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...

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Nicolle-Aileen 06/09/2011

I've had Graves disease since I was 16. I'm about to turn 23 and I had radiation/ iodine treatment to kill my thyroid almost two years ago. Every day is a struggle to stay positive and just get out of bed in the morning. I get so tired sometimes I'll be in bed for days on end. This disease makes me feel like I'm broken or I just need to be fixed. I have seen doctors endocrinologists and still my synthroid medication is not correct and I haven't felt like myself or normal or even healthy for years. I know this isn't cancer or a terminally ill disease... But I just get soo frustrated because everyone say's I just have to get my medication right and then I'll feel better, normal. Im 22... I feel like I shouldnt be dealing with this for another 20 years but It's been 7 years and it affects school work and my personal life. Im so good at hiding my problems and staying my bubbly self on the outside but inside I'm so upset and stressed and I just want to feel normal again. I'm pretty upset and feeling not so positive and just don't know what to do, I just wish I had friends who feel this way or who have gone through this or are going through this to help me out with advice or even just support.

mmztcass 06/13/2011

P.S. Armour has been around, oh forever...! It's a natural T4/T3 thyroid replacement hormone whereas Synthroid and Levothyroxine, etc. are synthetics and T4 meds only...

Nicolle-Aileen 06/13/2011

I'm sry could you maybe explain that shin...lol... I don't really understand what the t3 and t4 and tsh are to begin with. I really want to understand this...

mmztcass 06/13/2011

T3 and T4 are thyroid hormones. Let me give you a few links to read. Much better you read and try to understand.

Thyroid 101:
http://www.livingwithgravesdisease.com/forums/index.php?/forum/2-thyroid-101/

Stop the Thyroid Madness:
http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/

Our thyroid expert Elaine Moore:
http://www.elaine-moore.com/

These links will give you tons and tons of articles to read and learn all about thyroid care and what to do, etc.

{{{hugs}}} :-)

jjbrookes 06/14/2011

Your Free T levels are low and your TSH is really high and out of range, which explains your symptoms and why you're feeling so down and tired.

If you could try armour or try taking cytomel with your synthroid there's a good chance you'll start to feel better.

It's important to find a doctor that will work with you and listen to you. Good luck hun, and let us know how you make out xo

Nicolle-Aileen 06/15/2011

Thank You I see a new Endo doctor next week, I wish sooner but I don't really have a choice in the matter. I'm at .200 mcg of synthroid and pretty confused why such a high dosage seems to not work. I hope that 200 mcg starts to work :)

deleted_user 06/20/2011

sorry to hear you're feeling this way, i'm 24 and i was diagnosed in 2005. my first endo was an abomination, he led me to believe that medication wasn't going to help me and that i needed to have surgery or RAI. i went with surgery and went hypo afterwards like a lot of people do. he looked ONLY at TSH which is the cause of the hell i've been thru. even when i was feeling great with a t3 medication added, he lowered my dosage further until i decided i wasn't to take it anymore. when i informed him of this, he basically said that if i didn't like how he was treating me that i can find another endo. the one i'm currently seeing seems to be taking me down the same road by lowering my meds based on tsh. he tests for ft4 but he isn't looking at that right now, so i'm stopping him before he does anymore damage. my next appt with him is the end of next month and based on how my ft3 comes back, i'm going to need to have t3 added to my meds again (he took me off them when i first started seeing him in january because it suppresses tsh, which he thinks is the root of my problem. DEFINITELY NOT).

and definitely try armour, once you see where your ft3 is, it'll probably help you :)

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