Sherri Camarillo - 07/20/98 22:04:19
My Email:sbcam1@ix.netcom.com
Where are you from?: Beaverton, Oregon
How did you find these pages?: surfing the net on thyroid
Are you a regular visitor here?: No, but plan to be.
Do you have Graves' Disease or related?: Graves (hyper)
Any new links I should add?: no

Comments:
Hi there. I was just diagnosed with Graves last week, and have the radioiodine therapy this coming Thursday. I am hoping that this procedure will work for me. I have read may horror stories and am scared to death of what the future holds for me regard ng this god-awful disease. I have a very supportive husband and many concerned family members and friends. My doctor has not mentioned any medication for me,after this therapy on Thursday. Any information, advice or feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, and God bless all of you who live with this disease!

Patty Collins aka ShAmRoCk - 07/20/98 08:32:13
My Email:ImShAmRoCk@MCI2000.com
Where are you from?: Long Beach, California
How did you find these pages?: By chance and glad I did
Are you a regular visitor here?: First time but will be back
Do you have Graves' Disease or related?: Yes discovered Dec 94
Any new links I should add?: Not at this time but looking

Comments:
Sue,,,,,Kudo's for this wonderful site of yours. To tell you the story I would need the entire guest book,,so with seeing this I may also, make a site for Graves..and would like your permission to link to yours... I was found to have Graves by accident...Saw my Orthopedic Dr. had knee surgery and was t ere for a checkup. He saw my uncontrolable legs shake like crazy.. That was the start and like you,found to have Thryoid levels totally out of whack/ They at first asked me if I was diabetic.The shaking had been going on and I noticed it was terrible if I was upset, mad or stressed. Odd thing is on my Mother's side of the family ALL the women , were Heavy women all with HypoThyroidism... All the diets I tried, I wanted to lose weight....This is the diet that you dont' have to diet. Wanna lose 40-50 lbs? J st get Graves..Would you like your hair thinned? Get graves,, Want to sag, droop and look like you have aged 20 yrs in 1....get Graves....I'm so depressed,,,just from how I look now I dont' go anywhere but to work and the store. I'm toooo embarassed...My eart rate has been up to 210 beats per min normal range is 60-80 , and usually idles at 150 plus even at rest. It's a disease that controls everything from head to toe, as Harmones, are throughout your body, so seems nothing is spared..WHere's those Firm legs I had? now they wiggle...as it causes also muscle mass loss. .I'm as blind as a bat now and have bi=focals,,,I could read Thomas guide street maps, the smallest name with the bare eye, with only One interior light on, when this was first found out. have a big screen and without them .images are blurred and it's only a few feet away..The thyroid ,as I know you know but some may not, is a small ButterFly shaped Gland that sits in the front of your neck..Mine has progressed to where the lobes of it ar now felt on the sides of my neck. even with my earlobes...It also causes thickening,for some who -knows reason, of the lower legs .. Not sure if You have this also Sue...but mylegs are a mess trying to remove the hair where it has been trapped by thicke ing skin over the pores...And people wonder why the depression >sigh< and those that think this is all a bunch of bologna,,,,Just hope you don't develop it....I wouldnt'wish it on anyone.It's so nice to look in the mirror and see one eye that looks like ou've seen a ghost and the other eye normal. The regular one finally caught up with the enlarged one so I dont' look lop-sided so much anymore..And the droopy eyelids. and the thin hair , that thank goodness I had real thick hair when this started escal ting. Well I could go on and on and on....Sue thank you for telling your story...It was like reading about myself in alot of instances...I too was suicidal and didnt' know it, back in 91 Who knows how long this had been lurking in the shadows till diso ered Patty /Aka ShAmRoCk

Jerry Rogers - 07/20/98 02:44:18
My Email:w8lr@siscom.net
Where are you from?: Middletown, Ohio
How did you find these pages?: yahoo search
Are you a regular visitor here?: first time
Do you have Graves' Disease or related?: YES Diagnosed 1997

Comments:
I am a male age 41 who I guess is in the odds of NOT getting GRAVES as it seems to be a "womans" condition for the most part...... I have had radiation therapy to kill the thyroid and yet it still seems to be somewhat active even after a pretty good dose of radiation nearly over a year ago. The condition was "found" after going into atrial fibrillation following knee surgery. Since the radiation therapy I now have developed unifocal pvc(s) which after heart tests, no blockages or artery trouble found, makes me wonder if yet the thyroid is playing havoc with my heart... oh well time will tell GOOD LUCK! Jerry Rogers w8lr@siscom.net

Janet - 07/19/98 23:57:44
My Email:smathes@ruraltel.net
Where are you from?: Kansas
How did you find these pages?: searching Graves D.
Are you a regular visitor here?: I plan to be now.
Do you have Graves' Disease or related?: Yes

Comments:
Oct. 1996 I thought I was losing my mind. My hands shook, night sweats, hot all of the time, weight loss (but I ate everything and still lost weight which I thought was a plus!), hair loss, emotional, fingernails wouldn't grow, eyes teared, couldn't slee . I went to the doctor and he tested me for Thyroid and was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism. I took a radiation pill to kill the Thyroid and am now on Synthroid. I am currently having trouble with my eyes bulging and vision blurring. I am looking for op ions to treat my eye problems. Thanks for making this site available. It has been the most informative of any of the sites I have found.

David Copeland - 07/19/98 23:33:15
Where are you from?: Vermont
How did you find these pages?: Graves disease
Are you a regular visitor here?: no
Do you have Graves' Disease or related?: no - Friend has it

Comments:


janice daidone - 07/19/98 04:04:57
My Email:daidone@home
Where are you from?: newmarket,ontario.ca
How did you find these pages?: web search
Are you a regular visitor here?: new visitor
Do you have Graves' Disease or related?: yes

Comments:
I found your site very informative and reassuring. It is very helpful to communicate with other people with the same ailment. So I'm not crazy after all! Yes I have been diagnosed by a doctor and am currently using medication. I especially like that your site has medical info as well as personal stories and updated info. Your site is very well done and I will use it in the future. Thankyou. Janice

Wanda Gaddis - 07/18/98 05:27:47
My Email:wgadd@nstar.net
Where are you from?: Midwest City,OK
How did you find these pages?: researching grave's
Are you a regular visitor here?: just found it today
Do you have Graves' Disease or related?: yes,along with other things

Comments:
I have found this website very interesting,and i will be here often as i'm still taking treatments,for either Grave's disease or Plummer's disease.The radiologist that did the first thyroid scan told me it was Plummers and then my pcp sent to an endocrino ogist that says it's Grave's. This endocrinologist told my daughter and myself that if it was Grave's disease one radioiodine treatment would kill the thyroid but if it was Plummers it would probably take 2 or more to kill it. I had my first radioiodine reatment April,16th and the test were still about the same so i had another treatment on July,15th and started on the Tapazole also and yet the doctor still says it is Grave's so i am about ready to throw up my hands and start all over with new doctors c mpletely. Thanks for letting me vent for this has not been my year.

Steve - 07/18/98 03:26:58
My Email:sjra@juno.com
Where are you from?: Idaho
How did you find these pages?: yahoo
Are you a regular visitor here?: yes, it is very interesting
Do you have Graves' Disease or related?: yes

Comments:
Great site! I'm one of the fewer guys who get this. Everything is the same except that I didn't notice any depression, don't know about other guys(???) I was diagnosed first visit by my (female) GP. Got nuked (RAI) 2 months and 1 week ago. First month, still pounding heart, shakes, sweats. Second month, fe t GREAT! Strength returned, all back on-line! First week of third month, started dragging. Voice dropped, skin dried out, am very sleepy. Went for a TSH test, it was 59 (normal = 0.35 to 5). My body wants synthroid!!! GP started me at 0.100, after 4 days it seems like not enough... hope to improve. Have read about some people that prefer the Armour (natural = T4 + some T3) thyroid hormone instead of just the T4 (synthroid = exact T4 molecule). Could this be related to how our bodies convert T4 into the (active) T3? Does our T4 requirement depend on iet, fitness, activity, something else? If I find out, I'll post it. Sorry to use you as a BB! thanks again for the site!

Destiny - 07/16/98 06:31:42
My Email:lammy@wctc.net
Where are you from?: Wisconsin
How did you find these pages?: I was researching Graves' Disease.
Are you a regular visitor here?: Probably will be now!
Do you have Graves' Disease or related?: Yes, Graves' Disease.

Comments:
I just got diagnosed with Graves' Disease about three months ago. I'm nineteen years old, and haven't been feeling good for a long while. I feel enslaved by my freaking thyroid. I probably sound terrible to those of you who have suffered from this for twenty-seven years or better! I can really relate to a lot of your stories, however, and it is such a relief to know other people live with this ( not that I'd wish this on anybody ). I feel like every symptom I've ever had in my life somehow relates to this freaking disease! When I have to explain Graves' to friends and family, they look at me like " Oh, God, what'll they think of next? " It's nice to know some people treat this as a " real " disease. Even my endocrinologist tends to be dismissive to my concerns. So, thank you for this enlightening web page that doesn't just outline the cold technicalities of Graves', but uses real life stories to illustrate its effect on the sufferers! Bravo!

Lisa - 07/15/98 22:43:08
My Email:lohearn@gte.net
Where are you from?: Beverly, MA
How did you find these pages?: web search re: thyroid
Are you a regular visitor here?: ist time
Do you have Graves' Disease or related?: yes

Comments:
Nice to meet you. I'm so sorry some damn doctor over the past 20 odd years couldn't be bothered to test your thyroid levels. I was diagnosed 4/97 when I discovered a large lump in my throat. A great nurse practitioner at my dr.'s office started asking me lots of questions about my heartrate, appetite, etc. and decided a thyroid test should be done right then and there. It came back that I was hyper-thyroid, now taking 10 pills a day of PTU (methimazole worked better for me, but I broke out in hives taking it). I am seen by my regular doctor and an endocrinologist every 1 - 3 months to make sure my levels are okay. Sometimes, they're still off, but it's my own fault, I can never remember to take my meds. Now I realize I've probably been battling this to some degree for several years, as I've always been really forgetful and emotional. I'm happy you're finally being taken care of.