My fight and my encouragement

[Niraf21]

Had this tattoo done to show my fight against graves . It keeps me going despite the ups and downs . Today was a bad day for me . I was diagnosed last year March with graves and I had the radiation iodine treatment. Now on the hermone replacement therapy and it's a up hill battle

[pennyannie]

Hello Niraf and welcome to the forum :

Can I just suggest, going forward, that you write your posts on the Thyroid UK forum.

In fact, Graves sufferers whether just diagnosed, in treatment with AT drugs, , or post treatment and hypothyroid are more likely to see your post over there.

Can you please give us a bit more information as to what thyroid hormone replacement and dose you are taking and do you have any T3 and T4 blood test results and ranges that we can explain to you.

Primary hypothyroidism caused by RAI thyroid ablation is said to be more difficult to treat.

I think this is because the RAI slowly burns out the thyroid is situ and the dose that accurate and the consequences with no definitive time line, but ultimately you will end up hypothyroid and needing full spectrum thyroid hormone replacement.

If prescribed T4 this hormone is inert and needs to be converted by your body into T3 the active hormone that runs the body which is said to be around 4 times more powerful than T4.

Your own ability to convert the T4 into T3 can be compromised by low levels of ferritin, folate, B12 and vitamin D so these should also be tested, monitored and supplemented to optimal levels for optimal health.

RAI is known to trash vitamins and minerals so these do need to be tested as well as your thyroid hormones.

It is imperative that you are dosed and monitored on your Free T3 and Free T4 blood test results and not your TSH as your feedback loop is now broken and the TSH means didily squat looked at in isolation.

We generally feel at our best when our T3 and T4 are in the top quadrants of their ranges at around a 1/4 ratio - T3/T4:

If you don't know of the Elaine Moore Graves Disease Foundation website you might like to dip in. Elaine went through RAI around 20 odd years ago and finding no help with her continued ill health started researching this poorly understood and badly treated auto immune disease herself and now a leading authority on all things Graves and with a World wide following.

I too have Graves and went through RAI in 2005 and now manage lingering Graves. thyroid eye disease and hypothyroidism and now self medicate with full spectrum thyroid hormone replacement and continue to supplement my key vitamins and minerals.

I found this forum around 6 years ago and started my learning curve, and am now much improved and now come back on to help other people find a way through, back to better health and well being.

You might like to also join the Thyroid UK website as it is this charity who supports this forum and work tirelessly to improve understanding and better health for all things thyroid.

thyroiduk.org

elaine-moore.com

[Niraf21 in reply to pennyannie]

Wow thank you for this . I will definitely get all the info to you . And will join above mentioned

[TaraJR in reply to Niraf21]

I can't recommend Thyroid UK Health Unlocked forum highly enough!

It's given many of us our lives back. Drs don't know as much as the admins and many members on there.

healthunlocked.com/thyroiduk