Graves - A Thyroid Disorder

 It was exactly a month after my mom had passed away. It was one of those mornings when I did not feel like going to work. I wasn't feeling too well. I felt feverish and my body ached. The symptoms were of flu. I did not have a sore throat or any congestion. Just fever, 101 degrees and my body ached really badly. I took a couple of days off and went to work the next day with fever. But I felt very weak and achy. My fingers trembled and my jaws ached. It was hard for me to get up without help, if I sat. It seemed like a bad attack of flu. I became breathless when I climbed up the stairs. I remember that night when I had suddenly woken up. It felt like my heart was pounding and would jump out of the chest. I got scared and sat up. After about a less than a couple of minues, everything was normal and I went back to sleep. I wasn't sure what had happened. Next day was a Saturday. So I went to a near by walk in clinic. There was a blood pressure monitor in the lobby. While I was waiting, I put my hand in the cuff and measured my BP. It was normal but the pulse rate was 130. I was pretty sure that the machine was faulty. So, when I saw the doctor, I did not even bother to tell him about my pulse rate. The doctor thought it was a flu and told me to come back after a week if it didn't go away by itself. And it did not. So I went back to him and this time he prescribed me antibiotics. I measured my pulse rate again and it was 140. I did not take it seriously. It still did not occur to me that something could be wrong. I started taking the antibiotics and thought to get a general physical check up done by my family doctor. So, the next day, I went to my family doctor for a physical checkup. I also was suffering from diarrhea. My fever got better in a couple of days. And then, I got a call from my doctor asking me to see him right away. When I went in the evening, he informed me that my Thyroxin levels were too high and I might have a condition called Graves. Actually he was pretty sure that I had Graves. He prescribed me Propanalol to address the fast heart rate and took some more blood for antibodies test that day. I had no clue what was Graves. I came back home feeling achy and searched on the Internet. As I researched and found out more about it, I realized that it was pretty serious. My TSH level was 0.01 which is way too low and my thyroxine levels were 35 which was way too high. I also read many scary stories about how Graves affects the eyes and how they bulge out. I was scared to death. The next week my doctor confirmed that I had Graves and referred me to an endocrinologist. In Canada, it is very hard to get a specialist's appointment quickly. I was in line and I got an appointment after three months. My family doctor said that he didn't want to wait that long so he sent me for some special tests called Radioactive Iodine tests and also rushed my appointment with the specialist. I finally got an appointment with the specialist after a month. I noticed that I had started losing weight. I had lost 25 pounds during the month. As I saw my specialist, he informed me that the RAI test showed 83% (not sure what was 83%) and it was very high. So he prescribed me Tapazol, 20 mg each day, to be taken twice (10 mg twice a day). He said it wasn't a very high dose, but is not low either. He told me to continue this dose for three months and then reduce it to 10 mg for next three months. And he will see me after 6 months. He said I may have to be on medication for 2 years or even more. I was very sad. I seldom got sick. I often used to boast about my robust health. And here I was, sick and on medication for God knows how long. Doctors were of the opinion that the emotional trauma and stress due to my mom's death might have triggered the condition.

As I researched more about Graves, I found a few articles about natural treatment on the Internet. So, I started searching for a naturopath in my vicinity. I found one on the Internet who claimed to be a Thyroid and Graves specialist. I decided to see him. So, I took an appointment and saw him the next week. I was skeptical about the natural treatment. My naturopath asked me to fill up some forms and told me to come back next week. When I saw him the next week, he had a list of "DO NOT EAT" foods for me. He told me to come off gluten. He took me off dairy, cheese, tomatoes, eggplant, potatoes, peppers, eggs, sugar, fruits (as they have sugar), caffaine and alcohol (I anyways do not drink). So, what I could eat was brown rice, fish, white meat (preferably organic- which I did not follow so much), vegetables which are not on the list, lentils, chickpeas etc. I changed my diet completely. He prescribed me a list of supplements to be taken everyday which included fish oil, Vit. D, selenium, and an important capsule called Tx Balance. I started to follow his diet program. In fifteen days, I started feeling better as my Tapazol had started working. I joined yoga classess and that helped me to collect myself and be calm. I got energy back in my muscles and my hands did not shake anymore. My jaw pain had disappeared. I was scheduled for a blood test in 6 weeks time. And then came my Summer break. I was on a restricted diet and almost followed everything what my naturopath had suggested. In the meantime, I went to a stress free vacation to Orlando. I had all the fun that I could have during my vacation. I wrote poems and stories and spent time writing about my mother. I thought about the good times I had spent with her and enjoyed every moment of my holidays. I saw my naturopath in between and he reintroduced some of the food he had said 'no' to. I was still off dairy and gluten. He sent me for a Vit D test, it came out 40 (100 should be the minimum).

6 weeks passed and I went for my blood work.The next day I got a phone call from the specialist's office telling me to stop my medication for a week and start taking 5 mg of it again every day. The specialist had put me on a maintenance dose. My test results showed that my thyroxine level now had gone too low and my TSH was 32 (way too high than normal which is around 2-6). It was a good news for me. My family doctor told me that it was the first case he had come across when someone went hypo this fast. I was super excited. I followed what my specialist said and informed my naturopath. My naturopath told me to continue the diet plan and the supplements. I continued my 5 mg of Tapazol for three months and went for another blood work. I saw my specialist this time and he was surprised that my blood report was almost normal. Actually I was a bit towards hypo. My TSH was 5.4. So, he first told me to stop medication, and then after second thoughts, advised me to taper it off even more and to take 5 mg every other day for three months. Instead of diarrhea, now I had severe constipation. I stopped my medication for a week myself. The Doctor had anyways told me to stop the medication, so I did it for a week. My constipation got a little better. I then started my medication again but took it after every two days.

I continued the medication for a couple of months and then I had another appointment with the  doctor. This time he stopped my medication completely and told me I am one of his rarest patients who have come off medication in just 9 months. He then saw me every year for a couple of years. My TSH fluctuates between 0.6-0.9 and T3 and T4 are normal. The specialist has now sent me back to my family doctor. He said usually the disorder does not come back, only 30% people may get it back. I still take supplements like fish oil, multi vitamins, selenium, and Vit. D. My Vit. D is now 175 (just normal).