Overactive Thyroid Graves Part 4

Hi Sue23. Welcome to the forum.

I have had Graves for many years togther with TED. However a couple of years ago it decided to flare up and I was really ill. I was on B & R, but the endo said it was time to look to a more permanent solution and I settled for the RAI. I was put on a low dose of oral steroids for two weeks before the RAI and for two weeks after. I also saw an ophthalmologist who specialises in TED to make sure it was safe to go ahead with the RAI.

He also discussed options regarding surgery for my droopy eyelids, but I decided to leave them alone, for the moment anyway.

I've been fine following the RAI, I just take 50 mcgs of Thyroxine every morning, and my blood results have been ok. My eyes don't bulge as much as they did before, but they still get sore and dry and I still use artificial tears as I have done for years. I am very light sensitive, and I think that it has got worse since the RAI.

I hope this helps a little, and whatever treatment you decide to go for helps.

Let us know how you get on.

Marigoldxxx

Hi Marigold, it's great to hear that RAI with steriod protection worked for you. I have been advised there is no guarantee that steroids will protect my eyes from getting worse should we choose RAI rather than surgery. However my consultant says he's had great results with patients worse than myself. I can live with the light sensitivity and the eye drops - it's the bulging and fatty deposits around the eye sockets that depresses me, so it's encouraging to hear that your bulging reduced - thanks.

Will let you know the outcome of my visits to ophthalmology & endo next week.

Sue

Happy New year to everyone

lets hope this year is a better one for everyone.

ive got the date for my RAI on the 24th jan ,im ready to get it over and done with as ive had this for 18 months now .

i hope you all had a lovely xmas , will try to catch up on posts xx

Hi everyone HAPPY NEW YEAR. I do hope you all do well healthwise in 2013.I am a bit behind with your postings and have been wondering how you all are doing.Good I hope.Good luck Debs with your RAI It is brilliant and was for me a miracle.I still feel well and am on 100mgs thyroxine and it seems to be ok for me.Xmas was really busy so I dont know if I am naturally tired or I need an increase but I will wait and see when things settle down.Good luck everyone with whatever treatment you are on and keep well. :D :D :D

Happy New Year Everyone. Hope 2013 brings us all good health and happiness.

Not been on for a while couldn't remember my password!

Had a great Christmas we went away for a week to Wales very relaxing. I'm feeling very well at the moment and positive for the new year.

Anyway now I've reset the password will be back on soon.

Take care all,

Kat xxxx

Happy new year to everyone ,hope its a good one for all of us health wise .

Marigold and Bess how are you and your familys ?

Thinking of everyone and wish you a healthy 2013

and of course i have my birthday today so tired now after

a hetic day ,feeling much better even though i have a cold

and bad chest again .

love to you all xx

sue xx

hello everyone

Happy belated birthday Sue ,hope you had a lovely time , hope your feeling better

Thank you Alice in wonderland, glad your s went well, i worry about everything and get myself worked up over it, i cancelled it in sept so i have to have it done this time, have to stop my carbimazole next week but they have said i can go back on them a week after rai .

im due to go to the dentist today and even getting worked up over that

take care everyone , Deb xx

Hi everyone ,hope you are all well .debs ty for the birthday wishes ,had a lovely day ,one of my daughters

took me out for a meal which was nice .My cold has gone and still feeling much better than i have done .

Good luck with the RAI ,i was as worried as you ,Marigold and Bess were a god send at the time and helped mr through it ,and now i i wonder what i was worried about. good luck with the dentist today .

I stopped taking the jarrows b12 for a few days and the pain and pressure in my ears and head head was awful ,i thought if i still feel like this i wont be going to spain next week so today i have took 4 tablets and the pressure and pain is reducing so it must be something to do with it ,i also feel as if my thyroxine works better too.My GP has told me to tell my endo but my appointment isnt till march ,so when

i come back from spain i will see if i can bring my app forward .

Marigold how are you and the family ,hows the grandchildren.

bess how are you hun too.

I cant get going this morning all that packing to do, waiting for the b12 to give me some energy 8)

and help with the confusion in my head so just going to start on my holiday clothes

thinking of you all

love sue xx

Happy and healthy new year to you all.

Happy belated birthday Sue, I hope you had a lovely day and that your cold has gone.

I saw my new Endo in December who ran a whole battery of tests including having to collect my urine for 24 hours.... not done that since I was pregnant with the girls back in the 1980’s. Anyway I go back to see him in March, but he sent me a letter and one to my GP saying that I needed to go on Thyroxin which I started yesterday, so now I will just have to wait and see if I feel any better.

It was good that someone would listen to me when I told them that I didn’t feel well. It’s taken 18 months to get to this point.

Christmas was very quiet for us we should have flown out to Egypt but trust me I came down with the Norovirus at Gatwick Airport, it was not very pleasant and I still didn’t feel great on Christmas Eve. We should get all our money back through our insurance.

My daughter is doing very well after the removal of her Gall Bladder and now that she is also on Thyroxin. This was only found out during one of her normal blood test to check her liver function. She has so much more energy and looks like the daughter I know of old and she is able to run around after her children now.

Debs I hate going to the dentist as well, like you I get myself all worked up. Good luck with the RAI and I will be thinking of you.

Take care everyone and keep well

Maria xxx

Oh Maria i am so sorry you missed your holiday ,what a devil getting that novo virus ,i am also happy to hear about your daughter ,it must be great for you seeing a big difference in her ,one of my daughters is having hers out in february and soon after that my other daughter is having 3 metal discs put in her neck

but she hasnt got her date yet ,she is in constant pain and also has hashimotos .thankyou for the birthday wishes and happy new year to you too ,hope the thyroxine starts to work quick for you.

take care

love sue xx

hi all, it's now been just under 6 months since I had the RAI treatment, at first all went well but then things seemed to slow down to a crawl. How the specialist tells me that my blood readings have levelled off int he normal range. It seems that the RAI hasn't completely killed off my thyroid but has brought it back to normal activity, not sure myself how that works but if it means I get away with not having to take meds for the rest of my life Im a happy bunny. I was diagnosed with graves and a benign tumour both of which was the cause of my over active thyroid a year ago, luckily the only lingering drawback is the weigh gain but to date I have managed to loose a stone and half so only another stone to go. Im still on monthly blood tests to keep and eye on the levels but so far so good, so there is light at the end of the tunnel.

siobhan

Hello everyone

i hope your feeling better for your holiday sue and have a lovely time

Maria how horrible that you missed your holiday ,will you be rebooking when your feeling better ? i was planning a couple of days away at the end of this week for my birthday but now with the snow thats been forecast i dont think im going to bother

Siobhan what great news , i hope it continues for you and you dont need any more tablets, i hope and prey thats how mine goes

i worried all day last week about the dentist and when i got there i had got the wrong time it was 4 hours earlier so going tues and thurs this week coming so will worry all over again

take care everyone and wrap up in the horrible weather ,Deb xx

Hi all happy new year to everyone and hope you all had a good Xmas ..

I had my bloods done last week and TSH is 9.1 with FT4 15.2. I was feeling alot more tired so they have increased my thyroxine to 50mcg from 25.

Has anyone experienced any side affects when taking more thyroxine ? Feeling abit edgy since my increase

Take care

Hi Gang.

It sounds like everyone is not doing too badly.

Hi Sue. I hope you've got over your cold and you enjoy your holiday. We had a lovely Christmas with our family. Lots of new toys to play with. How are your grandchildren?

Take care.

Hi Alice. Pleased you're feeling well. I was tired after Christmas too. I'm fine just jogging along from day to day, but if there's extra to do it really knocks me out.

Kat, I'm pleased you're doing well and enjoyed your week in Wales.

Debs, Good luck with the RAI, there's nothing to worry about. I still get worked up about things, it's just part of this silly illness.

Hi Marie. I hope the thyroxine helps. Sorry about your holiday. It would have been even worse if you'd actually got on the plane with the norovirus. I'm glad your daughter is feeling better.

Hi Siobhan. Lucky you not having to take thyroxine and well done with your weight loss.

Hi Barry. I haven't had my thyroxine increased. I started with 100 mcgs and it was reduced gradually to 50. I can see how it might make you feel a bit edgy though when you increase it. Maybe it would be a good idea not to wait too long before you have your bloods checked again just to make sure you're on the right track. I have mine checked again in April, it'll be a year since they were last checked. I feel fine though apart from tiring more easily, but that could be down to old age. :D Take care.

Are you ok Bess. Have you had any more auras? I had one a few weeks ago, don't know what set it off.

Thinking of everyone else.

Marigold

xxxx

Hello all, I haven 't been on here for a while. Have had all sorts of worrying family stuff going on, a marriage break up in the family, health worries etc. and consequently I've had a lot of migraine auras. I suppose its the stress. You're right Marigold, sometimes its hard to pin it down. I try to eat right so I suppose its just caused by anxiety. It means I have not used the computer much as my eyes are so light sensitive and I think the computer can set things off. You sound ok Marigold, I'm pleased about that but I assume you are still overthinking everything at night just like me, lol ! Was up drinking tea at 2 am, and of course having a go at the biscuits !

Sue, I hope you have a lovely holiday hun. I bet you are glad to get away. Perhaps you will feel better with the change in your medication, I think GPs dont take enough notice of the side effects of medication sometimes.

Barry, good to hear from you, I hope you dont have migraine aura at the moment. I would imagine its usual to feel a bit edgy when your medication is increased, just till your body gets used to the change. Not nice though.

Kat, Debs, Maria and all, hope you are ok and not snowed in. I long for some warm sunshine, roll on Spring !

Hope Dave and Elaine and all others on here are ok, keep smiling.

love,

Bess x x x