# can it just go away?



## talley (Jul 28, 2012)

Hello;

I was dx with Graves in early August. I took 10 mg tapazole for one week the first of September and then quit - I don't like taking meds and it just didn't "feel" right.

As of this week, I have gained four pounds, feel fine, little to no tremors and the heart palpatations are nearly gone...also, my persistent cough that I have had since June is also gone.

I have an appointment Oct. 4 and will get new labs drawn...could the Graves have gone into remission so quickly and without treatment? I believe it was brought on by stress and then dieting (I lost 15 lbs - slowly but steady). We went out of the country and the symptoms began after we returned in June.

TSH - <0.006 (0.450-4.500)
T4, Free - 3.85 (0.82-1.77)
TPO - 76 (0-34)
T3 and T3 uptake - high (don't have numbers

RAIU 6 hr 53.8 (normal 8-20)
24 hr 64.8 (normal 12-30)

ALT (SGPT) - 68 (0-40)


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

talley said:


> Hello;
> 
> I was dx with Graves in early August. I took 10 mg tapazole for one week the first of September and then quit - I don't like taking meds and it just didn't "feel" right.
> 
> ...


These things wax and wane. Next time it comes back, it usually is worse and eventually becomes steady on hyper. That has been and was my personal experience bearing in mind that we all react differently.


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## webster2 (May 19, 2011)

I agree, it does wax and wane kind of the calm before the storm type of thing. I don't believe it goes away.


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## Partyof7 (Aug 13, 2012)

It does not go away. I was diagnosed a year and a half ago but was told I have had it since 2001. I can look back now, and "see" when I had flare ups over the years. That year I was diagnosed with thyroiditis, but it was actually the start of Graves. After that, doctors didn't catch it because I had cancer twice, plus several pregnancies, and no one was checking my thyroid (plus we moved a lot due to military life, and I had to change docs over and over). After finally being diagnosed, my body went into spontaneous remission for about a year (I cannot be on the thyroid meds because I have a history of leukemia), but it flared up again. I was treated with RAI 131 at the end of July (2012). My T3 and T4 were back in normal range within a couple of weeks, but now, 7.5 weeks post treatment, they are going back up (TSH is still nonexistant at 0.01) and I am still having some hyperthyroid symptoms. I have a terrible feeling the RAI 131 didn't work. I have labs again in a couple of weeks, so we'll see what happens. I can understand your frustration. My first doctor actually came right out and said, "I don't know what you're waiting for. This is NOT going to go away," when I balked at having treatment right after diagnosis. I put it off, wanting to research things (and just not feeling comfortable), and I ended up going into spontaneous remission, which can occur in 1/3 of patients (per Elaine Moore's book, _Graves' Disease A Practical Guide*)*_. One thing I have learned is that _my_ body does not do anything normally, or the way it's supposed to... Your journey with this diagnosis and treatment will be different from mine and everyone else's. Just make sure you read up on Graves/treatment and that you have a doctor you trust as you make decisions and move forward. Hang in there!


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