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in reply to: Cyclist post-TT #1179456

Congratulations on your successful surgery!

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in reply to: Do I need a Psychiatrist too? #1179423

Again “lock” means no more new posting on this thread – that includes going back to old posts and editing to add more new inflammatory content as has just occurred, though deleting is reasonable. Thank you all for your restraint.

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in reply to: Do I need a Psychiatrist too? #1179420

I propose since Kimberly is on vacation and cannot address this that we – as a group – agree to LOCK this thread. Many people come here needing a safe place to talk about their Graves experience so let’s get back to that.

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in reply to: Do I need a Psychiatrist too? #1179417

Egads.

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in reply to: Do I need a Psychiatrist too? #1179405

In the agreeing to disagree spirit…. I think counselors are a lot like car mechanics. It matters who you see, it matters a lot and just because some car mechanics will rip you off doesn’t mean that all car mechanics are incompetent and that sometimes your car really does need someone to fix it. I’ve seen some baaaaaad counselors and a couple of a good ones that really mattered. I’ve taken some antidepressants that had bad side effects, I took one that literally saved my life and kept me employed. I think the trouble is that it is such a high stakes issue, letting another person or a drug, mess around with your heart and brain.

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in reply to: Diagnosed @ 49 y/o #1179157

Boomer wrote:

Never felt more “off” in my entire life.

I see my Endo a week from tomorrow and it can’t come soon enough. Fees more like I need a psychiatrist than an Endo.

Ugh. This will pass. Right? (this is where you say “Yes!)

Yes! Well mostly. You are mainly getting hit by the rapid thyroid hormone adjustment, once you’ve been stable for a while at non-hyper levels it will get better. Even now whenever I have a dosage change I revisit this place for a little while, crying at the drop of a hat, end of the world when it’s spilled milk, and end of the universe when it’s just end of the world. Hang in there and don’t trust your brain for a while.

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in reply to: Drop in energy like a sugar drop, normal GD symptom? #1179351

Oh man you guys are lucky! Coming from someone who gains weight when hyper, aaaargh!

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in reply to: Become Obsessively Familiar With Your Meds #1179326

Good catch Sue! So was it two different manufacturers or the bigger pills are the same but a higher dosage?

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in reply to: My Heat Intolerance Melt down #1179332

HUGS to you! You’ve probably already mentioned this elsewhere but are they willing to give you any hormones (female not thyroid) to make this easier?

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in reply to: a song for you guys #1179302

Glad you enjoyed Shirley! Nothing cheers me up like BB singin the blues. I heard that song for the first time while I was still hyper but diagnosed and it gave me the first good laugh I’d had it a while. Anybody who wants to hear it can find it easily on youtube.

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in reply to: married and lost #1179266

Hi Jacquellio, so sorry for all you’ve gone through and lost, Graves can take many prisoners. My experience and what I’ve observed with other family members with Graves is that it puts strain on the entire mind/body system of the person. And the weak link in the chain breaks. So if the weak link is a tendency to alcoholism like it sounds with your husband, then maybe this is when it reveals itself. For some it is bipolar. For some it’s a physical system. Still…even if the Graves and being at the wrong thyroid levels tipped him over into these behaviors it didn’t cause it directly. Please take care of yourself, right now he doesn’t sound like a safe person to be in your life.

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in reply to: Meds: once a day? #1179217

Actually, my choice try to try 3x/day methimazole dosing was based on the detailed patient information which comes with the pill as others mentioned above. It’s not like I tried it arbitrarily though the idea did not come from my doctor. The idea that one even could do this and it might make a difference is not widely known, but it should be. I make no apologies for sharing it.

Here’s an interesting article from the New England Journal of Medicine about how the latest medical knowledge is slow in making it’s way into our experience in our doctor’s offices link It is because of stuff like this that we need to keep educating ourselves and be proactive. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t great doctors out there somewhere giving great care but patients have to be on the ball.

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in reply to: Is this thyroid or anxiety? #1179198

Yes, very helpful post Harpy – in fact it inspired me to go to bed last night as I was staying up too late

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in reply to: Meds: once a day? #1179206

I see nothing wrong with sharing knowledge, together we all have a huge collective amount of Graves experience, why not share? Now if I were to say something crazy like Sue you should take all your methimazole only once a week in one big 70mg dose and it will cure you! Yeah….that’d be kinda crazy and she wouldn’t listen to me anyway….

Okay, so sharing my personal experience and not telling anyone what to do. I found that taking methimazole divided into three doses a day gave me the best experience of stability of mood and energy. Now that I am only on 1.25mg I take it twice a day at .625 because it is no longer physically possible for me to divide it into thirds. I experimented in the beginning when on 5mg with twice daily and thrice daily dosing and could really feel a difference. My endo was okay with this as long as I took the prescribed amount by the end of the day. I also order a specific brand of methimazole from my pharmacy that divides cleanly without crumbling. There was a small surge of hyper symptoms for about two days going from 2x to 3x because the amount per dose was smaller but then it evened out. I do think my endo thinks I may be a bit wacky or OCD doing all this, but she also says my response to the methimazole has been unusually positive and fast.

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in reply to: Is this thyroid or anxiety? #1179192

I’m so glad I could help! I bet you will feel much better once your bp/pulse are steady. The propranol wears off at six hours for most people. The metoprolol and atenolol are longer lasting….I take metoprolol once a day because I find it sedating, but back when I was running hyper I needed it twice a day. These days I think I need it just because of straight up high bp because of all the dratted weight I’ve gained. Let us know how it goes!

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