# Help!!!!! I have graves!!!!



## Lidia (Aug 3, 2011)

Hi everyone,

I am 33 y old breastfeeding momma. Was diagnosed with hashimoto 3 y ago, and one a week ago with graves. I was not taking synthroid last 8 months due to hyperactive thyroid and future study by my endo. So my last results came back positive for graves. My endo nurse practitioner told me that I should take selenium for 2 months and do blood work and will see if that helps. If not she will put me on PTU. Ok ! I had millions of questions and made another appt and met different nurse . She prescribed methimazole and said that I have to take it asap.She gave me a 80 mg a day for 24 h and 60 mg for a day for month. I am 104 lbs person(5'7" and was always like this). Isn't it a to big dose??? Can I breastfeed while taking it? Or is there a safer medication available?
What should I do? I can not stop nursing in one day....
 I would like to have another baby so isn't the better idea to just remove thyroid to avoid future complications?
Please can anybody help??? My last labs :
TSH 0.02(0.45-4.5)
Free T4 4.9(0.8-1.7)
Free T3 18.4(2.0-4.8)
TPO -Ab 446(<35)
TSI 348(-%)
Thyroglobulin antibodies 905(<41)
should I wait to see if selenium works? 
Lidi a


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

Lidia said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> I am 33 y old breastfeeding momma. Was diagnosed with hashimoto 3 y ago, and one a week ago with graves. I was not taking synthroid last 8 months due to hyperactive thyroid and future study by my endo. So my last results came back positive for graves. My endo nurse practitioner told me that I should take selenium for 2 months and do blood work and will see if that helps. If not she will put me on PTU. Ok ! I had millions of questions and made another appt and met different nurse . She prescribed methimazole and said that I have to take it asap.She gave me a 80 mg a day for 24 h and 60 mg for a day for month. I am 104 lbs person(5'7" and was always like this). Isn't it a to big dose??? Can I breastfeed while taking it? Or is there a safer medication available?
> What should I do? I can not stop nursing in one day....
> ...


Welcome!

You are really hyper. The first step I would like to suggest before you take anything is to get RAIU (radioactive uptake scan.) With high Thyroglobulin Ab, you may have cancer. This is a must.

Sometimes cancer and hyper go hand in hand. If you take the PTU, you won't be able to have the RAIU.

Thyroid cancer in patients with hyperthyroidism.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12876418

cancer TPO and thyroglobulin
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1699-0463.1994.tb04888.x/abstract

Understanding Thyroglobulin Ab.
http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/thyroglobulin/test.html










Congrats on the "wee one!"


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## Lidia (Aug 3, 2011)

Thank you Andros. Can u explain this procedure (RAIU) how this is gonna looks like, what should I expect? My endo didn't even mention this.Maybe because I am still breastfeeding???? What I will know after RAIU ?

Thanks a lot
Lidia


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## webster2 (May 19, 2011)

hi,
This is how mine went in June. I went to the hospital, took a little radioactive pill, and went home. Next day, went back to hospital, was put on a teeny tiny narrow table for 45 minutes while they put this funny little machine, kind of like a moveable x-ray machine on my throat in different locations. Painless, I nearly feel asleep but I was tired a lot in those days. Also, they started with a little wand type thing, made me think of a geiger counter!

I sure hope it won't interfere with nursing. I think baby making is still a possibility in the future! Best wishes to you!


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

Lidia said:


> Thank you Andros. Can u explain this procedure (RAIU) how this is gonna looks like, what should I expect? My endo didn't even mention this.Maybe because I am still breastfeeding???? What I will know after RAIU ?
> 
> Thanks a lot
> Lidia


You do have to take radioactive iodine. How old is your little one? Breast feeding is very very important but so is mom's health. You would have to wean the baby if you are having the RAIU.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003689.htm

Maybe you can at least have a sonogram of the thyroid? Although they do leave some things to be desired.

Discuss with your doctor.

PTU

Propylthiouracil Breastfeeding Warnings
In one study, nine lactating women were administered 400 mg of propylthiouracil by mouth. The mean amount of propylthiouracil excreted during 4 hours after drug administration was 0.025% of the administered dose.

Propylthiouracil is excreted into human milk in small amounts and therefore likely results in clinically insignificant doses to the suckling infant. While adverse effects in the nursing infant are not reported, the manufacturer considers propylthiouracil to be contraindicated during lactation. However, propylthiouracil is considered compatible with breast-feeding by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

http://www.drugs.com/pregnancy/propylthiouracil.html


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## patient50313 (Aug 27, 2011)

Do you consume aspartame or any other artificial sweetner?

I had read that some doctors believe that aspartame is the cause of a lot of auto-immune diseases and neurological disorders. So, I thought I'd eliminate it from my diet to see if it would help me.

I was taking 30 mg of methimazole a day for my hyperthyroid and when I stopped consuming aspartame my symptoms improved DRAMATICALLY in just a manner of a few days and I could no longer tolerate my thyroid medicine, so I stopped taking it. I now take a dietary supplement called L-Carnitine which gives you the same results as methimazole without all the side affects. Once I started taking it my hair stopped falling out and now I rarely find hair in the shower.

I would start there and you might be surprised you may not need any medication or may only need a low dose.

I continue to follow-up with my Endo Dr who recommends that I stay on the L-Carnitine since it's working. He says it's perfectly safe to take, so I've been taking 500 mg in the morning and 500 mg at bedtime.

Hope this works for you as well as it has for me. Good luck to you.


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

patient50313 said:


> Do you consume aspartame or any other artificial sweetner?
> 
> I had read that some doctors believe that aspartame is the cause of a lot of auto-immune diseases and neurological disorders. So, I thought I'd eliminate it from my diet to see if it would help me.
> 
> ...


Welcome to the board!

I certainly agree about the aspartame (and MSG etc.) and the L-Carnitine. The use of L-Carnitine is becoming increasingly popular w/ the medical establishment (even mentioned in Thyroid Manager if I recall correctly) and certainly is safe.

How many Grams do you take per day?


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## patient50313 (Aug 27, 2011)

I take 500 mgs in the morning and then another 500 mg at bedtime. It works great without all of the side affects and has kept my levels in normal range.


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

patient50313 said:


> I take 500 mgs in the morning and then another 500 mg at bedtime. It works great without all of the side affects and has kept my levels in normal range.


This is so wonderful; it truly is. I could not tolerate Tapazole and that was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back before I even heard about L-Carnitine.

Even w/the L-Carnitine, I do recommend that the patient be under the care of a doctor. Very very important as Graves' and or Hyper can be life-threatening.


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## AZgirl (Nov 11, 2010)

Patient, how long have you been off methimazole?


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