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Whoa!!!! You sure do have an interesting time Karen! I was hoping when I clicked on your post they’d introduced you to Deepak Chopra, no such luck? I think holistic medicine does have some value but these people you saw concern me. Anybody who says they will calm your Graves down with dietary changes and then tells you to eat salmon, tuna, and crab – seafood – which is full of iodine is not seeing the whole picture! Are you going to try any of the changes or that, um, test?
With me the change is lowering the methimazole and I’ll feel good the first two days and on day three it’s like check me in to the loony bin. I get emotional, angry, paranoid and overheated! Then about a week out I’ll feel normal again. I hope you feel better soon!
in reply to: At what FT4 do you feel best? #1178758Thanks for the details on how it all works! You do bring up a great point, maybe I should be focusing more on my FT3. I do get that one regularly tested also, but it usually looks better more at the mid-range. It’s the FT4 that hovers around near the bottom that I get suspicious about.
I guess I was hoping someone would say – I feel great and my FT4 is…. or at this point I’ll settle for anything! TSH FT3 values too. I want to know what the lab values of a person who feels great looks like. I am on methimazole if that matters so it is an issue of how much to lower the dosage.
I think I had a few small flares of Graves before the big one that got missed. One time about six months before diagnosis I sat in the doctors office with a pulse of 110 and told her I was concerned, she said it was fine that some people’s hearts just go faster. A couple years before that I’d been having chronic diarrhea for weeks, went to the doctor and was advised to cut out caffeine and spicy foods. Three months before diagnosis I actually had blood work done that showed a lowering TSH but not down at zero and I had symptoms, but the doctor set no follow up and my odd symptoms increased until I finally went back with tremors and racing heart and demanded my thyroid be retested – she’d completely forgotten it was abnormal on the earlier test.
in reply to: newly diagnosed #1177914Gerical and Jayne, wishing you both luck and please take your time and learn all that you can. With ATD treatment you will be stabilized and be able to take your time to choose what path is best for you.
NPatterson, do you know if there’s any study or statistics anywhere on outcomes for the three different treatment options? I know that people are most likely to post if they have problems so the internet isn’t an objective measure. What I’d love to see is something like some measurement of life functioning one year out, three years out, five years out for the three different options. Life functioning would include physical and psychological wellness, impact on working life too. I may be dreaming but this would be so useful.
in reply to: TRAb/TBII testing #1178679I had to insist on getting my TSI retested, but my doc would not do TRab at all. From what I can tell she is unaware, and doesn’t want to be educated by me, about the relationship of antibodies and remission. You are right, it is sad.
I suspect there are two reason for this. One that Graves’ is a very complex disease and most endos are busy with their diabetes patients mostly and don’t spend much time reading the latest research. Also those antibody tests cost insurance companies a lot of money ($550 for TSI in my state) and maybe there’s some sort of pressure behind the scenes for endo’s not to order them.
in reply to: Never Rains, but it pours! #1178524Agreeing with Shirley, definitely BS! I’m sorry you had a technician that made the test even harder to endure. I’ve had two done and it is no picnic. Even under the best circumstances it is very difficult to go through with. I hope you can get the news out of your doctor early and it is good.
in reply to: Well, here goes! #1173616So sorry to hear the hyper is back! I’m glad you’ll have full insurance soon though – that’s amazing you are able to work two jobs while all this is going on. Take care and keep us posted!
in reply to: After RAI, am I supposed to feel like this? #1178656Hi mwhitney, have you had a chance to check out AZGravesguy’s thread about his RAI journey? From what I’ve read there and elsewhere, it’s a process of a few months where you might seesaw around a bit and need frequent testing and medication adjustments. My endo told me it was usually about six months to stability after RAI in her practice.
in reply to: Thyroid disease and diabetes links. #1178664Thanks Harpy this is interesting! I remember when I was the most hyper I felt like I had to eat constantly, almost every hour or I would feel like passing out. Back many years ago when I believe my thyroid problems started being slightly hypo, I often had problems with keeping stable blood sugar as well and had to eat high protein meals frequently to feel okay.
in reply to: OMG! Graves’ Rage and it’s fury! #1178378My anger management tip – focus on your feet and imagine you are pulling the overwhelming emotion back down, it works for anger and other stuff too.
in reply to: Well, here goes! #1173604Rooting for you AZGravesguy! You’ve certainly paid your dues and I hope this is it and you don’t have to do surgery or rai again.
in reply to: OMG! Graves’ Rage and it’s fury! #1178373Wow! While I’m sure that taught him a satisfying life lesson, I hope you can find a way to reign it in – what if he were really crazy, had a gun? Do you feel more affected these days by the thyroid levels or the menopause? And yeah, there have a been a few um, outbursts, on my part since my Graves’ diagnosis. Makes you realize how much just being in the world tests our patience all the time.
in reply to: Good Article! #1178301Great article! People have a hard time responding helpfully too the longer it goes on too – I get the shouldn’t you be done with that by now attitude.
in reply to: how to not obsess about GD and TED – any advice? #1178258Thank you Stymie, prayers for you too!
And some for Momof5, to for clarity on what to do – this initial period is pretty scary. I’ve been dealing with this for a year and am considered “stable” on methimazole though I still don’t feel I’ve found the ideal dosage.
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