Graves disease and exophthalmos
Common Questions and Answers about Graves disease and exophthalmos
graves-disease
It depends a lot on what is causing the exophthalmos. The most common is Graves Disease as a part of hyperthyroidism. There are other causes some quite serious. I cannot answer your questions since I don't know what's causing the problem. I suggest you see a oculo-plastic surgeon (find one in the USA at www.aao.org).
Prisms can be incorporated into the glasses or stuck on all the back surface of the lens "fresnel prisms" Tape won't cut it.
I have Exophthalmos from Graves Disease. I have been having eye pain, sometimes severe. An MRI was done and there is extra-occular muscle enlargement which was determined to be associated with the Graves but I was told it did not appear to be severe enough to be causing the severe pain (pressure around the optic nerve at the annulus of Zinn). When you have extra-occular muscle enlargement can the extraocular muscle swelling VARY throught the day causing pain.
ophthalmopathy, your eyeball bulges out past its protective orbit (exophthalmos). This occurs as tissue and muscles behind your eyes, swell and cause the eyeball to move forward. Because your eye is so far forward, the front surface of your eye can become dry. Cigarette smokers with Graves' disease are more likely to have eye problems.
t enlarge like the soft, rubber like sclera of youth. Graves Diease with exophthalmos can be very difficult to diagnosis and 'regular' thyroid studies can be normal. You really need to discuss this with your physicians. These cases are so unique that I can't generalize anymore.
Yes, its a common problem. It's called "Exophthalmos", the most common cause by far is Grave's Disease associated with hyperthyroidism. Next most common are "orbital pseudo-tumor" and lymphoma.
Because there are a number of causes and you do not state what the cause it it is not possible to offer you advice on surgery. There are also different types of surgery: biopsy, lid retractor recessions, orbital decompression.
I was put on antibiotics - in the end I had courses of amoxycillin, ciprofloxacin, and then a month of doxycycline (GP was concerned I may have Lyme disease and test was not back yet).
Over the next 4 months I continued to have all these symptoms. I would feel well for a couple of days and then terrible again for about a week (sometimes having to take to my bed). Over the past month the cough and sore throat have subsided mostly.
It should be pointed out that, especially in the US literature, the term ‘hashitoxicosis’ is sometimes used to describe an autoimmune thyroid disease overlap syndrome of Graves’ and Hashimoto’s disease. In this article the term is strictly limited to the ‘leakage’ symptoms of active Hashimoto’s disease."
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Excerpts from the book: Thyroid Disorders and Related Health Conditions by James M. Lowrance...
My CT Scan of Eyes and Head also dont show any problem..occasionaly i fee pain behind my eyes and too much dryness..
Can u suggest something pls.
from "endocrine web":
"
Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. Hashimoto's Thyroiditis (also called autoimmune or chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis) is the most common type of thyroiditis. It is named after the Japanese physician, Hakaru Hashimoto, that first described it in 1912. The thyroid gland is always enlarged, although only one side may be enlarged enough to feel.
You need a second opinion.
Based on what you describe, you have autoimmune thyroid disease with markers for Graves' (TSI) and the other common antibodies (TPO and Tg) that are usually associated with hashimoto's. Graves' and Hashi should be considered as entities on two ends of a spectrum, not two completely different diseases.
This may cause fluctuating thyroid function to hypo and hyper and back but this is not common.
My mother was diagnosed in her early 40s with graves disease and her thyroid was removed, around the same time she was diagnosed with stage 3-4 colon cancer. I'm aware there are connections between autoimmune diseases and thyroid and intestinal diseases/conditions. As I'm getting older I'm noticing I'm following in the same physiological footsteps my mother did before she was diagnosed.
I have graves disease, but was in remission. Then I had cancer and chemotherapy. My TSH level is hyper again and my other tests normal. The doctors won't say if chemo can activate your graves disease. They do say that a physical or emotional change to my body can trigger it. My thoughts, Cancer and chemotherapy are big time physical and emotional changes.
19 year old son was getting hives mainly at night. Diagnosed with Graves disease a couple weeks ago and on meds now. is this normal with graves?
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.
It should be pointed out that, especially in the US literature, the term ‘hashitoxicosis’ is sometimes used to describe an autoimmune thyroid disease overlap syndrome of Graves’ and Hashimoto’s disease.2 In this article the term is strictly limited to the ‘leakage’ symptoms of active Hashimoto’s disease."
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I've had both Hashi's and Graves antibodies simultaneously but I had been diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis previously.
Graves Disease is an Autoimmune Disease and usually when one autoimmune disease is found, there is usually a 2nd one found (this one being Diabetes).
The Graves and Hyperthyroidism can be treated by either anti-thyroid meds or pernmanant treatment which will eventually stablaise the Diabetes although this is extremely hard if the Diabetes has been undetected for a long time.
And something to watch for is ...Metformin can interefer with thyroid medications.
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