I can definitely relate to your post. My daughter is 13 as well and was diagnosed at 10 with Graves’. She also would talk about wishing she didn’t have it and was ‘normal’. My daughter is really fortunate and responded well to the drugs. She originally was on PTU 3 times a day and atenolol (her resting heart rate was around 140 when diagnosed so that was prescribed to keep that in check). She has been down to just PTU after the first 6 months and just takes that twice a day. For her it is now just a routine to take the meds and get the bloodwork done every three months since she is really pretty much symptom free. She dances 3 times a week, does tumbling once a week ( currently working on a back handspring which can be a challenge when you are 5’7"), and is playing volleyball. I know a lot of people aren’t as fortunate with this disease, but it sounds like your daughter is responding well to treatment as well. Maybe it will help her to know that there are other girls her age dealing with this as well and that while it may take time, there is the hope that she will feel ‘normal’ again. It can defintely overwhelming at their age to have this become a part of their daily life and not knowing if they will ever truly be feeling the way they used to or beable to do and enjoy the activities they did before.
