Newly Graves Girl

[hypergirl64]

I am a 51 year old energizer bunny. Have been dealing with a few health issues for the past 10 months. Thought I was going crazy... Depression set in first... severe depression... ( I am not a depressed person) Extra long menstrual cycles... My brain was foggy and I was reading words incorrectly as well as being clumsy and dropping and breaking things all the time.. FSH was off the charts high... Doctor said "Oh it's just menopause". Two weeks ago, I felt like a really bad case of the flu was coming on, neck was really swollen on the right side and it felt like I had food stuck in my throat and swallowing was hard. Also have lost 10 pounds in 2 weeks. Went to urgent and was sent home with a diagnosis of a virus. Felt worse and worse and went to see my GP 5 days later. He told me my thyroid was tender and swollen and order thyroid panels. TSH really with T4 and T3 high. Referred me to the Endo. Say the Endo yesterday and he told me that I had hyperthyroidism and he believed I had Graves disease. Sent back to the lab to have antibody tests done. In the meantime he prescribed propranolol and methimazole twice a day. I feel like I want to crawl out of my skin. I have headaches EVERY morning that I wake up and my whole body hurts when I get out of bed. I am an investment banker so I don't have a strenuous job but it is stressful and I have to think alot. I am not sure how anyone works with this stuff in the beginning, because I feel like I want to crawl in a hole and die and it has only been two weeks. My doctor said that alot of people have to take 4 to 8 weeks off in the beginning and to let him know if I needed medical leave. He also told me that it will take a year to really start to feel better??? That I need to really monitor my stress because my heart was off to the races and I have to take my pulse every morning. Please someone tell me what I need to expect and have any of you taken a leave from your job to get thru the first month or so while waiting for medication to regulate things?

[Qwerty12345]

My Graves' disease was diagnosed at the end of October last year. I actually felt dramatically better within around three weeks of starting anti thyroid medication. I had been on beta blockers since seeing my gp at start of September and they helped a little until I saw the specialist but I was able to stop the beta blockers within a few weeks of starting the antithyroid meds. I had felt so dreadful I actually could not believe how much better I felt and so quickly. Before seeing my gp I had been feeling absolutely terrible for three months, I know, I should have went sooner! Somehow I managed to stay at work throughout but did very little else, becoming somewhat of a recluse. I thought I was losing my mind, felt permanently unsteady and in a state of red alert 24/7. Couldn't concentrate on anything and losing weight although eating everything in sight! All my senses felt overwhelmed and everything felt 'too much'. My heart rate never dropped below 100. When my gp took it my heart rate was 145. He started me on beta blockers which as I said afforded a little relief but once I had seen the specialist and started on the antithyroid medicines I very quickly felt hugely better, I had been feeling so utterly dreadful and hopeless I could not believe how quickly things turned around. I'm now on a low/maintenance dose and will see what happens at my next endo appt which is next month. It seems that everyone reacts differently to treatment and so far I appear to have been lucky. I hope you feel better soon.

[hypergirl64 in reply to Qwerty12345]

THANK you so much newly graves! I now have hope. I too have been on constant overdrive. Everything is as u say very heightened. I sank so low in depression that it scared me! Panic attacks from simply being caught in traffic. I hope I follow suit as I did. Feeling hope now!

[Glynisrose]

When I was in my 20's I was told by a doctor that having a period that lasted 3 weeks out of 4 was 'normal'!