Living with Graves' disease (after a year of treatment)

It's been a year since I got diagnosed with Graves' disease. Time flies. 

Yesterday I went to see my doctor's to see where we were. My T4 and TSH have stayed normal for a couple months now and my health has been improving. I've been feeling good and I haven’t felt any symptom. But managing my stress and anxiety are two things I still need to work on, and I think I will have to keep working on these things until the day I die.

But here are some positive changes that happened in my life since I got diagnosed with Graves’ disease.

The first positive thing that changed in my life is that I get to react immediately (or almost) when I feel overstressed or anxious. The key is to listen and recognize my emotions and to take action: breathing exercises, long walks and meditation are the main important things (at least for me). It takes practice but it's getting easier. The second positive thing that completely changed my life is setting boundaries. I've been saying "no" more often and I've been taking more time for myself. I've been protecting myself from things, people and situations that give me stress and anxiety. Life changing. I used to think that saying "no" was being rude to someone or being a bad person so I kept saying “yes” so that the other person won't feel disappointed. So it made me do things I didn't want to do or be in a place I didn't want to be just because I didn't want to disappoint people. But saying "yes" all the time made me miserable. Now that I've learned to say "no", life is so much easier. Protecting myself has been life changing. And I finally understood that saying "no" won't hurt the ones who love us, they will simply understand. And they do understand. 

So let's talk about my doctor's appointment. My antibodies were a bit higher comparing to my last blood test (they were at 2,7 early April) but nothing alarming. And by the way, having high antibodies is not a thyroid problem but an autoimmune issue so it’s about dealing with stress, having enough sleep, eating healthier, using natural products, etc …I have to take care of all these things to lower my antibodies but stress is the thing that comes on top for me. It’s a lot of work. But I have to do what’s necessary.

Like I said above, the rest was normal for a couple months now. I've been taking 5mg of Neo-Mercazole every day for almost a year and now that we've reached a year since I started my treatment, my doctor and I decided to lower my dose. So I've just started taking 2,5 mg today. At first, my doctor wasn't so sure but then she talked to me about it and asked how I felt and if I was ready. I said I was willing to try. What I like about my doctor is that she really takes the time to communicate with their patients. It's rare nowadays. So I am truly grateful for her. 

Sooo we're trying this new treatment for 3 months and we will see how it goes ! Hopefully it will go well :) I was a bit scared at first because I am always scared haha but I will do my best to keep doing all the work I've been doing so far and hopefully the results will be positive. My goal is to keep lowering my antibodies and to be able to live without medication in a near future.

If you missed it on my last blog, here’s a list of things I do on a daily basis to get better:

  • yoga

  • breathing exercises

  • new diet (less dairy products, less caffeine, more organic food, specific vegetables (cauliflower, broccoli, sweet potato, mushrooms..) specific fruits (bananas, pear, watermelon, coconut...), wholegrain rice, wholegrain bread, less sugar...

  • gemmotherapy (I take dogwood, viburnam and hawthorn plants for 21 days then I take a break for 7 days then I go back to those 21 days)

  • organic toothpaste, deodorant and exfoliant

  • more time outside (long walks)

  • more time with people I love

  • more music

  • more rest

Feel free to reach out if you also have Graves’ disease, I’d love to connect. Let’s talk about our healing process :)

Talk soon,

-Virginie