Pain and Graves Disease

[marykund]

Hi, I am a 32yr old female who has been on pain meds since 2008 from a terrible accident. I'm currently on Percocet 10/325, 30mg Oxycontin CR, 1200mg Neurontin 3x day and Zanaflex. I was recently diagnosed with Graves Disease which is an autoimmune disease associated with ur thyroid. I have noticed that I'm needing more pain meds than normal to relieve my pain. My question is, does this disease affect the relief I am supposed 2 be receiving from my normal dose? Basically, does my pain meds need to be increased or does my thyroid affect the digestion process of the meds? Any advice would be so helpful in dealing with this new diagnosis

[Tuckamore]

Hello Mary,

Welcome to the Pain Management Forum. I am sorry to hear that on top of Chronic Pain you have also been DX with Graves Disease. You've asked a good question.

I have a close friend that has this condition. He has not noted any difference in the effectiveness of his medications. I have what's called "Dumping Syndrome" meaning that everything I ingest gets rapidly put through my system. This only appears to effect any medications that are absorbed in my small intestine, such as an enteric coated tablet. So it's not exactly like your faster metabolism but similar.

This is an excellent question to ask of your PCP or Specialist. You may also want to post in our Autoimmune Forum. Here's the link:

http://www.medhelp.org/forums/Autoimmune-Disorders-/show/174

I wish you well and hope that you will share with us what you learn ... as we all learn from one another. I'll be interested to read your updates.

Take Care,
~Tuck

[Totie]

The only I can tell you when I dealt with Graves was that it caused hyperthyroidism which made my metabolism go into extreme overdrive. I dropped weight like you would not believe....

I can give any answers to medication, but I would think that if your metabolism is in overdrive it is burning everything up quickly. That is just my opinion. Please keep a close eye on the graves...can be deadly...