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...
My sister in law has graves diease; she reads these posts, but for some reason she is not able to ask a question from her computer. She has decided two days ago to stop taking her medicine because of the side effects. She is also only taking half of her blood pressure medicine. The only medicine she is taking correctly is her blood thinner. She has not talked to her docter about what she is doing. She says she feels fine. I dont think she should be doing this. She has faith God will heal her, and I believe He will heal her also, but God also heals through docters and medicine. I know she will read this post, and she will know I am talking about her (in fact I will tell her to read it). I am hoping that you all will reply to this post telling her why she should not be doing this. I do not have any experiance with graves diease so I do not know what all she is going through. She shares wih me some of her pain; she is truely a remarkable person. Thank you.
Is she on ATDs (antithyroid drugs)? If so what kind and how much was she taking previously? It is possible that she might have been taking too much and had these hypO or hypER symptoms. Best thing is to get laba of the Free T3, Free T4 and TSH to find out where she's at. Getting labs done every six to eight weeks when on the ATDs is a wise thing to do.
Quitting meds cold turkey isn't always good because then the patient is considered non compliant by the doctors. Work with the doctors (if they'll listen as some don't) and reduce ATDs dosages every few weeks until the 'right' amount is found to keep the Free Ts at mid range.
Don't refer to TSH for awhile since it is ruled by the thyroid antibodies. It takes a while for these to settle down. TSH is useful at this point only to gauge by how much ATDs or how little ATDs are taken to keep one from getting to hypO or hypER.
Good luck and take care... :-)
Putting yourself at risk not only effects you but it also effects your family. That is not fair to them. This disease sucks but it can be managed over time. Patience is needed. Its all about finding the right treatment and dose. Take care and please re-think what you are doing.
Untreated hyperthyroidism can lead to atrial fibrillation which can cause stroke or heart attack and also lead to permanent heart damage.
I say this from experience.... the anti-thyroid drugs did not work for me. I had an incompetent doctor. I ended up getting very ill and being hospitalized due to thyroid storm. I was incapacitated for 6-months and unable to work or function.
I ended up having to have radio active iodine treatment twice because my condition was so severe. I now have heart problems which will eventually need to be repaired surgically.
This is nothing to mess around with. She may feel fine right now but with in weeks will slide rapidly backwards. If she is currently on blood thinners... I suspect she already has some heart issues. The power of prayer is wonderful however..... if god never intended us to have medical intervention......there would never be doctors to help us to sustain quality of life. UNTREATED hyperthyroidsm could be fatal and have a bad outcome.
I have had 2-years of misery due to improper treatment of this disease and now have to live with the outcome of not receiving proper treatment. I pray that your sister will understand that she needs to continue with her treatment or she will become very ill.