[susanf]

in reply to: RAI yesterday, how long after did you start to feel better? #1173403

Thank you all so much for your responses. I know every case is different but it helps to hear from others. I had no idea about thyroid dumping, my doctor never mentioned it to me. So far so good, I’ve had small bouts of feeling like I’m getting a sore throat, other than that I can’t wait to start feeling like myself again. It’s been so long since I’ve felt that I’m not sure what it is going to feel like

[susanf]

in reply to: graves with weight gain #1173395

mgelsimino wrote:

The low iodine diet is for hyperthyroidism?

Oh no, sorry to confuse you. I had RAI yesterday and I had to be on that prior to that treatment:)

[susanf]

in reply to: Had RAI and so far so good #1173369

Thanks for posting this Patti! I had my RAI yesterday morning and so far no symptoms. My dose was only 10 mci (I believe that is the proper term). Do you know what your dose was?

[susanf]

in reply to: graves with weight gain #1173392

My weight gain was one of the things that let me know something was going on. I was constantly hungry and nothing I ate made me feel satisfied. When I talked to my doctor about not losing when I was hyper he said that is what we all believe, but typically in this country we don’t lose weight and sometimes even gain. I started Weight Watchers and so far have lost 14 pounds. Last week on a low-iodine diet I lost 6 pounds! Not the way I wanted to lose it, but hopefully it won’t be back

[susanf]

in reply to: TED … who gets it? #1172766

My doctor said the same thing about my eyes, but I nor anyone else can see a difference. I have noticed feeling pressure behind my eyes, as if I have been crying a lot, which isn’t the case. My concern is RAI and having TED, even though slight the RAI could make it worse.

[susanf]

in reply to: Frustrated #1172772

I don’t have quite the knowledge the others do yet, but those symptoms sounds a lot like what I go through and I’m hyper right now. I have yet to start treatment.

I hope you feel better soon, the symptoms can be draining. I have the bad memory too, that can be so frustrating!

[susanf]

in reply to: Diagnosed today…confused #1172739

Hi Kimberly!

Thanks for the info about the uptake scans, that is very interesting. I will definitely check out that message board, thanks so much!

Are you have regular blood work done to check your liver? How long do you think you will need to be on antithyroid meds?

[susanf]

in reply to: Diagnosed today…confused #1172738

Hi Cat!

I’m not sure I will ever feel comfortable with my decision. I’ve never been one to let rare odds stand in my way. But when I heard about potential liver problems and bone marrow problems, I immediately thought about my son. I can’t afford to be sick. I just had a gut feeling that I would be that slim chance. Maybe it’s not right to listen to my gut, maybe it is. I guess I’ll only know once I’ve seen the affects of my treatment. All I know is I want to start feeling better soon.

[susanf]

in reply to: Diagnosed today…confused #1172737

Hello Alexis!

Thanks for sharing your story. It sure does help knowing I’m not the only one that feels bad about my diagnosis. Sometimes I think I’m exaggerating. I hope your levels are good in a few weeks, wishing you luck.

Actually I am hyper. Although my uptake was fine, my TSH 2 months ago was undetectable at 0.01 and last week it went up to 0.02 lol.

I didn’t expect the diagnosis because what I thought I knew about Graves I was wrong. I assumed the uptake had to be increased to diagnosis Graves. See what happens when someone ventures to Google without a doctor? lol. I am having plenty of symptoms. It was actually my OB/GYN who discovered it having had and endometrial biopsy and u/s for bad periods. Kudos to her! I’ve had night sweats for a few years now. I’ve had a bad memory and just being a scatter brain. I lose my hair quite a bit and often. Heart palpitations. Irritability. Bad periods. And the worst is hunger! So much, I just thought I was getting older and really ignored most of the symptoms.

Thanks again!

adenure wrote:

Hi Susan & Happy 4th!

Welcome! Yes, being diagnosed with Graves is a tough one to hear. I was diagnosed after having my 4th baby. I was diagnosed with a “95%” certainty of having Graves based on blood work alone. The outside chance of postpartum thyroiditis was there, so I got the scan eventually. The scan confirmed Graves and I drove home in tears. Just knowing for certain was so hard; I wanted to believe it would go away on its own (like thyroiditis does).

I did start with methimazole (ATD), but it was damaging my liver (I had a liver panel lab done 7 weeks into the meds. and it came back as not so good! I didn’t experience liver damage symptoms though- fortunately we caught it early & it reversed itself) On the plus side, the methimazole got my thyroid level balanced and I had surgery 2 1/2 weeks ago! RAI wasn’t an ideal option for me for various reasons (I’m breastfeeding, I’d have to wait 4 months if I weaned to get treated and it just didn’t feel like the right option for me). So, right now I’m on Synthroid and will get my labs done for that in another few weeks to see how my levels look. The surgery went well with no complications and I’m grateful that I did it.

It sounds like you’re not hyper right now (that’s my guess based on your uptake percentages); it sounded like you didn’t expect the diagnosis, so you’re probably not feeling symptoms or haven’t before. My guess is your endo won’t prescribe ATD’s if your thyroid levels are stable (did he/ she test your TSH, T4 & T3?) As a side note, if you decide to go ahead and treat the Graves with RAI or surgery, it’s important to have stable thyroid levels for surgery, and I believe it is ideal to have them stable before RAI as well (although I don’t think it is as important as it is for surgery). If you’re not hyper, is your doctor going to do a “wait and see” type of approach and test your thyroid levels every 2 months or so unless you feel hyper symptoms?

My TSI was 234 I think; the other antibody test was out of range too, not crazy out of range, but still high. My scan percentages were 19% & 34%.

Alexis

[susanf]

in reply to: Diagnosed today…confused #1172736

Thanks for the welcome Bobbi! I keep looking in the mirror and to me I don’t look any different…I wonder what he saw?

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