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in reply to: At a crossroad, want your opinion, please. #1068618

Ciona,

You’ve got a great story and I hope someone answers them! Good luck with finding more answers/ questions….
April

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in reply to: 4 weeks since RAI update #1068658

Lacie~
I was planning on having the surgery b/c I wanted my old life back–no matter the costs. I wanted to do the surgery as soon as I was clinically euthyroid, but after meeting with the surgeon I was hesitant—first, he was evasive when I asked him about the # of surgeries he performs. I’m wondering if it really matters how egotistical he is: maybe he is the best one in town (I had to wait 3 weeks to see him and then 2 hours in the lobby, and then only for a 10 minute consultation). He seemed to know his stuff, and having it out is very appealing: I’m trying to face the hypo-world headstrong, well, because it is inevitable!–and second….i am currently hypo due to overmedication, so I can’t have the surgery until i get back in the normal ranges…hopefully that will be soon! My appt. is in the end of August, so I’m hoping I can schedule it then.

I wonder if having the RAI back when I was diagnosed 3 months ago would have been a better solution…..

Keep us updated!
April

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in reply to: 4 weeks since RAI update #1068654

Lacie,
I love reading about your journey, even though I’ve not made a permanent decision/course of "treatment" yet. It is very interesting to read about your updates and experiences in case I decide to do RAI. Krystal, you’re great too!

April

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in reply to: interpersonal problems #1069446

Hi Nancy,
this message/thread was lost and I couldn’t find it earlier to respond!

He’s ordered and read the book, and still feels like it is me–not the GD person–but the original me who’s treating him badly/unfairly. etc. All I can say is that because he is over 5,000 miles away right now, he doesn’t see the day-to-day suffering that I go through. He actually told me that he understood what I am going through! Not to evoke pity, but it gets pretty exhausting just dealing with all of this every day and mustering up all the energy to drive myself to doctors appts and hear more bad news alone, confirming info that I have previously read about in my books. While I feel I understand the exact trigger point and have tried discussing it with him, he continues to unemotionally respond to me, making each phone call more of what I term a business call. If I can be honest, I am aware that he’s read that book, Sara Rosenthal’s book, and info on this website—because I directed him to these sources. These were my attempts to get him involved. Ordinarily, he is an avid reader…..

I’ve not ordered the book. I have a lot of other reputable books, and I feel from reading them I understand where I am. Not to discount the book that the authors have written/compiled, but I’m not "there" with wanting to read another one.
Thank you for the response to my post.

Off to bed!
A

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in reply to: Weight Gain – Oh NO!!! #1068884

i’m in, too, although i’m not sure what my weight is, i know i’ve not been exercising. i have a heart rate monitor, but am scared to death to even go outside and walk. in june, my endo told me that i was a "heatstroke waiting to happen." i wondered what exercises are safe to do right now—for instance, in order to slow the muscle loss. or is that even possible? i just don’t want to damage my heart by exercising, but i feel like slug not doing anything…

i don’t think i’ve gained but a few pounds on the PTU, which hasn’t affected my clothes size, but i certainly don’t want it to creep on. oh, and currently i am hypo—thanks to overmedication, so am i now allowed to exercise while i’m trying to get that back to normal….?

any input?

are there specific foods that we GD people should be eating to help? i’ve got all the GD books, including Shomon’s, Shames’, and Rosenthal, but its all still so confusing…..

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in reply to: Overmedicated…please someone explain! #1068937

i think they are competent enough over there, but the nurse, well, i’m not so sure about. i wanted info on beta blockers one time, and she really confused me.

i’m definitely getting copies of everything, and i requested a copy of my bloodwork results to be mailed last week when i went in to let them take it.

i’m such a detail-oriented person (really, that is an understatement) and it bothers me when they didn’t have the correct, current dose i am taking in the charts. it makes me wonder……

to complicate matters even further, i’m moving in september, just had a appt. with a surgeon, and i was debating on whether to go ahead and just get it out now—- well, now, i suppose that decision was made for me!

i was so focused on being hyper and giving myself a pat on the shoulder for getting into the "normal" ranges so quickly on the drugs that this overmed. thing completely blindsighted me…..

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in reply to: Confused on how GD effects me now ? #1069204

hopeful,
are you in the normal range with the synthroid? have the doctors found you your normal and optimum dose, the magic one that makes you feel great again? that is one of my biggest fears in going hypo, fighting to be normal again….not just in the labs…. keep us updated!

i love reading your updates and hope i can eventually make a decision and be at peace with it like you are,
A

i hate to use all these "normal" references because we know what normal is for us ……

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in reply to: the rai is working:-) #1070055

I love reading how everyone is doing. Please keep us updated. People on this forum share so many interesting, hopeful stories, and I’m not afraid to actually read an entire thread before closing my computer. I love reading where others have been because I’m there now. I can’t wait to be on the "other side" too.

Still deciding~
April

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in reply to: Total Thyroidectomy Scheduled 2/5/09 #1074006

Hello everyone. I, too, am contemplating a total thyroidectomy.

My story is a bit different, so here goes…

Diagnosed in mid-May and back in the States, I’ve been on PTU for 2 weeks and am leveled. I am feeling a lot better, less crying, but still have minor muscle aches and difficulty breathing deeply, probably related to my anxiety because my thyroid is not enlarged.

Today I went to my endo where I was actually able to concentrate, not cry, and mostly understand what she was telling me about my lab work. This past week I also had a dream as I slept, which caused me to have a bounce in my step the next morning. Yeah! ” title=”Very Happy” />

She told me to decrease the meds after I discussed with her my treatment options. I am planning to meet with a surgeon in a few weeks and maybe decide then whether to actually have the surgery. In my case, I’m not too comfortable with the RAI option and I am more of a realist when it comes to the possibility of complete remission with ATDs. Plus, I want to get pregnant soon, get on with my life, etc, etc, etc, like we all do. In the mental/physical state I am currently in, I think that with stress-reducing techniques and exercise, correct supplements and a healthy diet, I could function almost to the point that I used too for some amount of time. I’m not positive that my mind would be as sharp, but I figure I could always change to a less demanding career/job. I think with the way I tend to handle stress, GD would eventually come back and bite me…and things could be way worse.

My biggest hesitation is going hypo before/if I don’t have to. I have a type-A personality, so my need to control things is obviously a problem. My endo, who did not push surgery on me, told me that after the surgery I’m cured from GD. Is that really true? If that’s true, why —with the low risks of surgery with an experienced surgeon –do people opt for RAI ? Obviously, the quicker recovery that surgery offers is very appealing to me. I’m at a crossroads, like we all have been or will be, and this really sucks. I tended to make good decisions in my former life–in other areas of my life, and now, it is so hard. I realize that I will have to be at peace with whatever decision I make, I just wanted to chime in.

Thanks for listening~~
A

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in reply to: Just found out today I have graves disease #1070015

Hi Skinny,
Welcome to this group. We all realize its not the group you wanted to join, but this place is great. It really is. I never was a online-group-joiner before but everyone here is so helpful. If you are wondering about something, read the archives to see if someone before you has asked the same thing.

I’m new too, well only by 1.5 months, but I’ve found it necessary to buy some GD books as you will want to be an informed as you can be. Go to amazon.com or your local book store and read up. Be informed, know the questions you want to ask BEFORE you go into your appts. The endo’s time is limited and you may be too emotional to remember them. Take a small notebook or list of typed questions that you have as you read. I’ve started journaling too, so I can remember how I feel/felt on a certain day. These kind of things have helped me learned to understand my journey.

Do what you can each day. Do things that you want to do and lower your "to-do" list. Manage stress in different ways.

I’m praying we all reach the other side and are normal again.

LOVELOVE,
A

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in reply to: Medicine before surgery #1070122

thanks ladies, Ski and Alice.

I’ve enjoyed the back and forth with this question. I do want to regulated, be safe and healthy, and have the most optimal situation prior to pregnancy. My husband and I are relocating and will be living together again ( I’m here in the States) and so I have the time to get treated, research more about permanent treatments before I do anything. It is such a personal decision, just beginning with the treatment. As far as I am aware, there are no complications in my labs that will cause me to choose one treatment over the next. Like everyone else, I just want to come out on the other side as normal as I can be.

I do need to know where I can pick up my medal though.

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in reply to: So nervous – how will I cope? #1070068

M~~
Keep us updated on your progress. I can see how your anxiety is affecting you. I think we all have heightened anxiety with this condition.

Take care, be strong and confident, and remember you are in my prayers.

love from tx,
A

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in reply to: Hyper / Exercise / Joint Pain ? #1070159

hello, can someone recommend exercises that are safe to do while in the beginning stages of ATD treatment? i wanted to take water aerobics at the local health club, but I wasn’t sure if that was okay. My endo said that I can walk when it is cool in the morning, but because of insomnia, i don’t get up very early.

i was also thinking of restarting my pilates exercises indoors.

also, it is likely (in the distant future) that i will be able to go to the gym again to lift weights and do cardio?

thanks,
april

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in reply to: Medicine before surgery #1070117

Alice,
how was your pregnancy? Healthy baby?

just wondering as I’m recently diagnosed (1.5 months) and my OBGYN said that he would monitor/mange me if I got pregnant…(in the plan this year before diagnosis) and that adjustments with PTU will happen but it is not a reason to delay pregnancy. (He reviewed all my labs too.)

then, my second endo told me that i shouldn’t get pregnant until I have the RAI or surgery and get regulated. she also told me that no OB would want to handle a patient with GD as it is a high risk pregnancy.

Obviously, i’m not going to go out and get pregnant and endanger my health, but I am wondering who to believe. I have another appt. with another OBGYN this month (a different one) and I’ll ask her….. and my thyroid books say that pregnancy is handled differently with women who have GD, but that PTU is "safe."

anyone’s thoughts?

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in reply to: the rai is working:-) #1070039

hopeful, I’m so happy for you. I pray your recovery continues to uneventful (as far as symptoms go) and that RAI completely works for you. I’ve just started taking PTU, so I don’t know if it’s working yet.

I know my endo is pushing RAI, but I kinda want to see how I progress before I kill it off. I’m also unsure about RAI because of what I’ve read about how people feel afterward.

Keep us updated!

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