Hi

[Guest guest]

Hi Del, and welcome,

There are men in this group too; you also might want to meet Simon at the

Graves' board at Mediboard.com, who has lots of experience with Graves'. You

could post a topic there asking for male input.

Like the rest of the Graves' symptoms the eye problems respond to steps to heal

your immune system--avoiding sugar and saturated fats and taking measures to

reduce stress. There is a specific antibody test (TSI) that determines if you

have Graves'. We would recommend you avoid the radioactive iodine thyroid scan,

as it can worsen eye symptoms; an ultrasound is better.

Cigarette smoke and smoking have been shown to make the eye problems worse.

Hopefully your doctor told you to use lots of artificial tears, and a lubricant

gel at night. Preservative free is better, and you should avoid the compound

that " gets the red out. " Antioxidant supplements and vitamin B help, and the

most useful aid is to take flaxseed oil (refrigerated, from the heath food

store), a tablespoon per 100 lbs. body weight per day, mixed with a bit of

protein like yogurt or cottage cheese. This is a source of essential fatty acids

and helps reduce the inflammation. Many of us with eye problems find it very

helpful..

Our " resident expert, " Elaine , has just published a book on Graves'

Opthalmopathy, which should be very helpful. Her Graves Disease: A Practical

Guide, is also very useful. Plus we do have a wealth of knowledge here. You have

the perfect attitude for this group--unfortunately the doctors are often

uninformed. But fortunately it is up to us to get the best care--we are the most

invested in the outcome, after all!

best wishes,

My name is Del and I am a 48 year old male. I'm very new to this and

am very happy to find a group that is just for this.

My story:

The last couple of months I've had some minor eye problems, minor

double vision at night, teary, the buldge, very sensitive to light

and made the trip to the eye doctor last friday. He did a very good

exam that lasted 1 1/2 hours and told me he is pretty sure that I

have Graves. I'm already having trouble with moving my eyes up and

from side to side each takes it own time in focusing. For safety

sake I have decided to not drive at night.

Before my eye appointment I did some very lengthy research and I am

pretty freaked out on many differnet levels. My eye doctor is great

and has made appointments with a GP (Haven't needed a GP for several

years, always been heathly and have had my yearly physicals through

work.) and he has contacted a specialist for me. I feel pretty good

with the next steps in finding out for sure if I have this or not. I

meet with the GP this Wednesday and the other one December 18th.

I'm finding that most affected by this are females and I understand

the seriousness and the non-gender ravage of Graves. I also

understand that many if not most of the problems will affect me too.

But I am already finding that I need more info that is directed to

the male specific problems this causes.

Does anyone have any suggestions where to find more specific info on

the male perspective? I'm sure my Doctor will have some suggestions

but I am more the type to question and find my answers away from the

medical world. It's not that I don't trust, it is more that I always

beleive there is more than one road to town!