Re: Hi, I'm new!/

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

Welcome to the group.

I too am Australian and was diagnosed with GD in Dec 2001. I have been

resident in Japan for many years and although the initial diagnosis was

made in Australia I have been treated here in Japan ever since. You are

right about RAI not being forced on patients here. In the 18 months I

have been seeing a doctor here he has never mentioned it.I think

Australia is very similar to North America though as I was told when I

was diagnosed there that I was an ideal candidate for RAI. I went

hunting for information at that point and found this group. In the last

18 months I have found them to be an extraordinary source of knowledge,

experience, counsel and support.

I started on ATDs, in my case NeoMercazole, and am still on them.You

can stay on them as long as you need to be. Don't be intimidated by

some Endo trying to push you towards RAI. My original dose was 45mgs a

day. That was lowered to 30 mgs after two months and after that slowly

over the course of 10 months until I was on 5mgs a day in December

2002.All this was done with careful monitoring and monthly labs.My

thyroid numbers were all normal from July last year. I was just waiting

for the antibodies count, in my tests the trabs, to come down to 0%. In

December the dose was dropped to 5mgs every second day but by the end

of January I had regressed to hyper numbers again.I am now back on 5mgs

a day and now my FT3 and FT4 are within normal range although my TSH

has disappeared. I will stay on the ATDs as long as I have to to to try

to get to remission. There is no fixed period of time where you have to

go off the ATDs. Terry and others in this group have been on them for

years.Don't let the endo try to tell you otherwise.

What is important is that you get a hold of your lab reports and

monitor your numbers yourself in relation to the dosage ot ATDs you are

taking. If you are not sure of what they mean (and they can be

confusing) post them here others will help you decipher them. Elaine is

the resident expert and a post with her name in the subject line will

bring it to her attention. The more you know and understand the more

confident you will be in becoming involved in your treatment.

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

From my experience the every-other-day thing is just the opposite of what

works towards remission. For me, the best results I had was taking my 5 mg.

pill and dividing it to 3 pieces, taking one AM, mid-afternoon and before

bed. Then I started needing less and less until now, I'm down to taking

about a " crumb " of 1 mg. morning and evening--I no longer take enough to

possibly divide into 3's. My theory (and I admit, it's just a theory) is

that your taking the small, regular doses allows the thyroid to relax and

get better. Sort of like the theory behind B & R. I have a friend here in CA

whose endo wanted her on every other day doses, too--and she got sicker

until I suggested she try my method. She very quickly went to 2.5 mg. a day,

labs normalized and she's been OK since.

Terry

>

> Reply-To: graves_support

> Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2003 14:14:52 -0000

> To: graves_support

> Subject: Re: Hi, I'm new!/

>

> In

> December the dose was dropped to 5mgs every second day but by the end

> of January I had regressed to hyper numbers again.I am now back on 5mgs

> a day and now my FT3 and FT4 are within normal range although my TSH

> has disappeared.