Guest guest Posted November 2, 2001 Report Share Posted November 2, 2001 Hello Peta Thanks for the tip. Usually my problem is the very opposite. In fact the last few days have been a nightmare - hardly able to leave the loo. And, what's most unfortunate is that I think it's stuff a herbalist gave me that's done the damage. I went to her thinking of having supervised doses of lemon balm, bugle weed and motherwort that people on here have talked about. She insisted everything's to do with digestion first and sent me away with this stuff, this gunk. Made me much worse to start with but I thought that many of these therapies do actually make things worse at first so I stuck with it. But the last few days have been so awful I'm not going back to her. Maybe I should trust myself enough to just go and get the herbs and do it myself anyway. I've never really got into the aromatherapy. Perhaps it's time. I'm still having problems with the meditation because I don't really know what I'm aiming at. Happy weekend, Re: Unexpected results ....have you tried Linusit (Organic golden Linseeds - or Flaxseeds, if you're in the States) Swallow a mouthful whole with LOTS of water. Boy, you'll see a difference!! They swell up (try some in a glass with water overnight!) and they become like jelly (jello). VERY healthful, full of omega 3 and all the goodies the digestive tract should have. Keep up the meditation/relaxation - try aromatherapy candles and/or pure Lavender oil on pulse points and pillow at night?? Good luck and God bless. Peta x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 2, 2001 Report Share Posted November 2, 2001 Hello Arlene ***you wrote: So good hearing from you, and darn, I see you are in the UK, so you are definitely not right around the corner from me, so we could have a cup of tea from time to time together...(anywhere near Hartley Wintney? - cousins there) ***We'll just have to make do with cyber cups of tea. I'm ashamed to say that I've never heard of Hartley Wintney - whereabouts is it? I understand completely about freelance work, since I had been a potter/photographer before this diagnosis, though I have taken some time for myself to heal, and so I have not been doing shows or stressing out over gallery pieces lately. ***That's interesting. I'm a freelance writer of all kinds of things - the recent work was medical writing. But I used to earn a living as an artist. Meditation: Yes! Of all my therapies, this has truly been the most helpful of all. I began meditation years and years ago, majoring in transpersonal (spiritual) psychology, but had let my "practice" get pretty rusty. Before my Graves' diagnosis, when my emotions were all over the map and I could not relax, no matter what, I knew I needed hypnosis and began seeing a clinical hypnotherapist, who is also a family therapist. She makes a new "guided visualization" tape for me each month, depending on what I need the most at that time. I have learned how to let go of lots of my emotional baggage, so that I can get into an "altered" state, that of total focused relaxation. I think this is why, along with naturopathic care, I went from hyper to hypo so quickly. You could buy visualization tapes, also, but it might help you to join an ongoing meditation group (usually these are free). Definitely good for healing people with Graves', since this is so stress-related. ***It certainly sounds like you've mastered the art of meditation. I've been to a few classes - not free though - perhaps I went to the wrong place - but could not work out just exactly what it was I was supposed to be aiming at. However, I've also taken up t'ai chi and now that we're several weeks into the course he's talking of meditation that goes with that, which I wasn't expecting, so maybe I'll get the expertise from him. As far as what I ingest vs. what goes out and how it goes out (constipation) - boy, nothing I eat seems to make a difference. The only thing which seems to matter is whether my thyroid is in some kind of balance. Interestingly, my older sister who had Graves' 25 years ago (very very extreme case), was also constipated during this time. So, there must be something in our constitution. This is the only time in my life when I had this problem! I eat so much bulk (two green salads a day, grape nuts for breakfast, prunes, lots of fruit, and on and on, including a minimum of 8 glasses of water per day! Nothing mattered, except my thyroid levels! I seem to be on the right track now though, being down to 25 mg. of PTU per day, and closer to normal levels on my free T4 and TSH. ***This is great news!!! I do have a juicer, and when I get back from Yosemite next week (going there on Saturday), I will try making some fresh juice, though I buy it here, and it hasn't seemed to make any difference so far, but thanks. ***Have a wonderful time! Sounds like a lovely place. I know what you mean about taking a vacation from the obsession. When I go away from here, for any reason, and am around people more (I work from home also), I forget some of these problems and realize that I really am better off than when I sit home and worry about this stuff. I guess I had never had to do this before, in my lifetime, so perhaps this is the reason for the obsession too, as well as not trusting my life in my doctor's hands. ***I think there's also an element of shock after diagnosis which goes completely unrecognised, too. There's also an element of acknowledging that one's body had let us down in a way and so we lose confidence. All these things - and so many more, including the panic attack type feelings etc - take their toll and help to lead to obsession. We're still a bit stunned by it, I reckon. Let's see - you also asked how my visit with the endocrinologist went. Yes, I do believe I posted on here how that visit went. Before I saw the endo, I had gone from hyper to hypo and was feeling very very ill. I was falling asleep by 12 noon, my temperature was around 96, I had headaches every morning, etc. But by the time I saw the endo, I had gone down from 300 mg. to 50 mg. PTU and was beginning to feel much better. The month before, my TSH was close to 20 and my free T4 was .42. By the time I saw the endo, my free T4 had gone to .074 (still hypo slightly) and my TSH was 4.46. However, for some reason, he still wanted me to stay on 50 mg. of PTU. Thank you, once again, to all on this wonderful list! I saw people writing about how endocrinologists sometimes tend to keep people on too high doses, for too long. My GP said I could go off PTU altogether, when I went in to see her for my women's exam. She didn't understand why the endo wanted to keep me on 50 mg. Well, so there we had two different opinions amongst the experts. Then, Elaine and wrote about TSI levels being the best indicator for successful remission, so it got me a little worried about going off this PTU altogether. However, I was beginning to feel horrible again, with hypo symptoms - so I compromised and went down to 25 mg. PTU by myself, since I am not scheduled to have another blood test for around 3-4 more weeks. My GP says the best indication of my thyroid hormone is "how I feel" and the endo says the only indication is blood tests. Interesting...my naturopath - oh well, that is another story completely. In the meantime, I am going broke from paying for all these medical procedures, going nuts from having to go from one appointment to another, and , no wonder I am obsessed! LOL ***It's the worry that there might be something we could know about it, that we don't know about it, that may just fix it for us. On the other hand, if we end up feeling empowered, taking control of our own health and knowledgable enough to know what's best for us, then maybe there's nothing wrong with the obsession bit while it lasts. ***Take care, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 2, 2001 Report Share Posted November 2, 2001 Hi again, Peta, I am really not the expert on this site, for sure! I am kind of newly diagnosed (6 months), so am in the beginning of finding out all this information myself. I think we should probably keep our iodine down as low as possible, though I have seen older sources of information on thyroid disease (Adelle ) say that we actually need iodine for our thyroid health, and that this is what can cause both hyper and hypo thyroid conditions. I never really did eat much fish or seafood, or seaweed, and never ate iodized salt, so this might be a possibility for me...just a thought. Yes, I have seen articles about wheat intolerance. My naturopath wanted me to go off wheat totally for 21 days, but this was difficult. I usually only have one or two pieces of very good bread, with no yeast (sourdough, but with whole wheat). I don't eat pasta, either, or other gluten products, so maybe it is worth a try to go off for a period of time to see what happens. Take care, Arlene Re: Unexpected resultsDear Arlene, Speaking of iodine - should we be cutting it down or out altogether. I have taken Neways Maximol colloidal mineral solutions for years - it's brilliant but it does contain iodine. Another thing, has anyone tried eliminating gluten from their diet (it says on one of the websites that HyperT can be an adverse reaction to gluten (Wheat, oats, rye & barley) Love, Peta x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 2, 2001 Report Share Posted November 2, 2001 Hi , I am jumping in here about meditation because perhaps I can help a bit. When I wrote about meditation before, it was not true meditation but guided visualization. Meditation is generally thought of as an emptying of the mind, and here are a few books to perhaps help: SEEKING THE HEART OF WISDOM: The Path of Insight Meditation, by ph Goldstein & Jack Kornfield RIDING THE OX HOME: A History of Meditation from Shamanism to Science, by Willard . Hope these help out a little, Arlene PS: Yes, my naturopath also believes Graves' is caused by digestive problems and keeps trying to get me to take a test which will cost $200. When speaking with a nurse friend of mine who also has Graves', she does believe that the endocrine system affects our motility. Mine is absolutely nil, want to trade? ;~) Re: Unexpected results Hello Peta Thanks for the tip. Usually my problem is the very opposite. In fact the last few days have been a nightmare - hardly able to leave the loo. And, what's most unfortunate is that I think it's stuff a herbalist gave me that's done the damage. I went to her thinking of having supervised doses of lemon balm, bugle weed and motherwort that people on here have talked about. She insisted everything's to do with digestion first and sent me away with this stuff, this gunk. Made me much worse to start with but I thought that many of these therapies do actually make things worse at first so I stuck with it. But the last few days have been so awful I'm not going back to her. Maybe I should trust myself enough to just go and get the herbs and do it myself anyway. I've never really got into the aromatherapy. Perhaps it's time. I'm still having problems with the meditation because I don't really know what I'm aiming at. Happy weekend, Re: Unexpected results ....have you tried Linusit (Organic golden Linseeds - or Flaxseeds, if you're in the States) Swallow a mouthful whole with LOTS of water. Boy, you'll see a difference!! They swell up (try some in a glass with water overnight!) and they become like jelly (jello). VERY healthful, full of omega 3 and all the goodies the digestive tract should have. Keep up the meditation/relaxation - try aromatherapy candles and/or pure Lavender oil on pulse points and pillow at night?? Good luck and God bless. Peta x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 2, 2001 Report Share Posted November 2, 2001 Hi , Hartley Wintney is somewhere near Heathrow??? I have never been to Great Britain, so it is hard for me to tell you where it is located. This is a cousin of my husband's. My married last name is Houghton, which as you can tell is very " Brit " . I am in somewhat of a hurry here to get everything packed before our vacation to Yosemite (this is where all the famous Ansel photos were taken, and where Muir helped make it perhaps the first national park in the U.S.) We will be staying in a yurt 5 miles outside Yosemite, on 400 acres. Sounds great. Anyway, I don't have much time to answer your message, but I hope my meditation message to you was helpful. With Tai Chi, it sounds like you are on the right track, especially since your teacher will be doing meditation. Group meditation is very different from meditation by oneself and you can experience a wonderful energy from this. I believe you are right about the element of shock when we are first diagnosed. I had never had anything wrong with my body before, and now I feel out of control and I guess I am trying to take back control, or perhaps learning how to let go...it's definitely been a learning experience for me: about the health profession, my body, and my limitations. Thanks for sharing so much. I enjoy your messages, Arlene Re: Unexpected results Hello Arlene ***you wrote: So good hearing from you, and darn, I see you are in the UK, so you are definitely not right around the corner from me, so we could have a cup of tea from time to time together...(anywhere near Hartley Wintney? - cousins there) ***We'll just have to make do with cyber cups of tea. I'm ashamed to say that I've never heard of Hartley Wintney - whereabouts is it? I understand completely about freelance work, since I had been a potter/photographer before this diagnosis, though I have taken some time for myself to heal, and so I have not been doing shows or stressing out over gallery pieces lately. ***That's interesting. I'm a freelance writer of all kinds of things - the recent work was medical writing. But I used to earn a living as an artist. Meditation: Yes! Of all my therapies, this has truly been the most helpful of all. I began meditation years and years ago, majoring in transpersonal (spiritual) psychology, but had let my " practice " get pretty rusty. Before my Graves' diagnosis, when my emotions were all over the map and I could not relax, no matter what, I knew I needed hypnosis and began seeing a clinical hypnotherapist, who is also a family therapist. She makes a new " guided visualization " tape for me each month, depending on what I need the most at that time. I have learned how to let go of lots of my emotional baggage, so that I can get into an " altered " state, that of total focused relaxation. I think this is why, along with naturopathic care, I went from hyper to hypo so quickly. You could buy visualization tapes, also, but it might help you to join an ongoing meditation group (usually these are free). Definitely good for healing people with Graves', since this is so stress-related. ***It certainly sounds like you've mastered the art of meditation. I've been to a few classes - not free though - perhaps I went to the wrong place - but could not work out just exactly what it was I was supposed to be aiming at. However, I've also taken up t'ai chi and now that we're several weeks into the course he's talking of meditation that goes with that, which I wasn't expecting, so maybe I'll get the expertise from him. As far as what I ingest vs. what goes out and how it goes out (constipation) - boy, nothing I eat seems to make a difference. The only thing which seems to matter is whether my thyroid is in some kind of balance. Interestingly, my older sister who had Graves' 25 years ago (very very extreme case), was also constipated during this time. So, there must be something in our constitution. This is the only time in my life when I had this problem! I eat so much bulk (two green salads a day, grape nuts for breakfast, prunes, lots of fruit, and on and on, including a minimum of 8 glasses of water per day! Nothing mattered, except my thyroid levels! I seem to be on the right track now though, being down to 25 mg. of PTU per day, and closer to normal levels on my free T4 and TSH. ***This is great news!!! I do have a juicer, and when I get back from Yosemite next week (going there on Saturday), I will try making some fresh juice, though I buy it here, and it hasn't seemed to make any difference so far, but thanks. ***Have a wonderful time! Sounds like a lovely place. I know what you mean about taking a vacation from the obsession. When I go away from here, for any reason, and am around people more (I work from home also), I forget some of these problems and realize that I really am better off than when I sit home and worry about this stuff. I guess I had never had to do this before, in my lifetime, so perhaps this is the reason for the obsession too, as well as not trusting my life in my doctor's hands. ***I think there's also an element of shock after diagnosis which goes completely unrecognised, too. There's also an element of acknowledging that one's body had let us down in a way and so we lose confidence. All these things - and so many more, including the panic attack type feelings etc - take their toll and help to lead to obsession. We're still a bit stunned by it, I reckon. Let's see - you also asked how my visit with the endocrinologist went. Yes, I do believe I posted on here how that visit went. Before I saw the endo, I had gone from hyper to hypo and was feeling very very ill. I was falling asleep by 12 noon, my temperature was around 96, I had headaches every morning, etc. But by the time I saw the endo, I had gone down from 300 mg. to 50 mg. PTU and was beginning to feel much better. The month before, my TSH was close to 20 and my free T4 was .42. By the time I saw the endo, my free T4 had gone to .074 (still hypo slightly) and my TSH was 4.46. However, for some reason, he still wanted me to stay on 50 mg. of PTU. Thank you, once again, to all on this wonderful list! I saw people writing about how endocrinologists sometimes tend to keep people on too high doses, for too long. My GP said I could go off PTU altogether, when I went in to see her for my women's exam. She didn't understand why the endo wanted to keep me on 50 mg. Well, so there we had two different opinions amongst the experts. Then, Elaine and wrote about TSI levels being the best indicator for successful remission, so it got me a little worried about going off this PTU altogether. However, I was beginning to feel horrible again, with hypo symptoms - so I compromised and went down to 25 mg. PTU by myself, since I am not scheduled to have another blood test for around 3-4 more weeks. My GP says the best indication of my thyroid hormone is " how I feel " and the endo says the only indication is blood tests. Interesting...my naturopath - oh well, that is another story completely. In the meantime, I am going broke from paying for all these medical procedures, going nuts from having to go from one appointment to another, and , no wonder I am obsessed! LOL ***It's the worry that there might be something we could know about it, that we don't know about it, that may just fix it for us. On the other hand, if we end up feeling empowered, taking control of our own health and knowledgable enough to know what's best for us, then maybe there's nothing wrong with the obsession bit while it lasts. ***Take care, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 8, 2001 Report Share Posted November 8, 2001 Hello Arlene Oddly enough I have the name Houghton in my family tree, from when the Alison family lived in Park Hall in Lancashire. We may be related... Thanks for the tips on meditation. I'm trying again with a candle behind a geode (or half a geode) of blue crystal which is supposed to be especially beneficial for thyroid and creativity. Off to T'ai chi tonight although it's turned really cold here and it's not so appealing to leave the house in the cold and dark to do this in a draughty hall. But I'll still go - I expect the circulation of energy will keep me warm. Hope you're having a wonderful holiday. Take care, Re: Unexpected results Hello Arlene ***you wrote: So good hearing from you, and darn, I see you are in the UK, so you are definitely not right around the corner from me, so we could have a cup of tea from time to time together...(anywhere near Hartley Wintney? - cousins there) ***We'll just have to make do with cyber cups of tea. I'm ashamed to say that I've never heard of Hartley Wintney - whereabouts is it? I understand completely about freelance work, since I had been a potter/photographer before this diagnosis, though I have taken some time for myself to heal, and so I have not been doing shows or stressing out over gallery pieces lately. ***That's interesting. I'm a freelance writer of all kinds of things - the recent work was medical writing. But I used to earn a living as an artist. Meditation: Yes! Of all my therapies, this has truly been the most helpful of all. I began meditation years and years ago, majoring in transpersonal (spiritual) psychology, but had let my "practice" get pretty rusty. Before my Graves' diagnosis, when my emotions were all over the map and I could not relax, no matter what, I knew I needed hypnosis and began seeing a clinical hypnotherapist, who is also a family therapist. She makes a new "guided visualization" tape for me each month, depending on what I need the most at that time. I have learned how to let go of lots of my emotional baggage, so that I can get into an "altered" state, that of total focused relaxation. I think this is why, along with naturopathic care, I went from hyper to hypo so quickly. You could buy visualization tapes, also, but it might help you to join an ongoing meditation group (usually these are free). Definitely good for healing people with Graves', since this is so stress-related. ***It certainly sounds like you've mastered the art of meditation. I've been to a few classes - not free though - perhaps I went to the wrong place - but could not work out just exactly what it was I was supposed to be aiming at. However, I've also taken up t'ai chi and now that we're several weeks into the course he's talking of meditation that goes with that, which I wasn't expecting, so maybe I'll get the expertise from him. As far as what I ingest vs. what goes out and how it goes out (constipation) - boy, nothing I eat seems to make a difference. The only thing which seems to matter is whether my thyroid is in some kind of balance. Interestingly, my older sister who had Graves' 25 years ago (very very extreme case), was also constipated during this time. So, there must be something in our constitution. This is the only time in my life when I had this problem! I eat so much bulk (two green salads a day, grape nuts for breakfast, prunes, lots of fruit, and on and on, including a minimum of 8 glasses of water per day! Nothing mattered, except my thyroid levels! I seem to be on the right track now though, being down to 25 mg. of PTU per day, and closer to normal levels on my free T4 and TSH. ***This is great news!!! I do have a juicer, and when I get back from Yosemite next week (going there on Saturday), I will try making some fresh juice, though I buy it here, and it hasn't seemed to make any difference so far, but thanks. ***Have a wonderful time! Sounds like a lovely place. I know what you mean about taking a vacation from the obsession. When I go away from here, for any reason, and am around people more (I work from home also), I forget some of these problems and realize that I really am better off than when I sit home and worry about this stuff. I guess I had never had to do this before, in my lifetime, so perhaps this is the reason for the obsession too, as well as not trusting my life in my doctor's hands. ***I think there's also an element of shock after diagnosis which goes completely unrecognised, too. There's also an element of acknowledging that one's body had let us down in a way and so we lose confidence. All these things - and so many more, including the panic attack type feelings etc - take their toll and help to lead to obsession. We're still a bit stunned by it, I reckon. Let's see - you also asked how my visit with the endocrinologist went. Yes, I do believe I posted on here how that visit went. Before I saw the endo, I had gone from hyper to hypo and was feeling very very ill. I was falling asleep by 12 noon, my temperature was around 96, I had headaches every morning, etc. But by the time I saw the endo, I had gone down from 300 mg. to 50 mg. PTU and was beginning to feel much better. The month before, my TSH was close to 20 and my free T4 was .42. By the time I saw the endo, my free T4 had gone to .074 (still hypo slightly) and my TSH was 4.46. However, for some reason, he still wanted me to stay on 50 mg. of PTU. Thank you, once again, to all on this wonderful list! I saw people writing about how endocrinologists sometimes tend to keep people on too high doses, for too long. My GP said I could go off PTU altogether, when I went in to see her for my women's exam. She didn't understand why the endo wanted to keep me on 50 mg. Well, so there we had two different opinions amongst the experts. Then, Elaine and wrote about TSI levels being the best indicator for successful remission, so it got me a little worried about going off this PTU altogether. However, I was beginning to feel horrible again, with hypo symptoms - so I compromised and went down to 25 mg. PTU by myself, since I am not scheduled to have another blood test for around 3-4 more weeks. My GP says the best indication of my thyroid hormone is "how I feel" and the endo says the only indication is blood tests. Interesting...my naturopath - oh well, that is another story completely. In the meantime, I am going broke from paying for all these medical procedures, going nuts from having to go from one appointment to another, and , no wonder I am obsessed! LOL ***It's the worry that there might be something we could know about it, that we don't know about it, that may just fix it for us. On the other hand, if we end up feeling empowered, taking control of our own health and knowledgable enough to know what's best for us, then maybe there's nothing wrong with the obsession bit while it lasts. ***Take care, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 8, 2001 Report Share Posted November 8, 2001 Donna, Thanks for the thought, but I really feel that the reaction was far too extreme to be a good thing. I really need to do without any wheat and sugar for long enough to see if that's going to help - they are both no-nos for me - I've known this for years - nothing violent, but a rumbling discontent whenever I eat them. Trouble is, it seems so difficult to avoid them both for any length of time. Re: Unexpected results ....have you tried Linusit (Organic golden Linseeds - or Flaxseeds, if you're in the States) Swallow a mouthful whole with LOTS of water. Boy, you'll see a difference!! They swell up (try some in a glass with water overnight!) and they become like jelly (jello). VERY healthful, full of omega 3 and all the goodies the digestive tract should have. Keep up the meditation/relaxation - try aromatherapy candles and/or pure Lavender oil on pulse points and pillow at night?? Good luck and God bless. Peta x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 8, 2001 Report Share Posted November 8, 2001 I know what you mean, . I tried that just for the weight aspect of things, but was unable to last more than two weeks. But I do try to watch what I'm doing with both wheat and gluten; not that I'm allergic to them, but they do seem to add weight. The body does need a certain amount of them both, so it's best to just limit them to where you're comfortable. That way your body may eventually desensitize to them. That happens when everything else is in the right balance, too, though. Donna http://trak.to/life www.reliv.com Take control of your health! Alison wrote: Donna, Thanks for the thought, but I really feel that the reaction was far too extreme to be a good thing. I really need to do without any wheat and sugar for long enough to see if that's going to help - they are both no-nos for me - I've known this for years - nothing violent, but a rumbling discontent whenever I eat them. Trouble is, it seems so difficult to avoid them both for any length of time. Re: Unexpected results ....have you tried Linusit (Organic golden Linseeds - or Flaxseeds, if you're in the States) Swallow a mouthful whole with LOTS of water. Boy, you'll see a difference!! They swell up (try some in a glass with water overnight!) and they become like jelly (jello). VERY healthful, full of omega 3 and all the goodies the digestive tract should have. Keep up the meditation/relaxation - try aromatherapy candles and/or pure Lavender oil on pulse points and pillow at night?? Good luck and God bless. Peta x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 9, 2001 Report Share Posted November 9, 2001 Hi , Thanks for the good wishes about our holiday. It was delightful, thank you. And I want to send Kim some good thoughts for her grandmother and herself, while I am at it! Please let me know how you are related to the Houghtons (we pronounce it How-ton), because I do genealogy work, and we could, indeed be related. I will check with my husband's cousin in England and see if he knows... Hope the Tai Chi and the meditation is helping you with your healing. I am still down to 25 mg. PTU, but each time I have gone down on my medication, I notice that I will feel pretty good for around a week, then have what I think might be hypo symptoms again. However, I also am having breathlessness problems, along with feeling overwhelmingly tired and achey in the afternoons. Both high and low symptoms again. Wish I could find a balance here! Arlene Re: Unexpected results Hello Arlene Oddly enough I have the name Houghton in my family tree, from when the Alison family lived in Park Hall in Lancashire. We may be related... Thanks for the tips on meditation. I'm trying again with a candle behind a geode (or half a geode) of blue crystal which is supposed to be especially beneficial for thyroid and creativity. Off to T'ai chi tonight although it's turned really cold here and it's not so appealing to leave the house in the cold and dark to do this in a draughty hall. But I'll still go - I expect the circulation of energy will keep me warm. Hope you're having a wonderful holiday. Take care, Re: Unexpected results Hello Arlene ***you wrote: So good hearing from you, and darn, I see you are in the UK, so you are definitely not right around the corner from me, so we could have a cup of tea from time to time together...(anywhere near Hartley Wintney? - cousins there) ***We'll just have to make do with cyber cups of tea. I'm ashamed to say that I've never heard of Hartley Wintney - whereabouts is it? I understand completely about freelance work, since I had been a potter/photographer before this diagnosis, though I have taken some time for myself to heal, and so I have not been doing shows or stressing out over gallery pieces lately. ***That's interesting. I'm a freelance writer of all kinds of things - the recent work was medical writing. But I used to earn a living as an artist. Meditation: Yes! Of all my therapies, this has truly been the most helpful of all. I began meditation years and years ago, majoring in transpersonal (spiritual) psychology, but had let my " practice " get pretty rusty. Before my Graves' diagnosis, when my emotions were all over the map and I could not relax, no matter what, I knew I needed hypnosis and began seeing a clinical hypnotherapist, who is also a family therapist. She makes a new " guided visualization " tape for me each month, depending on what I need the most at that time. I have learned how to let go of lots of my emotional baggage, so that I can get into an " altered " state, that of total focused relaxation. I think this is why, along with naturopathic care, I went from hyper to hypo so quickly. You could buy visualization tapes, also, but it might help you to join an ongoing meditation group (usually these are free). Definitely good for healing people with Graves', since this is so stress-related. ***It certainly sounds like you've mastered the art of meditation. I've been to a few classes - not free though - perhaps I went to the wrong place - but could not work out just exactly what it was I was supposed to be aiming at. However, I've also taken up t'ai chi and now that we're several weeks into the course he's talking of meditation that goes with that, which I wasn't expecting, so maybe I'll get the expertise from him. As far as what I ingest vs. what goes out and how it goes out (constipation) - boy, nothing I eat seems to make a difference. The only thing which seems to matter is whether my thyroid is in some kind of balance. Interestingly, my older sister who had Graves' 25 years ago (very very extreme case), was also constipated during this time. So, there must be something in our constitution. This is the only time in my life when I had this problem! I eat so much bulk (two green salads a day, grape nuts for breakfast, prunes, lots of fruit, and on and on, including a minimum of 8 glasses of water per day! Nothing mattered, except my thyroid levels! I seem to be on the right track now though, being down to 25 mg. of PTU per day, and closer to normal levels on my free T4 and TSH. ***This is great news!!! I do have a juicer, and when I get back from Yosemite next week (going there on Saturday), I will try making some fresh juice, though I buy it here, and it hasn't seemed to make any difference so far, but thanks. ***Have a wonderful time! Sounds like a lovely place. I know what you mean about taking a vacation from the obsession. When I go away from here, for any reason, and am around people more (I work from home also), I forget some of these problems and realize that I really am better off than when I sit home and worry about this stuff. I guess I had never had to do this before, in my lifetime, so perhaps this is the reason for the obsession too, as well as not trusting my life in my doctor's hands. ***I think there's also an element of shock after diagnosis which goes completely unrecognised, too. There's also an element of acknowledging that one's body had let us down in a way and so we lose confidence. All these things - and so many more, including the panic attack type feelings etc - take their toll and help to lead to obsession. We're still a bit stunned by it, I reckon. Let's see - you also asked how my visit with the endocrinologist went. Yes, I do believe I posted on here how that visit went. Before I saw the endo, I had gone from hyper to hypo and was feeling very very ill. I was falling asleep by 12 noon, my temperature was around 96, I had headaches every morning, etc. But by the time I saw the endo, I had gone down from 300 mg. to 50 mg. PTU and was beginning to feel much better. The month before, my TSH was close to 20 and my free T4 was .42. By the time I saw the endo, my free T4 had gone to .074 (still hypo slightly) and my TSH was 4.46. However, for some reason, he still wanted me to stay on 50 mg. of PTU. Thank you, once again, to all on this wonderful list! I saw people writing about how endocrinologists sometimes tend to keep people on too high doses, for too long. My GP said I could go off PTU altogether, when I went in to see her for my women's exam. She didn't understand why the endo wanted to keep me on 50 mg. Well, so there we had two different opinions amongst the experts. Then, Elaine and wrote about TSI levels being the best indicator for successful remission, so it got me a little worried about going off this PTU altogether. However, I was beginning to feel horrible again, with hypo symptoms - so I compromised and went down to 25 mg. PTU by myself, since I am not scheduled to have another blood test for around 3-4 more weeks. My GP says the best indication of my thyroid hormone is " how I feel " and the endo says the only indication is blood tests. Interesting...my naturopath - oh well, that is another story completely. In the meantime, I am going broke from paying for all these medical procedures, going nuts from having to go from one appointment to another, and , no wonder I am obsessed! LOL ***It's the worry that there might be something we could know about it, that we don't know about it, that may just fix it for us. On the other hand, if we end up feeling empowered, taking control of our own health and knowledgable enough to know what's best for us, then maybe there's nothing wrong with the obsession bit while it lasts. ***Take care, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 14, 2001 Report Share Posted November 14, 2001 In a message dated 11/14/2001 1:03:48 PM Eastern Standard Time, roberts5@... writes: I've got a functional heart murmer (since birth, probably), so it's hard for me to tell if I ever had palpitations from thyroidism, Oh my God, Donna, I can't believe this! I just wrote to ask about a functional heart murmur, and here you are! I must have written this just a few minutes before you did. Can the murmur cause palpitations? Could it be related to the Graves? Are there any restrictions in your life? Thanks in advance for any info, AntJoan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 14, 2001 Report Share Posted November 14, 2001 Yup. I've been there. Very tired, palpitations, breathlessness. Not much anymore, but I remember. Definitely hypo symptoms. My energy levels are great now. I've got a functional heart murmer (since birth, probably), so it's hard for me to tell if I ever had palpitations from thyroidism, so I'm guessing here. But the fact that I don't get them much anymore tells me that it was from thyroidism. What kinds of supplements are you taking, Arlene? They don't seem to be doing a lot for you right now. Donna http://trak.to/life www.reliv.com Take control of your health! Arlene Houghton wrote: Hi ,My husband's cousin, who lives near Heathrow says that probably we are not related, since the Lancashire Houghton's have so far been found to be "not related", but we can never tell... I have not written because my energy levels have been so low again. I am finding this Graves' disease physically & emotionally up and down, and I truly wish it could be stabilized! Right now I am scheduled for another blood test in around 2 weeks and then a visit with the endo the following week; however, it is all the time between tests and visits that have me concerned. Yes, do we follow what the doctors say and stay at the levels of medication for two months when we KNOW we don't feel well? Do we play around with the medication, and have them be angry with us, but it is OUR bodies? Yes, this tiredness you talked about... Sometimes I will be sitting at work on the computer and feel like I am going to literally fall over, which I had never felt before when I was hyper. Is this because I am hypo or more normal and not used to it? Or menopause? Or something else? What did your endo say this time? It will be good to hear about your visit, since we are pretty much at about the same place in our dis-ease! I am now using 25 mg. PTU per day, but sometimes have palpitations and this weird breathlessness (doesn't seem to be the same kind as when I was really hyper). Arlene -----Original Message----- From: Alison <moocher@...> hyperthyroidism <hyperthyroidism > Date: Monday, November 12, 2001 6:22 AM Subject: Re: Unexpected results Hello Arlene I don't know much about it actually - genealogy is one of those things I'd like to take up when I don't spend so much time earning a living. All I know is that the connection between the Alison family and the Houghton family has to do with Park Hall, Chorley, Lancashire which was the family home. I'm sure the t'ai chi is helping to make me feel better overall. The difficulty is that it's easy to blame everything on to this condition and it may not be down to this condition at all. For example, I have no idea if I feel tired just because I feel tired - which is possible anyway because I usually do when the evenings first get very cold after getting dark - or whether I may be a bit hypo and may be it's time to lessen the carbimazole. How to tell?? Also, of course, now I need to know if there's still any antibodies floating around if I'm going to lower the dose. I see the endo tomorrow so will see if he has anything useful to say. ----- Original Message ----- From: Arlene Houghton hyperthyroidism Sent: Friday, November 09, 2001 6:08 PM Subject: Re: Unexpected results Hi ,Thanks for the good wishes about our holiday. It was delightful, thank you. And I want to send Kim some good thoughts for her grandmother and herself, while I am at it! Please let me know how you are related to the Houghtons (we pronounce it How-ton), because I do genealogy work, and we could, indeed be related. I will check with my husband's cousin in England and see if he knows... Hope the Tai Chi and the meditation is helping you with your healing. I am still down to 25 mg. PTU, but each time I have gone down on my medication, I notice that I will feel pretty good for around a week, then have what I think might be hypo symptoms again. However, I also am having breathlessness problems, along with feeling overwhelmingly tired and achey in the afternoons. Both high and low symptoms again. Wish I could find a balance here! Arlene -----Original Message----- From: Alison <moocher@...> hyperthyroidism <hyperthyroidism > Date: Thursday, November 08, 2001 9:08 AM Subject: Re: Unexpected results Hello Arlene Oddly enough I have the name Houghton in my family tree, from when the Alison family lived in Park Hall in Lancashire. We may be related... Thanks for the tips on meditation. I'm trying again with a candle behind a geode (or half a geode) of blue crystal which is supposed to be especially beneficial for thyroid and creativity. Off to T'ai chi tonight although it's turned really cold here and it's not so appealing to leave the house in the cold and dark to do this in a draughty hall. But I'll still go - I expect the circulation of energy will keep me warm. Hope you're having a wonderful holiday. Take care, Re: Unexpected results Hello Arlene ***you wrote:So good hearing from you, and darn, I see you are in the UK, so you are definitely not right around the corner from me, so we could have a cup of tea from time to time together...(anywhere near Hartley Wintney? - cousins there) ***We'll just have to make do with cyber cups of tea. I'm ashamed to say that I've never heard of Hartley Wintney - whereabouts is it? I understand completely about freelance work, since I had been a potter/photographer before this diagnosis, though I have taken some time for myself to heal, and so I have not been doing shows or stressing out over gallery pieces lately. ***That's interesting. I'm a freelance writer of all kinds of things - the recent work was medical writing. But I used to earn a living as an artist. Meditation: Yes! Of all my therapies, this has truly been the most helpful of all. I began meditation years and years ago, majoring in transpersonal (spiritual) psychology, but had let my "practice" get pretty rusty. Before my Graves' diagnosis, when my emotions were all over the map and I could not relax, no matter what, I knew I needed hypnosis and began seeing a clinical hypnotherapist, who is also a family therapist. She makes a new "guided visualization" tape for me each month, depending on what I need the most at that time. I have learned how to let go of lots of my emotional baggage, so that I can get into an "altered" state, that of total focused relaxation. I think this is why, along with naturopathic care, I went from hyper to hypo so quickly. You could buy visualization tapes, also, but it might help you to join an ongoing meditation group (usually these are free). Definitely good for healing people with Graves', since this is so stress-related. ***It certainly sounds like you've mastered the art of meditation. I've been to a few classes - not free though - perhaps I went to the wrong place - but could not work out just exactly what it was I was supposed to be aiming at. However, I've also taken up t'ai chi and now that we're several weeks into the course he's talking of meditation that goes with that, which I wasn't expecting, so maybe I'll get the expertise from him. As far as what I ingest vs. what goes out and how it goes out (constipation) - boy, nothing I eat seems to make a difference. The only thing which seems to matter is whether my thyroid is in some kind of balance. Interestingly, my older sister who had Graves' 25 years ago (very very extreme case), was also constipated during this time. So, there must be something in our constitution. This is the only time in my life when I had this problem! I eat so much bulk (two green salads a day, grape nuts for breakfast, prunes, lots of fruit, and on and on, including a minimum of 8 glasses of water per day! Nothing mattered, except my thyroid levels! I seem to be on the right track now though, being down to 25 mg. of PTU per day, and closer to normal levels on my free T4 and TSH. ***This is great news!!! I do have a juicer, and when I get back from Yosemite next week (going there on Saturday), I will try making some fresh juice, though I buy it here, and it hasn't seemed to make any difference so far, but thanks. ***Have a wonderful time! Sounds like a lovely place. I know what you mean about taking a vacation from the obsession. When I go away from here, for any reason, and am around people more (I work from home also), I forget some of these problems and realize that I really am better off than when I sit home and worry about this stuff. I guess I had never had to do this before, in my lifetime, so perhaps this is the reason for the obsession too, as well as not trusting my life in my doctor's hands. ***I think there's also an element of shock after diagnosis which goes completely unrecognised, too. There's also an element of acknowledging that one's body had let us down in a way and so we lose confidence. All these things - and so many more, including the panic attack type feelings etc - take their toll and help to lead to obsession. We're still a bit stunned by it, I reckon. Let's see - you also asked how my visit with the endocrinologist went. Yes, I do believe I posted on here how that visit went. Before I saw the endo, I had gone from hyper to hypo and was feeling very very ill. I was falling asleep by 12 noon, my temperature was around 96, I had headaches every morning, etc. But by the time I saw the endo, I had gone down from 300 mg. to 50 mg. PTU and was beginning to feel much better. The month before, my TSH was close to 20 and my free T4 was .42. By the time I saw the endo, my free T4 had gone to .074 (still hypo slightly) and my TSH was 4.46. However, for some reason, he still wanted me to stay on 50 mg. of PTU. Thank you, once again, to all on this wonderful list! I saw people writing about how endocrinologists sometimes tend to keep people on too high doses, for too long. My GP said I could go off PTU altogether, when I went in to see her for my women's exam. She didn't understand why the endo wanted to keep me on 50 mg. Well, so there we had two different opinions amongst the experts. Then, Elaine and wrote about TSI levels being the best indicator for successful remission, so it got me a little worried about going off this PTU altogether. However, I was beginning to feel horrible again, with hypo symptoms - so I compromised and went down to 25 mg. PTU by myself, since I am not scheduled to have another blood test for around 3-4 more weeks. My GP says the best indication of my thyroid hormone is "how I feel" and the endo says the only indication is blood tests. Interesting...my naturopath - oh well, that is another story completely. In the meantime, I am going broke from paying for all these medical procedures, going nuts from having to go from one appointment to another, and , no wonder I am obsessed! LOL ***It's the worry that there might be something we could know about it, that we don't know about it, that may just fix it for us. On the other hand, if we end up feeling empowered, taking control of our own health and knowledgable enough to know what's best for us, then maybe there's nothing wrong with the obsession bit while it lasts. ***Take care, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 14, 2001 Report Share Posted November 14, 2001 Hi Donna, I don't believe it is the supplementation, but that I am still taking too much PTU. I think I should be totally off the stuff, since I began having all these horrible symptoms when I did go hypo. But my endo (who I fought long and hard to finally be able to get!) wants me to stay on more PTU than I think I need. OK, my supplements: A-C-E-(Bs I have problems with, so take in the form of my food), Calcium, Magnesium. In addition, I see a naturopath, so have tinctures and homeopathic supplements from her, too. Something called Immugen and I had been taking the tincture with bugleweed, etc. However, since I am sure I am hypo, I stopped the bugleweed, since it was making me more hypo. I also am on some kind of homeopathic remedy for the pituary gland. I tried just two days ago going off the PTU completely, but had more palpitations, and they are symptoms of hyper, along with the breathlessness, which is what scares me. I think I should go off, then I get these hyper symptoms, and go back on the PTU and then I am feeling hypo. Enough to make me go crazy here. I am definitely feeling MUCH better than when I was really hypo, just two months ago, from too much PTU. I had gone down from 300 mg. 250, 200, 150, 100, and then 50 (and now 25) in around two-three months. But now I have been on 25 for around two weeks. Interestingly, I will feel terrific when I go down on meds for around one week, then as my body must be getting acclimated to the new dosage, I will begin to feel yukky again. I don't think it is my supplementation, but the amounts of PTU in my body...and my need to get off this horrible stuff. I have a blood test in around two weeks, so I can give the endo proof that I am still hypo and have him approve my going off the stuff completely - though I really wish I could have them OK some kind of tests for those TSI antibodies! Arlene Re: Unexpected results Hello Arlene I don't know much about it actually - genealogy is one of those things I'd like to take up when I don't spend so much time earning a living. All I know is that the connection between the Alison family and the Houghton family has to do with Park Hall, Chorley, Lancashire which was the family home. I'm sure the t'ai chi is helping to make me feel better overall. The difficulty is that it's easy to blame everything on to this condition and it may not be down to this condition at all. For example, I have no idea if I feel tired just because I feel tired - which is possible anyway because I usually do when the evenings first get very cold after getting dark - or whether I may be a bit hypo and may be it's time to lessen the carbimazole. How to tell?? Also, of course, now I need to know if there's still any antibodies floating around if I'm going to lower the dose. I see the endo tomorrow so will see if he has anything useful to say. Re: Unexpected results Hello Arlene ***you wrote:So good hearing from you, and darn, I see you are in the UK, so you are definitely not right around the corner from me, so we could have a cup of tea from time to time together...(anywhere near Hartley Wintney? - cousins there) ***We'll just have to make do with cyber cups of tea. I'm ashamed to say that I've never heard of Hartley Wintney - whereabouts is it? I understand completely about freelance work, since I had been a potter/photographer before this diagnosis, though I have taken some time for myself to heal, and so I have not been doing shows or stressing out over gallery pieces lately. ***That's interesting. I'm a freelance writer of all kinds of things - the recent work was medical writing. But I used to earn a living as an artist. Meditation: Yes! Of all my therapies, this has truly been the most helpful of all. I began meditation years and years ago, majoring in transpersonal (spiritual) psychology, but had let my " practice " get pretty rusty. Before my Graves' diagnosis, when my emotions were all over the map and I could not relax, no matter what, I knew I needed hypnosis and began seeing a clinical hypnotherapist, who is also a family therapist. She makes a new " guided visualization " tape for me each month, depending on what I need the most at that time. I have learned how to let go of lots of my emotional baggage, so that I can get into an " altered " state, that of total focused relaxation. I think this is why, along with naturopathic care, I went from hyper to hypo so quickly. You could buy visualization tapes, also, but it might help you to join an ongoing meditation group (usually these are free). Definitely good for healing people with Graves', since this is so stress-related. ***It certainly sounds like you've mastered the art of meditation. I've been to a few classes - not free though - perhaps I went to the wrong place - but could not work out just exactly what it was I was supposed to be aiming at. However, I've also taken up t'ai chi and now that we're several weeks into the course he's talking of meditation that goes with that, which I wasn't expecting, so maybe I'll get the expertise from him. As far as what I ingest vs. what goes out and how it goes out (constipation) - boy, nothing I eat seems to make a difference. The only thing which seems to matter is whether my thyroid is in some kind of balance. Interestingly, my older sister who had Graves' 25 years ago (very very extreme case), was also constipated during this time. So, there must be something in our constitution. This is the only time in my life when I had this problem! I eat so much bulk (two green salads a day, grape nuts for breakfast, prunes, lots of fruit, and on and on, including a minimum of 8 glasses of water per day! Nothing mattered, except my thyroid levels! I seem to be on the right track now though, being down to 25 mg. of PTU per day, and closer to normal levels on my free T4 and TSH. ***This is great news!!! I do have a juicer, and when I get back from Yosemite next week (going there on Saturday), I will try making some fresh juice, though I buy it here, and it hasn't seemed to make any difference so far, but thanks. ***Have a wonderful time! Sounds like a lovely place. I know what you mean about taking a vacation from the obsession. When I go away from here, for any reason, and am around people more (I work from home also), I forget some of these problems and realize that I really am better off than when I sit home and worry about this stuff. I guess I had never had to do this before, in my lifetime, so perhaps this is the reason for the obsession too, as well as not trusting my life in my doctor's hands. ***I think there's also an element of shock after diagnosis which goes completely unrecognised, too. There's also an element of acknowledging that one's body had let us down in a way and so we lose confidence. All these things - and so many more, including the panic attack type feelings etc - take their toll and help to lead to obsession. We're still a bit stunned by it, I reckon. Let's see - you also asked how my visit with the endocrinologist went. Yes, I do believe I posted on here how that visit went. Before I saw the endo, I had gone from hyper to hypo and was feeling very very ill. I was falling asleep by 12 noon, my temperature was around 96, I had headaches every morning, etc. But by the time I saw the endo, I had gone down from 300 mg. to 50 mg. PTU and was beginning to feel much better. The month before, my TSH was close to 20 and my free T4 was .42. By the time I saw the endo, my free T4 had gone to .074 (still hypo slightly) and my TSH was 4.46. However, for some reason, he still wanted me to stay on 50 mg. of PTU. Thank you, once again, to all on this wonderful list! I saw people writing about how endocrinologists sometimes tend to keep people on too high doses, for too long. My GP said I could go off PTU altogether, when I went in to see her for my women's exam. She didn't understand why the endo wanted to keep me on 50 mg. Well, so there we had two different opinions amongst the experts. Then, Elaine and wrote about TSI levels being the best indicator for successful remission, so it got me a little worried about going off this PTU altogether. However, I was beginning to feel horrible again, with hypo symptoms - so I compromised and went down to 25 mg. PTU by myself, since I am not scheduled to have another blood test for around 3-4 more weeks. My GP says the best indication of my thyroid hormone is " how I feel " and the endo says the only indication is blood tests. Interesting...my naturopath - oh well, that is another story completely. In the meantime, I am going broke from paying for all these medical procedures, going nuts from having to go from one appointment to another, and , no wonder I am obsessed! LOL ***It's the worry that there might be something we could know about it, that we don't know about it, that may just fix it for us. On the other hand, if we end up feeling empowered, taking control of our own health and knowledgable enough to know what's best for us, then maybe there's nothing wrong with the obsession bit while it lasts. ***Take care, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 14, 2001 Report Share Posted November 14, 2001 Okay, this is a little eerie. LOL! I guess we have more in common than we thought, AntJoan. My mom had a heart murmer and so do both my brothers, I believe. As does one of my sons. All functional. Mine scared me for a long time; before I realized that I had thyroidism. I really think that the thyroidism has an affect on it. The reason that there's a murmer, the docs tell me, is that the valves in your heart aren't working exactly the way they should. They might open too slowly or they might just be too small. So the blood rushes through at a faster speed when it does go through and the sound can be heard by a stethoscope. Thus the term, murmer. I just had a ultrasound done on mine a month or so ago. My doctor swore that I didn't have a murmer at all when I went in to see him. I just wanted him to write a note for my dentist to put in my file so that he had documentation showing that I didn't need antibiotics before any procedures. Then he told me I didn't have a heart murmer! LOL! So I explained to him that I know I do have one because every now and then my heart will feel like it's actually stopped. It will wait a beat or two and then BLAM!! Off we go again after a really hard beat. It's been like that forever; don't tell me there's no murmer!! So he scheduled the ultrasound. I went and everything was fine; it's functional and it IS a murmer! No danger and no restrictions. Nothing ever really held me back for long, anyway. Not until I was in my 30's at least! LOL! Donna http://trak.to/life www.reliv.com Take control of your health! AntJoan@... wrote: In a message dated 11/14/2001 1:03:48 PM Eastern Standard Time, roberts5@... writes: I've got a functional heart murmer (since birth, probably), so it's hard for me to tell if I ever had palpitations from thyroidism, Oh my God, Donna, I can't believe this! I just wrote to ask about a functional heart murmur, and here you are! I must have written this just a few minutes before you did. Can the murmur cause palpitations? Could it be related to the Graves? Are there any restrictions in your life? Thanks in advance for any info, AntJoan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 14, 2001 Report Share Posted November 14, 2001 Geez, Arlene. You're taking lots of stuff. How do you keep your brain from overloading and just eating anything and everything, supplement-wise, just to make sure you get what you need? LOL! Now THAT sounds like something I'd do! My eyes would be going in circles! Donna http://trak.to/life www.reliv.com Take control of your health! Arlene Houghton wrote: Hi Donna,I don't believe it is the supplementation, but that I am still taking too much PTU. I think I should be totally off the stuff, since I began having all these horrible symptoms when I did go hypo. But my endo (who I fought long and hard to finally be able to get!) wants me to stay on more PTU than I think I need.OK, my supplements: A-C-E-(Bs I have problems with, so take in the form of my food), Calcium, Magnesium.In addition, I see a naturopath, so have tinctures and homeopathic supplements from her, too. Something called Immugen and I had been taking the tincture with bugleweed, etc. However, since I am sure I am hypo, I stopped the bugleweed, since it was making me more hypo. I also am on some kind of homeopathic remedy for the pituary gland. I tried just two days ago going off the PTU completely, but had more palpitations, and they are symptoms of hyper, along with the breathlessness, which is what scares me. I think I should go off, then I get these hyper symptoms, and go back on the PTU and then I am feeling hypo. Enough to make me go crazy here. I am definitely feeling MUCH better than when I was really hypo, just two months ago, from too much PTU. I had gone down from 300 mg. 250, 200, 150, 100, and then 50 (and now 25) in around two-three months. But now I have been on 25 for around two weeks. Interestingly, I will feel terrific when I go down on meds for around one week, then as my body must be getting acclimated to the new dosage, I will begin to feel yukky again. I don't think it is my supplementation, but the amounts of PTU in my body...and my need to get off this horrible stuff. I have a blood test in around two weeks, so I can give the endo proof that I am still hypo and have him approve my going off the stuff completely - though I really wish I could have them OK some kind of tests for those TSI antibodies! Arlene -----Original Message----- From: Donna <roberts5@...> hyperthyroidism <hyperthyroidism > Date: Wednesday, November 14, 2001 10:02 AM Subject: Re: Unexpected results Yup. I've been there. Very tired, palpitations, breathlessness. Not much anymore, but I remember. Definitely hypo symptoms. My energy levels are great now. I've got a functional heart murmer (since birth, probably), so it's hard for me to tell if I ever had palpitations from thyroidism, so I'm guessing here. But the fact that I don't get them much anymore tells me that it was from thyroidism. What kinds of supplements are you taking, Arlene? They don't seem to be doing a lot for you right now. Donna http://trak.to/life www.reliv.com Take control of your health! Arlene Houghton wrote: Hi ,My husband's cousin, who lives near Heathrow says that probably we are not related, since the Lancashire Houghton's have so far been found to be "not related", but we can never tell... I have not written because my energy levels have been so low again. I am finding this Graves' disease physically & emotionally up and down, and I truly wish it could be stabilized! Right now I am scheduled for another blood test in around 2 weeks and then a visit with the endo the following week; however, it is all the time between tests and visits that have me concerned. Yes, do we follow what the doctors say and stay at the levels of medication for two months when we KNOW we don't feel well? Do we play around with the medication, and have them be angry with us, but it is OUR bodies? Yes, this tiredness you talked about... Sometimes I will be sitting at work on the computer and feel like I am going to literally fall over, which I had never felt before when I was hyper. Is this because I am hypo or more normal and not used to it? Or menopause? Or something else? What did your endo say this time? It will be good to hear about your visit, since we are pretty much at about the same place in our dis-ease! I am now using 25 mg. PTU per day, but sometimes have palpitations and this weird breathlessness (doesn't seem to be the same kind as when I was really hyper). Arlene -----Original Message----- From: Alison <moocher@...> hyperthyroidism <hyperthyroidism > Date: Monday, November 12, 2001 6:22 AM Subject: Re: Unexpected results Hello Arlene I don't know much about it actually - genealogy is one of those things I'd like to take up when I don't spend so much time earning a living. All I know is that the connection between the Alison family and the Houghton family has to do with Park Hall, Chorley, Lancashire which was the family home. I'm sure the t'ai chi is helping to make me feel better overall. The difficulty is that it's easy to blame everything on to this condition and it may not be down to this condition at all. For example, I have no idea if I feel tired just because I feel tired - which is possible anyway because I usually do when the evenings first get very cold after getting dark - or whether I may be a bit hypo and may be it's time to lessen the carbimazole. How to tell?? Also, of course, now I need to know if there's still any antibodies floating around if I'm going to lower the dose. I see the endo tomorrow so will see if he has anything useful to say. Re: Unexpected results Hello Arlene ***you wrote:So good hearing from you, and darn, I see you are in the UK, so you are definitely not right around the corner from me, so we could have a cup of tea from time to time together...(anywhere near Hartley Wintney? - cousins there) ***We'll just have to make do with cyber cups of tea. I'm ashamed to say that I've never heard of Hartley Wintney - whereabouts is it? I understand completely about freelance work, since I had been a potter/photographer before this diagnosis, though I have taken some time for myself to heal, and so I have not been doing shows or stressing out over gallery pieces lately. ***That's interesting. I'm a freelance writer of all kinds of things - the recent work was medical writing. But I used to earn a living as an artist. Meditation: Yes! Of all my therapies, this has truly been the most helpful of all. I began meditation years and years ago, majoring in transpersonal (spiritual) psychology, but had let my "practice" get pretty rusty. Before my Graves' diagnosis, when my emotions were all over the map and I could not relax, no matter what, I knew I needed hypnosis and began seeing a clinical hypnotherapist, who is also a family therapist. She makes a new "guided visualization" tape for me each month, depending on what I need the most at that time. I have learned how to let go of lots of my emotional baggage, so that I can get into an "altered" state, that of total focused relaxation. I think this is why, along with naturopathic care, I went from hyper to hypo so quickly. You could buy visualization tapes, also, but it might help you to join an ongoing meditation group (usually these are free). Definitely good for healing people with Graves', since this is so stress-related. ***It certainly sounds like you've mastered the art of meditation. I've been to a few classes - not free though - perhaps I went to the wrong place - but could not work out just exactly what it was I was supposed to be aiming at. However, I've also taken up t'ai chi and now that we're several weeks into the course he's talking of meditation that goes with that, which I wasn't expecting, so maybe I'll get the expertise from him. As far as what I ingest vs. what goes out and how it goes out (constipation) - boy, nothing I eat seems to make a difference. The only thing which seems to matter is whether my thyroid is in some kind of balance. Interestingly, my older sister who had Graves' 25 years ago (very very extreme case), was also constipated during this time. So, there must be something in our constitution. This is the only time in my life when I had this problem! I eat so much bulk (two green salads a day, grape nuts for breakfast, prunes, lots of fruit, and on and on, including a minimum of 8 glasses of water per day! Nothing mattered, except my thyroid levels! I seem to be on the right track now though, being down to 25 mg. of PTU per day, and closer to normal levels on my free T4 and TSH. ***This is great news!!! I do have a juicer, and when I get back from Yosemite next week (going there on Saturday), I will try making some fresh juice, though I buy it here, and it hasn't seemed to make any difference so far, but thanks. ***Have a wonderful time! Sounds like a lovely place. I know what you mean about taking a vacation from the obsession. When I go away from here, for any reason, and am around people more (I work from home also), I forget some of these problems and realize that I really am better off than when I sit home and worry about this stuff. I guess I had never had to do this before, in my lifetime, so perhaps this is the reason for the obsession too, as well as not trusting my life in my doctor's hands. ***I think there's also an element of shock after diagnosis which goes completely unrecognised, too. There's also an element of acknowledging that one's body had let us down in a way and so we lose confidence. All these things - and so many more, including the panic attack type feelings etc - take their toll and help to lead to obsession. We're still a bit stunned by it, I reckon. Let's see - you also asked how my visit with the endocrinologist went. Yes, I do believe I posted on here how that visit went. Before I saw the endo, I had gone from hyper to hypo and was feeling very very ill. I was falling asleep by 12 noon, my temperature was around 96, I had headaches every morning, etc. But by the time I saw the endo, I had gone down from 300 mg. to 50 mg. PTU and was beginning to feel much better. The month before, my TSH was close to 20 and my free T4 was .42. By the time I saw the endo, my free T4 had gone to .074 (still hypo slightly) and my TSH was 4.46. However, for some reason, he still wanted me to stay on 50 mg. of PTU. Thank you, once again, to all on this wonderful list! I saw people writing about how endocrinologists sometimes tend to keep people on too high doses, for too long. My GP said I could go off PTU altogether, when I went in to see her for my women's exam. She didn't understand why the endo wanted to keep me on 50 mg. Well, so there we had two different opinions amongst the experts. Then, Elaine and wrote about TSI levels being the best indicator for successful remission, so it got me a little worried about going off this PTU altogether. However, I was beginning to feel horrible again, with hypo symptoms - so I compromised and went down to 25 mg. PTU by myself, since I am not scheduled to have another blood test for around 3-4 more weeks. My GP says the best indication of my thyroid hormone is "how I feel" and the endo says the only indication is blood tests. Interesting...my naturopath - oh well, that is another story completely. In the meantime, I am going broke from paying for all these medical procedures, going nuts from having to go from one appointment to another, and , no wonder I am obsessed! LOL ***It's the worry that there might be something we could know about it, that we don't know about it, that may just fix it for us. On the other hand, if we end up feeling empowered, taking control of our own health and knowledgable enough to know what's best for us, then maybe there's nothing wrong with the obsession bit while it lasts. ***Take care, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 14, 2001 Report Share Posted November 14, 2001 Donna, I had to make a list for myself every day. I cannot tolerate multiple vitamins, since I have so many allergy problems, and have had to add things one at a time. It's been pretty easy, actually: just the antioxidants, then the Calcium-Magnesium. Then all the stuff from the naturopath. Before, I had lots more things from the naturopath, and lots of different procedures I had to do all day. It was taking me all day to do all this stuff. I am actually down to very little now! (thank goodness!) Sometimes, when I am feeling really bad, I eliminate everything and start all over again. But I felt I particularly needed all those antioxidants and that calcium-magnesium, because I am also post-menopausal. Went through menopause and Graves' at exactly the same time. I also have a theory that Graves' is tied in closely to magnesium, not just copper. When I was doing research, I found that magnesium can STOP diarrhea. OK, seems like most of you hypers have this problem. Then I figured, I seem to be just opposite people in this respect, let me try this out. For a while, I had taken a supplement with Cal-Mag-Zinc, until I found Zinc was a no-no for us. So, at this point, I stopped my Calcium totally for a while, and was trying to eat more yogurt, until I found out that dairy had lots of iodine. Then I really wanted to get back to using calcium because I am post-menopausal. So, I included the Calcium again, but had bad constipation problems still. Then I read about the magnesium and thought that since I am opposite of you guys, I would go back to having this with the calcium and did research to find that it was a 2:1 ratio, with Calcium being the 2. So, I started magnesium and it has been helping me lots. Just thought I would share this, too. And Donna, btw, I do go in circles! Lots! LOL, Arlene in Northern California (one hour north of San Francisco, in wine country) Re: Unexpected results Hello Arlene I don't know much about it actually - genealogy is one of those things I'd like to take up when I don't spend so much time earning a living. All I know is that the connection between the Alison family and the Houghton family has to do with Park Hall, Chorley, Lancashire which was the family home. I'm sure the t'ai chi is helping to make me feel better overall. The difficulty is that it's easy to blame everything on to this condition and it may not be down to this condition at all. For example, I have no idea if I feel tired just because I feel tired - which is possible anyway because I usually do when the evenings first get very cold after getting dark - or whether I may be a bit hypo and may be it's time to lessen the carbimazole. How to tell?? Also, of course, now I need to know if there's still any antibodies floating around if I'm going to lower the dose. I see the endo tomorrow so will see if he has anything useful to say. Re: Unexpected results Hello Arlene ***you wrote:So good hearing from you, and darn, I see you are in the UK, so you are definitely not right around the corner from me, so we could have a cup of tea from time to time together...(anywhere near Hartley Wintney? - cousins there) ***We'll just have to make do with cyber cups of tea. I'm ashamed to say that I've never heard of Hartley Wintney - whereabouts is it? I understand completely about freelance work, since I had been a potter/photographer before this diagnosis, though I have taken some time for myself to heal, and so I have not been doing shows or stressing out over gallery pieces lately. ***That's interesting. I'm a freelance writer of all kinds of things - the recent work was medical writing. But I used to earn a living as an artist. Meditation: Yes! Of all my therapies, this has truly been the most helpful of all. I began meditation years and years ago, majoring in transpersonal (spiritual) psychology, but had let my " practice " get pretty rusty. Before my Graves' diagnosis, when my emotions were all over the map and I could not relax, no matter what, I knew I needed hypnosis and began seeing a clinical hypnotherapist, who is also a family therapist. She makes a new " guided visualization " tape for me each month, depending on what I need the most at that time. I have learned how to let go of lots of my emotional baggage, so that I can get into an " altered " state, that of total focused relaxation. I think this is why, along with naturopathic care, I went from hyper to hypo so quickly. You could buy visualization tapes, also, but it might help you to join an ongoing meditation group (usually these are free). Definitely good for healing people with Graves', since this is so stress-related. ***It certainly sounds like you've mastered the art of meditation. I've been to a few classes - not free though - perhaps I went to the wrong place - but could not work out just exactly what it was I was supposed to be aiming at. However, I've also taken up t'ai chi and now that we're several weeks into the course he's talking of meditation that goes with that, which I wasn't expecting, so maybe I'll get the expertise from him. As far as what I ingest vs. what goes out and how it goes out (constipation) - boy, nothing I eat seems to make a difference. The only thing which seems to matter is whether my thyroid is in some kind of balance. Interestingly, my older sister who had Graves' 25 years ago (very very extreme case), was also constipated during this time. So, there must be something in our constitution. This is the only time in my life when I had this problem! I eat so much bulk (two green salads a day, grape nuts for breakfast, prunes, lots of fruit, and on and on, including a minimum of 8 glasses of water per day! Nothing mattered, except my thyroid levels! I seem to be on the right track now though, being down to 25 mg. of PTU per day, and closer to normal levels on my free T4 and TSH. ***This is great news!!! I do have a juicer, and when I get back from Yosemite next week (going there on Saturday), I will try making some fresh juice, though I buy it here, and it hasn't seemed to make any difference so far, but thanks. ***Have a wonderful time! Sounds like a lovely place. I know what you mean about taking a vacation from the obsession. When I go away from here, for any reason, and am around people more (I work from home also), I forget some of these problems and realize that I really am better off than when I sit home and worry about this stuff. I guess I had never had to do this before, in my lifetime, so perhaps this is the reason for the obsession too, as well as not trusting my life in my doctor's hands. ***I think there's also an element of shock after diagnosis which goes completely unrecognised, too. There's also an element of acknowledging that one's body had let us down in a way and so we lose confidence. All these things - and so many more, including the panic attack type feelings etc - take their toll and help to lead to obsession. We're still a bit stunned by it, I reckon. Let's see - you also asked how my visit with the endocrinologist went. Yes, I do believe I posted on here how that visit went. Before I saw the endo, I had gone from hyper to hypo and was feeling very very ill. I was falling asleep by 12 noon, my temperature was around 96, I had headaches every morning, etc. But by the time I saw the endo, I had gone down from 300 mg. to 50 mg. PTU and was beginning to feel much better. The month before, my TSH was close to 20 and my free T4 was .42. By the time I saw the endo, my free T4 had gone to .074 (still hypo slightly) and my TSH was 4.46. However, for some reason, he still wanted me to stay on 50 mg. of PTU. Thank you, once again, to all on this wonderful list! I saw people writing about how endocrinologists sometimes tend to keep people on too high doses, for too long. My GP said I could go off PTU altogether, when I went in to see her for my women's exam. She didn't understand why the endo wanted to keep me on 50 mg. Well, so there we had two different opinions amongst the experts. Then, Elaine and wrote about TSI levels being the best indicator for successful remission, so it got me a little worried about going off this PTU altogether. However, I was beginning to feel horrible again, with hypo symptoms - so I compromised and went down to 25 mg. PTU by myself, since I am not scheduled to have another blood test for around 3-4 more weeks. My GP says the best indication of my thyroid hormone is " how I feel " and the endo says the only indication is blood tests. Interesting...my naturopath - oh well, that is another story completely. In the meantime, I am going broke from paying for all these medical procedures, going nuts from having to go from one appointment to another, and , no wonder I am obsessed! LOL ***It's the worry that there might be something we could know about it, that we don't know about it, that may just fix it for us. On the other hand, if we end up feeling empowered, taking control of our own health and knowledgable enough to know what's best for us, then maybe there's nothing wrong with the obsession bit while it lasts. ***Take care, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 26, 2001 Report Share Posted November 26, 2001 Hello Arlene I think one of the worst things now is waking up in the night - just suddenly and for no apparent reason - and then, of course, I want to fall asleep in the morning when I really need to get up. I think this is something to do with this condition in some way, but how to combat it without taking yet more drugs is difficult to work out. I don't have the breathlessness anymore, but it only went away in the last few weeks so it appears to be one of those symptoms that lags behind the others. However, I do still have fairly regular, but not so frequent heart disturbances. Before all this my doctor was worried about a supposed heart murmur that another consultant reckoned he heard, although no one else heard it - so I'm scheduled to see a cardiologist in December. I saw the endo but nothing earth-shattering ensued. He sees me as being on the carbimazole for at least 18 months without attempting to come off it, so if nothing else happens it's a case of taking the pills and waiting. Hope you're feeling better now. Re: Unexpected results Hi , My husband's cousin, who lives near Heathrow says that probably we are not related, since the Lancashire Houghton's have so far been found to be "not related", but we can never tell... I have not written because my energy levels have been so low again. I am finding this Graves' disease physically & emotionally up and down, and I truly wish it could be stabilized! Right now I am scheduled for another blood test in around 2 weeks and then a visit with the endo the following week; however, it is all the time between tests and visits that have me concerned. Yes, do we follow what the doctors say and stay at the levels of medication for two months when we KNOW we don't feel well? Do we play around with the medication, and have them be angry with us, but it is OUR bodies? Yes, this tiredness you talked about... Sometimes I will be sitting at work on the computer and feel like I am going to literally fall over, which I had never felt before when I was hyper. Is this because I am hypo or more normal and not used to it? Or menopause? Or something else? What did your endo say this time? It will be good to hear about your visit, since we are pretty much at about the same place in our dis-ease! I am now using 25 mg. PTU per day, but sometimes have palpitations and this weird breathlessness (doesn't seem to be the same kind as when I was really hyper). Arlene Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 26, 2001 Report Share Posted November 26, 2001 Hi , We are very much at the same place. I too had terrible, horrible sleep problems. For those of you who had asked about problems with our hormones, prior to my periods, (back when I had them just last year) I always had sleeplessness worse for the week before I was due. What would happen is that I would awaken around 2-3 a.m. and then not be able to get back to sleep again and by mid-day I was wasted! After I went on PTU, I seemed to sleep somewhat better. Then I would awaken around 3-4 a.m. and not be quite so drousy all day. Last month I went on estrogen-progesterone. Now, I don't need to get up so many times to go to the bathroom (I think the estrogen is supposed to help with this, and so far, so good). Now, I seem to wake up closer to 4:30-5 a.m., which is MUCH better. I can just about function like a normal person for most of the day, though I am pretty tired by 9 p.m. Going out at night, like most normal people, is a challenge! I am still on 25 mg. of PTU and my breathlessness and palpitations decreased when I went back onto my tincture of bugleweed, etc. I just went off this again, two days ago, because this will make me more hypo. The naturopath has another tincture she has prepared for me, but I need to speak with her and ask her for one that would help me with the palpitations and breathlessness. I noticed that when I exert myself alot, I still get that KaBoom in my heart, which scares me. Not like the palpitations, just a big thump. I exercise on my treadmill every day, so I am used to some exertion, but when it is more than this (like walking a huge hill), then I get this THUMP! I have my blood test either today (the office was very crowded) or tomorrow and will probably get the results by Wednesday or Thursday, and then I see my endo Dec. 5th, probably around the time you are seeing the cardiologist. Good luck to you and it seems you got some good responses about the possible murmur. I think I had one when I was pregnant (many many moons ago!). Good luck to you and hope you are also feeling well, Arlene PS: I am DEFINITELY feeling much better. The worst I felt was when I was really hypo and still on a high dose of PTU! Whew! I never want to go through that again. My best indicator is my temperture. When it is very low, then I seem to be hypo. Re: Unexpected results Hello Arlene I think one of the worst things now is waking up in the night - just suddenly and for no apparent reason - and then, of course, I want to fall asleep in the morning when I really need to get up. I think this is something to do with this condition in some way, but how to combat it without taking yet more drugs is difficult to work out. I don't have the breathlessness anymore, but it only went away in the last few weeks so it appears to be one of those symptoms that lags behind the others. However, I do still have fairly regular, but not so frequent heart disturbances. Before all this my doctor was worried about a supposed heart murmur that another consultant reckoned he heard, although no one else heard it - so I'm scheduled to see a cardiologist in December. I saw the endo but nothing earth-shattering ensued. He sees me as being on the carbimazole for at least 18 months without attempting to come off it, so if nothing else happens it's a case of taking the pills and waiting. Hope you're feeling better now. Re: Unexpected results Hi , My husband's cousin, who lives near Heathrow says that probably we are not related, since the Lancashire Houghton's have so far been found to be " not related " , but we can never tell... I have not written because my energy levels have been so low again. I am finding this Graves' disease physically & emotionally up and down, and I truly wish it could be stabilized! Right now I am scheduled for another blood test in around 2 weeks and then a visit with the endo the following week; however, it is all the time between tests and visits that have me concerned. Yes, do we follow what the doctors say and stay at the levels of medication for two months when we KNOW we don't feel well? Do we play around with the medication, and have them be angry with us, but it is OUR bodies? Yes, this tiredness you talked about... Sometimes I will be sitting at work on the computer and feel like I am going to literally fall over, which I had never felt before when I was hyper. Is this because I am hypo or more normal and not used to it? Or menopause? Or something else? What did your endo say this time? It will be good to hear about your visit, since we are pretty much at about the same place in our dis-ease! I am now using 25 mg. PTU per day, but sometimes have palpitations and this weird breathlessness (doesn't seem to be the same kind as when I was really hyper). Arlene Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 30, 2001 Report Share Posted November 30, 2001 Hello Arlene Yeah, the sleeplessness is horrible because then you start to worry about going to bed because of waking up and then I think that makes it worse. Actually, that's a good point - I wonder what we're all talking about here - someone says 'palpitations' but what exactly do we mean by that? I have times when my heart seems to suddenly do several beats too closely together and then I get other times when it literally seems to have jumped into my throat and is 'trilling' and then other times when it is a very big thump - the last one sounds a bit like yours. I wonder if these differences matter and if so, why? Do you think HRT is a good thing then? I gather that oestrogen binds with thyroid hormone in the blood and so may lessen it. Or something. I'm not wildly keen on the whole HRT thing but haven't worked out what to take to replace it. Maybe if I look further down the list of emails in my inbox I'll find out about your results... Take care, PS Do you have compulsive eating binges at all? Also - do you think that eating sugar makes everything worse, including the sleeplessness?? Re: Unexpected results Hi , My husband's cousin, who lives near Heathrow says that probably we are not related, since the Lancashire Houghton's have so far been found to be "not related", but we can never tell... I have not written because my energy levels have been so low again. I am finding this Graves' disease physically & emotionally up and down, and I truly wish it could be stabilized! Right now I am scheduled for another blood test in around 2 weeks and then a visit with the endo the following week; however, it is all the time between tests and visits that have me concerned. Yes, do we follow what the doctors say and stay at the levels of medication for two months when we KNOW we don't feel well? Do we play around with the medication, and have them be angry with us, but it is OUR bodies? Yes, this tiredness you talked about... Sometimes I will be sitting at work on the computer and feel like I am going to literally fall over, which I had never felt before when I was hyper. Is this because I am hypo or more normal and not used to it? Or menopause? Or something else? What did your endo say this time? It will be good to hear about your visit, since we are pretty much at about the same place in our dis-ease! I am now using 25 mg. PTU per day, but sometimes have palpitations and this weird breathlessness (doesn't seem to be the same kind as when I was really hyper). Arlene Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 1, 2001 Report Share Posted December 1, 2001 Dear , Lately, I am sleeping pretty well. Now am getting up around 5:30! Hallelujah! And yes, I do think this is a result of both being more in balance with my medications for Graves' and taking the HRT. I believe that I am one of those people who was somewhat low on estrogen for most of my life, and once I hit menopause, it became non-existent. Even the naturopath wanted me to be on natural estrogen, and one of the benefits I have found is that I don't have to wake up all night long to go the bathroom. A great side-benefit! As you know, I waited til 57 to be on this stuff, and resisted it like crazy. There are " estrogen dominant " people, however, who should not be on estrogen replacement. Elaine is right - we are all very very different and need to find out what works for each one of us. I have had ABSOLUTELY no bad reactions to it, so far (over one month on it now). No swelling breasts, no breakthrough bleeding, etc. I was worried about weight gain, but I am OK. I think for myself, I would differentiate between palpitations and that " Thump " of the heart I was talking about. The palpitations are a continuous " flutter " which feels like my heart is out of rhythm. The THUMP is more dramatic and very scary and I don't like it at all. This happens pretty infrequently, and sometimes when it has happened, it portends, or is the beginning of, a thyroid storm. This is why it is scary to me. I have not had a thyroid storm since I was on PTU, but I have had palpitations, and an occasional thump. Here's a question for the forum: The endo I went to said I had three or four choices of treatment. The first one being no treatment at all, and I know that my chance of spontaneous remission would be around 30%. However, he told me that he knew people who had had strokes from lack of treatment. Does anyone know if this is true? My friend who had a stroke says she doesn't see how this would be possible. Binge eating question: Yes, I have binged in my lifetime. Vitamin B really helps with this. Eating well also helps to take away the desire to binge, and dieting makes this worse, if you are denying yourself some kinds of foods which you then crave. I know that I got sick at the beginning of this whole mess by binging on chocolate, one of our worst no-nos. I also know for a fact that for me, sugar is an addiction, and when I am totally off the stuff I feel much much better. There are some theories that Graves' and autoimmunes are related to that candida problem which so many women have nowadays. Any form of sugar cannot be tolerated on this diet, from what I understand. For me, personally, I know I should work very hard to try to stay away from sugars and any kind of caffeine. And yes, I think they can be related to sleeplessness. On the other hand, getting your meds balanced may be just as big an issue. Hope the Tai Chi and meditation help with your sleep, and you might want to move your meditation around to right before you go to bed at night. I also take a hot tub at night too. (have one in my backyard - I'm a Californian after all ;~) And I make sure I have total darkness in my room, because even a little nightlight has been found to disturb sleep. And I don't eat anything after dinner, either. Sleep well! Arlene Re: Unexpected results Hello Arlene Yeah, the sleeplessness is horrible because then you start to worry about going to bed because of waking up and then I think that makes it worse. Actually, that's a good point - I wonder what we're all talking about here - someone says 'palpitations' but what exactly do we mean by that? I have times when my heart seems to suddenly do several beats too closely together and then I get other times when it literally seems to have jumped into my throat and is 'trilling' and then other times when it is a very big thump - the last one sounds a bit like yours. I wonder if these differences matter and if so, why? Do you think HRT is a good thing then? I gather that oestrogen binds with thyroid hormone in the blood and so may lessen it. Or something. I'm not wildly keen on the whole HRT thing but haven't worked out what to take to replace it. Maybe if I look further down the list of emails in my inbox I'll find out about your results... Take care, PS Do you have compulsive eating binges at all? Also - do you think that eating sugar makes everything worse, including the sleeplessness?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.