Hello

[Giulia12]

Hello,I discovered that I have thyroid nodules of 4,5 on my thyroid and on my breasts conglomerate of cysts of about 10 cm. I have Graves, low antibodies. I am already on a diet of no meat, no dairy, no sugar. Is it anyone who managed succesfully to decrease the size of these through supplements and diet or any other way?

[pennyannie]

Hello Giulia and welcome to the forum ;

I'm sorry to read you have been diagnosed with Graves Disease and also have developed Graves Eye Disease and Graves Ophthalmology runs independent of Graves Disease.

Graves is an Auto Immune Disease and something has triggered your immune system to turn and attack your body rather than defend it, sadly no two people seem to have the same set of symptoms which makes Graves a poorly understood and badly treated AI disease.

I understand you have already been seen by an eye specialist and presume this specialist liaises with your endocrinologist who is managing your thyroid - as Graves is considered life threatening if not medicated.

An Anti Thyroid drug is prescribed, usually Carbimazole or Propylthiouracil ( PTU for short ) to semi-block your new daily thyroid hormones production and if your heart is involved you may also be prescribed a beta blocker - and the hope is these medication s will relieve your symptoms while we wait for your immune system response to calm down.

The AT drug is to stop your T3 and T4 thyroid hormone levels rising higher and higher and hopefully you will feel more comfortable once your T3 and T4 readings come back down into the ranges and the AT drug will be titrated down as otherwise you risk falling too far through the T3 and T4 ranges and experiencing the equally disabling symptoms of hypothyroidism.

Do you have your blood test readings at diagnosis showing a TSH, T3 and T4 reading and range and the Graves antibody readings as we can help what all these mean - if you wish ?

I presume you are under the hospital and receiving regular follow ups for both your eyes and thyroid levels.

There is usually a genetic predisposition to Graves with maybe there is a family member a generation away from you with a thyroid health issue and stress and anxiety seem to be common triggers.

I found the sections within Elaine Moore's website alongside her books most helpful - though I didn't start my research into my Graves until 10 years after my diagnosis and treatment with RAI thyroid ablation, becoming very unwell in around 2013.

Elaine has sections on alternative and more holistic treatment options and writes on relaxation/ stress/ life/ work balance and what you can do for yourself to help you through the difficult phase this disease can present one with.

elaine-moore.com

[Giulia12 in reply to pennyannie]

Hello Annie,

Yes, ATPO:8, TgAb: 20, unfortunately I do not have TraB yet. TSH: 1.49, Ft4: 16, Thyroglobulin: 150. I do not have any problems with my heart. I am on Carbimazole 5 mg currently. Thank you for the Elaine Moore suggestion.

[pennyannie in reply to Giulia12]

OK - the TR ab is the antibody unique to Graves Disease - it stands for a Thyroid Receptor Blocking antibody - and there is also a TSI antibody - which is unique for Graves disease and stands for a Thyroid Stimulating antibody.

So with Graves you can have either Blocking or Stimulating antibodies - and these two extremes of symptoms can both vie for control of your thyroid and in some instances they cancel each out with you feeling ' relatively normal '.

It can be a roller coaster of symptoms and the idea of the AT drug is to put you into a holding position - like a plane waiting for it's landing slot to land - while your immune system calms down.

When metabolism is running too fast as in overactive/hyperthyroidism or too slow as in underactive/ hypothyroidism the body struggles to extract key nutrients through food, and no matter how clean and well you eat can compound your health issues even further.

So I'd suggest you also ask for your ferritin, folate, B12 and vitamin D to be run as we need these up and maintained at optimal and if you share these results and ranges with forum members you will advised and recommended suitable supplements

Can you please try and add ranges with any results ?

I see you say you had a positive for Graves last year with a TRab at 12 :

Graves waxes and wanes throughout one's life - you don't need to keep testing - Graves doesn't go away - it is for life - we just need to learn how to understand and manage ourselves.

You might like to also dip into Thyroid UK who are the charity who support this forum thyroiduk.org

[PurpleNails Administrator]

When were you diagnosed with Graves? How long ago?

Do you currently take carbimazole? How much?

Are the breast cysts a separate issue to thyroid? It is rare but the thyroid can grow downward.

Which antibodies were tested ? there are several types. TSI or TRab diagnose Graves. TPO & TG are not unique to Graves.

TED (thyroid eye disease) is often associated with graves, but the conditionscan develop independently of each other.

Many find gluten can be an issue with thyroid autoimmune.

Have you tested vitamin D, folate, ferritin & B12? Ferritin & B12 may be especially low as vegetarian.

I have a hyper thyroid nodule but not with antibodies.

I read the boswellia supplements can help nodules. Traditionally it is said to reduce inflammation.

It didn’t significantly help my levels but others say the swelling is less obvious & it feels less squashed, but that may be from other factors.

I’ve not come across any natural remedies which successfully treat hyper or nodules. Some find remedies relieve some symptoms.

[Giulia12 in reply to PurpleNails]

Hi,

I was diagnosed last year in May but I believe I had it subclinically for the longest time. I have tested ATPO: 8, Atgb: 20. I have not yet managed to do Trab as my GP or my endocrinologist were reluctant to do it and I could not find any lab that does it here in UK in my area.

I take Carbimazole 5 mg a day. Yes, I have done all the tests and they are in range.

Yes, the cysts are separate. I just read in Dr. Peatfield book that with Graves disease you might get breast cancer.

[Giulia12 in reply to Giulia12]

I have done the TraB last year and it was 12, then I got it to 3, but now I do not know how much it is. Also I read about Boswelia and I did sent an e-mail to the chief clinician who ran the clinical trials for Boswelia, Curcumin and Spirulina and he told me that if I decided to take it, I have to be monitored by a specialist and that specialist is in Romania.

[PurpleNails Administrator in reply to Giulia12]

Do you have lab ranges for results?

Were you started on 5mg carbimazole, that very low. Were your FT4 over range? or were you treated because you had low TSH?

Has FT3 been tested?

[Giulia12]

Hello,I was started because I had in May last year Tsh: 0,08. I never tested TSI.

Now I have Tsh:1.41. 0.27-4.20, Ft4: 16, 11-22. I do not have the Ft3 but it is in range. I was started on 40 mgs a day in May last year on Thyrozol. In one month I went to 20 mg, and then slowly all the way to 5mg in November with stopping the medication all together in August and starting again in November.