Amanda Evans - 07/10/98 20:19:08
My Email:glamazon@garlic.com
Where are you from?: Bakersfield, CA
How did you find these pages?: Yahoo Health-Thyroid
Are you a regular visitor here?: no
Do you have Graves' Disease or related?: Hypothyroid

Comments:
3 years of Doctors- finally to see an Endocrineologist!!!(Next week) Unexplained weight gain- hair brittle & falling out- fingernails breaking- 34 years old- wonderful husband, terrific kid(11), 3 cats & a dog-all adored- all in all a GREAT LIFE- SO WHY DO I FEEL LIKE DYING?? Your story has made me feel a whole lot better... I go in for a needle aspiration biopsy on a nodule found LAST MONTH (Damn the H.M.O.'s!) Now I feel like I am not alone. Thanks- Amanda

LaRee - 07/10/98 17:49:27
My Email:LeSueurL@calguard.ca.gov
Where are you from?: Sacramento, CA
How did you find these pages?: Yahoo Search
Are you a regular visitor here?: First Time
Do you have Graves' Disease or related?: Yes

Comments:
I never was stressed; I never had mood swings; I never had diarhea; so far so good. I started having hot flashes; got tired real fast; fell asleep anytime, anywhere; had night sweats; my eyes would water up constantly, feel like I had sand in them and had double vision; had to have large glasses of ice with me at all times; couldn't stand for more than a couple of minutes; was eating anything and everything in sight and losing weight like crazy. The weight loss was great and in my mind there just couldn't be anything wrong with me. Lack of a lot of physical activity didn't bother me because I had never really been a person into exercise or such (only when I had to do it). I managed to function everyday although I was really tired, but I just credited that with my having to get up early for work (I didn't take into consideration that I fell asleep as soon as I got home and slept for a couple of hours plus my regular sleep time). My periods became irratic - so I diagnosed myself!!! I was going through menopause. I wasn't going to take hormones or such, I was going to go through the change and live to tell about it. This was fine until I had to take a PT test (I was in the military) and I couldn't do even one sit-up. Now I was a little concerned so figured that maybe menopause was causing me to lose muscle or something, so I went to a Gyn. While being examined he asked all kinds of questions and immediately told me that I hadn't started menopause - he thought I had a thyroid condition and possibly Graves Disease. He sent me for a blood test and in less than three days he called and said it was my thyroid and he then sent me to a doctor I only seen once - he had me do some knee-bends and some other things and flat said I had Graves. Off I went to the endrocrinologist (sp?). I was given three options: leave the thyroid gland alone and treat with meds only; take radiated iodine; surgery (this he didn't recommend; he said that was only done in drastic cases). I opted for the iodine. That was funny the day I took that. I went in to his office and he had this little metal (looked like steel) bottle and he had some type of heavy protective gloves on. He shook that little tablet out in his hand and had me take it. I asked why he had to be protected with gloves and I didn't. (Never did get an answer to that one). Went home and stayed away from everyone as instructed. Started to feel better (except for my eyes) and went back to work. My eyes continued to water and feel gritty so off I go to the opthamologist. It appears that I would go under the "knife" and have decompression surgery on my eyes. Came through like a champ and actually amazed my doctor because I had no bruising at all (he had warned me that my face would be black and blue). Needless to say, over time my eyes now feel fine, but I do have some double vision. They wanted to try prizims (sp?) in my glasses, but I said I can't afford to be playing around trying out prizims - I discovered that just cheap old reading glasses from the drug store work fine for me. My opthamologist said if they work fine. I am now at the time in my life when I get my eyes checked once a year and as far as my thyroid medication goes the dosage changes everytime. I just don't think the docs know what they are doing as far as that goes. I was put on prednisone (sp?) for my eye problem and I just blossomed (if you know what I mean). The doc said I'd take the weight off when I stopped taking the prednisone - well, two years later and I still have the weight. I'll never take that stuff again. Today I am overweight, have one eye that is "catywhompus," the skin on my face is dry and I look like hell, but for the most part I'm pretty much "healed up and haired over" LOL. I'm glad that this board is here and wish I had found it back when I first got diagnosed. There was absolutely no info out there and what info I got from the doctors just sounded like gibberish to me so pretty much have gone through this in the dark.

Helen Garcia - 07/10/98 16:59:42
My Email:hgarcia@andpak.com
Where are you from?: San Jose, Calif.
How did you find these pages?: Surfing the net!
Are you a regular visitor here?: Yes
Do you have Graves' Disease or related?: Yes

Comments:
Thank You for giving a good site for people to visit and realized that there are other people out there feeling the same. I am getting alot of information and pass it along to my mother who is trying to understand what I am going through. I got this from my father side of the family one of my aunts has it and they don't take about it at all so when I was told I have this I just could'nt figure it out until my mother said that one of my aunt said it once that she had it but she niver talk about it. So now I am dealing with it and I have had my boys check to see if they have but no so that is good! Well I just wanted to thank you.

carol - 07/09/98 19:20:12
My Email:cbeers @yahoo
Where are you from?: san diego
How did you find these pages?: search
Do you have Graves' Disease or related?: yes

Comments:
In reading your story you tell about your moods and what you T3 T4 and TSH results were -- then how wonderful you feel --- what did the doctors do for you --or are you feeling better because you know what you have??

BARBARA STEWART - 07/08/98 23:25:34
My Email:muffe@nexicom.net
Where are you from?: PETERBOROUGH,ONTARIO CANADA
How did you find these pages?: SURFING THE NET
Are you a regular visitor here?: NO BUT WILL BE NOW
Do you have Graves' Disease or related?: YES i HAVE THE DAMN DISEASE

Comments:
LOVE YOUR WEB PAGE I HAVE SPENT ABOUT 4-HOURS HERE AND ENJOYED IT ALOT.THANK-YOU IT TOOK THEM 7-8 YEARS TO DIAGNOSE MY THYROID PROBLEM,BASTARDS IS ALL I'VE GOT TO SAY JUST BECAUSE OF HOW SICK AND FOR THE LENGHT OF TIME I WAS SO SICK MAKES ME SICK FOR SURE I JUST HATE ALL THOSE DOCTORS I SAW FOR ALL THOSE YRS,AND NOT TO MENTION I FINALLY HAD THEM COME TO MY HOME EVEN TO TAKE BLOOD FROM ME AS I WAS JUST TOTOTO SICK TO GET MYSELF THERE AND MY AGE TO HAVE TO BE BATHED BY SOMEONE MY OWN AGE AND TO USE A BEDPAN aLL THOSE YRS AND NOT TO MENTION THE SPECIAL FAMILY TIME I MISSED OUT ON WHILE MY BABIES WERE GROWING UP AND I WAS TOO TOO SICK TO GET OUT OF BED LITTLE-OWN GET DRESSED,I 'M SORRY I DON'T MEAN TO DUMP ON YOU,GUESS THERE'S STILL SOME ANGER THERE EH.HAHA LITTLE WARRIOR BARB

Nancy - 07/06/98 01:39:26
My Email:topaz1@bellsouth.net
Where are you from?: FL
How did you find these pages?: search
Are you a regular visitor here?: no
Do you have Graves' Disease or related?: Hyperthyrodism

Comments:
In 1978 I had a beautiful 14 month old daughter. I started to lose weight and never gave it a thought. I had lost 50 lbs in one month,was having severe diaria when I decided to go to the Dr.. A county dr. at the time. When I walked in he fall out. He ran and got his medical journals and told me to go home and pack and bag and go to the closest large hospital, that he would call me there. At the emergency room the dr. on call told me to go home. I had a heart rate of 180 and even to me and from what my physician had told me I knew he was wrong, so I put my foot down and told him to get me a specialist. I was lucky enough to get Dr. Biedleman (he developed the throid blood test) Dr. B told them to admit me at once. By the time I got to my room I was told my GP had called and left word that I was pregnant. Now this really put a cramp in the testing. Dr. B told us we needed to terminate the pregnancy that the baby would not make it with all the meds he would be putting me on. We said NO. None of the nurses knew that the thyroid did, I would cry when I should laugh, I would flip out for no reason. (They were forced to put me in a private room)I spent 5 days in the hospital, where they pushed milkshakes at me 4 times a day, trying to get my weight up. When I left I was on 40 pills a day. My OB and Dr. B stayed in contact with each other. I had to see both every 2 wks for the whole pregnancy. And yes, I now have a 20 yo son. The pregnancy was hard on me, but just as hard on my husband. Since he never knew who would be greeting him when he came home. I remember one day I got upset, so I beat a wooden kitchen chair to pulp on the floor. When I told my OB about doing that he said "When you feel like doing that again call me and I will bring you another chair". When my son was born (1 month early) they gave me the iodine. I have been on meds every since. I am now 51 and the dr. last year upped my synthroid and now I am not able to concentrate. I realize this more at work then at home. I feel like I am losing it again. The paranoia is back and the dark thoughts. Not to mention 20 years of colitis, which started with the thyroid and the left eye lid not going back to normal and needing surgery. The dry skin is being treated by a dermatologist. If anyone has suggestions on this please email me.

Jane - 07/05/98 00:41:59
My URL:http://www.snipesjobscareers.com
My Email:snipes@concordnc.com
Where are you from?: North Carolina
How did you find these pages?: Yahoo diseases
Are you a regular visitor here?: no
Do you have Graves' Disease or related?: oh yes

Comments:
Your site is great...I wish I'd heard of graves diasease a year ago. I surfed the net for thyroid disorders and found zip. Since hindsight is 20/20, I've had a thyroid disorder since I was a child (and I thought those dizzy zingers/room spinners were really cool!) but the real problems didn't surface until 1995 during a pregnancy. Even though my mother, grandmother and great aunt have thyroid problems I never thought to tell anyone about the hand-shaking, sweats, nausea, and dizziness...duh! The graves caused a miscarriage and the symptoms seemed to go away for a year or so. Then in Nov 1996 I quit eating meat and within 3 months all hell broke loose. According to one school of thought, people with type "O" blood must have meat in their diet and when I cut out meat (the intitial weight loss was great) my entire system went haywire. It was my obgyn who diagnosed a thyroid problem. He referred me to an internist who insisted that oblation was the only way and that it was a "best guess" procedure. Well I searched out a naturo-pathic physician and with herbs and vitamins I felt normal for the first time in months. Well, I stopped taking the "stuff" after 3 months and by January of 98 I was a mess. My whole system was shutting down and I felt I was losing my mind. My T4 was 25 with tsh immeasurable and I had the usual symptoms; dizziness, nervousness, shaking hands, nausea, fatigue, weight loss, constant hunger I was probably consuming 4000-5000 calories a day and losing weight), buggy eyes, poor skin, racing heart, and the ever-present feeling of living in a fog. I, too, have a driver's license that shows my lovely goiter and bugging eyes. I finally went to a new endocrinologist who talked me though all my options. He put me on PTU plus an entire array of pills to help me feel normal for the duration. I had oblation one Wednesday in March and by Friday I thought I was going to die. That night a friend brought me some New Vision supplements. I started taking them Saturday morning and by Monday afternoon I felt better than I had in years. I could finally run up and down the stairs two at a time without passing out at the top. I felt stress-free and well. healthy My road to recovery has included not only a really good endocrinologist but a naturopathic physician who does muscle testing/clinical kinesiology. I'm on synthroid (125mg) daily PLUS I take a fruit supplement, a vegetable supplement, yellow dock (for my skin...it really is working), candida enzyme (for the first time in years I can finally think straight), B complex for energy, and colloidal minerals.. What's my life like now...I get up at 5am and garden all day, or I paint an entire room and have energy left over to throw a party. I can think clearly and don't live in a fog anymore. My patience is back and my skin looks young again. My neck is normal and my eyes have gone back in. Oblation works but it if wasn't for the supplements I would be dragging. Tell your visitors to run (not walk) to the nearest health food store (a real one, not GNC) for fruit and vegetable supplements and colloidal minerals. Good luck and thanks for listening. Jane

ckym - 07/04/98 18:20:11
My Email:ckym@wichita.infi.net
Where are you from?: wichita.ks
How did you find these pages?: yahoo thyroid
Are you a regular visitor here?: no
Do you have Graves' Disease or related?: yes

Comments:
I found out I had Graves Disease when I was 27yrs. old. But only after I had a heart attack caused by my disease. I had surgery when I was 28, and had part of my thyroid removed. I've had eye problems where I've lost some of my vision but I got it back. Now I have double vision. I'm checked every six months and so far I'm fine. but I do get sick whenever I am under a great deal of stress. my grandmother also had Graves disease.

Vicky Otto - 07/02/98 13:02:53
My Email:VRO44722@GalxoWellcome.com
Where are you from?: Meta search
Are you a regular visitor here?: First time
Do you have Graves' Disease or related?: No

Comments:
My niece has just been diagnosed with graves disease and I was needing some more information for my sister.

valerie alexander - 07/02/98 01:49:56
My URL:http://www.valexand@yahoo.com
My Email:valexand@yahoo.com
Where are you from?: winston-salem, nc
How did you find these pages?: surfing for info on grave's disease
Are you a regular visitor here?: no
Do you have Graves' Disease or related?: find out soon

Comments:
my endocrinologist is concerned i may have grave's so i have a nuclear med scan 7/6/98 and i'm a little scared. especially since i am a radiation therapist and my life's work is treating cancer patients. when this all started, i starting treating 5 patients with thyroid cancers the same week i found the lump in my neck. talk about scared!!!! so, i'm riding it out-i'm lucky that my doctors have been on the ball and really searched to find answers for me and i have such wonderful medical aid at my fingertips since i work in a teaching hospital. good luck to you in your struggles.