I live in Chicago. I have had GD symptoms probably most of my life and dismissed them. The palpitations and sweats became more apparent after I had a total hysterectomy in 1995. I thought it was surgical menopause and dismissed it. In the spring of 2007 i began to have double vision. It became so intense I had to patch one eye to see at all. It was then that I was diagnosed with Graves and "industrial strength Strabismus! I went to an endo who immediately suggested to remove my thyroid. I thought that was extreme so I put it on hold and proceeded to Dr Tom Mizen Ophthalmologist at Rush Hospital. He said he could totally readjust the muscles but the thyroid had to go. What he would do was a one shot deal. So I had the thyroid out in May 2009 and the right eye was operated on December 4 2009 and the left eye was done 2 weeks later. The eye surgeries were done out patient with no pain whatsoever. It felt like I had an eyelash in my eye which was the stitches.
My levels have been even. I am going for a new field of vision test in two weeks but I am almost sure my peripheral vision is almost non-existent. If I don’t put drops in my eyes daily, my eyes tear and vision is blurry and hard to focus.
I still have GD symptoms and have gained @25 lbs. Good news is that I also quit smoking and only encounter double vision when my eyes are very tired.
