General Medicine

» eyeseelinda - Graves Disease/TED--Incidence of recurrance?

In response to Graves Disease/TED--Incidence of recurrance? posted by cybee:

Wow! I entered a new post on my blog today with a link to the article as well as a link back to this discussion site. Thanks for sharing. I'm sorry to say I consumed way more diet soft drinks than those documented in the article. Dare I say I could, but didn't often, consume a 2 liter bottle in one evening. Yep. And I'd been drinking diet soft drinks for at least 25 years. All the way back to Tab. I can only hope my body rids itself of the poison I ingested--I heard it can stay in your body's cells for a long time. At least I quit I'll keep looking for more on nutrition, which I think is the key to a strong autoimmune system.

-- posted by eyeseelinda

» cowlover614 - Why are antibodies so high?

Hi Elaine and everybody, Went and got my labs done on 6/22 they didn't do the FT's but here is what I got. TSH 0.041L range[0.350-5.500] T4 10.5 range[4.5-12.0] T3 186 range[85-205] What I don't understand is why my antithyroglobulin is so high at 2762 range[0-40] and my Thyroid Perxidase is >1000H range[0-34]Elaine why would that be so high? Any Ideas? I don't know why they didn't do my Ft's I go to the Endo on July 5th. My TSH sure dropped. I also went to the eye doctor, my pressure's are good and optic nerve's are pink said my swelling should go away if they ever get my levels normal. Yes it is TED, he told me to take a asprin a day and to use the liquid tears as much as needed. Hope everyone is ok. Shirl

-- posted by cowlover614

» cybee - Why are antibodies so high?

In response to Why are antibodies so high? posted by cowlover614:

Hi, Cowlover! Don't know what your labs mean, but am glad to hear from you and sounds like things may be good..in that your swelling will go down and that your optic nerve is pink and such! You are to take an aspirin a day? Is that to keep for anti-inflammatory purposes? I was never told to take that for my TED, but did take ibuproben for that reason on my own accord..and then when I added aspirin I realized that was too much (stomach concerns arose), so I have stopped for awhile to let the tummy heal. But just one aspirin a day sounds good...a regular sized/dose one I imagine,eh?

-- posted by cybee

» cybee - Graves Disease/TED--Incidence of recurrance?

In response to Graves Disease/TED--Incidence of recurrance? posted by eyeseelinda:

Yes, that was a very interesting article and does make one concerned about some possible Graves symptoms stemming from the use of aspartame! Certainly a thing to consider if such symptoms arise! (there are also other interesting e-sites about aspartame/Graves symptoms! )(btw, I was having some diet yogurt the other day..then suddenly realized it had aspartame in it and so I did not finish it! Now I will be most alert to this and not have it in my diet (likely that means cutting out any diet sweet things)!)
Your blog remains quite interesting! Thanks for sharing your thoughts, and Graves updates! It does help to hear from others going through similar situations and seeing how they deal with it and realizing some of our odd symptoms are part of this wide constellation set in stage by those mysterious Graves antibodies!

-- posted by cybee

» eyeseelinda - Graves Disease/TED--Incidence of recurrance?

In response to Graves Disease/TED--Incidence of recurrance? posted by cybee:

On the food front, it's hard, too, when you visit friends and family especially during BBQ season. I was at my cousins the other day, it was warm, and she was pouring iced tea (which I love!) I happened to see the canister on the counter and saw it was a brand made with artificial sweetener. I passed on it.

I googled "aspartame" and you're right, there are a lot of sites that discuss side effects and possible correlation with Graves Disease.

I have a new question for the group and will post under a new subject. Thanks and glad my blog posts are helpful. Please feel free to comment too!!

-- posted by eyeseelinda

» eyeseelinda - Side effects when you go off Methimazole--

I went off Methimazole on February 1, and now I just take one 20mg dose of Propranalol to regulate my heartbeats and keep the hand tremors in check. About two weeks after going off Methimazole, I started experiencing symptoms such as shortness of breath, irregular heartbeats, and more. I felt so bad that only a few days later on a Saturday morning I drove myself to the emergency room. They couldn't explain it, even when they consulted with my endocrinologist other than they thought it was anxiety. Maybe it was but I doubt it. I've never been anxious like THAT in my life where I physically felt like I was crawling out of my skin. The symptoms subsided a few days later, but I remain puzzled by what happened. Has anyone else had this kind of experience? It was very frightening to say the least. Even more strange, right after that I felt like my old self again. And since then, everything has been ok.

And here's the post I just listed on my blog.

http://eyesee.typepad.com/hyperthyroid_g...

-- posted by eyeseelinda

» Elaine Moore - Why are antibodies so high?

In response to Why are antibodies so high? posted by cowlover614:
Hi,
Thyroid antibodies increase when the immune system is stimulated. This can be caused by vaccines, food and environmental allergies, chemicals, infection, toxins, and by a weak immune system that's over-reacting to your own tissues. Whenever there's thyroid inflammation or immune stimulation, thyroid antibody titers will rise.
Your TSH could be dropping if you're also producing TSH receptor antibodies because these antibodies falsely decrease TSH. With your thyroid hormone levels staying within the normal range you'd be considered euthyroid (normal thyroid function). But you might want to investigate why your thyroid antibody levels are so high. I recently posted an article on using selenium to lower thyroid antibody levels that you might find helpful. Best, Elaine

» Elaine Moore - Side effects when you go off Methimazole--

In response to Side effects when you go off Methimazole-- posted by eyeseelinda:
Hi,
Several articles have been published on the fact that symptoms of hyperthyroidism can occur transiently during the first 6 months after stopping meds. The authors of the study mention not rushing into starting meds again during this timeframe because these symptoms are transient. This sounds like what you're describing. Best, Elaine

» AngelLov711 - Side effects when you go off Methimazole--

In response to Side effects when you go off Methimazole-- posted by eyeseelinda:

I can relate eyeseelinda. What frustrates me about graves disease is that my physical symptoms are tremors and a gorter and nail discoloration- but when I feel fine and go off the medication for a few days or weeks my mind goes crazy, I get anxious and paranoid, almost fearing for my life and I don't understand why that happens. I've switched many doctors and one had me on Propranalol and 20mg of Methimazole, but then due to a sinus infection and the Propranalol blocking my air passage took me off that and lowered my Methimazole to 10. I feel worst than ever. I'm actually trying to make an appt. asap. But can anyone confirm these feelings?

-- posted by AngelLov711

» Elaine Moore - Side effects when you go off Methimazole--

In response to Side effects when you go off Methimazole-- posted by AngelLov711:
Hi,
Do you have any copies of your thyroid function test results? That would help in figuring out what's going on. After the first 6 weeks on methimazole, the recommended dose is 2.5-10.0 mg daily. It would be unusual for anyone to need a 20 mg dose without it causing hypothyroidism. Hypothyroidism can cause feelings of anxiety and panic. Ideally, you'd be on a dose of methimazole that keeps your FT4 at least at mid-range regardless of your TSH level. Usually, TSH stays low until remission is achieved or hypothyroidism occurs from too high of an ATD dose. Best, Elaine