Anyone know about HyperThyroidism?
 

My wife was JUST diagnosed yesterday and has to go back later this week for more testing. From what we've learned, there are two treatments, Surgery (YIKES!) and Radioactive treatment (Kills the cells that overproduce!)

Dr. said that the radioactive treatment will prevent her from having anymore kids. Although I'm done with kids. (We have 1 boy who is awesome), but she wants to keep that option open if I/we change our minds and want another one.

Regardless, the Dr. suggested she no longer ride her bike. We went riding last Thurs and she had to stop because she got really dizzy and lightheaded and nauseous. I asked her if this was temporary or permanent and she stated he didn't say permanent. She assumed it was untill she got this under control.

Dr. also said she is very young to have this. She's only 32.

Does anyone know more about this? Any/all information would be helpful!

L8R

bikenut, if the doc says lay off the cycling for a while until she gets this under control, I'd consider it. Then again, you can always seek a second doctor's opinion.

Oh wow. My sister, a fitness trainer, had hyperthyroidism. She'd wake up complaining that her heart was palpatating and she'd get lightheaded. A physically fit woman in her early 50's, she was diagnosed around 6 years ago. She opted for radiation and now she has no functioning thyroid at all. It killed it. Now she takes Synthroid, a synthetic hormone which the the thyroid was responsible for producing. She feels much better and still teaches aerobic classes 3 times a week, works out with weights and power walks 5 miles a day.

This disorder is often passed down in families.

From my knowledge of it (little), once it's under control her symptoms should largely disappear and stay away.

can't see why she wouldn't be able to cylcle when treatment over.

hope all goes well.

Let me begin by saying I know nothing about this condition so I can't help you there.I suggest you find out as much information about this condition independent of the medical profession as you can and decide whether this condition can be cured by lifetyle,dietary or other means.View the medical profession as a last step alternative if the condition is incurable . You are taking the right first step in asking questions on this board.Maybe a nutrition or disease relate board may be the next step.Heck yahoogroups has so many speciallized boards they probably have one on this condition.You may want to also try a holstic health type practitioner but can't vouch for this because I can't remember thelast time I was in a doctors office.Good Luck

As a followup I did a search on one of the newsgroups and came up with a good linkfr education and treatment options for thyroid disease.As I am not able to link let me say it is on the about.cm site under health&fitness then thyroid disease. Again Good Luck

Hi, a2psykynut. I was diagnosed with Graves disease, the most common form of hyperthyroidism, in 1995 and was treated by radioiodine ablation. The treatment was successful, and with L-thyroxine replacement therapy, I'm feeling pretty good and am active: riding, rowing and running - the latter when I'm not injured :) . I am also lucky to have a responsive and well informed internist who is willing to listen and work with me on periodic adjustment of my meds.

RWTD mention the about.com site which is fairly informative. My favorite web site is the following:

http://thyroidmanager.bsd.uchicago.edu/

This is a rather technical but highly authoritative site, and I continue to find it useful. It may be worthwhile pointing this site out to your wife's physician particularly in light of his/her inaccurate comment about not having any more children after the radioiodine treatment. Although a patient should NEVER be treated with I-131 while pregnant, once the radioactive iodine (which very specfically targets the thyroid gland) is cleared from the body, there is NO evidence for increased risk of cancer in the patient or birth defects in children conceived after the treatment.

Your wife's doc's recommendation to stop riding is a sound one. Hyperthryoidsim results in tachycardia (increased heart rate) which can be risky during intense exercise. Plus, you just feel like cr@p anyway with all the other symptoms. There are drugs which are used to decrease thryoid function, and certainly these are viable alternatives to I-131 or surgery, but these drugs have potentially undesirable but rare side effects. Gail Devers (the track athlete) takes these to keep her hyperthyroidism under control. Although I'm a big believer in preventative medicine, e.g., lifestyle modifications a la RWTD's comments, Graves isn't amenable to this approach. It's an autoimmune disorder, and in the same category of endocrine disorders as type I (juvenile) diabetes. Graves is definitely a disease for which you need a physician's care.

Chewa's right. After treatment and once the appropriate dose of replacement thyroxine is achieved (the majority of patients lose most thyroid function after RAI and certainly after surgery; that's the whole point of the therapy), your wife will feel much better and will be able to resume her activities. Getting the right dose of Synthroid or Levoxyl can be tricky. Most endocrinologists agree that patients feel best when their TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone - produced by the pituitary; this is a marker for thyroid function and circulates in the blood) falls in the 0.5 - 2.0 range. By way of encouragement, there are a couple of world class athletes who had thryoid cancer and subsequently had their thyroid glands completely removed and are now on replacement therapy. Emma Robinson is an elite Canadian rower, and Karen Smyers is a top triathlon athlete.

a2psyklnut, my brother, also 32, was just diagnosed with hyperparathyroidism last week. His doctor said it was hereditary, because 10-15 years ago, my grandmother had the whole thing (thyroid gland?) cut out. She has a scar all the way around the front of her neck that she jokes is her Frankenstein scar.
From what I heard (third string info from my parents, so forgive me if it's fuzzy), they do not do that as the surgery anymore. They are going to inject a little device in him that will find out which one (I think there are four or so) is the worst and then remove that one.
He had been having heart palpitations, and that was what drove him to the doctor. They also found something odd with his liver, so now he has to go see an internist too. All of this piled onto a little boy on the way (via my sister-in-law, although I think he's been eating for two himself!), due December 16.
Let me know what else your wife finds out. You and your wife will be in my prayers.

Thanks everyone for the input, and thanks Cowgirl for your prayers, that means A TON!

I guess what's frustrating is that this is the 3rd Dr. she's been to. The first (HMO Dr. of course) said it was just the after effects of childbirth. We now have a wonderful 2 year old boy running around. Her 2nd Dr. did some bloodtests and told her everything looked normal. Well, then why was she feeling like poop!

We finally self diagnosed her as being hypoglycemic and went to the Dr. #3 explaining all the symptoms, and the homeopathic treatment/special diet she was on w/o any improvement. To our relief, the Dr. was doubtful of the hypoglycemia and ran some additional tests. So, we are at ease that Dr. #3 is actually concerned as opposed to the "oh just take this prescription" philosophy so prevalent these days.

The Dr. wants to perform additional blood tests next week and a follow-up in 2 weeks. It's just driving her crazy, it's a struggle for her to get up in the mornings, and by the end of the day she's whooped. I get home and she goes to bed! Our little guy, is too young to understand that Mommy can't keep up with him and that's been really hard on her!

I help as much as I can, but I don't get home till late in the day, and she has a hard time asking anyone outside the family (i.e. friends) for help. She getting better at asking, but I know she'd rather just suffer til I get home! Oh, did I mention the irritability? Let's just say it's difficult for all of us!

Thanks Again Everyone
L8R

I'm really surprised reading this, that so many people have thryoid disease. I just found out this spring that I have Hashimoto's, which is HYPO and the opposite of Hyper, which means your thyroid slows down. Howeve, it only requires medication and not surgery, fortunately. It's a different disease.

ALl I can say is that during the winter, I went through a period where I felt horrible, and that's what promted me to see a doctor and get tested, because I had begun to suspect it was thryroid. The condition runs in my family and I'd been having symptoms for a while which weren't all that serious but odd for me to have. One of them, I should mention was dizzy spells and feelings of vertigo which I thought were from low blood pressure. But during the wintr, something triggered off a spell where I could barely move for about a week- perhaps it was a cold I'd had. I also felt so tired all the time it was like being stoned.

I was sure I'd never be able to do anything again, let alone cycling, but here I am in the summer and I've been cycling nearly every day. I have to, because I put on weight from hypo and am not medicated yet, and it's essential for me to keep that weight off. In fact, it's made me feel better. I think that your wife, once she's on medication, should have no trouble. I look at it this way- if Lance Armstrong or Greg Lemond could get back on a bike after their troubles, then anyone can (unless they're quadriplegic or something).

However, having a condition like this has made me realize how little info there is for people like us who are serious about a sport and who want to know what we can do. I remember looking up a page about "how to keep fit with hypothyroid" and there was a page of exercises- some chubby guy doing situps and deep knee bends. I'm a bit beyond that! I want to know about how things like long distance cycling can affect you, with things like heart rate, etc. A friend of mine is type 2 diabetes and has the same problem- he has to worry about things like dehydration. But when you aska doctor they think of cyclings as riding your bike to the store or around the block! There isn't much info for people like us!

We/I won't know anything further for another week and a half. In the meantime I'm doing some searching and learning as much as I can.

Regardless, I appreciate everyone's input.

I'll keep you guys posted on the "going ons"

L8R & Thanks

It can be really hard to find info, can't it? My cousin, Jennifer, is a 23 year old Downe's Syndrome girl and she has Grave's Disease. She was so sick for so long, and her doctors' prognosis was that her mother was paranoid. My aunt finally found a good endocrinologist who said two more weeks and Jen would have been dead. She had her thyroid removed and has been on Synthroid for years and is fine now. And thin, which isn't normal for a Downe's kid! So she won't have all the health problems associated with obesity.
Anyway, once your wife decides how to treat it and gets 'settled in' I bet she'll be good and will even feel better than before! :)
Nat

During the past few months I've read a lot about thryoid disease as well, and it really seems to be common. I had no idea how many people on this board alone have it or know someone who does. It does affect women at the rate of 50-1 over men, though, and it often does run in families. In my case, my mother has it. I think the american thyroid association web page said something like 60 million americans may have it but many people don't even know they have it because often the symptoms seem to be sort of minor. It's not like you're falling down and having seizures or in horrible pain.

One thing I've learned is that even if symptoms seem to be 'subtle' if they're unusual for you, that's what matters. It occurred to me that one reason a lot of people don't know they have thyroid disease is that they aren't in great shape, probably don't exercise, are already overweight and out of shape and so if they feel tired, crappy and have aches and pains, or feel dizzy and get heart palpitations they don't notice it as much because they always feel that way!

The good thing is that if you're in good shape like we all are, then having such a condition won't be as much of a problem and treatment will be more successful.

Old thread, but it's relevant to me right now. I was diagnosed with Grave's disease last fall after I lost about 30 pounds in about two months while I was commuting to work a few times a week in the summer. My cardio was great, but my muscle mass disappeared even though I was eating like a horse every day. I bonked quite a few times as well. I had muscle tremors with the slightest amount of muscle use and just never had strength. I finally hurt myself on my last commute in the fall. I don't think it was a pulled muscle... the muscle just seemed to stop working. Like permanently fatigued.

Anywho, the Dr. is pushing for the radiation treatment which seems excessive to me. My wife and her mother are herbalists and put me on a regiment of pills and somewhat restrictive diet that I've been doing the last 6 months or so. A lot of the symptoms seemed to go away like the muscle tremors and chronic insomnia. But I wasn't sold that they were working 100% so I took 3 days off from them this weekend and the insomnia and muscle tremors came back with a vengeance. I tried playing hockey last night and was useless. I had no leg drive whatsoever and my hands were stone. I was tremoring on the bench any time my arm or leg muscles were used... like standing up or picking up my water bottle.

Now that the warm weather is here I'm ready to start commuting, but I'm worried about my lack of muscle mass. I'll try to work into it, but I"m afraid the commute (30 miles rt) and the hyperthyroid will just lead to me getting hurt again.

I'm really open to any alternative ideas besides radiation and the other drugs that have potentially deadly side effects like liver failure.

btw.. I"m male. Adopted, so I have no family history.

Still an old thread but I thought I would update. After trying to deal with the Graves Disease and hyperthyroid holistically/naturally, I finally got sick of living with the symptoms and taking tons of pills/suppliments and dietary changes. I opted for the iodine treatment. Within a week I felt better. Than slowly worse as the thyroid goes from hyper to hypo as it's dying. There were 3-4 weeks worth of feeling great when the thyroid levels were perfect. But once they dropped 0, I felt like crap. Muscle cramps and spasms that really hurt my bike commuting and hockey. I think I dropped to 0 ahead of schedule because of my activity level, but it was perfect timing. I started the meds this week a day after the worst of the hypo symptoms. Hopefully the thyroid pill gets me to normal physically. It's good to read above that there is a triathlete taking the pill.

I still feel it's best to go for holistic/natural if you have the time/patience to find which works for you. Small changes can have drastic effects over a 3-4 week period. Sometimes even in 1-2 days. But it's a long process to find what works or doesn't work. I just got tired of it and not always being able to be active with decent and consistent physical performance.

Hi all, please share your experience with Graves disease/hyperthyroidism. Those who have gone with the medication treatment, how did it work for you? How fast did you get back to your normal fitness level? And has the medication cured you completely?
Thanks a lot!

Anyone? Thanks.

ripped- I had hyperthyroidism due to thyroiditis which was fortunately a temporary thing. Great weight loss program, I ate like a pig and lost 15 pounds. I took atenolol, a beta blocker, to reduce the tremor that went with it, unfortunately it limits your heart rate which has some adverse cycling effects. Good luck

My cat has hyperthyroidism and I have to feed her two pills a day. She is a very unwilling patient and feeding her the pills is not the high point of my day. I usually end up wrestling a screaming ball of fur, claws and teeth and getting covered in hair and wet pulverized cat-pills.

I'm sorry if that was an utterly unhelpful post. Comedic relief maybe?

Interested myself as I've just been told that I have it as well. From reading this thread, it might explain the light headedness and sometimes extreme fatigue of the last couple of years.

I have hypothyroidism and take Levothyroxine (Synthroid) but I am thin as a rail. I inherited it from my mother, she is also on Levothyroxine but a much larger dose. Thyroid disorders are so more common lately because of everyday exposure to chemicals in our food, drinking water and environment which mimic thyroid hormones. Off the top of my head, Triclosan, an antibacterial agent in soaps, hand sanitizers, one particular brand of toothpaste (Colgate Total) and even I believe Microban plastic products is absorbed into the bloodstream and suppresses the thyroid gland. Chlorine and especially fluoride in tap water mimic thyroid hormone so I only drink bottled or reverse osmosis filtered water. Water pitcher filters only remove chlorine but not fluoride.

There is an entire class of man made and natural food source thyroid hormone disrupters called goitrogens that I also try to avoid. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goitrogen

Hyperthyroid, Graves’s disease here. Don’t let the name scare you; that is the worst part!!!:D

My history, I thought I was going insane, I could not sit for any length of time, could not concentrate to read, night sweats, racing HR, trembling hands, quad pain and constantly thirsty all symptoms of Graves disease. I was lucky, I did not go into Thyroid Storm; my cousin’s son did. That condition can be extremely serious.

I opted for having my thyroid nuked. The nuking process is like something out of a science fiction movie. A horse size single pill (the pill alone costing something like $5,000!) with only a couple day shelf life sealed in lead canister with the radioactive logos on it that you open yourself, in a lead shielded room with no one else around. It was a bizarre experience. Then it took almost 2 years to really get my meds stabilized; it is a moving target, based on blood work results and your physical feelings.

While you figure out a course of treatment, there are meds that can be prescribed to control it temporarily.

My life is very normal, as are most people properly treated.

All in all, if yur gonna have a disease, this one is not a bad one to get.:beer:

This is where I would start, not a biking forum. Talk to your Dr. and or specialist. People here are only going on experience and not expertise. Just my two cents.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hyp...oidism/DS00344