I have not stepped on a scale for four months. I know that beginning treatment for Graves' with Tapazole put on an instant seven pounds (on an already overloaded frame) and another seven went on over the summer. Then I got sick of the "Graves' rage" and being extremely cranky all the time—intolerant of my boisterous five-year-old, and so on. So I began a regimen of fluoxetine, an SSRI antidepressant which really made little things seem like little things again! I love how easy-going it has made me, and so does the family.
Oh, but the weight! I dare not step on the scale to see how much has gone on since September. All I know is that my clothes don't fit. I was this large once before, back in the early nineties, after quitting smoking, and I'm afraid I've reached that high-water mark again.
Now that Christmas with its excesses has passed, I'm going to try my best to reduce back to what I was, with diet and exercise. I have a copy of Mary Shomon's The Thyroid Diet, just for tips and tricks (although it is written mainly for those who are hypothyroid). And if I do not soon see my clothes fitting better, I am going to jettison the fluoxetine and find some other way to cope with the moodiness of Graves'. Wish me luck.
2 comments:
Hi Beth-
Happy New Year! Good luck with your diet and exercise! I too had an immediate weight gain when I went on the meds but I seemed to have leveled off. I definitley notice a huge (no pun intended) difference in my body now that I am on this medication but that might also be due to the fact that I am getting older...The month of Dec was so busy that I didn't work out quite as much as I normally due so it's back to the gym for me. I find that I have to work out now in order to stay slim and more importantly to feel good. All the best to you!
Thanks, Kelly! Having a baby plum wore ME out, at age 37, then the Graves' on top of that.
Good luck with your exercise regimen!
I reconnected this evening with an old friend whom I remembered suffered from Graves'. He was always really cranky, and now I know why, LOL. Says he also suffers from celiac and Hashimoto's, and after 34 years of tending this chronic problem, he is worn out. He wishes for some kind of local support group.
I am 99% certain I had the onset of Graves' 16 years ago, now, but it mostly was in remission for me. Not for him, always taking pills and minding his diet. I gues we're all in this for the long haul. :-/
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