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I was diagnosed with Graves about a few weeks ago. It was my hand tremors that sent me to the doctor.
My Mom died of ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) in 2006, so when I noticed my hands shaking in the office (and everyone else), I decided to go get checked out, thinking I had Parkinson’s (since it’s related to ALS).
The doctor wondered about the Parkinson’s too, but he happened to have done bloodwork with my physical and called me a few days later to say I had an "overactive" thyroid and needed to see endo for it and he referred me to one here in Austin, TX.
In the meantime, he put me on some beta blockers to calm my heart since my heart rate was in the 90’s – which I hadn’t noticed.
I guess everything that was going on with me had only been going on for at least 6 months or less, since I hadn’t noticed anything but my hands shaking. But I did noticed I was more lazy and got tired easily, and had mysteriously lost about 20 pounds recently – even tho I hadn’t changed my diet or anything! Which I thought was cool, since I’m a little overweight!
So I went to see the endo and she re-checked my bloodwork, and also told me about RAI and told me it was safest way to treat Grave’s disease. She said surgery was the "old" way and too invasive, and then the pill way was no guarantee and I also could end up with liver damage.
Before I went in for my scan/uptake this week I read all I can online about RAI and also talked to a few people – including a co-worker who also had Graves. She’s had the RAI three times!
This was all 20 years ago for her (she’s in her 60’s), but she had it the one time and a few years later I guess it came back. So she went to do it again and an internist I guess who didn’t know any better, gave it to her once and then a second time 2 months later and she ended up having a thyroid storm and was in the hospital for a week to get better.
But even after all of that, she STILL recommended the RAI for me.
So, that was what I did. I did the RAI yesterday. Apparently my scan/uptake showed at 60% of the iodine they had given me, and I was prescribed 10 millicurries of the RAI. So I popped that big blue pill and downed it with a big glass of water.
It’s now the next day and I feel fine. All day yesterday I was waiting for any ill effects – and there were none. I just hung out on the couch drinking sodas all day, watching DVDs and felt as if I never even took it!
I did take my steroids they gave me, so maybe that helped.
But I do feel as if stress brought it on. I bought my first house this year in April, and also the job I work – as a trucking company dispatcher, is stressful, especially right now with the recession going and all of us hoping to keep the doors open and our jobs!
But I also found out that my brother had something about his thyroid come up in his bloodwork with his physical earlier this year, but he didn’t think anything about it and changed his diet and started exercising. I think his Hypo.
Anyway, I’m female and 43 – just in case anyone wondered. I’m glad to be a part of this board and to share my story!
