ATD's, pregnancy, etc.

[Guest guest]

Man has it gotten heated lately. For what it is worth, I was diagnosed

7 yrs ago with GD post partum, and was only been treated with ATD's. My

numbers were very high at first and I was put on beta blockers and PTU.

I got pregnant two times without difficulty while on low dose PTU and

had more problems with the hypo aspect of pregnancy than the hyper. I

had two yrs of remission in between the next pregnancy before needing to

go back on PTU. I haven't been on beta blockers in years. I seldom

have GD related rage. More like craziness of just being a mom of five

children. I am on low dose PTU with normal numbers except the TSH and

antibodies. ly I would not care if I had to take the PTU for the

long term. At least I know the thyroid hormone is being produced by my

body. I also have some control in telling the docs if my dose appears

to be too high if my hypo symptoms return. I was in hypo hell for 6

months at one time due to over dosing of the PTU and you couldn't pay me

to be in that state, letting alone allowing a doc to purposely make me

hypo. It was so much more difficult to function hypo than hyper. At

the time I couldn't find one endo who believed I was hypo because of low

TSH. I gained 40 lbs. lost my eyebrows, developed terrible joint pain,

lived with a sweater on even in the heat of summer, and slept more than

my toddler child at the time. I refuse to place my thyroid hormone

needs in the hand of physician who determines my needs based on lab

statistics and books. I want to control my health. God forbid I would

end up with an endo who doesn't believe in T3 replacement, and I would

end up hypo forever. The so called anti RAI people on this forum have

made educated decisions as to what is best for them. Many have had GD

for years and know their disease well. I assure you I know more about

my body than an endo I have seen only a few times. I know three people

personally who have had RAI and are miserable for it. Each one has said

to me they wanted the GD to end quickly and went through with the RAI.

Now 3 to 5 yrs later they struggle constantly with their doses and are

frequently at odds with their endos over prescribing the proper doses of

replacement meds. I can tell you I have felt a whole lot better than

them. They are always complaining about their hypo symptoms. These are

not inflated claims just facts from the patients not from books. I am a

RN as well as a GD patient. I have access to many resources and have

chosen my course with great thought. Other people on this board are

also in the health care profession and understand fully the

repercussions for their decisions. I am getting a little of a feeling

that because one chooses against RAI that we are not educated or

informed enough. On the contrary I think that we have chosen wisely

before going the extreme root and making a very permanent decision which

puts us at the mercy of physicians the rest of our lives.

Iannuzzi