[trudy]

in reply to: Graves Disease Diet- What not to eat and what to eat #1170956

I threw out my iodized salt and changed to sea salt. (And am somewhat puzzled as to whether sea salt is naturally high in iodine…) Was that a mistake? When I saw the lists of foods containing iodine, I thought I might be getting lots of it anyway.

I wonder how much iodine someone needs and if it is different for a “normal” person and a person with Graves, and how one would test how much one has, like they do blood tests for calcium, etc….

[trudy]

in reply to: Diagnosed with Graves This Week #1170986

By the way, I think I saw a mention that there was some possibility that monitoring the wbc etc might give early warning of developing that problem. I’d been told that that wasn’t the case. Is there a paper somewhere about that? Thanks.

[trudy]

in reply to: Diagnosed with Graves This Week #1170985

Thanks, Kimberly.

I have thought a lot about this and plan to try long term Methimazole unless the new endocrinologist convinces me otherwise. I am concerned about the effect of RAI on the potential eye problem and also averse to clobbering an innocent body part like the poor thyroid when the problem is the immune system. Plus once one has RAI, there is no going back. Or if RAI actually cured Graves, that would be different. The surgery additionally seems risky to me because of the no calcium regulation possibility. I am aware of the potential very serious side effects of the med. No really good answer.

[trudy]

in reply to: I can’t stop yelling…rant. Sorry. #1171027

jrs,

What Bobbi said. I’m a newbie, but I have read that after RAI it takes some time for things to settle down. And I understand that it takes some time after being hyperthyroid when you’re not on meds for the body to get that stuff out of its tissues.

I myself am shocked at how irritable I was before I was diagnosed and went on Methimaloze.

I don’t know anything about children, but is 8 too young to explain that you don’t really mean to be irritable? and that in a few weeks it will be better? Or would mentioning an illness frighten him?

I would have that lump checked out. I worry about stuff like that too, and 99.99% of the time it’s nothing but why not put your mind at rest about it.

Are you on any kind of med to deal with this? My doctor convinced me to take Ativan, even though I know it’s addictive. We compromised and I take it once a week, which at least gives me a break from the anxiety and general hypochondriacal craziness.

What about lifestyle helps – listening to favorite music, doing something you’ve enjoyed in the past. Maybe getting a babysitter and going out to dinner with your husband.

[trudy]

in reply to: Wife want divorce and family in shambles #1170262

bobkatak wrote:

Everyday since the RAI her hyper symptoms get worse although I think the beta blocker works well since I havent seen the rage I saw two months ago.

I think I read that initially after an RAI the thyroid does put out more T3 and T4, then it slowly dies off. I think that’s why they put people on a steroid for awhile after an RAI, to protect the eyes.

I was incredibly angry at the world until this stuff got diagnosed and I’d been on the Methimazole for awhile. Fortunately I live by myself so I wasn’t causing distress to anyone else.

It is shocking to know that our emotional state is so irrationally influenced by our bodies.

[trudy]

in reply to: Diagnosed with Graves This Week #1170983

Hi, Anna et al,

I also was worried about taking Methimazole, since the endocrinologist scared me out of my wits warning me about it.

However, I am no longer seeing her for various reasons, and while I’m waiting for the appointment with the new endocrinologist, I talked on the phone with the endocrinologist from where I used to live (he was treating me for something completely different), and he said he has never seen the wbc problem with Methimazole in any of his patients. He’s probably in his 70s, so that’s a lot of patients.

I did not notice any bad effects from taking it. In fact, shortness of breath was one of my most troubling symptoms and about two hours after I’d taken it that started to ease up. That’s a lot sooner than my internist said I could expect to see any results.

I was started on 20 mg a day in the form of 10 mg twice a day. After four weeks I was moved down to 10 mg a day, 5 mg twice a day.

I was told that the symptoms would be gone in four weeks. I think that’s a bit optimistic. Things are very improved, but at the five week mark I am still having some tremoring, anxiety, etc. My heart is behaving well, but I’m still on Rythmol, the anti-arrhythmic, they put me on because I was going in and out of afib. I have to say that, cross fingers, the anti-arrhythmic is wonderful – I hardly ever feel PVCs and PACs, which used to drive me crazy for years.

[trudy]

in reply to: Getting Labs Done #1171020

I’m a newbie to Graves (diagnosed about six weeks ago), so I can only tell you what my doc is doing. She measures free T3, free T4, and TSH every 2-3 weeks until we know I’m stabilized of the correct dose of Methimazole. Then the testing interval will be moved out. She also did a one time test of the TSI antibody.

Perhaps the frequency of testing depends on how off the scale one is originally, I dunno.

She is using T3 and T4 to tune the Methimazole.

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