Graves disease ophthalmopathy
Common Questions and Answers about Graves disease ophthalmopathy
graves-disease
Ok..to start with , dont toy around with any meds....allow each med to get into your system (around 3 months) and take it from there.
What were your last lot of elevsl and how long since RAI?
The swelling around the eyeball is NOT from RAI or from the meds.
It's also fairly common for your eyes to exhibit mild signs of a condition known as Graves' ophthalmopathy. In Graves' ophthalmopathy, your eyeball bulges out past its protective orbit (exophthalmos).
What is the differences between Endophthalmitis and Graves Ophthalmopathy with enlarged eye muscles?
I have researched the treatment for fungal Endophthalmitis with Diflucan. Why would this not be a potential treatment for the enlarged eye muscles?
gov/pmc/articles/PMC4314568/
And because you already have a diagnosis of Hyperthyroidism, your doctors are pointing to Graves’ Ophthalmopathy (much more prevalent than IgG4 ROD) , where the overactive thyroid affects the area surrounding eyes and may cause inflammation, redness, achiness, pink eye, eyelid retraction and bulging eyes, etc.
I had a multi nodule goiter. Before surgery I was on 50 mcg Levi. I was so hyper I could almost walk across ceilings. Can you have Graves' disease after thyroidectomy. Having horrible itchy skin, ear eczema and hyperpigmentation all over my skin. Damn Drs only want to run tsh. I tremor all the time and my legs are so weak. They take my Levi up and my tah goes low. Please help. Don't know where to turn. Graves on my family but no doctor will listen.
I have severe Graves Ophthalmopathy and my Ophthalmologist has just put in a referral to have Orbital Radiation. I am having trouble finding information on this and am very nervous. Has anyone had this done? Or have any information about it? I'm hoping that the benefits will outweigh the risks... as my eyes are so sore and bulging and I really want some relief (without going back on steriods)!
Thanks for any info you may have!
Selenium helps with thyroid inflammation so this may help with your throat symptoms. Also, in 2011 a study demonstrated that selenium supplementation (200 mcg per day) can slow the progression of eye disease and improve quality of life in patients with Graves' disease with mild ocular involvement (Graves' ophthalmopathy).
In supplement form, the most bioavailable form of selenium is L selenomethionine.
TED is found in persons with Hypothyroidism, Hashi, Hyperthyroidism, Graves', persons taking Armour, and in people with no other evidence of thyroid dysfunction, and, is more severe in people who smoke. For that reason, the preferred name is now
Thyroid-Associated Ophthalmopathy (TAO), or Thyroid Eye Disease (TED) rather than Graves' Ophthalmopathy (eye disease).
Conventional treatment options for Graves' disease include:
* Anti-thyroid medication:
In the US:
- Methimazole [brand name Tapazole]
- Propylthiouracil [PTU]
Approximately 30% with Graves' disease will have a remission after prolonged treatment with anti-thyroid drugs.
Hyperthyroidism lists fatigue as a symptom. This can be due to insomnia and difficulty sleeping, a rapid pulse, and/or higher blood pressure.
Conventional treatment options for Graves' disease include:
* Anti-thyroid medication:
In the US:
- Methimazole [brand name Tapazole]
- Propylthiouracil [PTU]
Approximately 30% with Graves' disease will have a remission after prolonged treatment with anti-thyroid drugs.
Here's a good web site to start with:
http://www.endocrineweb.com/
Armour, Synthroid, Levothyroxine are all meds for hypothyroidism - they replace the naturally produced thyroid hormone. They are not for hyper.
Ask the endo for an ultrasound or CT scan for the nodule then discuss an uptake scan to see if the nodule is "hot" (producing too much thyroid hormone - causing the hyper symptoms) and ask for a *complete* thyroid panel including antibodies.
I have read about radiation therapy for Graves eye disease, but did not have it. I asked my eye doctor about it and he didn't think it had much effect, but then, he's a surgeon and inclined to cut. The radiation is supposed to shrink the swollen tissue behind the eyes that causes the bulging.
I had orbital decompression on both eyes a little over two years ago. Best thing I ever did for myself. Graves eye disease is a long road, and there are no quick fixes.
6 weeks later I had a TSH of 15 mIU/L and anti TPO Ab of 662 UI/ml and anti TG Ab of 176 UI/ml, now I don´t know if I can have Graves disease or Hashimoto`s disease or nothing, since my T4 levels are normal. I haven´t been tested for T3.I think my doctor doesn´t know what to do either, and doesn´t do anything about it. I feel tired, can barely sleep, stressed all the time, and have a lot of skin, hair (dry and falling a lot), eyes (always red and in pain) and circulation problems.
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Thyroid-Disorders/Is-Graves-Disease-the-reason-for-her-irrational-behaviour/show/1924584?personal_page_id=2274510
Contraindications for RAI [radioactive iodine] therapy are pregnancy [absolute], ophthalmopathy [relative - can aggravate thyroid eye disease], and solitary nodules.
Pretibial myxedema is usually associated with Graves Disease, which you don't have and as has been discussed in your other thread, your labs are far from hyper. You're taking Cytomel, so TSH is irrelevant.
There are many things that can cause the type of rash you describe, including simply being hypo because dry skin is a common symptom of hypothyroidism. I used to get patches like that when I was hypo.
What's the best way to take GcMAF for people with Grave's hyperthyroidism/ Grave's ophthalmopathy? Can't afford getting a treatment from a clinic with injections so what's the best oral GcMAF? Sublingual, yogurt, tablets/capsules and where to get them from a trusted source in Europe?
Thank you.
Here is some info. :)
Selenium and the thyroid gland: more good news for clinicians. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2013 Feb;78(2):155-64...
"Although very minor amounts of selenium appear sufficient for adequate activity of deiodinases, thus limiting the impact of its potential deficiency on synthesis of thyroid hormones, selenium status appears to have an impact on the development of thyroid pathologies. The value of selenium supplementation in autoimmune thyroid disorders has been emphasized.
Conventional treatment options for Graves' disease include:
* Anti-thyroid medication:
In the US:
- Methimazole [brand name Tapazole]
- Propylthiouracil [PTU]
Approximately 30% with Graves' disease will have a remission after prolonged treatment with anti-thyroid drugs.
Graves is an autoimmune disease and unfortunately for life. Controlling whether they raise or suppress is key to beating the symptoms of the disease.
If you are on Levo now - your labs must be abnormal and now lean towards hypoT levels. You would feel like cr@p right now with the swinging patterns you have been on.
"Once Graves.... always Graves" is the saying here. But I am positive your endo or ???
I have been going to an Endocrinologist for almost 1 year. He has done several ultrasounds showing that I have 5 tumors on my thyroid. I have a biopsy which showed they were benign. I recently had another ultrasound which showed one of the tumors had shrunk but another one appeared.
Have you been tested for thyroid antibodies to make sure you do, in fact, have Graves disease and are not simply in a hyper phase of Hashimoto's? Both Graves and Hashimoto's are autoimmune.
While Graves is always connected with hyperthyroidism, Hashimoto's is most often connected with hypothyroidism, however it's not uncommon for one to have periods of hyperthyroidism in the beginning stages.
You should ask for thyroid antibody tests.
If you don't mind. I see you posts starts out as Graves Disease and you are looking for a surgeon?
While I would have to do some checking around on this can you post the reason for the removal? - Is it for Graves disease?
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