For at least a year and a half, possibly longer, I’ve had Graves’ disease, also known as hyperthyroidism. And I have a very serious case that has made me extremely sick. With this illness, the thyroid goes crazy and pumps out huge quantities of hormones, sending them throughout the entire body. In other words, we go into overdrive and all balance is lost. It seems to be a disease that is more common with women, although about 1/3 of my doctor’s patients are men.
But I have come to the conclusion that doctors cannot cure my disease and I am on my own.
My History With Doctors
I am not a person who races to the doctor with every cold or case of the sniffles. In my adult life I have been to a doctor when I had my two children and when I broke my wrist. That’s it. I’m definitely not invested in the medical community.
However, I finally went to a doctor about my disease because I felt so terrible I could no longer function. I first went to a cardiologist because my heart was pounding so loudly and so alarmingly that I was frightened. I was afraid that I had serious heart disease. As it turned out the cardiologist diagnosed my thyroid problems in about 15 minutes and sent me to an endocrinologist, a medical specialist who deals with the endocrine system, which includes the thyroid gland.
Methimazole: The Good and The Bad
What they have done is to give me a drug [naturally] called Methimazole. When I am taking the drug I feel much better and my symptoms practically disappear. But twice now I have quit taking Methimazole and within a few days all my symptoms returned. This tells me that the drug is not healing my Graves disease. Don’t misunderstand: I am extremely grateful to be symptom-free, even temporarily, but HEALING my thyroid must be the most important consideration.
I cannot continue to take Methimazole much longer or it will damage my liver.
The only other treatment option is for my thyroid to be destroyed and I would then take thyroid medication every day for the rest of my life.
Why I Refuse To Destroy My Thyroid
I have no intention of destroying my thyroid for two reasons. The first is that thyroid hormones are a very basic function of the body and they’re too important to my well-being. It seems perfectly clear to me that no drug can ever take the place of such an important gland.
Secondly, I have talked to people who have had their thyroid destroyed and none of them are very happy about it. The body is a very sensitive and delicate mechanism which changes from moment to moment. A correctly functioning thyroid instantly adjusts to the needs of the body but drugs do not have that sensitivity. It is impossible to take a set amount of thyroid medication every day and have it perfectly suit your body. The people I’ve talked to say that they often feel pretty bad until their medication is adjusted. In other words taking thyroid medication will link me to a doctor with a titanium chain for the rest of my life.
My Graves’ Disease Symptoms
I don’t know how bad the symptoms are for other people with a hyper active thyroid. I can only speak for myself — but I can tell you it’s been incredibly bad.
* First of all, my heart has behaved in an alarming fashion. I have wondered if I was having a heart attack. Fortunately, it seems to be undamaged.
* I cough and cough and then I cough some more. I spend part of every single day coughing. It’s not only unpleasant but I often have sore throats and strained muscles from all the coughing.
* I am super congested and have been using Kleenex by the truckload.
* I’ve been so hot that I feel like I’m going to burst into flames. The last two summers have been almost unbearable. Atlanta isn’t known as Hotlanta for no reason. We’re very hot and humid in the summer and the days that were in the high 90s, combined with my overheated body, have been pure torture.
* My muscles have been very weak, especially my legs. A couple of times when I’ve been on the floor for some reason I wasn’t sure that I was going to be able to get up.
* The worst symptom to me is that I am very out of breath. Sometimes just walking up the stairs of my home has me so out of breath that I am desperately gasping for air.
* And lastly, there are days when I just feel AWFUL! I am frequently tired and have no energy but on some days getting dressed is a major accomplishment.
What Am I Going To Do About My Graves Disease?
There are times when all of us are sick with a cold or the flu or an upset stomach. During these times, miserable though they were, I knew that I was a healthy person and the misery was temporary. But with the Graves’ disease I have felt, for the first time in my life, like a “sick” person. It’s a horrible experience.
I have made a commitment to deal with my Graves’ disease in a natural way. I’ve already discovered ways to heal some of the symptoms. I’m using a supplement that is helping my heart to be normal. My muscles aren’t weak and I don’t feel desperately sick anymore. I still have my cough and I’m out of breath part of the time but these two symptoms are not as severe as they were.
I am a walking, breathing experiment. I am confident that I can totally cure my Graves’ disease and when I do I will be glad to share my methods with other thyroid sufferers. Wish me luck.
kat says
Yaay! I am so excited to have read this. I too have been diagnosed with graves disease. It’s been about a year and a few months for me and I am also thinking of curing this disease. I don’t want to be sick! Also, I have a goiter that I would love to be of normal size again. I am also on methimazole and I do feel so much better, except for the extra weight I’ve put on. What supplements have you been taking? I was thinking about doing a heavy metal detox and trying a gluten free diet as graves disease is sometimes linked to celiac disease. Well good luck! Let me know how it goes
BlissPlan says
Kat, the methimazole definitely makes me feel better but we have a limited window for taking it because of the liver danger. I quit taking it in July and I feel pretty well most of the time. Two supplements have helped me: copper and magnesium. When I first started going to doctors to figure out what was going on a cardiologist gave me a beta blocker because my heart was pounding so alarmingly. But when I started the methimazole I couldn’t take the beta blocker and all my heart arrhythmia came back. Once I started taking copper, though, the irregular heart beat dropped by at least 90%. I read a blog entry somewhere and the author believe that Graves disease was a copper deficiency. I don’t know if he was right but it’s certainly helped me. One thing, though – he said there is a mineral in leafy greens that destroys copper, which was a bummer. I haven’t eaten salads like I used to because of that comment.
I think you’re right about doing a detox. Somehow, though, I haven’t been able to dredge up the discipline to do one. Maybe we ought to be detox partners to keep each other honest? :-)
BlissPlan says
Forgot to mention your goiter: I had that once and taking kelp totally cured it. But that is the absolute wrong thing to do for Graves disease because kelp is an iodine source which SPEEDS UP your metabolism and thyroid and you don’t want that. You sound like me – I had a slow thyroid (hypo) years ago and then it switched to a hyper thyroid. That sounds like what’s happened to you. Also, the extra weight is probably because of your hypo time. If it were me, I would concentrate on the Graves disease first and then deal with the other.
Del7575 says
Buguleweed and lemon grass are great natural ways to help control an overactive thyroid. There is an online book that was a great read for me and helped me find natural alternative to my graves disease. Google “graves disease cure”
BlissPlan says
Del, wish I had known about this two years ago. :-) Thanks for sharing.
Jessica Fields says
I am so glad I found this! It is nice to know others feel like me. I do not want to take any medications that will make me gain weight or cause liver damage. I also do not want anything radioactive nor do i want to kill my thyroid off. I too have been searching for holistic treatments. People think i’m nutso for doing so but i truly believe it can be cured holistically through a change in diet.
BlissPlan says
Jessica, you’re not ‘nutso’ at all! I’ve spoken with several women who, unfortunately, listened to this barbaric advice and ‘killed’ their thyroids and all of them have problems. They told me their medication needs frequent changes and they feel awful at times. I read up on the thyroid and the amount of hormones it manufactures are constantly changing. It’s a delicate balance that alters moment by moment. Drugs can’t possibly be that sensitive. The thyroid is one of the most basic glands/organs of the body and we need to bring it into balance, not destroy it.
Elee says
I am very excited to have found this. I have been very ill for a year and becoming hopeless as no one can figure out what is wrong with me. I was finally diagnosed with hyperthyroidism last week (by the same endocrinologist who has been telling me that I am fine) and began taking 5mg methimazole 4 days ago. When can I expect to feel better? I am still having some hyper symptoms and horrible hot flashes (my temp was just 100 degrees) but I feel a little better than I did last week sitting in the doctor’s office crying my eyes out. I too have been taking magnesium (really helps the muscle weakness), but I am interested to learn more about copper and other supplements that I can be taking. I am desperate to feel better. I am desperate to get my life back as I am a 36 year old single mother & I cannot continue to stay in bed for the rest of my life. Thank you for this page. And thank you in advance for any more guidance and wisdom!
BlissPlan says
Elee, I know exactly how you feel. It’s a horrible illness. Somewhere I read an article about a fellow sufferer who was taking the copper and it made a tremendous difference for me, although certainly every body is different and it might not be as effective for you. It might be worth trying, though. I was able to discontinue the Methimazole after three months because my thyroid was normal. It took a few days – less than a week – to start feeling better so you should notice some changes soon. I don’t like taking powerful drugs but the symptoms were so awful that I was willing to take almost anything to get some relief. Most thyroids are “hypo” rather than “hyper” so there is less support and fewer options for us. But, just to encourage you, I’ve been over the horrible stuff for two years and have had no further problems (fingers crossed). About the post-hyper future: our thyroids are obviously a weak organ in our bodies so we need to be careful that this doesn’t recur. I’ve invested a lot of time in learning how to de-stress and be calm and I continue to take minerals every day. Best of luck to you. I’m sure you will feel better soon – and I know you can’t wait!!! (Sydney)
Jill says
Hi, I was diagnosed with Graves 2 weeks ago. I started a gluten free, mostly organic diet this week. I am also planning to start taking b vitamins, a d vitamin and magnesium. It sounds like I should also try the copper. Is it readily available in the store? What dose do you take? I ordered some books on line about diets for Graves disease, but they have not come yet.
Thanks for sharing your experiences,
Jill
BlissPlan says
Jill, at first I took 2 mg. tablets, twice a day. Then as I got better I scaled back to one per day and then one every other day. There are warnings against taking too much copper but the ONLY help I got was some writing by a guy who took copper. His theory was that Graves disease is caused by a lack of copper and I have doubts about that. My personal experience tells me that stress is more of a factor. Regardless, the copper was extremely beneficial. A cardiologist gave me a beta blocker which stopped my frightening erratic heart beats but I didn’t want to take the Methimazole & a beta blocker. The copper stopped the arrythmia completely. This is the only time in my adult life that I went to doctors, except for a broken wrist and the Methimazole did end my Graves disease symptoms after three months but it wouldn’t have been so effective without copper. Best of luck to you. I know how awful it is!!!
Susie says
I was diagnoised in February, 2014, with overacting thyroid. It’s called Toxic Multinodular Goiter. My doctor started me on Methimazole 5 mg and now up to 2 x in the AM and 1 x in the PM. It took 3 weeks for most of the symptoms to go away. After 4 weeks, I’m now feeling the heat waves through out my whole body. I’m also taking parapanolol for my heart beats 85-95. This is such an awful disease. Please help me. I’m now a vegetarian but still experiencing symptoms. Please email me at salofaituli@qualityimageinc.com. I would appreciate all the help I can get.
BlissPlan says
Susie, I sent you an email. I know how desperate you feel – it’s an awful disease!!!
Michelle says
I was diagnosed with graves disease in 2007, was told if I didn’t have it removed I would never have kids. I decided against it as the thyroid wasn’t the culprit, it was my immune system. I went on a small dose of PTU for the beginning of my pregnancy, then the graves disappeared (pregnancy supresses the immune system) but I was told that my symptoms will come back with a vengeance 6 weeks after I delivered. I delivered a healthy baby girl, and was scared to go on meds as I was breastfeeding. My symptoms returned, hair fell out, heart rate of about 140. I was told I could never go into remission without medication….they were wrong! I did absolutely nothing for 2-3 weeks, watched tv and lazed around (outside of caring for my daughter). I’m sure the organic gluten free diet and vitamins/probiotics helped, but I’m sure resting and having your mind occupied on tv for 2-3 weeks will put you into remission as stress is the instigator. I have been in remission for a year and a half.
BlissPlan says
Michelle, that’s a great story and thanks so much for sharing it. They pressured me, too, to have my thyroid removed and I also refused. It was almost funny … when I was waiting for the doc one day, a nurse came in and she started telling me that she’d had her thyroid removed and that it was a DISASTER! She was constantly having her medication adjusted and often felt terrible. The human body changes from minute to minute so how can any prescription drug be accurate for long periods of time? I know, I KNOW, that my Graves disease was caused by stress and you did the best thing you possibly could by resting and adjusting your diet and vitamins/probiotics. You are an inspiration to us all!
lucy says
I was diagnosed with graves disease a year and a half ago (after being misdiagnosed for 8 months). I’m convinced it was brought on by stress and a downhill eating spiral due to stress especially at work. I’m on 7.5mg of carbimazole a day – my ft4 when i was diagnosed was over 100. My thyroid antibodies were over 600. I strongly recommend getting thyroid antibodies tested as these are the root of the problem, not the poor thyroid which is being over stimulated by the antibodies! Through diet and quitting my job amongst other lifestyle changes my antibodies have dropped to 0 and 1 (thyroglobulin and thyroperoxidase). Whilst my thyroid is still over active without carbimazole the fact that my immune system has stopped producing these antibodies is a step in the right direction. Unfortunately many doctors aren’t interested in the antibodies as they can only prescribe drugs for symptoms….
BlissPlan says
Lucy, it’s impressive that you’re working on a cure through natural means. You are so right that the doctors are only interested in drugs. Your comments on antibodies are fascinating since they’re new information to me – and why shouldn’t every Graves disease patient know about that? Blessings and best wishes on your search for a cure. Please keep us informed.