ovaries, it just knows that they are not responding. I think your OB/GYN or a Reproductive Endo would be the best one to help you figure out what is going on. Your regular Endo would probably know too but an OB/GYN or a Reproductive Endo can run ultrasounds to see your ovaries and see if what is going on there.

As for the temp, 98.6 is normal and yours is 98.1 but with the FSH being so elevated maybe the LH (another female hormone) might also be elevated. All of this can make your temperature rise. Reason why when a woman ovulates, her temperature rises.

As for the heart, I take Metoprolol. It is a scored pill even at 25mg (so I can take 12.5). My Dr. prescribed it b/c I too have low blood pressure naturally and she wanted me to be able to split it in 1/2 if I needed to. She was concerned about my heart (it was elevated due to my thyroid) and she said that the Metoprolol would protect it. Ask your Dr. if Metoprolol might work for you. As for exercise, I don’t think that is a good idea if your heart is already above 100 beats per minute while at rest. My Dr. asked me not to exercise when I first started treatment. He cleared me for exercise once the Rx started to work and my thyroid #s were lower.

Did your Dr not run labs for ALT/AST (liver) and WBC (white blood cells)? ALT is what I would personally would like to see if I was having abdominal pain to rule out liver problems. WBC if I thought I was coming down with an infection.

I hope you feel better soon,
Caro

[Carito71]

in reply to: What causes a bad day? #1175444

vanillasky wrote:

thankx, Caro for the information.

I did go to the hospital today and had them take some blood. We will see what they find.

You are welcome. I hope you are doing better today. I’m glad you got labs. Hopefully it is just one of those things that will soon go away

I got labs today too. Today has turned out to be not so good of a day for me. It started out great. I think it is b/c I drank coffee this morning and because I had labs. I’m feeling super tired now. I hate feeling so tired. That is one thing that does happen to me on and off. I get tired in the afternoon and I feel like I need a nap. I think it has to do with me doing a lot in the AM and today also going to get labs. I also had a late breakfast.

If I want my day to get ruined all I have to do is get labs or go to my Dr.’s appt. I think I get tense and stressed out wondering what my results are going to be and what the Dr. is going to say. To my appointments I go feeling confident and positive but I always come out feeling stressed out, tired and unhappy. Mainly because I think I’m doing good and then my Dr. doesn’t tell me so. He always comes out with the same story about maybe needing RAI or TT, even if my #s are normal and the Methimazole is getting my thyroid hormones to the normal range. He doesn’t like the Rx. He has been cleared about that. He likes the RAI and TT options better. I feel down a couple of days after my appointments until I psych myself up into feeling more confident again. Other things that will definitely cause a bad day for me is not getting a good night sleep or waiting too late in the morning to have breakfast. I have to have breakfast I’m starting to think that coffee does it too and … maybe eating honey. I know … honey … weird I know but I’ve noticed that every time I eat honey my energy is less. Maybe is not at all related but that is my theory for now Feeling just a little bit sick of my stomach for one reason or another really throws me off. I feel very tired afterwards. Anyway, those are are some of the things that can cause a bad day for me.

Hope that both of our labs come back looking better.

Have a nice weekend.
Caro

[Carito71]

in reply to: 18 year old college student #1175136

Too all the young members who are writing in this post I want to say:

Hang in there and continue succeeding. You mention college and I’m very happy that you are continuing your education even though you are dealing with GD.

There is hope of learning how to live with GD and feeling better as time goes by. You are going through a hard time right now but we have high hopes that soon each and everyone of you will be living healthy successful lives as you continue college, graduate, and join the work force.

I’m glad you have decided to join us at this forum (though I’m not glad that you have joined us because you too have GD … wish it was different for you).

By the way, I’m Caro. I have been suffering from immune problems since long ago, even before college. I know how hard it can get. It was hard for me but it is doable. I’m new to GD but having gone through the experience of learning how to deal with other immune problems has helped me cope and therefore it has been a blessing.

When I was in college I had a classmate with GD. She was great. She was top 10 of our class. She was always ready to share her experience for it made her, in her words, “a better person”. She has a daughter and a great career.

So hang in there. You will find support here. Please continue posting and letting us know how you are doing. Here we can all learn from each other.

I hope all of you start to feel better soon.

Caro

** P.S. Remember to take your breaks and take time to relax a bit College can drain you but taking breaks and scheduling time to relax does wonders for your mind and body I have noticed that my immune problems get worst when I’m stressed. **

[Carito71]

in reply to: Are Migraines related to Graves’? #1175407

You are welcome.

It won’t hurt to tell him. Who knows, maybe you will have the same experience as me

I think I remember reading that being hypOthyroid can cause headaches.

Caro

[Carito71]

in reply to: Saw Endo this morning–off Methimazole! #1175232

amosmcd wrote:

I got my labs checked 6 weeks later, and my labs were close to normal, so my endo dropped me to 5mg (which I split into 2.5mg twice a day.) No change in the drowsiness.

Then a month later the labs showed I was hypo.
.
.
.

How the sedation felt was that about 3 hours after I took the noon dose, I would get socked with feeling incredibly drowsy. Since that’s when I start work, it was very inconvenient! If I had a day off, I would take a nap. I’d be tired around midnight or so and fall asleep. I’d sleep fitfully, and felt like I could sleep for days. I slept between 11-12 hours a day.

Hello Amy,

Its me again

Wow … it really did affect you bad. I can only imagine. I’m glad that we have more than one option.

Well, I wish you the very best with your new treatment.

Feel better soon.

Caro

[Carito71]

in reply to: Doctor won’t run CBC and Liver tests while on Tapazole #1175430

Hello.

I just left you a message at your other post where you mentioned that you are feeling nauseated and tired. I think you should request labs if you are feeling nauseated. Ask to talk with the nurse and explain to her/him your symptoms and request they run labs to make sure that your symptoms are not related to Tapazole. Somebody suggested asking your General Dr if the Endo doesn’t want to run them and I agree. That is what I would do too.

My Endo Dr. asks for WBC, TSH, free T4, ALT every 4 weeks. Lately he has also asked for a complete CBC. He worries about Methimazole causing elevated liver enzymes and lowering my WBC b/c when I started the Methimazole my liver enzymes were elevated and my WBC was low from being hyperthyroid. Later on my WBC dropped a little more and that worried him so he is monitoring CBCs, ALT along with TSH and free T4. My liver enzymes and WBC are normal now but he still worries.

Caro

[Carito71]

in reply to: What causes a bad day? #1175438

Hello Vanillasky,

I’m sorry you are having a bad day and that you are not feeling well.

Since you are taking Tapazole, I would recommend letting your Dr. know about your symptoms. I say this because you say you are feeling nauseated and tired. These are two things that might be related to liver problems.

I have felt well and then not so well during my treatment with Methimazole but never nauseated nor have experienced drastic changes. I felt very sick at the very beginning when my body was still overloaded with thyroid hormones. Once the Rx started to work, I started to feel better. It happened one day at a time. Later, when the Rx made me hypOthyroid, I felt a little bit off. Once again, it happened that I would feel worst a little bit more every day, not all of the sudden. When the Dr. lowered the dose and I started to get hypERthyroid the same thing happened … I felt a little bit worst every day. Fortunately, the Rx started to work again and once again, I felt a little bit better as the days went by.

I did get very hot at first and even when I was hypOthyroid I felt very hot and would get the hot flashes you describe. My Dr. told me that many people feel like that and he didn’t think too much of it

I would recommend calling the Dr. and letting him know your symptoms. It might be that you need labs to see if the Rx needs to be adjusted. When is your next set of labs?

Hope you feel better soon,
Caro

[Carito71]

in reply to: * White Blood Cells & Methimazole * #1175329

Hello Kimberly and Bobbi,

Thank you so much for your responses. I’m trying to stay positive.

Kimberly, hopefully mine is just one of those things like what happened to you. I’m so glad yours did not stay low and did not cause any problems.

When my WBCs were slightly low, I felt just fine. I felt happy b/c it was a big improvement from how I felt when I was hyperthyroid. Unfortunately my happiness was quickly outlived when my Dr. told me that it could be a potential problem and once again mentioned RAI and TT. I was content that he was willing to try a lower dose. My WBC came back up after that and I’m hoping that they stay up because even when they were back up he kept mentioning RAI and TT (I like my Dr but I really think he wants me to go RAI or TT … even if the Methimazole works and is not a problem ).

Bobbi, you are absolutely right. Without the WBCs our body would be in a pickle if one gets an infection. It could even transform into sepsis. Any sign or symptom of one developing an infection should be reported and in my personal opinion, labs should be ran just to make sure.

I read the other day that getting a good night sleep every night helps keep healthy WBCs … something that many times is impossible to achieve when one is hyperthyroid. I’m thinking that the low WBCs can be a combination of many things so the “watch and wait” that Kimberly’s Dr. recommended for a couple of days (and longer if there are not signs/symptoms of infection) is a good idea.

Thank you again for your responses. I feel much better knowing that it can be a temporary thing. As of right now, I’m not showing any signs/symptoms of infection

Have a great weekend,
Caro

[Carito71]

in reply to: Are Migraines related to Graves’? #1175405

I had headaches/migraines for a while before I was diagnosed with GD. I used to think it was allergy related. Weeks before I was diagnosed I was having them almost every day. I haven’t had them as much since I started Methimazole. I hope that things continue that way because I used to get very sick from them.

[Carito71]

in reply to: antibody.for.graves.test.came.back.positive. :( #1175350

Hello StacyA,

I’m sorry to hear that your antibody came back positive

Was it the TPOab? or TSI?

My TPOab and TSI are also elevated. After 5 months of treatment, my TSI has gone down some. From what I’ve read, it is possible for the TSI to decrease. Please hang in there. It is not easy getting the results back. The good thing is that we have options to treat this terrible disease and their is hope that we will feel better.

I wish you the very best in your GD journey.

Caro

[Carito71]

in reply to: Methimazole stopped working #1175307

ricatca,

It is sad to know that your little son is going through so much. It is hard on an adult, I can only imagine how much harder it is on a child. I hope with all of my heart that the Dr. can find a better way to help him.

[Carito71]

in reply to: * White Blood Cells & Methimazole * #1175325

Thank you Bobbi.

We are waiting to see what next labs will show. As of right now, my WBC is normal and I’m on a slow dose. When I was at 3.44 in Sept. I was feeling fine. Actually, I was feeling a lot better than I did when I was hyperthyroid. I’m hoping that after this month my WBC continue to be normal but you are right, if the Methimazole starts to lower my WBC to dangerous levels, I will definitely consider TT. I wonder though if they got to 3.44 b/c I had been hyperthyroid and being hyperthyroid can lower them. Thank you again.

Caro

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