Living with Graves' Disease

So I know that the title sounds like an oxy-moron but that is my life now. I have Graves' Disease. It really sounds a lot worse than what it really is. Its not deadly. I'm not going to die because of it. It was the Researcher's name who discovered the disease. He seriously could have called it something a bit more upbeat. Anyways, Graves' Disease is a condition where your thyroid produces to much of the thyroid hormone which in turn attacks your thyroid. Yes my body is trying to destroy itself!! Just kidding. I have been diagnosed with hyperthyroidism for over 2 years now and they have been giving me medication to slow down the activity which ended up making me drowsy, gain weight and tend to not be in the best of moods. Once I was diagnosed with Graves' Disease I tried to figure out when this all started. I remember about 5 years ago I was really having a problem with anxiety. I would get chest pains and my body would stress out for no reason. I finally went to the dr. because I needed help! He diagnosed me with anxiety depression and gave me medication for when I was feeling anxious. It felt really weird being diagnosed with that, but I ended up coming to terms with it. So I dealt with having 'anxiety depression' for about 2 years. I then decided that it didn't seem right that I was diagnosed that way because I was not depressed. They even had me take a written depression test and I was clearly not depressed. I went home to Hawthorne the summer of 2006 and that is when they finally diagnosed me correctly. My symptoms were so hard to deal with. I was stressed out day and night. I could hardly stay awake where ever I was at. I was hungry all the time. I lost 20 pounds in 2 months which I know to some people is amazing, but that is way too fast and it made me way too skinny. The doctor in Hawthorne diagnosed me with Hyperactivethyroidism and thats when I started to FINALLY feel some relief! I didn't feel like I was going to have a heart attack everyday and I was able to deal with normal real life situations. Thank you for medication!!!! The only bad part about the medication was that it slowed me down in everyway. Your thyroid controls so many things like your metabolism, moods, and tiredness of your body. So when it slowed down my thyroid hormones it slowed down my metabolism, it made me in not pleasant moods and I would be tired all the time and never want to do anything. I ended up gaining back my 20 pounds that I lost and I gained an additional 20 pounds! This was a really really frustrating time in my life because I was eating healthy and I was working out at the gym 2-3 times a week. So lets move onto more relief!

I finally went to an endocrinologist. Well, I was more forced to go. My family doctor said that they only see people with my condition for 2 years and then they move them on to the specialist. Anywho, that was the absolute best decision that I ever made, or I guess that was made for me. The endo knew exactly what I had and knew exactly how to take care of it! So, in September of 2008 I received Radioactive Iodine treatment. This is where you take a pill of radioactive iodine that kills off your thyroid. Your thyroid sucks up all iodine that enters your body so it sucks up that radioactive iodine. They told me that it would take a few months for it to actually die. I'm still not sure to this day if it is dead. The real fun part was taking the pill! I made Matt go with my to my 7:30 a.m. appt. because it was a big deal to me. I was willingly going to kill one of my organs! I had to sign all the normal procedure documents except one special one that made me a little sad. I had to sign a waiver stating that I would not get pregnant for at least one year. Not that I was planning on it anyway, but being told that you are not aloud to get pregnant kind of hurts. I sadly signed the document. Then the technician put gloves on, made me put gloves on and came towards me with this silver capsule looking thing that she took out of one of those red radioactive hazardous bags. She opened the capsule and there was a small what capsule inside. She told me to open the white capsule and put the pill directly in my mouth and to not let it touch my skin at all! In my mind I was thinking Lady you are crazy! Why can I put something inside of my body that cannot be touched by the outside! But I did it! Before I left they gave me pages of instructions of things that I could and could not do for the next few days. I had to wash any silverware that I used separatly than anyone elses, I had to wash my clothes seperatly, I had to wipe down the toilet everytime I used it, I had to sleep alone for 2 nights so Matt had to sleep on the couch, I had to throughly clean anything that I touched or that touched me. I was not aloud to be around children or pregnant women and I could not be in arms length on anyone. It was actually a really funny experience. I could not do these things because the radioactive iodine is so strong that if i was near anyone it could affect their thyroid. So now I just have to see the doctor every couple of weeks for blood work and medication dosage changes. I am supposed to be completely regulated by the 1 year mark. I am feeling great though! I cannot remember the last time I felt this good, happy and healthy. So the only bad side about this now is that I have to take a thyroid hormone suppliment for the rest of my life and when I do get pregnant I have to see them more than a normal person would and have extra precautions. But other than that, its no big deal. Just one of those things that you deal with in life. I am really grateful for the medical advancement that we have in our country to be able to take care of my disease. And I am very grateful for amazing doctors and a most understanding and supportive husband! Life is great!