just diagnosed

[mamabirrd]

Hello.  My name is Jason and i'm writing on my wifes behalf.
  
  My wife has been feeling the effects of graves( almost all of them) since the birth of our

first child one year ago. We ignored the symptoms attributing them to postpartem hormones. A

week ago she mentioned one eye looked slightly bulged and I told her I thought that could be

thyroid. She went to have blood drawn and was diagnosed with Graves.  She went to see the

local endo a few days ago and he confirmed diagnosis but ordered more tests. We received

those yesterday in a fax from endo's office.
    
I am scrambling to inform myself and came across this website.  I wanted to

give some bloodwork results and the doctors recommendations. i would greatly appreciate your

thoughts on this matter.

1st bloodtest....all was normal except:

             T3 %uptake         H 42 (24-39)  %
             T4                          H 15.8 (4.5-12.0) ug/dl
             TSH                       L 0.01  (0.20-4.20) uIU/ML

    CBC/NO DIFF
        MCV    L 78.4  (81-101)  fl
        MCH    L 25.6  (26.0-34.0) pg

    Differential
         LYMPH      H 43  (20-40)

   the endo ordered a second set of tests as follows: thyroxine (T4) free, direct; TSH ;

triiodothyronine, free, serum ; thyroid perioxidase (TPO) Ab ; antithyroglobulin Ab.  We

received only partial results so far......

    T4 free direct                              H 3.87   (0.61-1.76)  ng/dl
    TSH                                              L 0.005 (.35-5.5) uIU/ml
    triiodothyronine,free,serum     H 12.8 (2.3-4.2) pg/ml
       *other results will follow

   The endo said this was a severe case of G.D. that required 250mg PTU 3 times daily. My

wife refused the medicine because of  breastfeeding.
   Upon the 2nd blood test results he faxed a suggestion of 50mg twice daily.  
   My wife is still breastfeeding our one year old approx 8 times a day. In light of the

news she is reluctantly beginning a weaning process as speedy as possible while trying to

keep the baby and her stress about the weaning to a minimum.
    
    are these suggestions in line with the test results?
    what are risks in waiting a month or so before treatment untill baby weaned?
    is there T3 (or anything else)getting in the breastmilk now? if so is this worse that

the PTU?
  
  I am in the infancy of trying to understand this disease. I am trying to arm myself with

as much info as fast as possible because the endo is coming across like we gotta do

something right now. What little i've learned suggests educating yourself and making

informed decisions are a crucial part, but the doctor is making us feel like with the blood

results our research time is limited.
  
I can't express how important your time and thoughts would be to my family. i would

appreciate any thought or suggestions you have on this matter.
  
   what would be your course of treatment in this case?
   is the condition as serious as the endo suggests?
  

[jax190]

this condition can be very serious if you dont take medication im not to good on the labs but hopefully someone else will take a look. it can be a tough time when your going through tyroid problems but you will get help and support here. i wish you and your wife good luck with this but please tell her that she really needs to take her meds. as your baby is a year old maybe she should consider weaning he has had more than the first six months   which is the most beneficial. now is the time to put her health first.

[worriedinmd]

Check out the links on the Health Pages (top right of screen). You can learn a lot through them.

[mamabirrd]

Thank you all very much for the responses. We are reading and taking in as much as we can. We have decided to get a second opinion from an endo who was recommended to us for graves. In the meantime we would like to speed up any blood work by getting our family doctor to order any tests we believe we may need. I took note of the ALT, TSI, and the TBII . Are there any other tests which we may likely need ?   We'll take any info as our understanding of this is still quite limited. My wife and I greatly appreciate your time.

[peggy64]

I want to commend you on taking such an interest in your wife's disease. I wish my husband was interested.

It shows you really care and want to understand.