Graves' Disease Support Group
Graves-Basedow disease is a medical disorder that may manifest several different conditions including hyperthyroidism (over activity of thyroid hormone production), infiltrative exophthalmos (protruberance of one or both eyes and associated problems) and infiltrative dermopathy (a skin condition usually of the lower extremities). This disorder is the most common cause of...
Hi,
I’m hoping if I post my info, someone can give me some insight.
I was diagnosed with Graves Disease in July of 2016 (this is the 2nd bout with it). I’ve been on 10 mg of methimazole since then. At one point they dropped me to .5 mg but they ended up increasing me back to 10 mg.
This past August, I started acupuncture and it really seemed to help with the anxiety. It’s actually been amazing because I am not extremely anxious anymore.
This past September, I started taking 1000 mg of Acetyl-L-Carnitine daily as I’ve heard it can really help with TSH levels and Graves.
Since August, I’ve been feeling mostly great. I would have a bad day here and there but for the most part, I have been feeling great. I had originally lost 15 pounds when I was first diagnosed and I had put on 8 of those lost pounds.
This past weekend I started feeling like I was having Graves symptoms again. In the bathroom a lot and my weight started to go down. It’s been 5 days and I still feel awful.
I just so happened to need labs this week and had them on Monday. The Dr. called and decided to up my dose to 15 mg daily. My lab results since July are shown at the end of this post.
I don’t understand why I was doing so good and then all of a sudden I started feelling awful again and my weight started coming off. I am very discouraged.
I’m wondering if I should have been on 15mg when this whole thing started up again in July of 2016?
Should I be concerned with my Free T4?
If anyone has any thoughts or comments about my situation, I would really like to hear them.
Thank you,
Kathy
Total T3 – normal range 80.00 – 200.0
July 27, 2017: 148.6
September 5, 2017: 126.3
October 23, 2017: 142
Free T4 – normal range 0.9 – 1.8
July 27, 2017: 2.0
Septmber 5, 2017: 1.6
October 23, 2017: 1.8
TSH – normal range 0.27 – 4.20
July 27, 2017: 0.02
September 5, 2017: 0.02
October 23, 2017: 0.02
I had Graves for 3 years now and by year 2 I went off the drug, but had to go back on it 2.5 mg every other day.
I also took Acetyl l carnitine.
There is something going on that is not allowing your Graves to go in remission. I think you may have to wait another year before it calms down. However, it may not calm down at all.
Do you have any ideas what triggered it ?
In my case, I was in traumatic accident, had osteomyelitis of the jaw due to injuries and had 7 surgeries very close to each other.
Have you had anything like that happen within a year of developing symptoms ?
You may want to find out what the thyroid antibodies for Graves' Disease is currently at. Get the TSI and the TRAb antibodies tests to find out.
Also having Graves' mean that we will have triggers from the diet and environment which can set off our symptoms. Triggers can include: excess Iodine, stress, allergies to certain foods, not eating gluten-free, artificial sweeteners, problems with being exposed to preservatives and chemicals causing multiple chemical sensitivities, etc.
It can take years to achieve remission. I am 14+ years on a very low dose of either 0.625 mg to 1.25 mg (depending what seasonal foods I consume) per day. I work on keeping my FT4 at near the upper third range and the FT3 at mid range. I do not look at the TSH knowing that having positive thyroid antibodies from the TSI and the TRAb will have an effect on how the TSH is going to act.
{{{hugs}}}