Went to Endo. today

[lil dollie]

I went to my first Endo appt. today after being diagnosed with hyperthyroidism. He is a good Endo who sees a lot of thyroid patients. He told me today I have Graves disease and is setting up my uptake scan. He also said my thyroid was 3 times the size it was suppose to be but didn't feel like a cancer mass. He said it was from the Graves disease but doing the scan to rule anything else out. Also will want to do RAI after being on antithyroid drugs for just a little longer. He is switching my PTU to Tapazole which I am glad because he said Tapazole has a lower side effect of chemical liver toxins than PTU. He said it is rare but he has seen it but wanted me to know the side effects. Also he told me it can lower white blood cells which is also rare. That scares me a lot! I have been on them for 6 wks now and so far no problems and I hope I don't have any while I am on them. Well at least I know what was wrong and will get through this one way or another I hope!

[venora]

It is alwasy a relief to find out what is going on.Alot of docs just dont know so they try to make us think we are mental whne out thyrroids are making us feel like ****.
Now you will be able to have a battle plan and beat this thing.Good luck and keep posting.
Love Venora.

[sarikate]

Don't be nervous, girl, we're in the same boat!  Remember, don't worry about that scan; make small talk with the technologist and you'll feel better : ) I'm holding off on the RAI until I see how I react to the Tapazole.  Some people, after being on the drugs for 18 months or so, go into remission and don't need RAI.  It's not the greatest odds - about 20-30% or so - but I'll be hoping I'll be in that percentage.  

[rayneweather]

Good to hear that he seems to know what he's doing.  I was on tapazole for over 6 months and I never knew that it could lower white blood cells until I went on it again.  And I never had any problems with it.  I went into remission after 12 months on  meds but unfortunately it only lasted 4 years.  I hope you do really well.

[lil dollie]

Thanks so much, I hope I do too. I think I will. He did tell me that people do go into remission if they stay on them for a while and that the side effects are rare, it is just scary to think about them, but at least they do make me feel better.  I am just glad that this visit wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I also knew there had to be something wrong with my throat, but I blew that off as well. Every night when I lay down to go to sleep (before the horrible symptoms showed up), I had to tilt my head back to sleep because it felt like I was choking a little. I kept asking my husband if he could see a lump in my throat and he kept telling me no. I looked in the mirror as I swallowed some water and I did see a little bulge that moved up and down below the adam's apple area but I thought it was normal. You can't see it by just looking at me, but I can feel it. Now at least I know I wasn't crazy. Thanks so much for the replies and I am sure that I and others like me will come through fine. Thanks for all of the encouragement.