Re: Fay Thanks For Response

[Guest guest]

Hi Kathy,

I got sidetracked in my reply to you, since I did not know what Lexapro was.

I am a curious person and want to be sure my comments are as correct as

possible, I have looked this drug up and you may be interested...then I will

get back to hyper.

Here is the drug web site:

http://www.lexapro.com/home/default.asp

Please note the side effects placed here by the manufacture. So it looks as

this drug can CAUSE more hyper symptoms. They are claiming this drug works

faster than the 4 to 6 weeks which is normal for such drugs.

Then I found this:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4434943,00.html

Very interesting in that they have simply 'renamed' Celexa. So to speak.

Looks to the untrained eye, like this drug WILL take the standard 4 to 6

weeks to work ??? And to top it off, all they have done is relabeled and UP

the price. Hummm????

One comment from a user: *

I've been on Lexapro 10mg. for 3 weeks. The night

sweats occurred every night for about the first

2 weeks, but they seem to be diminishing some

now. Hang in there! *

This is from a person accustomed to taking antidepressants. I find it odd

that this drug is what you are being given, since Graves' patients are

trying to STOP the night sweats.

All in all, I personally feel that adding so many new drugs all at once, is

going to make it very difficult to be able to figure out what is going on.

Depression is a normal Graves' symptom, and treating the thyroid will in

most cases get to the root of the problem ,and being dependent for a long

time on an antidepressant that masks the thyroid symptoms is not called for.

You DO need the anti thyroid drug and the heart med right now. These are not

optional.

Anti thyroid drugs take time to work. They prevent MORE extra thyroid

hormone from being made, but the extra we already have must be used up. This

can take a few weeks and up to 6 to 8 weeks. Personally I was VERY ill when

first diagnosed, and I did start to feel better at three weeks, with

improvements after. But I am a bit of a extreme case. most of the gals here

report results much sooner.

Your anti thyroid drug Propylthiouracil..is the one you will see us refer to

as PTU...which is much easier to spell. :-)

I see you had three scans. I wonder why ?

The scans contain high amounts of iodine, which has most likely made you

more hyper and feeling worse. This should fade in time, but just knowing

this should help you understand what has been going on.

Iodine is the fuel our thyroids use to make hormone, so learning which foods

are high in iodine and avoiding them will also help you feel better and help

you heal. All seafood, shellfish kelp, and any iodized salt should be the

first things you eliminate.

As far as the choice between surgery or staying on the PTU and waiting for

remission, needs to be YOUR choice. You will need to find out the reason you

are hyper, and then decide which treatment YOU want.

A very good starting place will be Elaine's site :

http://www.suite101.com/articles.cfm/9630/41-60

One possibility would be calling the doctor and explaining your side effects

and see if stopping the antidepressant at this point and seeing if IT is the

cause might be one way to approach this.

You need to get back to normal thyroid levels FIRST, before making a

lifetime decision about surgery. Being hyper makes our thinking very mixed

up, and the antidepressant is only going to make you more confused in the

beginning. If you want to stay on this, you need to wait the full 2 to 3

months it will take to work properly, before you try to make this choice of

anti thyroid drugs ( ATDs ) or surgery.

We want your mind clear. :-) We have all been where you are today, so we do

understand how hard it is to make sense of all this right now.

-Pam L-

3 1/2 yr.Graves and TED, PTU, Remission due to education, SLOW reduction of

PTU, improved lifestyle, excellent nutrition,herbs, and looking at the BIG

picture !

Pills alone only fix symptoms. We must help our bodies to heal.