What is the impact of stress during first Grave’s medication-free trial?

[EiruMeadbh]

Reaching out for a bit of information 😊 I’m four months into my first medication free trial to see if my Grave’s disease is in remission. However, I’ve been experiencing a highly stressful period at work for the last few months, and it’s looking like it won’t be changing for at least a few more months.

I’m now feeling more anxious about whether this stress might affect my body in a way that reduces the likelihood of going into remission. Consequently, I’m thinking about whether I should take some time off sick to take care of my body, or whether I’m over reacting.

So, does anyone know anything about this or have any articles to information that might help me understand whether there’s a risk here or not?! My consultant appointment isn’t for another month so I really appreciate any advice 🙏

[PurpleNails Administrator]

How long were you on antithyroid? (Carbimazole or PTU?)

Were Trab or TSI levels tested prior to stopping.

Was the dose reduced to very low levels prior to stopping.

I’ve heard of people saying Graves reoccurrence can be linked to stress.  You can find article discussing stress-related onset and subsequent stress-related exacerbations.

So I say prioritise your well being.  Find the time you need to relax, eat & sleep well and if you you need off work to do that & give yourself the best chance of remaining on remission take the time.  

[Fruitandnutcase]

I would agree with Purple Nails. Back in 2012 when my year on block and replace finished I had been constantly told (threatened?)throughout 2011 that should I relapse I would be given RAI to wipe out my thyroid. Every time it was mentioned I said I was not going to have RAI. Eventually when I was signed off I realised that I felt stressed about the possibility of not remaining in remission and like you I felt stress was not good for me so I saw my GP and asked if the hospital could force me to have it done - the answer was no they couldn’t. Then I asked could the hospital refuse to treat me if I refused and was told that no they couldn’t so I went off home and relaxed about it.

I also went totally gluten free, I didn’t get tested first though, I just had a feeling that I was better without gluten containing foods in my diet. I started as an experiment but by testing regularly with Medichecks home finger prick blood tests I could see my antibody and CRP results dropping and it reached a stage where I wasn’t prepared to risk eating gluten again just to be tested. The reduction could have been something that was going to happen anyway or it could have been with being totally GF, I don’t know.

What I did find was that it took a while before my body got used to being ‘normal’ again. I would say I had been undiagnosed for a long time before my body gave up. I had seen a doctor a couple of months before diagnosis and been told ‘you’re needing your holiday’. Needless to say I was livid with that comment. Anyway, I’d say it took a while for my body to get used to not feeling hyper.

Like PN says, relax, eat good food, rest, work on sleeping well and if you need to take time off then go for it. I also ditched people in my life who were not good for me and I became quite selfish in that I did things I wanted to do - not things I felt I should do.

I took time off when I was first diagnosed, it hurt to do it because I felt like it meant that Graves was ‘winning’ but I also felt that I might be unreliable and it wouldn’t be fair on my colleagues if I’d been booked to do something and at the last minute felt too ill do it. I just didn’t need that stress hanging over me.

So good luck with it all.

[pennyannie]

Hello again ;

Graves is said to be stress and anxiety driven auto immune disease :

Can you please share with forum members some further information as asked in my previous post some months ago ?

We need to understand where you are in your first phase of Graves Disease, and suggest if your antibodies were not rerun before coming off the medication it's likely your remission will be short lived.

Do you have your initially blood test results showing which antibodies were over range and positive and your TSH, T3 and T4 readings at diagnosis plus what medication was prescribed and your current TSH, T3 and T4 results when the medication stopped.

elaine-moore.com for all things Graves Disease ;

The most resent research is suggesting that the longer the patient stays on the Anti Thyroid medication the better the outcome for the patient.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/338...