[snelsen]

in reply to: Commuting and thyroid #1169727

Hi Cathy, how nice to hear from you! I had the same job experience in one of my jobs as a clinical specialist. The job was a 300% time job, not 100%. I recognized the stressors, and acknowledged the job was not the right job for me–but not soon enough. i felt like I was failing everyone if I resigned. But soon realized the impact it on my health. I resigned, too, on moderately good terms. I think they knew they would never find anyone who would be willing accept this job, and that they knew they would have to make at least to jobs out of what I was doing, if not three! But my levels (and I!!) were all over the place, and settled down when I got a reasonably sane work life.
Your experience is important, and will be very helpful to other folks.
Shirley

[snelsen]

in reply to: What to ask surgeon re thyroidectomy? #1169942

Rebecca, what GOOD NEWS! I am so happy for you! Your posts will be very very helpful to others on the site. And you can see that the title of your post is drawing many readers! In the thousands, already (as I recall.)
I am happy for your mother, too! There are many good posts about the surgery for you to read. My experience was that I was sore and tender for a few days, did not take pain meds cause I did not need them. I was more tired than I expected to be. I went back to work full time at 2 weeks. I wish I had taken a few more days, then worked part days for a few days before plunging back into full time+!
Shirley

[snelsen]

in reply to: Restrictions After RAI #1169745

Hi Nikki,
I am writing so that you have a reply, and I am sure you will get plenty of replies! (i chose surgery) And possibly some MORE conflicting information!
1. I looked at the home page of this site, for I know that the new, 2011 current guidelines for RAI are referenced there, and have been mentioned by the facilitators in other posts. However, I found it hard to get to the appropriate information, and the entire article, despite the description describes the post-RAI guidelines.

I would presume the radiology department where you will be having your RAI are the best resources. I suggest that you call them, ask them to send their post RAI guidelines to you NOW, so you can see them. I am pretty sure you do not need to worry about going back to teaching after a couple days unless you decide to wrap a student around your neck! (:
If you put restrictions after RAI in the search engine, you will see a ton of posts. I read one by Ski describing her experience, and maybe check that one out first.

Generally speaking, medical personnel in other, but related, departments, are not the ones to answer your questions. YOur best bet is the information from where you will be.

It is always a relief when you DO decide, and have an idea of your future path, and the time it takes to have all of this behind you. Best wishes.
Shirley

[snelsen]

in reply to: Husband Trying to Cope… #1169645

that is very difficult for him to do when she pushes him away, is hostile. I was like that, too, and those suggestions would not have worked for us, because I did not want him in my life at all. AND from his view, as it is , his life was total hell and I believe it was.
I am so happy. For you that all worked out for you. But it sounds like it did, because you got well and the relationship survived. best, shirley

[snelsen]

in reply to: Bulletin Board Use & Spam Received on Personal E-Mail Acct? #1169799

No, I have not had this experience.Shirley

[snelsen]

in reply to: Persistent nausea after 14 months of treatment #1169765

I also suggest you see your GP or perhaps an internal medicine doc. It may not be related to Graves’ or med at all.
I have not had that experience. Are you still on ATD now? Or nothing? It’s possible that the GI symptoms are an incidental and unrelated symptom that coincided with the onset of Graves’.
Shirley

[snelsen]

in reply to: Graves’ treatment prior to pregnancy… #1169863

I agree, Snowboo, I think you are correct. You thinking is 100%. in my opinion. They make their best guess on what will completely destroy the gland. But sometimes it is not enough. That is why some people have to have RAI again.
Actually, I DID have a sub-total thyroidectomy, and was euthyroid for over 30 years. Then became a little hypo, and began Synthroid.
Shirley

[snelsen]

in reply to: TED & orbital radiation therapy #1068985

Hi, just to echo what Ski and Kimberly referenced, plus add my experiences. Both prednisone and radiation to the eyes, reduce inflammation and swelling, thus you are more comfortable, and that is pretty much the goal of those treatments..to get you past a rough spot. But they are not permanent treatments for tED. The disease has to run it’s course. I suggest you see a neuro-ophthalmologist for a good baseline of where you are with your vision. The question you asked about eye surgery and the sinuses-one of the muscles is close the sinuses-some eye surgeons have ENT docs do the medial part of the orbital decompression, many do not. I think you are referring to an OD or orbital decompression, as was mentioned in another post by a facilitator. The approaches (top.bottom, each side, upper sideways and lower sideways) are entirely dependent on which double vision you have, It’s a logical thing-if you cannot look up comfortably, and have double vision, the lower (inferior) muscles are moved by the eye doc cause that will allow you to look up comfortably. If the prisms are pretty much making you happy, and resolving the double vision, you may not decide to have that surgery, called strabismus surgery. I had it, it is great, and solved all my double vision problems. I still do have a little prism on my RX glasses.
For some reason, as I respond to your post, your recent post does not show, so now I am not sure I have addressed all that you asked.
*if you were on prednisone, it is critical that you do the taper as prescribed (decrease the dose a little bit each week) it is not ok to stop the drug all at once, so check that out with you doc if it applicable.
OD is usually done to save vision in the eye when there is pressure on the optic nerve, so someone should be checking your visual fields (usually a neuro/eye doc.)

[snelsen]

in reply to: Will I Ever Be Normal? #1169775

Well, you are accomplishing something! Were you taking both those meds before? (I am not checking your prior posts right now)
But it not so great that she told you that you SHOULDN”T be feeling like you are on an emotional rollercoaster because your levels are not that bad! For you just told her how you feel, and that IS how you feel. Ok, I just looked back, and see that you are not on ATD’s right now. I do think now that you have begun the ATD’s, that you will feel better, not feel as emotional , hyper and all the ways we are when we have undiagnosed and untreated Graves’. So take them, and this is a time when you need to be reporting how you feel, and getting frequent labs in case the dose needs to be adjusted. Hope she said those things, too?
Glad you are seeing your OB. My small bit of advice is to see how familiar she is with the whole situation. It is very likely that she is not very familiar with the guidelines for getting pregnant after RAI. I would consider going to a high risk OB doc, but you have a lot of time to think that through.
Shirley

[snelsen]

in reply to: Will I Ever Be Normal? #1169770

Nikki, this is a very busy day for me, with almost no time at home. I will write a PM (private message) to you and your husband tonight. YOU WILL go back to BEING YOU in every sense of the word, really! I was 22 when all this hit. I’ll write tonight (am in Seattle.)
Love, Shirley

[snelsen]

in reply to: Sucralose #1169792

Hi, Kimberly pretty much covered what I was planning to say. Regarding the sucralose, it seems that for whatever reason, it is better for you not to take it us consume any product that contains it. There are not any good long term studies on it, but there are have been some evidence that artificial sweeteners have some negative physiological implications for people.
Of course you sick of feeling the way you feel! That is all of us, before we made decisions about the treatment we chose, and get on the "other side" of Graves’ symptoms. Sounds like you are taking ATD’s now, and they are managed as Kimberly says. From what you wrote, you are getting labs (how often?) Generally, if there is good communication with the doc about how you are feeling, plus pretty frequent labs after diagnosis when trying to determine the right amount of ATD’s, the dose should have been adjusted so you did not have your hypo episode. Or, as you say, ATD’s may not be the choice for you. But it is, important to take them, and be followed closely when you are first diagnosed and hyper, so you CAN make a decision about the treatment you choose. I suggest, also, that you read the experiences of others about the three choices. You may be moving to your decision if you don’t want to continue with ATD’s, and don’t want radiation. So that leaves surgery. Everyone on this board has chose one of these three options, and all have generally been very happy with there choice.
**The best way to make it all go away, is to move forward, be sure you do not remain in a hyper state (dangerous)
do your research, and make a plan. You will feel much more empowered, and will have every chance to have good health (with a little monitering and some replacement hormone) for the rest of your life.
Shirley

[snelsen]

in reply to: Double-Dosing Synthroid #1169784

I have found this method works for me.
I also take other meds. In my experience, I keep the Synthroid separate, rather than having in the same pill thing (I set up meds for three weeks at a time in the seven day long pill things.) For the Synthroid, I have tried two things. First, I had the synthroid in a separate pill thing, but that was easy to confuse the boxes when it was dark and I was sleepy.
Now I leave the Synthoid in the bottle, along with a glass of water by my bed. I am sure that it is 1/2 hour before I eat, I don’t do an hour. I am assuming that you are taking the slow release omeprazole once a day, and that you are to take it one hour before meals? And that it to be taken one hour before you eat?
With your Synthroid, you could:
1. leave the blister pack by your bed. But throw it on the floor after you take one, pick it up when you get up. (:
2. Take only one pill out of the blister pack, (leave the pack in the bathroom) put the Synthroid with your other meds.

I know exactly what you mean about those pill containers! Especially when you are 29, and don’t want to bother with that. But I find that they work well. If you don’ t want to do the long pill containers, you could buy those tiny ones, that have two sides. They are round. Then before you go to bed, set up your two meds in one side, and one Synthroid in the other, along with a glass of water. Maybe this would work best for you.

Regarding your question about side effects of taking twice the dose, I am not sure. I would think that you would not feel any different. Over the years, before I came up with m7 "method," I have taken twice the dose by accident, and I have completely forgotten (or did not bring with me when I stayed overnight someplace) and did not take it at all.
Maybe, one of these ideas might work for you.
shirley

[snelsen]

in reply to: Double-Dosing Synthroid #1169785

I have found this method works for me.
I also take other meds. In my experience, I keep the Synthroid separate, rather than having in the same pill thing (I set up meds for three weeks at a time in the seven day long pill things.) For the Synthroid, I have tried two things. First, I had the synthroid in a separate pill thing, but that was easy to confuse the boxes when it was dark and I was sleepy.
Now I leave the Synthoid in the bottle, along with a glass of water by my bed. I am sure that it is 1/2 hour before I eat, I don’t do an hour. I am assuming that you are taking the slow release omeprazole once a day, and that you are to take it one hour before meals? And that it to be taken one hour before you eat?
With your Synthroid, you could:
1. leave the blister pack by your bed. But throw it on the floor after you take one, pick it up when you get up. (:
2. Take only one pill out of the blister pack, (leave the pack in the bathroom) put the Synthroid with your other meds.

I know exactly what you mean about those pill containers! Especially when you are 29, and don’t want to bother with that. But I find that they work well. If you don’ t want to do the long pill containers, you could buy those tiny ones, that have two sides. They are round. Then before you go to bed, set up your two meds in one side, and one Synthroid in the other, along with a glass of water. Maybe this would work best for you.

Regarding your question about side effects of taking twice the dose, I am not sure. I would think that you would not feel any different. Over the years, before I came up with m7 "method," I have taken twice the dose by accident, and I have completely forgotten (or did not bring with me when I stayed overnight someplace) and did not take it at all.
Maybe, one of these ideas might work for you.
shirley

[snelsen]

in reply to: Recently Diagnosed and Very Confused #1169812

Hi, welcome to the club none of us choose, but all of us live through it and are ok.
Do use the search engine to read topics you are interested in. There is a nice post just today from someone who was on the boards a lot last year, and is now 23 wks pregnant, she had RAI. Others have chosen surgery, especially those who want to move on and get pregnant. Not sure why your doctor did not mention surgery, for it is another option, and lots of folks have it and choose it, including myself. YOu need a surgeon who does them regularly, usually at a major medical center.
There are some good accounts of that.You generally have to wait longer after RAI. The most important thing is to be healthy when you get pregnant, so Graves’ needs attention.

There are advantages to each choice. Some of this is personal preference. Some docs recommend one choice just cause they are familiar with it, and/learned about it in residency from docs who were biased toward one choice.

First-eyes. I will summarize, for there is a lot to read about it. Thyroid eye disease is something that happens to some people with Graves’. It can be mild, like itchy eyes, or very severe, as I got-almost 5 decades after I had Graves in my early 20’s. Few people have the severity that I have had. There are some studies, especially if you have any eye symptoms at all, that speak for NOT having RAI, or having a doc know this and help you with it. For RAI can make eye symptoms worse. Kimberly has good references on this.

This is just a beginning, I don’t have more time right now. I know you will hear from lots of people, including the facilitators.
Shirley

[snelsen]

in reply to: post RAI one year/pregnancy update #1169815

Hi Pinky, of course I remember you well! What a wonderful piece of news you bring to all of us. Sounds like you are having excellent care for both you and baby! I am so happy for you! There are people on the board right now asking about pregnancy, and it is so encouraging for all of us to know that the battle we have with Graves’ can and does have a happy ending, where we actually feel pretty good again. Hard to believe when you are in the middle of it.
Best wishes to you, and so glad you wrote. IT will mean a lot to others.
Shirley

[Author]

Posts