Input on graves disease?

I have a friend who is in the hospital with what they say is Graves Disease. I was reading up on it and was wondering, ..Has anyone who had this disease ever had trouble walking? She is having trouble walking and I don't see this anywhere as one of the symptoms of graves disease. Also the doctor is thinking of treating it with the radioactive iodine treatment. This I read will kill off the thyroid. I read there is a treatment of medication that is not as hard on the thyroid and there is a chance although small one of it taking care of the problem. I would think this would be the first option? Then if that doesn't work to go to the radioactive iodine and then last the surgery. She needs to make a dicision as to her treatment yet she has very little info about the disease. I was reading up on it to see if I could get her better informed. Any comments would be appreaciated.

I was diagnosed with Graves disease about 6 years ago. My first clue was the changes in my eyes. I started losing weight, and was hyper and twitchy all the time. I don't remember having trouble walking, but I do remember some muscle weakness and overall exhaustion.

I was put on a drug called Tapazole (don't know the generic name) but it never worked right for me. The doctor kept changing the dose every time I had a blood test done, but it did not regulate my thyroid enough. I finally went with the radioactive iodine treatment about 2 and 1/2 years ago.

I will be on thyroid replacement for the rest of my life. My weight is up, and the doc says it is even harder for me to lose weight than other people because of the thyroid problem.

Your friend should really try the medication first. It seems pretty silly to kill of her thyroid without trying the less invasive stuff first.

Good luck.

I was just diagnosed with graves and they told me that medication won't work I have to so the radioactive pill and even they they are saying it will fail, I am now going in to talk to a surgen to know my options better, eveyone is different. I have trouble walking at time, my legs get very weak. Report It

There is a less drastic treatment for Grave's disease. It is a cheap, generic prescription called methimizole. There is only the most minuscule chance that methimizole would NOT work for your friend, and that is only because a tiny portion of the population may be allergic to methimizole and can't take it. In the unlikely event that your friend is allergic to methimizole, you try another very cheap generic drug called PTU. Believe me, the drugs WILL work. There will be no need to go on to radioactive iodine or surgery.

Good for you for realizing what a bad idea it would be to permanently and irreparably kill such an important organ as your friend's thyroid.

I haven't heard of trouble walking as a symptom of Grave's disease. But it could be because of muscle wasting and also because her heart is not beating efficiently so her little remaining muscles are not getting enough blood.

When I was diagnosed with graves disease, I was weak in the beginning and couldn't walk, I literally crawled because I was that sick. I didn't know what was happening to me. When I first saw the doctor, he told me what my options were but I was so sick I didn't know what was best for me. Now that I had my thyroid eradicated, I wish I hadn't because it nearly killed me as I went into a thyroid storm. Now I have no thyroid and have to take synthetic medicine for the rest of my life and I am still not regulated and never will be. As long as you have your normal thyroid gland there is a chance that it will continue to function properly after a week or so, but if you take the radioactive iodine like I did you risk your life and your thyroid will be forever gone. Don't do it. If I had it to do again I would ask questions and have someone do research for you. But, if you choose to do this, please get an attorney because you will need one if you survive the radioactive iodine.

hI was diagnosed with graves about 2 months ago. There is a wealth of information on treatments on the Internet. I have chosen to use alternative methods of treatment and I am thankfully having good results. Your friend should know that she has choices. She may feel too ill now to think clearly so your help is very valuable. I recommend looking up Elaine Moore. She is a Doctor who had Graves Disease about 30 years ago and actually had her thyroid removed. She regrets it and has written books and has a website to help better inform people about what Graves Disease is and how to best achieve a complete recovery. Just type in Elaine Moore and you will see " Elaine Moore's Graves Disease Education Site". There is also an amazing documentation of a young woman's recovery from Graves which is really helpful because she tells you all of her experiences with different treatments. Go to www.webmosaics.com/throid You will see "My personal battle with autoimmune thyroid disease... Hope this is helpful and wishing your friend a speedy recovery.