[hhchong]

in reply to: Labs After Thyroidectomy #1172919

Hi Alexis,
I’m so sorry to hear you are having trouble sleeping and that you feel fatigued! I just read your other post about Synthroid. As you know, I was wondering about Naturethroid/Armour from the get go…but I chose to go the Synthroid/Cytomel route after talking to my endo. I do really trust his opinion…he said that it’s easier to adjust the dosage of the synthetic hormones to be more precise than the compounds, which made sense to me…

Hang in there!!! Let us know when you get your next round of labs back…I’ll be sure to let you know what my labs are when I get them in early August. Take it one day at a time – I know how hard it is I’ve just been trying to focus on the positive – hey, we both went through very successful surgeries!

Take care!!!

[hhchong]

in reply to: Labs After Thyroidectomy #1172917

Hi Alexis,
Have you gotten your labs back (including your T3)? Would love to hear what your doc says re: potential adjustments to your medicine.

I am getting my labs in a few weeks…and I am starting to feel a bit fatigued…so was just curious if you experienced a gradual increase in certain symptoms as time went by…

Take care!

[hhchong]

in reply to: My Thyroidectomy #1172642

Thanks for all the well wishes! Feeling better with each day, voice is sounding more normal and my appetite is back!

[hhchong]

in reply to: My Thyroidectomy #1172639

Hi Alexis,
I know what you mean! Patience is key but it is hard! And I am only a few days post-surgery You’re doing great!

I am also keeping Nature-throid in the back of my mind as well. I have a follow-up with my endo in six weeks so I’ll be curious to see how everything shakes out.

Please keep me posted on your progress! I was able to just take Tylenol today and it feels great to be off the strong painkillers.

Take care!

[hhchong]

in reply to: My Thyroidectomy #1172634

Actually, as a graves patient my surgeon said she wanted me to stay overnight. And honestly, since this was my first surgery experience I would say I wouldn’t have been in a state to go home the same day. While at first I didn’t like the thought of staying overnight, I’m glad I did.

[hhchong]

in reply to: hhchong- How did your surgery go? #1172569

Alexis,
Thank you so much for your insights! I’ve been watching your posts re: your recovery closely and all the information you’ve provided has been so helpful

I’m glad to hear your voice is getting better as well and that you were able to resume nursing

Thanks for the dosing formula…that’s very helpful. It’s great to hear that you’ve had such a good recovery – it’s so different from the “doom and gloom” posts I’ve read on many sites and very encouraging.

I will keep you updated!

[hhchong]

in reply to: hhchong- How did your surgery go? #1172566

Hi Alexis,
You’re so sweet to ask! My surgery is scheduled for this upcoming Tuesday – 2 more days!

I’m so happy to hear your surgery was a success

To be honest, I’m just ready to get it over with – the anticipation keeps building and I’m so nervous. I’ll be sure to post an update once my surgery is complete.

Out of curiosity, when did you start your thyroid replacement medicine and what are your starting doses? I asked my doc for T3 as well because I wanted to start a combo off the bat. I’m scheduled to start 125 MCG of Synthroid and 5 MCG of Cytomel the day after surgery…

Cheers!

[hhchong]

in reply to: Successful Thyroidectomy! #1172497

Hi Alexis,
So great to hear everything went well! I’m so happy for you! Thank you so much for your post. I will be having my TT on June 26th and having this information is hugely helpful and reassuring.

Take good care!

[hhchong]

in reply to: Thyroidectomy recovery #1172455

Thank you for the information!

[hhchong]

in reply to: Okay. What would you do? #1172215

Hi Alexis,

In prep for my surgery, I have to
– Take a higher dosage of Methimazole for 5 weeks
– 10 days prior to surgery I have to take 60mg/day of Propranolol (betablocker) and Lugols drops.

If it’s any consolation, when I was first diagnosed with Graves I had to take 30 mg/day of Propranolol and I actually felt it helped me – I did not experience any adverse side effects.

Hope this helps!

Good luck with your decision. It is really hard not to think of the “what if’s…” but I am on a few boards and all the people who’ve gone for the surgery never seem to regret it, while I’ve read many posts of people who have had RAI and have regretted it. Though I think being off medicine for months would be potentially quite dangerous…what I’ve learned from my experience is that Graves is very unpredictable…even when you’re on medicine.

Take good care,
Holly

[hhchong]

in reply to: Okay. What would you do? #1172212

Hi,
I am getting surgery on June 26th…so, I think my advice to you is obviously weighted towards surgery

For me, I knew that RAI was not an option. I would like to have children in the future and just did not like the idea of putting radioactive medicine in my body. I also have TED, so I did not want to risk making my eye symptoms worse.

I spent two years trying to regulate my levels with methimazole. The frustrating aspect of this process for me was that my body would just react to the medicine differently throughout the year. Having to titrate the dosage constantly was just taking its toll on my tolerance/patience with Graves, not to mention my body. I would go from a TSH of 0.001 to 32! I don’t know if you had this experience?

I am definitely nervous and scared about the surgery (I’ve never had surgery before), but I am excited about just getting on with my life. I know with RAI it can take time for your thyroid to burn out…I think at the end of the day I prefer surgery because I know I’ll have to take a thyroid supplement off the bat and I can just focus on the work I’ll have to do with my doc to get to the right dosage.

When I decided surgery was the route I wanted to go, it turns out I had to wait about 2 months so I could work on getting my thyroid levels normal with my doc. I’m on a pretty high level of methimazole now and it doesn’t feel great! So, my advice is to just do what’s right for you and if surgery is what you want to do, take advantage of this time period where your thyroid is normal.

If you decide to do surgery, I woud love to hear about your experience since I will be going into surgery a few weeks after you!

Thanks!

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