Re: Recovery Slow or Fast?

November 10, 1999

Hi Cate, My experience was that I had very specific memory problems while

hyper, especially noun retrival. You know, I would say please get me that

thingy over there on top of the- the- the- thing. Then when on tapazole, I

had less noun trouble, per se, but still felt fuzzy memory feelings. I

gradually had an increase in concentration and ability to seriously apply

myself to difficult theoretical and abstract thinking, but it wasn't until I

was off the tapazole that I began to feel as if it was truly my mind and

memory and that it was relatively trustworthy. Of course in the process I

have also aged....and am at that time of life where incremental changes can

manifest, (50 and premenopausal) but by and large I would say that the memory

functions are now intact.

Hope this some is encouragement to you. The tapazole dulling memory effects

were temporary and well worth the protection it gave me for the two and one

half years I took it in decreasing doses while my TSH rose, my hormones

stabilized in the euthyroid range and my goiter shrank.

Best wishes, Jeannette

November 10, 1999

I would classify that as good news and not-so-good news. Thanks for the scoop.

I have real specific memory losses too like I'll be in the middle of a sentence

and suddenly forget what I was

saying. I can't remember adjectives or expressions. The funniest situation was

when I was in a meeting. I was

trying to explain to my boss that if we didn't get funded quickly, we would lose

our team members. I wanted to say

that one woman was " pounding the pavement " (looking for another job). Instead

it came out that she was " walking the

streets " .

Sad part: she was in the room and turned bright red, meanwhile I just kept

stammering, trying to explain myself. I

finally remembered the correct expression 4 days later. At least we all

laughed. It could have turned out badly,

but she was very forgiving. She is hypo and understands this stuff.

Has anyone else noticed memory problems while on tapazole? Is PTU any better?

Cate

Xenoi@... wrote:

> From: Xenoi@...

>

> Hi Cate, My experience was that I had very specific memory problems while

> hyper, especially noun retrival. You know, I would say please get me that

> thingy over there on top of the- the- the- thing. Then when on tapazole, I

> had less noun trouble, per se, but still felt fuzzy memory feelings. I

> gradually had an increase in concentration and ability to seriously apply

> myself to difficult theoretical and abstract thinking, but it wasn't until I

> was off the tapazole that I began to feel as if it was truly my mind and

> memory and that it was relatively trustworthy. Of course in the process I

> have also aged....and am at that time of life where incremental changes can

> manifest, (50 and premenopausal) but by and large I would say that the memory

> functions are now intact.

> Hope this some is encouragement to you. The tapazole dulling memory effects

> were temporary and well worth the protection it gave me for the two and one

> half years I took it in decreasing doses while my TSH rose, my hormones

> stabilized in the euthyroid range and my goiter shrank.

> Best wishes, Jeannette

>

> > -------------------------------------

> The Graves' list is intended for informational purposes only and is not

intended to replace expert medical care.

> Please consult your doctor before changing or trying new treatments.

> ----------------------------------------

November 10, 1999

Cate,

I had the same memory problems while on PTU -- my thinking wasn't necessarily

horrible, it's just that I had to have a limited scope for my thoughts. By this

I mean, I used to sort of map out the entire scope of whatever I was writing,

either an article or paper or chapter, and while on PTU I found that I never

could quite *see* or *feel* that landscape the way I used to. I couldn't

remember enough of the details, complexities; all I could remember was what the

paragraph at hand was supposed to cover.

While on PTU my memory was worse than while hyper. I experienced a real period

of productivity and elation while hyper and really enjoyed it, till it started

slipping into tense, hysterical activity.

November 11, 1999

I have the same memory problems and retrival. Something like a computer

with not enough ram . It's there but it takes a long time to get out. I

do forget what I am talking about in the middle of a sentence. Until I

read 's email I didn't realize that the major trouble was with

nouns. I am not taking PTU or tapazol at the moment and am slightly

hyper. It could be just part of the disease.

November 11, 1999

Hi Cate-

Many people think that length of diagnosis has something to due with the

severity of Graves'. But my Graves' was considered severe and I didn't

have any symptoms at all until 6 months before diagnosis and those were

very mild. I passed out once while running (my pulse at that time was in

the mid-60s). I went to the doctor and he told me I was perfectly

healthy after a complete physical and blood workup.

I was never well post-RAI 12 years ago (I did OK on ATDs) but I had been

kept hypothyroid all those years even though my standard lab tests were

in the normal range. My doctor has increased and changed my medication

from T4 alone to T3/T4 and many, but not all, of my symptoms have

disappeared.

ATDs cause hypothyroidism too. Also, if your ATD dose isn't quite high

enough, you could still be mildly hyper. So you might want to check

what your siblings thyroid levels are or where yours were at when you

were healthy? My entire family's TSHs were in the low-normal range

while mine was kept at the mid-high to high normal range the entire time

after my thyroid was ablated.

It can't hurt to check.

Take care,

Utecht

Cate Heneghan wrote:

>

> Have studies shown that people who go longer without a diagnosis have a

> more difficult time stabilizing on medication? I'm not talking about

> the numbers on the blood work ups. I'm talking about patients'

> complaints.

>

> I'm wondering because I still have problems with memory and emotions

> eventhough I've been on Tapazole for 6 months. My blood work is fine,

> my heart has calmed down for the most part, but I still don't feel

> " right " .

>

> Is this what I should expect? Does it get better?

>

> Thanks in advance,

> Cate

>

> > -------------------------------------

> The Graves' list is intended for informational purposes only and is not

intended to replace expert medical care.

> Please consult your doctor before changing or trying new treatments.

> ----------------------------------------

November 11, 1999

Hi Cate-

Many people think that length of diagnosis has something to due with the

severity of Graves'. But my Graves' was considered severe and I didn't

have any symptoms at all until 6 months before diagnosis and those were

very mild. I passed out once while running (my pulse at that time was in

the mid-60s). I went to the doctor and he told me I was perfectly

healthy after a complete physical and blood workup.

I was never well post-RAI 12 years ago (I did OK on ATDs) but I had been

kept hypothyroid all those years even though my standard lab tests were

in the normal range. My doctor has increased and changed my medication

from T4 alone to T3/T4 and many, but not all, of my symptoms have

disappeared.

ATDs cause hypothyroidism too. Also, if your ATD dose isn't quite high

enough, you could still be mildly hyper. So you might want to check

what your siblings thyroid levels are or where yours were at when you

were healthy? My entire family's TSHs were in the low-normal range

while mine was kept at the mid-high to high normal range the entire time

after my thyroid was ablated.

It can't hurt to check.

Take care,

Utecht

Cate Heneghan wrote:

>

> Have studies shown that people who go longer without a diagnosis have a

> more difficult time stabilizing on medication? I'm not talking about

> the numbers on the blood work ups. I'm talking about patients'

> complaints.

>

> I'm wondering because I still have problems with memory and emotions

> eventhough I've been on Tapazole for 6 months. My blood work is fine,

> my heart has calmed down for the most part, but I still don't feel

> " right " .

>

> Is this what I should expect? Does it get better?

>

> Thanks in advance,

> Cate

>

> > -------------------------------------

> The Graves' list is intended for informational purposes only and is not

intended to replace expert medical care.

> Please consult your doctor before changing or trying new treatments.

> ----------------------------------------

November 15, 1999

Cate: >Has anyone else noticed memory problems while on tapazole? Is PTU

any

better?

I think Jeannette put it very well, in my case, with the " dulling memory " .

And I

forget nouns. You know what you're trying to say, but it won't come out!

People at work have been very supportive, and it rarely happens (maybe two,

three times a week, at work...but then I don't have to be in meetings like

Cate

does...it'd probably happen more often!). It's been noticable, to me, but

not

to anyone else, really. They think I'm just a bit distracted and tense,

maybe,

from the disease. No more distracted than usual, anyway! I've just bought

some

Ginkgo supplements. I'll tell you if I have any success in remembering

words

like " parking garage " and " voting booth " (it seems to be two words together

that

I forget....)

Kari

November 15, 1999

I've had no problem of that sort although only three weeks on tapazole.