Graves disease remission during pregnancy
Common Questions and Answers about Graves disease remission during pregnancy
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They have removed me off of my medicine one time to see if my Graves disease had went into remission and within two months it came back with TSH levels of 0.003...basically non-existant TSH levels. They put me back on my 10mg Methmazole and within 3 weeks my levels were normal. That is pretty much a health summary of my graves disease for the past five-six years lol.
I feel so much more hypo than hyper and have since being diagnosed with Graves. I have seen 3 different endos during the past 3 years and no one seems to help me. They all want to treat my TSH while my FT's are in the tank. I quit going to the first one because she wanted me to take too much MMI and I felt horrible. I still feel awful. I'm tired all the time, weight gain is out of control, now I have nausea and GERD...that's new along with higher BP than usual.
Im pregnant and on PTU. I am taking 50mg twice a day. Ive been on it for 3 years, I developed Graves with my last baby. My endocrinologist said it was safe to breastfeed with PTU. I think a minimal amount crosses into the breastmilk. A lot of people go into remission from Graves during pregnancy. Im keeping my fingers crossed for that and maybe it won't come back for a few months afterwards. We'll see, but I totally plan on breastfeeding no matter what.
Once you have Graves' disease, you have it for life. Antibodies may go into remission, but they never go away completely. Symptoms will come and go if your antibodies go into remission.
Your endo will probably do a TSI test (thyroid stimulating immunoglobulin), which is the definitive test for Graves' and will confirm it. In addition, he should test your free T3 and free T4, which are the actual thyroid hormones and much more indicative of thyroid status than TSH.
Now I believe to be in hypo state. I know that Graves disease can go into spontaneous remission but I have not read about cases of spontaneous remission in 6 months or even going into hypothyroidism in 7-8 months. This usually takes years. Is it so impossible for mine to be a case of thyroiditis or iodine induced thyrotoxicosis? Any experiences you may share? Thanks so much!!
I was diagnosed with Graves disease 11 years ago. My endo prescribed Methimazole, which I was allergic to, so he told me he didn't want to prescribe me anything else because sometimes the allergy kills the thyroid. It apparently did, because all of a sudden I was hypo and I had to go on synthroid. Since then, I lost my health insurance and got handled by my PCP instead of the endo (cheaper).
So unless your Graves' has gone into remission, stopping the Methimazole would eventually only put you back to square one: hyperthyroid. Seems like a reduction to 5 mg would be the better idea.
I have read that nearly half of patients who take antithyroid medications for their Graves' disease go into remission.
I really thought I was losing my mind, I have had this for about 4 yrs and just now was diagnosed with Graves disease. My Dr put me on Methimazole and after 3 weeks had a severe reaction and was covered head to toe with a horrible insanely itchy rash. Mr Endo told me I have a couple options radio active iodine or somthing else which he did not tell me what. My question is how has the radio active iodine worked for others?
the author Elaine Moore, who wrote books on Graves says that normal people have no tsi or 2 percent, I think. Mine was 109 at diagnosis, even though the normal goes up to 125, that's bull! Some just don't feel symptoms till they reach that. I had an uptake scan too, which was normal but on the high side. I have heard the TRab test or the TBII is supposed to show remission. My doc argues this, he says it's just for diagnosing Graves. What was your TSI? What are your labs?
"The "Ask a Doctor" forum has been shut down since June 2014; MedHelp has not indicated whether or not they plan to reactivate it." - Wikipedia.
Excerpt from Hashimoto's thyroiditis following Graves' disease. Acta Med Indones. 2010 Jan;42(1):31-5....
"Pathogenesis for chronic thyroiditis following anti-thyroid drug treatment in patients with Graves' disease remains unclear.
I ended up with two thyroid storms from graves/hyper, NOT fun at all. I did the RAI, but the graves/hyper was to far advanced for it to help me. I ended up having to have surgery anyway after the RAI.
My heart rate was 140 sitting down, my eyes bulged out, I was down to 88lbs despite eating non-stop. Trust me get it treated before it gets worse. Thyroid storms are not any fun...
But you can always get a second opinion from an endo if it puts your mind at ease.
I am currently taking PTU to help with my Graves' Disease but was wondering if anyone had any suggestions I could do to help? Changes in lifestyle, dietry changes, vitamin supplements etc? My aunt is a GP and a trained herbologist, she recommended chrysanthemum tea as a way of correcting my metabolism. Maybe we could compile some kind of list of things that help either Hyper or Hypothyroidism?
Thanks so much.
Graves is an autoimmune disease. AI diseases are like roller coasters with highs and lows. Think of other AI diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, diabetes, etc.....they have times when they "flare" and times of "remission" where they are in active. It seems very plausible to me that you very right and probably are in remission -- just makes sense! But, the question is, like the other diseases, how long will it last? I hope a good long, long time!!! Congratulations!
Graves Disease is never cured BUT it is managed better without a thyroid or after RAI.
You still have the antibodies but no thyroid for it to attack.
As for meds, you swap one lot for another.
You go from anti-thyroid meds to a T4 medication so basically you are on meds for life.
The thyroid regulates every organ in your body and if no thyroid, meds have to do the job.
Hyperthyroidism is a lot easier to manage without a thyroid.
I am 32, have seen my Family Dr. I was diagnosed with graves disease. I have also seen a endocrinologist who has told me is was a goiter. Im confused, I know my thyroid is getting larger. I have several symptoms but can not get a solid answer. What is the differance between a goiter and graved disease? What are the treaments for both?
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