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My wife was just diagnosed with this today.

Basically it is an enlarged and overactive Thyroid gland which among other things has caused her to have a rapid and pounding heart-rate. It is this symptom that led her to seek medical attention. The condition was most likely brought on or aggrivated by her recent pregnancy.

Although very treatable one common treatment does involve ingesting radioactive iodine to destroy part of the Thyroid. During this treatment she would have to live in isolation for days to a matter of weeks. She wouldn't be able to hold our 10 month old daughter or even sleep in the same bed as me for this time or even longer. A very tough thing for a new mother to go through!

Anyway the reason for this post is to find out if any of you pholks have had any experience with Graves Disease (Hyper-Thyroidism) and/or its treatment. There is so much info online that my wife and I have been pouring over it would be nice to hear some first hand experiences.

Please PM me if you don't want to post in such a public forum.

Thanks in advance.

TPR

I don't have any experience w/ it, but here's some hugs and good thoughts coming from CO.

((John, Mrs. John, and baby))

I don't know anything about it, but you certainly have my phin power, Mr. and Mrs. Polly Roger! ((()))

The women in my ex-wife's family have all been through this and none of them remained in isolation very long. If memory serves me correctly the longest was about 4 or 5 days and the shortest was 2 days. Luckily it is easy to treat and the treatment is very effective so in the long run things aren't too bad. In the short run it has the potential of being stressful for all involved. My prayers go out to you and your family.

(((((((John, Bridget, Audrey Quinn))))))

You're all in my thoughts and prayers and close in my heart. Call anytime you need to talk or if you need ANYTHING.

I'll do some checking at work with all my nurse friends.

Love to you all....

((((John, Bridget, Audrey))))

Let me know if I can do anything from here.
I'd love to be there to help spoil Audrey

I am sorry to hear this. . The amount of time your wife will need to follow those precautions is dependent on the amount of radiation given. . it can be overnight or a few days. . up to the month you mentioned if it is a high dose. I am sure you have read tons. . and her doctor will give her specific instructions. . but she can help it along by drinking lots of water. There are also a lot of annoying side effects. . dry skin, hair, nails. .loss of saliva. Buy her a nice basket of lotions. .and lemon drops! (they say sucking on lemon drops promotes saliva production. .)

My co-worker had a then 1 year old while she underwent treatment. She could still do intermittent things with her son. . changing diapers. . picking him up. . as long as she washed her hands very well. . This sounds funny. . . . Her son had outgrown the playpin/play thing (whatever they are called - I don't have kids!). . She would sit inside of it. . while her son was in the same room. . . She could be with him. . .and it amused the heck out of him. (Before anyone calls DCF - her husband was there too!). . And then they tossed it.

I am sorry you both have to go through this. The bright side is that it is treatable. (And don't read too much on the internet. . you could be reading about the worse case scenarios and find your wife only needs a low dose and this will all be over soon.)

My mom went through it as well, I believe she slept in the spare bedroom for about a week. She's doing great now, though she has to take some sort of medicine daily, to make up for the loss of thyroid function.

You have my phin power...

((((John, Bridget, Audrey))))

Also no experience with it, just wanted to send along good thoughts and prayers.

(((The Whole Family)))

John I will ask my Nurse friends too.

BTT

Phin Power and good wishes on the way from Marie and I

I'm very sorry to hear this John. Although I can't provide you with particular advice or consolation and just to let you know, I work for 2 of the finest endocrine surgeons in the midwest here at Northwestern so if you ever have specific questions about your wife's condition and/or treatment and would like an explanation from another source, I can always present them to my surgeons. It would be an informal dialogue of course, but you never know what they might suggest in contrast or to compliment what you're getting from her physicians already.