Grave's Disease

I was just diagnosed with this today. Doc didn't give me too much info, so I started researching online.

Anyone have this? Any info/experience?

TIA!

Re: Grave's Disease

I was diagnosed with Grave's disease back in 1994(ish).

At first I was prescribed propanolol which is a beta blocker to slow everything down (my body was operating on super high speed). And I was given prednisone which is a steroid to help my eyes - they were enlarged and protruded which is particular to grave's disease.

I went for a thyroid scan & uptake. I was injected with some iodine solution and how it travelled was measured. I had to go to the hospital four days in a row for blood work and on the last day they did the scan. I don't remember the specifics of the scan part but it didn't take very long.

The treatment options were radioactive iodine, medication or surgery (but that was my last option). I didn't like how I felt on the medication so I opted for the radioactive iodine. It was an odorless, tasteless liquid. I was required to limit contact with other people for a couple of days, especially children.

After that, there was a lot of follow ups with the endo to watch my thyroid hormone levels while they regulated my medication. It took about 4 months to get everything back to normal - no steroids, etc.


I actuallly had two radioactive iodine treatments. Apparently the first one wasn't the proper dose and while it got certain things under control, I was still not healthy. I switched doctors and continued treatment with a new endocrinologist who seemed to get it right.

Now my thyroid is underactive and I take synthroid every day. There are no side effects from this medication. From what I have read, this is pretty common.


Sorry this is a little long and I hope it helps some. If you have any questions, please ask and I'll do my best to answer them.

Message edited 3/10/2010 11:26:18 AM.