I am so sorry to hear of your grandmother's passing :(

I don't know if holding back tears is a good idea - we all need to go through all of the stages of grief to be able to properly heal.

I think the most important thing for you to do for yourself in regards to your Graves' is to keep doing what you've been doing.

Eat right, get adequate sleep, a little exercise and try getting some good ol' fresh air.

If you are inclined to do yoga or any other type of relaxation effort, I suggest you do that.

Centering/grounding yourself during trying times does help.

My thoughts and prayers are with you.

((hugs)))

Don't hold back. So sorry to 'read' about your grandma...! :-(

{{{hugs}}} and light/blessings to you...!

Hey scorpio...Im so sorry to hear about your grandma...I was very close to mine as well and when she died...I took it pretty hard.

Just this past spring I went through divorce for the second time with the same man. The stress was unbearable. I was in remission and I was very concerned that the stress would drive up my levels. I asked Elaine Moore what I could take. She recommended Vit B 50 complex along with exercise. I took it from May to Nov of this year and it worked like a hot darn. My levels barely moved. I highly recommend anyone with Graves taking Vit B complex if stress is a trigger for your graves. Big Hugs...Kathy

Hi, I am very sorry for your loss. I feel crying is an important stage in healing. Keeping that all in is probably worse for you. As Kathy says B complex and a nice hot bubble bath. Do you still have a beta blocker if your symptoms become worse?? Best of luck, again I am truly sorry.

Yes I agree with the girls...let it out too cause I have heard that people who have trouble with their thyroid don't always speak their mind or say how we truly feel, it has to do with the throat chakra being closed. (not believed by everyone) anyway, yes I take a stress b vitamin and went through some tough medical times with my Mom and had a bad ear infection around Thanksgiving. My labs were good and I might be in remission, so this time the stress didn't affect me. Do some deep breathing and try to relax but of course grieve your grandma. Hugs hon..

I am so sorry to hear about your grandma Scoriogirl,
I know it is hard for you right now. I lost both my grandma and grandpa to lung cancer 5 years ago.
You are going to need to let it out. Let it all pour out.
If you hold it in it can make you feel even worse as it is a worse stressor on yoru body than letting go. I had some heart flutters too when I was in mourning, but it dose go away. You will need to take care of your emotional state as well as physical state.
Take your meds when you are suppose to and watch out for iodine and such.
Take a nice deep breath and let it all out.
I am sorry for your loss.

HUGE HUGS
Angel

So sorry to hear about your grandmother. :( I just lost my 29 year-old brother suddenly in September. Prior to it happening I had read a lot about the stress of bereavement negatively affecting Graves or even causing it. In some ways I think knowing this strangely allowed me to stay more calm (especially since the news was a complete shock) because in the back of my mind I knew that I had to take care of myself- my parents certainly didn't need me in the hospital with a thyroid storm at the same time! I've continued to try to deal with the stress as best as I can- from what I've found you don't want to hold back tears or emotions AND at the same time do what you need to do to take care of yourself and deal with the stress-for example- make sure sure you eat well even if you aren't hungry, take deep breaths often and maybe even do some meditation or each morning or evening. I'm also taking vitamin B complex like Kathy, I think exercise is a good idea too- unfortunately I haven't been feeling well enough since June to exercise much but I should! :( So in a way Graves can be an excuse to take care of yourself while you are grieving. I'm still trying to figure this all out, but I hope that helps. Hugs.

Thank you to everyone for the advice. I will stop at the drugstore before my flight to get some vitamin B complex. The last thing I want is to be in the hospital again during this time. My chest has been hurting all day but I know it's probably due to a bit of anxiety from panic from crying and worrying that my levels are going to skyrocket now. :( I do still have my beta blocker in hand ready to take however, my heartrate has actually been pretty stable today. It's just these awful chest pains and the few flutters I've had. Again, thank you for your support during this tough time. We knew to expect it but nothing prepares us for the loss. She had small cell cancer.... and it slowly took her...

I'm wondering... is it safe to fly on a 4 hour flight with my condition?

No, nothing ever prepares you for the loss....yes, you grieve as you know they will be leaving but the pain of the departure still stings and hurts quite deeply :(

Hon - I really think you should be taking your beta-blocker regularly. You do have the heart rate issues and your FT3 is elevated.

I think that will help calm you down for the flight and I doubt you'd have to feel you need to go to the ER.

If you have any doubts about flying, call your endo and see what he says - he seems to be on top of things.

And, you just might discuss the whole beta-blocker thing with him, too.

You could ask the doc for a mild tranquilizer, tell him your grandma passed. The flight would be fine then, even if you don't get them,it's fine.

I posted this on your other thread.

Since you are concerned about your levels skyrocketing, I think it would be a good idea to keep your PTU dose as it was for a week and take the atenolol regularly.

I believe Elaine Moore made the same recommendation to you and now, with your current situation, it makes even more sense to me.

((hugs))

I think you still have to be cautious but I also wanted to let you know that despite horrible shock and anxiety my thyroid levels were stable. A lot of times the heart racing was from anxiety and not my thyroid. So know that the pain and anxiety doesn't necessary mean that your thyroid levels will go up according to my personal experience. So maybe that will give you some peace of mind but at the same time travel with those beta blockers if you need them and be sure to get your thyroid levels checked when you get back.

I ended up taking my beta blocker tonight after thinking i was having a possible heart attack which was probably just built up anxiety and worry. I feel a little better. cd- I started to think that I should possibly switch to the atenolol for now and keep my ptu at my regular dose. Think I will... and then next week will lower the ptu. Im just so sensitive to the slightest change. and I recognize the symptoms when my ptu is lowered so i figured that was the better way to go. I just need to be able to make this trip in a better state of health than I am feeling. Brans- i do have some lorazepam given to me to take as needed only so I can use that for the flight. Thanks so much everyone.

I am so sorry for your loss, and am sending you a big hug.
My brother died over a year ago, and it did make my Graves' act up worse. He lived out of state. Losing him was devastating, and it was made even tougher having to content with Graves' disease and thyroid eye disease at the time.
I did fly okay. I just made sure to move my ankles around so I didn't get clots.
My brother's in laws and most of my family who lived nearest to him chain smoke, and I it really made me incredibly sick. I was only able to weep my heart out for the first few days, but after multiple car rides full of smoke,staying and sleeping in smoke filled rooms and hugging smokers, my eye lids retracted almost all the way up and down, and completely dried out and I couldn't cry no matter how bad I felt like it.
It was so incredibly painful. I could feel the wind on my eyes just walking across the room. I physically couldn't cry, but people like my mother thought that I was "over him" already because I wasn't crying. I felt so singled out.
I also couldn't eat normal foods (which wasn't a big deal for the first week because I had no appetite anyway. I was too upset to eat.) I had to move out of my chain-smoking family members house and find a hotel. I rented a car because the smoke was making me so incredibly sick, so some people thought that I was just being anti-social. It was tough. I wanted to be around everyone more, but the constant smoking was just killing me.
I felt like a big burden.
It made an incredibly bad situation so much worse. I hate having Graves' disease.
My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. I am so sorry!
Big hugs,
Hannah