Graves' disease - Thyroid eye disease

[Afal]

My wife has been diagnosed with Graves' disease and we are worried about thyroid eye. Which is the best treatment to prevent or limit your chances of thyroid eye disease or bulging eyes. What causes this to happen? Any help that anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated

[Regliv14]

I have just been diagnosed with Graves and have been diagonesed since January that I have hyperthyroidism and my eyes haven't changed at all. She may not get the eye bulging. But what causes it is the tissue around the eyes start to inflame. I'm not for sure if they can help prevent it or anything but if it helps the bulging of the eyes is usually one of the first symptoms you have with the Graves' disease.

[tgirlnc]

I have graves and my TED was activated by over medication. MONITOR HER MEDS AND LEVELS CAREFULLY! I cannot emphasize that enough. My dr was dosing me too high in the beginning and it triggered my TED. The best way to keep TED at bay in the beginning is having your meds on target. She wants to make sure she gets her Free T4, Free T3 and TSH drawn every 6 weeks. Then she needs to be dosed so that her Free T4 is in the top range of normal...not just normal, but TOP of normal...don't let it fall below mid. If she dips below midpoint for to long or too far...she may get other symptoms including eye issues. Also, my eyes are the first to get bad when I am not treating my body kindly. Mine can swell and deflate within hours..which doctors are quick to say "that's unheard of!" (eye roll)...when I eat things that are causing inflammation to my system, my eyes get bad. So, with that- your wife needs to address her system and remove all things that can cause inflammation (gluten, sugar, processed foods, harsh chemicals, soaps etc). I know it doesn't sound fun, but it helps immensely with the disease and quality of life...I wish I had known it sooner. Also, she needs to be taking supplements. Selenium helps a great deal for thyroid and autoimmune (but she needs the cofactors as well- Copper and zinc). Also acetyl l carnitine helps with Graves and lemon balm. She also needs to take high-quality Vitamin C (high dose) and Vitamin D (with K).

[redeyes2]

Hello,

I too have Graves disease with Graves Ophthalmology. I took mega doses of Vit D and selenium at 200mg daily and improved my glutathione to fight against inflammation. I was a trainer at the gym so was working out faithfully and watched what I ate to keep my weight in normal range. My eyes hurt and look bloodshot and swollen all the time. My eyelid on one eye doesn't close all the way and my eyeballs are protruding. My Graves disease has not been active for more than a year it looks like remission in the bloodwork. My specialist in Graves opth says he sees this a lot.

I only took 10 g of methimazole for a week and they hurt my gut. Was off a month when endo found out and he tested me I had not gotten any worse so he dropped me down to 5 mg and made me get tested after 2 weeks. From then on, I never showed specifically Graves or Thyroid disease in my bloodwork. However, my bloodwork did still show high titers for auto-immune disease, so we know it is still there lurking beneath the surface of my eyeballs.

I am scheduled to start repairs on eyes, next month. It will be great if they can eliminate the pain. I am in USA, so I am really hoping they do not take away coverage for pre-existing conditions. Heaven help us all.

[redeyes2]

Afal: Just wondering how your wife is doing with Graves Disease, now that it has been a year, I am hoping she is in remission. Best wishes.