Hyperthyroidism. - Ballwin,MO

I also had Hyperthyroidism (Grave's Disease). I tried the medication for awhile, I took Propylthiouracil, but it didn't work and I had to have radioactive iodine. Now I have all kinds of problems with Hypothyroidism, and still see an Endocrinologist. I would much rather have been able to control it with medication. I also breastfed while I was on the medication, my doctor said it was fine. Make sure you ask your doctor all these questions, even get a second opinion if you want. It is serious, but very treatable.

Good luck with everything, I hope you start feeling better soon! :-)

I have Grave's Disease. I have dealt with it for almost 4 years. I take medication. I have had no ill side affects.

One thing I can tell you is that with Hyperthyroid issues it is very difficult to regulate your medication. Your thyroid works overtime then it eventually burns out and you may become hypothyroid...then it will start up again and go the other way.

I am fortunate that my medication needs are minimal. I flutuate from the smallest dose to nothing and back again. i have learned to recognize my symptoms and I am religous about getting it checked.

I haven't lost weight or gained weight because of my disease or the medication. I wasn't breast feeding at the time of diagnosis, so that wasn't an issue for me. Its really not as scary as it sounds. I was relieved to find out there was actually something wrong with me and that I wasn't just going crazy (as I thought). :)

Feel free to PM me if you would like to talk more. I love the support we all give to each other.

I found out I had hyperthyroidsim and graves about 19mo ago. I have been getting blood work done every 6 weeks since. I'm on methimazole and a beta blocker. Not all people lose weight when hyper like some think. I'm a lucky one that gained:( But it was the meds I'm on. My endo keeps uping and lowering my dose almost every 3 mo. In the last 1.5 years I gained 40lbs and have had the hardest time losing it. so far lost 10lbs is all. Being hyper can be serious if you dont take your meds. I have pretty server levels my endo says but no matter what your levels are you need to take your meds. My endo also told me as a hyper pt. it doesnt matter when you take your meds only if your hypo does that matter as much. And yes,I went down to VERY low white blood celll count! I dont really get sick that much though.Its been a roller coaster for me dealing with hyperthyroidsim! not all are the same but it has not been easy on me. It was about 2 or so years after my last child so I never had to deal with the breastfeeding with it so I dont know anything else about that. Feel free to ask me a questions you have! I think the scariest thing could be if you dont take care of your self with meds and all there is a thing called thyroid storm which you DONT want. but as long as you keep your levels where they need to be and keep up on your meds you dont need to worry about that. With what my endo has told me and people I know that have this you want to get changed over to be hypo cause its easier to manage. My endo wants me to do RAI but I wont do that yet.Anyway good luck with everything and hope you start feeling better! you will with the meds:)

15 years ago, I was hyperthyroid but not Graves. I had nodules on my thyroid that were producing too much hormone. Really my only symptom was a very fast heart rate. I had the radioactive iodine treatment (RAI) which was easy and painless but an inconvenience as you can't be around anyone for at least 3 days. Once the RAI is done, you are hypothyroid and have to take synthroid which is no big deal. After RAI, they start you on the lowest dose of synthroid possible and slowly work up until your T3/T4 counts are okay. In my case, that took 8 weeks, during which I gained 15 pounds. Talk to your doctor because I believe there is another medication now that can help you avoid that weight gain. With synthroid, you take it first thing in the morning, on an empty stomach with a full glass of water and don't take any other medications at the same time. I ended up years later having part of my thyroid removed because the nodules remained and continued to change and needle biopsies were all inconclusive (which is common). The removal was also not a big deal, it was not cancerous, after 3 months I could barely see the scar and I did not gain any weight. If I had it to do all over again - I would just have it removed to start with. Good luck to you

My sister is hypethyroid.
She has it bad enough she's had to have several operations to get her eyes to fit back in her eye sockets.
She's fine if she takes her medication but she keeps playing around with her dosage and she's not terribly rational when she's off her meds.
It can be serious if you ignore it.
Just keep it monitored and stay steady with your medication and you should be fine.
http://thyroid.about.com/od/hyperthyroidismgraves/Hyperth...

Molly, you'll want to talk with my friend Pam. She was on Synthroid for thyroid issues for 20 years. I don't know whether the Synthroid had anything to do with it, but during that time she developed fibromyalgia. Fortunately, she talked with a nurse who knew of a simple nutritional program that was helping people with both of those issues, and she started drinking the shakes daily. Within a few months, her fibromyalgia pain started going away, and in less than a year, her doctor was able to help her wean off of the Synthroid. She hasn't had to take it for 10 or 11 years now, and her bloodwork always shows her thyroid levels are perfect. She isn't cured of either illness, but she doesn't need the medication as long as she keeps up with her shakes, which she considers part of her daily diet, and the important thing is that she has no symptoms of either disease. She's pain free and also free of the thyroid problems. Her success in getting her health back led her to commit to educating other people about the nutrition plan, so she has a very successful home business to go with her good health! Let me know if you'd like to talk with Pam, and I'll get you on the phone with her.

my 10yr.old daughter was diagnosed w/hyperthyroidism recently, she takes synthroid. It says to take it in a.m. 30 min. before eating w/glass of water, this did not agree w/her, there are certain foods or vitm. that can not be taken to close to it as well. Our Endocrinologist told her to take it at night after dinner or before bed, just be consistant and since then she has not had a problem. Prior to diagnose she was having almost like hot flashes, feeling as if she was going to be sick, she would get very pale, headaches, then the anxiety would take over because she was scared. We were also told not to take the generic, it is harder to adjust a dose and does not have the same effects. It runs in my family and my husbands and all of them take synthroid for many yrs. now. once under control it should be fine. Do Not Miss A Dose or you will not feel well (my daughter had the same symptoms from a missed dose) I set my alarm on my phone so we never miss again.no weight gain, she is suddenly growing like a weed now that she is being regulated (untreated can cause growth problems and other complications) glad I caught it early.I was told synthroid is the skinny pill,usally you become over weight and once diagnosed, regulated w/synthroid the extra weight starts to shed until you are balanced. It's worth doing some research to better understand the thyroid. Best of Luck!