Hi guys!
I just wanted to send out a post of encouragement to everyone. This is a wonderful site to learn about treatment options for hyper and hypothyroidism and it helped me feel less alone!
But I also think it is important to talk about the recovery process to give everyone who just got diagnosed some hope!
I was diagnosed with graves disease about a year ago. I felt like my life was over, and I realize now this was mainly due to graves disease itself. I had so much anxiety and stress, I couldn't sleep, my heart was racing constantly, I had major joint pain. Never in my life have I felt that out of control of my emotions. I got the radioactive iodine (I realize this is not the right treatment for everyone, but at the time I didn't realize there really were other treatments) and it took several months for me to transition to hypothyroidism.
This also wasn't the easiest transition. I had a different kind of insomnia and an allergic reaction to the dyes and bindings of Levothyroxine. All my hair fell out, and I had major rashes all along my body. But now I am on Tirosint and thankfully it has stopped.
Now I finally feel back to my old self. I can actually exercise again and sleep all the way through the night. Most importantly, the minute I turned hypo all my anxiety just went away. I am in graduate school and back to living my life again! I guess I just wanted people to know that it does get better. This isn't an easy process, but in the end you can still live a happy, fulfilled life!
Good luck!