My first post .

[Topher0709]

A was diagnosed with graves and hyperthyroid of June this year am miserable and can't take it .A feel useless and my sons are suffering because a feel ill all the time.my doc told me because av got bad double vision that a cant drive or work .Does it get any better?.a just want to feel normal again and enjoy my boys as there only 4 and 6. My mum died in July as well and she was everything to me .Am so alone and lost .everyday feels like a struggle and am so tired all the time .doc put me on 20mg of carbimazole at the start and has told me to go down to 10mg now and a still feel rubbish .can a take any supplement that would help?.a was a smoker but stopped a month ago and feel that's helped ma eyes a bit but just can't cope with anything .PLEASE HELP ME .

[wobblybee]

Hi Topher!

Although I haven't had diagnosis of either of your conditions (I have been diagnosed with

Cerebellar Ataxia), I do know what it's like to have bad double vision. I know how

disorientated you must feel with this, and what a blight it is on your life.

Sometimes, it;s possible to control the double vision, you need to be referred to a

Hospital Eye Department. I've been through a long process with this, I had to notify

the DVLA about my condition anyway.

Good luck! xBeryl

[Hidden]

Hi Topher, I wish I could tell you exactly what to do, but my knowledge of hyperthyroidism is very limited I'm afraid. There are others on here who can assist you more than me.

I do know though that this is a place you can come to for support and empathy. In our own individual ways we have all been touched by this difficult journey with thyroid disease and I feel for you. It is hard enough with 2 young boys without battling this condition.

Can you find the thyroid test results (with reference ranges) that have been done so far and post them on here? We might then be able to advise you better.

There are many on here who will be thinking of you today and sending you any strength and hope that we can across the ether.

Best wishes, Jane x

[PinkNinja]

I'm sorry you are having such a rough time. We will do our best to help you.

Firstly, are you getting any help? As your youngest is under 5 you may be able to get a referral to Homestart. I don't know if it depends on whether he is in full-time school yet. This is usually done through the doctor or health visitor, I believe. Just having that little bit of support can sometimes help.

Have you had a blood test recently? Do you know what your results were? This might enable us to point you in the right direction. It might be that you no longer need the carbimazole and are actually slightly hypothyroid now, or it could be that you need a higher dose again. If you can post your results, I'm sure those with more knowledge of Graves will be able to help you with the medication side of things.

I don't know much about Graves disease (I have hypothyroidism) but I'm learning. I wondered if you felt any better reducing your carbimazole or worse. That can sometimes give a clue as to the next step.

Other things to look into are serum iron, ferritin (aiming for 70-90 seems to be helpful in many cases), folate (above 12 is good), vitamin B12 (needs to be above 500 for optimal health) and vitamin D. Deficiencies in any of these can make you feel awful whether you have a thyroid problem or not. Vitamin D, for example, can result in depression, fatigue, aches and pains, headaches and a whole host of other things. The same goes for the others so please try and persuade your doctor to do these tests. For iron/ferritin and vitamin D it is important to get these tested before supplementing but you can supplement folic acid and B12 as long as you do both (not folic acid on its own).

Well done for quitting smoking in all of this! That is quite an achievement and you should be proud of that.

Remember that raising children is hard enough when there are two parents so doing so on your own after losing their mother is extra hard. Be kind to yourself. You are doing a great job being there for them. If you need to ask for help with this, then ask. There is no shame in that. Plenty of people find raising children hard enough when they don't have to deal with poor health and the loss of loved one. It must be so much harder in your situation.

Please look after yourself and ask for help when you need it.

All the very best. I hope you start to feel better soon.

Carolyn x

[tegz]

Being Hypo,I'm in the same shoes as Wobbly- but it may help to say how you feel on the Carb. compared to how you were before starting it.

[Apart from the test results -which are always invaluable]

Hang on in there!

[shambles]

Does it get better? Yes it can.

It’s not an overnight recovery for sure and it needs knowledge and patience. As far as the knowledge side this site is a blessing and you get more than knowledge, you get people that are genuinely interested and sympathetic. You’ll find many people on here have been through a really difficult time too.

I have Graves, thyroid eye disease and double vision.

First of all congratulations on stopping smoking, that’s a biggie for your eyes, one I ignored to the determent of my eyes. Also, did you know that stopping smoking can affect your thyroid function? I was already in a very bad mood daily caused by the Graves, Grave rage some call it but when I stopped smoking I felt anger/low/frustrated for a few months after. So well done.

On the Graves front, it’s really important to take it seriously, I didn’t and thought It would just go away and that is certainly not that case. It can go into remission and that’s what you should be working towards with your Endo. Like Carolyn says, from here on in, get your blood tests and post them here and ask for all the tests she suggests, honestly, they will make a big improvement. There are so many Graves symptoms listed but some of them are caused my vitamin deficiencies. With your eyes I am hoping they have sent you to an ophthalmologist? Your eyes should be monitored very closely, every six weeks and don’t take no for answer.

Graves plays games with you and makes you feel low/depressed/anger/alone. I certainly had all those feelings and I it was not like me. That’s entirely it, you do not feel like you! It’s small steps, giving yourself a bit of credit, realising that you are not alone, making sure you speak to your GP and Endo as often as you need, that are no daft questions.

Keep posting and people will respond with a wealth of answers.

I really hope that things start to get a bit easier for you. x

[jaxnbreeze]

Hi Topher - I am afraid I don't know anything about hyper. as I am hypo. but I do know about Homestart. They are a wonderful organisation and will give you the support you need with the children. I do hope things will soon improve for you soon. Sending lots of love. Jax x

[Fruitandnutcase]

Hi Topher, this time last year I was a wreck. I went to a doctor with typical Graves symptoms and she looked at me like. I was totally off my head and then said I was needing my holiday. Eventually. I was diagnosed in November.

I know just what you mean about feeling alone and lost and I agree with what Shambles says, Graves plays games with you.

I was lucky that my kids are grown up and there is only my husband and I at home now so I could just rest and rest and rest. I decided to treat myself like scene who was really ill - well I was.

I started on Carbmazole 20mcg a fay as soon as the doctor got the blood results back which was the day after they were taken. She got an appointment with an endo but that wasn't until February, in between I had blood tests done and my Carbimazole was raised to 40 mcg. Unfortunately that tipped me into being hypo which wasn't at all nice, then in February I started on a low dose of thyroxine - my hospital treats by block and replace - this has gradually increased and I now take 75/100 mcg a day although on holiday last few weeks I found I wasn't feeling great so I took 100 on more days which felt better.

I take loads of vitamins, I. Was told to take Vit c with my Carbmazole so I take big 1000mcg for two slow release Vit c, I take Co Q10, I take B12 because although my B12 was 'within the range' it was low, I also take vit D spray and a general A to Z multivitamin at night well away from my thyroid meds because of the iron.

It must be very difficult fir you having such young children, I know I slept a lot and my husband took over cooking - it was probably his best chance of eating back then. Homestart would be a help for you - you could sleep while scene else took your youngest out for some fun.

Your mum dying so recently will mean that you have that loss to deal with as well which will make things even harder for you.

I got double vision too but really mild, the last endo I spoke to didn't even consider it to be thyroid eye disease but even though my eyes don't bulge I know my eyes feel stiff, puffy, get this double vision / after image feeling mainly if I read for too long or after watching TV, also had very watery dry eyes. Funny how dry eyes water but they do, it's a different kind of tears, I use additive free eye drops regularly when my eyes feel bad and there is no limit to how often you can put them in throughout the day but as someone said push for an appointment. For someone who knows all about thyroid eye disease.

You will get better though, if lonely because it would be hard to stay as bad as you probably feel for a long time, I can't believe how much better I feel now, when I think back I was terrible. I had that lost feeling you talk about, I felt almost paranoid, I was aggressive, i lost friends because I had become so intolerant, I had even spoken to a doctor and plucked up courage to say that I felt as if I was heading towards Alzheimer's - a quick 'what day is it?, who is the prime minister? remember this number etc' all told the doc i was ok on that front. I felt exhausted all the time and all I wanted to do was sleep. Now I am as normal as I ever was and probably ever will be.

How you can get help and feel a bit better soon,

((((Big hugs))))

Liz

[kashka]

Hi Topher

Yes it does get better.And like you i was dealing with Graves and lost my mum too.It was devastating.I wanted to kill myself.I felt in such terrible despair...BUT ...there is light at the end of the tunnel.With 18 months medication for the thyroid i have now been free of any Graves symptoms.I feel like ME again and look forward to each and every new day.My family suffered a lot with my mood swings and now we are all happy and life is normal again.

It had taken about 6 months to feel better on the meds,So it wasnt an easy ride and i did have councilling for bereavement.Please dont give up...I nearly did but so glad i didnt

Kashka x

[Topher0709 in reply to kashka]

It's horrible having to go thought this but without your mum it's worse.You have gave me so much hope thank you xxxx

[kashka in reply to Topher0709]

Youre so welcome.Anytime xxx

[Topher0709]

Thanks for all your kind word and support I will get my test results from doc and post them.Got an appointment for CT scan on Thursday so hopefully will find out more at the end of the month when a see my endo.Thanks again al keep yous posted xxx

[miravgraves]

hi topher i have graves and they do say live travesty can set it of, and i do think one of my own set mine off. i was put on 20mg carbimizole and was increased to 30 mg at 12 weeks still had >100 ft4 <0.01 tsh and on 18week my ft4 just crept under 100 to 92 dont know why they can only measure up to 100. and didnt see any benefit from being a hyper till i got my ft4 down under 30, energy game back a bit put bit weight on than helped not saying im cured far from it but my eyes felt a lot better less pressure and i could take a breath then looking into my disease in other ways. main priority get ft4 down if bloods show above 100 for ft4 dont lower meds. the quicker you get it down the better,

[Kitten-whiskers]

Hello Topher,

I am sorry to hear you are suffering so much, I know how that feels, i am still struggling myself but feel I am slowly improving - I would like to point out this is not thanks to any GP., they have made things much worse for me. I have an underactive thyroid & when I take the medication it makes me very Ill and causes toxicous, In my case this is down to low adrenal reserve & poor receptor uptake. Are you taking any supplements/Minerals - these are extremely important along with avoiding (where possible) flouride & smoking. Their is a private DR I would certainly recommend to you but he only has a certain number of clinics dotted about, is public transport good where you are? If not he may well offer a phone consultation.

Best Wishes

[angellus]

Hi Topher,

Sorry to hear you are feeling so awful. Yes, it does get better, but it will take a bit of time. I have Graves too, so I have some idea how you feel.

Do post your thyroid function results, the feedback will help you understand how you feel.

So sorry to hear you have lost your Mum too.

Perhaps you could ask your gp for some counselling? Being ill

is very isolating (I am thinking of asking for counselling myself). Graves plays havoc with your emotions I'm afraid.

Hang on in there, you will feel better.

Best wishes,

A.