I have Graves Disease.
There...I said it...I was living in denial, but I find the more people I tell the better I feel about the whole thing...you know, the "not living in denial" part, not the "I have a disease" part :)
It is an autoimmune disease....which is a fancy way of saying my body is attacking itself...and since my body is attacking my thyroid, I have Graves Disease. This disease is causing hyperthyroidism.
My thyroid is working too hard...and although in December and January I had most of the symptoms (which all came on very fast - in just a matter of a couple months), now I really don't feel that I have hardly any symptoms (you may notice my eyes in some of the pictures in the last year - that is one of the symptoms I still notice). I took herbals to strengthen my thyroid...but my tests show differently. I guess feeling good made it easier to live in denial, too.
My doctor wanted to do an ablation immediately and give me a radioactive pill to kill my thyroid...apparently I could have a serious attack ("thyroid crisis") and flip into a rhythm that is hard to get me out of...which I understand the urgency...but I also am very much against killing my thyroid. I still thinking killing my thyroid is treating a symptom instead of the problem...but I am not a specialist :)
The only other option I have is trying medication that I thought I could be on for only a year - and thought that I would have no other option except the radio active iodine/ablation after that year. BUT, the specialist told me last week that new research is showing that I could be on it longer as long as it continues to work. But I am going to keep up on herbals and hit it hard...and try to get my body to stop attacking itself. Because to me, that is the real cure. I follow up in 6 months with my specialist, doing lab work every two months until then. She seemed supportive since my labs have not gotten worse (still not where they need to be), and I feel very good.
Reality can be a hard place to live in sometimes...but denial gets me nowhere...so here I go, one step at a time, trying to live in reality...
5 years ago
5 comments:
I'm sorry you are dealing with this, Michelle. I will add you to our prayer list. I have a friend who went through some of the same issues. She did end up taking the radioactive pill. She ended up gaining a bunch of weight and, even though they thought it would help her conceive, it has been years and it didn't help at all. She and her husband have been trying for almost five years now. I don't know if she would have taken a different path if she had known that it wasn't going to help with her fertility issues, but the doctor assured her that the thyroid was what was messing her up in that department in the first place. I don't think she ever knew that herbals were an option.
I think it is very courageous of you to take the path that you are taking. You'll be in my prayers. Keep us updated!
We'll definitely be praying for you Michelle!
Praying that God will lead you in the right path. Aunt Linda Mowat
So sorry to hear that! I know it's mostly a woman's disease, but the guy I dated in Highschool for 3 years had it. He took the pill to kill his thyroid. He is completely normal now except for taking the pill that takes over for his thyroid. My brother and Gene's mother also had the radioactive pill and killed their thyroids. They are both much better now. It's good that there are options out there! We will be praying that God heals you and that you never have to do anything!!
I am so sorry, Michelle. Thank you for sharing it with us. You are in my thoughts and prayers as you learn to live with this disease.
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