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in reply to: Weight gain during Graves disease #1070996

I have successfully used weight watchers in the past and just started up again on my own at home. Just make some sheets on the computer that you can use to mark down your points and water/drinks etc.. I am four weeks post RAI. I’ve lost three pounds this week by just upping my water and writing down what I eat. I am moving more and that helps too. Mentally is a good step to feel like you are doing something to make a change. I know that next week I won’t lose three pounds but I don’t want that three back! so I’ll keep on writing things down.

Good luck with things and remember to treat yourself well. You aren’t a bad person because you weigh more than you used to. Graves knocked you down and you can get back up. You’ve made it this far right?

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in reply to: Finger joint pain-severe #1070697

I developed nodes on my ring finger during my two years with Graves. Endo says its osteo arthritis. I use otc pain relievers when it gets really bad. I do some finger exercises when I think about it. I have had fibromyalgia for 14 years so this isn’t too bad for me but if you’ve never had anything like this pain I know it’s probably really noticeable. Try soaking your hands in warm water first thing in the morning to get the blood flowing. My mom has told me about taking cheery concentrate for arthritis pain. I think I may try that soon. I hate taking so much Motrin.

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in reply to: What’s next #1071810

Good luck with your recovery. I am about a month out from RAI and had the two week experience that Ski was talking about too. At four weeks and counting I am feeling much more human again. Just keep on taking care of yourself a day at a time.

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in reply to: three weeks post rai… #1070738

My mom takes synthroid every day and she’s never had any issues other than timing. She takes calcium and fosamax etc. for her osteoporosis and has to make sure they aren’t taken at the same time but really it’s only a few minutes out of her day. I know it will be way easier than feeling so sick all the time. Glad to know that you have been able to get out some. It took me a while to get my head back at work too but it’s better now. I am able to work half days and then do some work at home too. Have a great boss! Remember to get outside and sit in the sun for a few minutes every day to get your Vitamin D. It also helps me get my spirits up too. I get to see the flowers in my yard and they bring me hope.

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in reply to: Weight gain during Graves disease #1070991

Just wanted to say to you that I have been there. Before I had Graves I had weight issues after two kids and it was hard to loose. I did do it and then during the Graves lost weight without trying and then gained quite a lot back. I will say that I am irritated about weight gain too as it’s uncomfortable and costly when you have to get knew clothes but…….. I just had RAI about a month ago and I already feel better than I have in a while and right now I’d rather be feeling better at any weight than feeling so sick again. Being healthy and feeling like I can function again are pushing the extra pounds out of my mind. The extra weight isn’t an issue for my doctor either at this point. Wonder why your doctor is telling you it’s very easy to gain weight when there really isn’t any way to tell who will and who won’t.

It sounds like you might be scared of all the new experiences that come with Graves and the treatments not just the "possible" weight gain. I was too. There are lots of people who didn’t gain weight after treatment and lots who did but then were able to get things under control when they felt better. It took two years for me to get to the point of RAI and I know I made the right decision for myself now.

Try to let the weight issue go if you can and just get healthy.

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in reply to: three weeks post rai… #1070734

Hi,
I am four weeks out tomorrow from my RAI. I really started to feel better this last week after my period came early. I took that as a good sign that things were changing some. I saw my endo at three weeks, a little early but had to fit it in before my son’s graduation and end of school. I was really hungry for a few weeks. My endo told me that my tsh would actually have gone down some right after the RAI and had to get back to where I was before then and then go down toward normal and probably beyond. I haven’t gotten the results yet.

Every time you do something that you didn’t feel like doing about a month ago take that as a good sign. Even small things like wanting to make dinner for my family or having a good nap or noting that my BP is normal when I take it are check pluses for me. I am trying to focus on the small things and not the large signs that haven’t disappeared.

Hope that you have a good day tomorrow.

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in reply to: early on-set menopause #1072142

I’ve had graves for two years, just had RAI about a month ago. Periods all over the place. This last visit to the gyn he determined that some of what I was going through was perimenopause and said that 45 isn’t early, it’s normal. Started periods at age 12.Tested my hormone levels and one came back normal and one high but I read that that testing can be thrown off by hyperthyroidism. Can’t remember the two hormones one was levels that kept the ovaries going? Just had my period early and lasting longer than in a while. It was still very light. Take your list of symptoms to your gynecologist and go over them. That’s what I did and it made me feel better informed. Big concern with the graves and being hyper and so close to possibly being post menopausal for him was bone health so we did DEXA scan. Turns out I already have osteoporosis in my spine. Not good.

On that same subject sort of….. did anyone else totally lose their libido during hyper times? Not that I’ve had much energy for sex but that was one of the things that the gyn said was probably the graves alone and not perimenopause.

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in reply to: Tremors after RAI #1070772

Emily and Ski,
Thanks for the encouragement and information. The fear of things getting out of control again is what causes a lot of anxiety but I do see progress every day. My husband is good at reminding me too. Wonder how many of us Emilys there are who have been hyper. Used to be that I didn’t know many other Emilys.

One day at a time or as I say on occasion One Hour at a Time.

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in reply to: double dose of Tapazle by mistake… #1070789

Your pharmacist is a great resource for questions like this. Just call any drug store. There are usually at least a few that are open 24 hours.

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in reply to: Who Has Had RAI Once With Great Long Lasting Results #1070792

Hi,
I had RAI about three and a half weeks ago so I can’t speak to my success yet. My father had it about 11 years ago and was one of those people who didn’t even go hypothyroid until just a few months ago. His success was spectacular.

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in reply to: RAI or NO…What is Your Opinion!!…HELP! #1070811

Hi,
You asked me about beta blockers. I resisted these as long as I could. I was only on it for about a month right before and after my RAI. The beta blocker made me feel really groggy and when I took a whole tablet my legs/shins ached. The pharmacist said that was a side effect. The beta blocker made me feel like I was moving in slow motion sometimes. It did lower my heart rate and kept me from going up really high when I actually went to the hospital to have the RAI. When I got off the beta blocker it took me a few days but my cotton head went away. My heart rate has gone to a more steady pace/ no palpitations and my pulse is a lot lower too. My BP is now very normal after only three weeks out from RAI. I hope that this continues to be the case. It is a hard decision. I am by no means a person who gives up easily but this disease made me realize that getting back to normal even if it’s a new normal was very important for me. I couldn’t handle the idea of any more time missing my life and my kids lives, work, vacations etc. when there was a choice that might stop that. I know that going through the changes that are coming won’t be easy sometimes but hopefully they won’t be as adverse as the hyperthyroidism was.

Keep on thinking. For me the education that I gleaned information from was what kept me going sometimes.

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in reply to: RAI or NO…What is Your Opinion!!…HELP! #1070806

I have had fibromyalgia for 14 years and Graves for two. Just had the RAI about 3 weeks ago. I have already noticed a change in how stiff and sore I am overall. It is better. I think it was the same when my TSH was up on the methimazole. I am really out of shape and exercising is hard right now and I get stiff and sore from that but recover in a day or so. I hope that the fibromyalgia is related to my thyroid imbalance and that when that’s on track I won’t be so sore and stiff sometimes. I am also very sure that I could be called a human barometer sometimes. I can feel the changes in the air pressure before the weather man can say the barometer is falling. If it gets below 30.0 I really do start to feel worse. It’s bad with summer thunderstorms popping up. I also noticed a big change in my muscles not feeling so weak when I got to a correct dosage of VItamin D. Your doctor can do a check for you. I take 2000 iu of D3 now and it has really helped that.

I also found out right before the RAI that I have developed osteoporosis in my spine already at age 45. The endo told me that the only way to stop the damage from the Graves on my bones was to make sure that I didn’t go hyper any more. I will have to deal with this once my tsh and free T-4 are in normal range. My family is full of thyroid problems and my Dad who is in his late 70’s had a cousin die of complications from Graves. Granted she probably suffered more than some would now if she had gotten treatment earlier in life, but it was only in the last 15 years that she died.

Hope that you start to feel better soon. I had to decide about the treatment options with regard to my family as well as my own personal feelings. I have a special needs child. It has been really hard to have them go through this with me, not that they can’t handle it, but being able to hope that with RAI it will become a simple part of my daily routine to take care of and not impact things so helter skelter sounded really good. The anti-thyroid meds did make my blood levels more normal but I never really felt "good" the whole time I was on them.

I remember what one of the facilitators said in one of the first posts that I read; most people who are not having problems with their Graves right now are not the people that you hear from on this bulletin board. I am glad to have this help and support but my goal is to not need it in a few months.

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in reply to: Endo says NO to RAI???Confused? #1070829

Hi,
I’m not sure what TS is ( thyroid storm?) but I think I can see what you’re talking about. When I first found out I was hyperthyroid I wanted RAI. The endo talked me out of it and I went on methimazole. I had been on PTU with my GP before I saw the endo. About 4.5 months into it I was very hypothyroid from the medicine so they dropped my dose. When I was still feeling bad about another 4.5 months later the endo said I think you can have your RAI now. I went for the scan and it was uptake over 70%, and the ultrasound showed classic Grave’s pattern. BUT my tsh was too normal for the nuclear medicine person to give me the RAI. We went round and round about it….. is it my choice etc. with him making some strange statements about not killing my thyroid when it wasn’t necessary etc.. Bad to be on a pill for the rest of your life- he of course wasn’t living my life with Graves! My father has Graves and had it no questions asked. That was more than 10 years ago. So…….. after a visit back to my endo I decided to stay off the meds to see if I really was in remission. It took me almost 10 months of getting worse and worse and for my tsh to fall low enough for the endo to send me back to nuclear medicine. They still didn’t really believe that I was sick enough!!!!! I wondered if they were going to ask me to sign a waiver so that they wouldn’t be held responsible for the death of my thyroid. Anyway I got it this time and am coming around nicely after three weeks.

I think that the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction for some of us who really do make the choice for RAI. I did my reading and research and was an informed patient but some of them acted like I was doing something really evil.

It’s my opinion that the lab tests are the only thing that they are looking at at some point. I have a friend, who is a pharmacist and teaches new pharmacists and he has a saying" TREAT THE PATIENT AND NOT THE LAB RESULTS"

I hope that you are able to get the treatment that you have chosen. I would ask your endocrinologist to stick up for you if this is what you really want to do. I wish I had been more forceful two years ago. You and others know how awful it is to go through the ups and downs of this disease. I think the doctor’s are somewhat scared of malpractice in some cases. Also the nuclear medicine doctor thought he was an endo when of course he’s not. Wish they would communicate more.

Good luck and let me know what happens.

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in reply to: CT scan w contrast 2 weeks post RAI #1070838

Don’t know. I had RAI about three weeks ago and my heart rate is overall lower but I have periods when it still bothers me some. My endo said that after the RAI the amount of TSH would probably even be lower for a few weeks as the excess hormone was released and that I might not be even back to the level I was at before the RAI for about 4 weeks.

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in reply to: Hi my name is Jorgie Ana and i’m thirteen.. #1070862

I am guessing that you are going to the hospital to take radioactive iodine? You didn’t say. I don’t remember anyone telling me that I would lose my sense of taste and I didn’t. I was allowed to eat whatever I wanted to as well. The doctor’s did tell me drink a lot of fluid and suck on candy or chew gum to make sure the radiation didn’t settle in my salivary glands.

I don’t know why your Mom is asking you to eat salads so much. If she is concerned about your weight that may be it. I would let her know that you need more than that if you’re still hungry. Your weight isn’t as important as your overall health at this point. If you eat the best that you can you can worry about your weight when you are much older and your thyroid issues are under control. A lot of us with Graves deal with weight but we aren’t all teenagers. Good overall nutrition is what I try to stress with my 15 year old daughter.

Good luck with your procedure. I hope it will go well for you.

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