I have Graves’ disease and taking
5 mg of carbimazole recently reduced from 10 mg. I’m feeling a lot better than I did but never feel like I’ve had a good sleep. I wake up tired! My sleep is broken through the night sometimes but still manage to get at least 6/7 hours. I’m due a blood test next Monday. Does anyone take an effective natural sleep aid ?
Important to regularly retest vitamin levels with Graves and Hashimoto’s .....vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12
Have these been tested? If not, request they are on Monday
Recommended on here that all thyroid blood tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and before eating or drinking anything other than water .
This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip, best not mentioned to GP or phlebotomist)
Is this how you do your tests?
Private tests are available as NHS currently rarely tests Ft3 or thyroid antibodies or all relevant vitamins
List of private testing options
thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...
Medichecks Thyroid plus ultra vitamin
medichecks.com/products/thy...
Medichecks often have special offers, if order on Thursdays
Thriva Thyroid plus vitamins
Blue Horizon Thyroid Premium Gold includes vitamins
bluehorizonbloodtests.co.uk...
Low vitamin D linked to poor sleep
Low Ft3 may be too
Hello Traylaw
Graves is an autoimmune disease where your immune system attacks your thyroid causing this major gland to go into overdrive, and to become hyperactive.
Your thyroid is the victim in all this and not the cause, the cause is your immune system attacking your thyroid.
You may also be eating for England but loosing weight - another symptom of an increased metabolism. You maybe edgy and nervous, feeling as though you have run a marathon whilst sitting on the sofa, you may not be able to relax or turn off, and very emotional.
The thyroid is a major gland responsible for full body synchronisation including your physical, mental, emotional, psychological and spiritual well being, your inner central heating system and your metabolism, and when it goes a bit haywire you really can experience many symptoms, some of which are just plain ' odd ' whilst others are said to be life threatening.
Carbimazole is one of a range of drugs that block your own thyroid hormone production and the view is for you to try and ride out this first phase of the disease with the help of the AT drugs and fall back into range, and your T3 and T4 levels reduced and back within the range.
The NHS generally prescribe the AT drugs for around a 15-18 month time frame and if remission hasn't been achieved then the more radical options of RAI thyroid ablation or surgery might be suggested, which result in your becoming permanently hypothyroid.
If you haven't heard of Elaine Moore you might like to take a look at her very comprehensive website on Graves Disease. This lady has Graves and went through RAI thyroid ablation back in the 1990's and finding no help with her continued symptoms wrote a book to help others who might be in the same position. So roll on a good few years and now she now runs and manages her own website and has become a leading authority on all things Graves Disease.
I too have Graves Disease and became very unwell some 8 years after ingesting the RAI thyroid ablation treatment, and now manage lingering Graves symptoms, thyroid eye disease and hypothyroidism.
Thanks to a couple of books and this amazing website I have been able to turn things around for myself and am now much improved and buying my own full spectrum thyroid hormone replacement.
Please do your research as Graves does seem to be a poorly understood and badly treated autoimmune disease and it will really help you if you can take an active role and have some input into your treatment options.
I agree with the advice given by others and that you want to take an active part in your treatment.
I wasn’t treated as you are being - I had block and replace but I remember that until things got better I felt absolutely exhausted - a sort of ‘ right into your bones tiredness’. If you make sure your vitamins and minerals etc are where they should be for you.
The range is enormous so you need to be where within it that it’s best for you - not what suits your doctors.
I always kept a quick note of how I felt every day and tied that in with what meds I was taking. Very useful to do that. It means when you see your doctor you can look at it the night before you go and can tell him / her exactly how you feel. Also read as much as you can about Graves - here and online.
Exhaustion though goes with the condition- at least until you get sorted out.
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