Anita Browning - 05/11/98 03:24:39
My Email:a_browning@yahoo.com
Where are you from?: West Virginia
How did you find these pages?: surfing the net
Are you a regular visitor here?: yes
Do you have Graves' Disease or related?: I did

Comments:
I just wanted to say I was diagnosed last April and had the radioactive iodine...I really didn't know what to do..Your page has been so helpful..Like so many of you have said, these doctors tend to downplay or not listen at all to what we are saying..Mine said I seemed to blame everything on Graves. Your page helps me know that is not the case and to strive to make him listen.I think he has finally got me leveled out.I go back the end of this month...We'll see..Thanks again.

Ann Webber - 05/11/98 01:56:27
My Email:airlink@home.com
Where are you from?: California
How did you find these pages?: playing on the net
Are you a regular visitor here?: First time visitor
Do you have Graves' Disease or related?: Graves
Any new links I should add?: No

Comments:
I am sick and tired of being regulated (so they say) and then 3-4 months down the road my tsh is too high again. when will this stop, will I ever get regulated? I get frustrated at times. The only thing that has helped me keep my sanity and peace is my Lord. Let me tell you what I am going to put my trust in, God... he is the Great Physician, Jehovah Jirah, my healer, and I believe that he will, in time, heal me. Until that time, I am asking him for faith, for patience and for peace with all that is going on inside my body.

Eloise - 05/11/98 00:47:58
My Email:etisher@nemonet.com
Where are you from?: Hannibal, Mo
How did you find these pages?: search
Are you a regular visitor here?: new
Do you have Graves' Disease or related?: in process of diagnosis

Comments:
I have had problems with my left eye for around 2 months, weakness in my legs for 4, fast heartbeat, my hair is always thin, but it became like straw. I was going to drs. for a sinus problem, which I though was bothering my eye. I finally went to an opthalmologist, who sent me straight to a specialist in Columbia, who ordered lots of bloodwork and told me he was almost positive it is Graves. I go back in 1 week to see him again, since he is 100 miles away. No other doctors, here, seemed to notice the problems, and kept sending me back & forth, having taken 5 different antibiotics after all that. We will see what he has to say, but at least he is really trying to help me.

Ann - 05/09/98 15:02:58
My Email:pokydot@cyberway.com.sg
Where are you from?: Singapore
How did you find these pages?: Yahoo
Are you a regular visitor here?: No
Do you have Graves' Disease or related?: Yes
Any new links I should add?: None

Comments:
I am only 23 but I've been diagnosed to have goiter and my docter's advice to me was to undergo surgery. I've only just started working and I'm worried about the medical bills I'll incur as well as the risk involved.

Camille Miller - 05/08/98 16:42:28
My Email:dcmiller@primenet.com
Where are you from?: Chandler, Arizona
How did you find these pages?: Surfing
Are you a regular visitor here?: No
Do you have Graves' Disease or related?: Yes-Graves Disease

Comments:
When I read your April update, I really felt like I could relate to what you had written there. I have had Graves Disease since October of 1996. When I was first diagnosed, the GP told me they weren't going to treat me for it. They were just going to "watch it." I of course was furious because my resting pulse was 120 & I felt like a walking time bomb. The whole situation has been awful. I hope that everything goes well for you now. Thanks for the site!

jo - 05/08/98 16:17:55
My Email:vesta11@yahoo.com
Where are you from?: dallas, tx
How did you find these pages?: yahoo
Are you a regular visitor here?: new
Do you have Graves' Disease or related?: yes

Comments:
Newly diagnosed and I'm just starting to look for more info on Graves. Haven't begun treatment, yet. Just want to know what to expect.

Kathy Hestir - 05/07/98 03:40:09
My Email:twinmom@mindspring.com
Where are you from?: Piedmont, SC
How did you find these pages?: SNAP search engine
Are you a regular visitor here?: No. My 1st time.
Do you have Graves' Disease or related?: I suspect I may.

Comments:
I suspect I have some sort of thyroid problem and began researching my symptoms myself on the internet. I was tested for Thyroid and it came back negative. I know, however, that you can receive a false negative and there is another type of blood test that is more conclusive. I have that test scheduled, but I had to ask for it. I am sure the Internist's office thinks I'm crazy. They don't seem to think anything's wrong. Duhhhh... I agree with you. Where do these doctors get their degrees? They get a piece of paper, mat and frame it, and hang out a sign. I suspect that something has been going on with me for about 10 years (I am 41). The symptons seem so vague and unrelated that it's difficult at best to connect everything. Oh well. That's me in a nutshell (literally).

Cathy - 05/06/98 02:45:47
Where are you from?: Fullerton, CA
How did you find these pages?: searched Graves Disease
Are you a regular visitor here?: First time here
Do you have Graves' Disease or related?: Graves w/ Hashimoto's Thyroiditis

Comments:
I'm feeling grateful to have found your page. I was diagnosed with Graves in Feb of '92 and have been on varying doses of PTU since. The levels go up and down slightly, but last summer I had a real "storm" with the pounding heart, palpitations, anxiety, crazies, weeping and more that took me to the doc the first time. I was down to taking 50mg of PTU and was increased to 300mg + inderol. I've gone the prozac route and found out it worsened my anxiety. It's a constant companion, this disease, and I'm encouraged to read your story for the validation of what I thought, for many years was weakness of character. It's very difficult to hold down a job when some days you just don't know which end is up! I'm not in any hurry to go RAI, though my mother, who also had the disease, did that years ago and is doing fairly well. Thank again for doing this page. I'll continue to check in and maybe put in my two cents worth.

pete - 05/05/98 01:12:03
My Email:pete@tx3.com
Where are you from?: enumclaw,washinton
How did you find these pages?: internet
Are you a regular visitor here?: am now
Do you have Graves' Disease or related?: yes
Any new links I should add?: unknown

Comments:
I have had graves disease for last two years and

Tia Verseman - 05/02/98 03:46:10
My Email:tverse@classic.msn.com
Where are you from?: Colorado Springs
How did you find these pages?: browser
Are you a regular visitor here?: first time
Do you have Graves' Disease or related?: yes

Comments:
I'm glad your doing better! I was diagnosed with Graves in 11/94. I started feeling ill shortly after I was layed off from my job. After talking with people I have realized how lucky I was because I had all the classic symptoms of Graves, the Dr's diagnosed me within seconds of seeing me. By the time I finally went to the Dr. I had a resting heart rate of 126, my T4 was 26 and I had no TSH. My eyes were protruding, I had tremors, heart palpitations, my hair was falling out, itchy skin and a terrible anxiety about waiting in lines. Unlike you I didn't even think that stress was related I just thought I was losing it. I started taking inderol (sp?) the day I was diagnosed to help bring my heart rate and blood pressure down and RAI a week later. It took 8 months of Dr visits every three weeks before they discovered I had gone hyper again. I had my second RAI treatment 1 year after I was diagnosed. Three months after the second RAI I moved with my new job out of state. After the move and once I settled in I found a endrocronologist. By this time I was at the other extreme, I had a T4 of 2 and a TSH of 154. I don't know whats worse being hypo or hyper. I couldn't move, every muscle in my body would cramp when I moved, it was very painful. I was constipated, tired and couldn't hold a thought to save myself. That was in 2/96. I have recently moved back to Colorado and am still taking it one day at a time. I have found that no one knows more about the disease and the way that it affects you than you yourself do. I have also come to realize that I'll probably never feel "normal" again. I'm just looking to feel consistent - have a week, month etc.. where I don't feel any new aches and pains. After almost 3 1/2 years I'm finally down to Dr visits every 6 months. It's a long frustrating journey but I also recall back to the time before I went to the Dr and was convinced I was dying, nothing is as terrible as that. So I try to remind myself of this and keep everything in perspective. Hang in there !!!!