In retrospect, I can trace obvious symptoms back as far as 1989 or so, but I never put 2 & 2 together. This was disturbing to me because I have a Master's degree in Nursing and at the time of diagnosis, was on faculty at a university School of Nursing. I was prompted to go to my family doctor because of what I believed was asthma. I was 41 years old and had "outgrown" asthma as a young child. What I had turned out to be full-blown congestive heart failure, secondary to thyroid storm. Again, I believe I would have probably recognized this is anybody but myself!

I got put in ICU where it was discovered that I had almost no bloodcount. This, I later learned, was a direct side effect of acute, progressive GD as the red blood cells form but cannot mature due to hypermetabolism. I also had all the other classic symptoms such as weight loss (approx. 60 lbs. over three years), unrelenting insomnia, rapid heart rate (my resting pulse at the time of admission was running between 148-160, extreme shortness of breath upon exertion, tremors, etc. While I had noticed all of these symptoms, I conveniently chose to ignore them, attributing them all to stress.

I ended up receiving six units of blood immediately, which alleviated some of the tachycardia and shortness of breath right away. Then, I was fortunante in having a really sharp family doctor who called in reinforcements right away. My endo is the same endo who treated George and Barbara Bush for their GD, so although I've come to realize he tends to be on the conservative side, he is extremely knowledgable and credible in his treatment.

I was treated right away with RAI, as he felt the situation was so far out of control he needed to take definitive action. About ten days later, I went through another thyroid storm secondary to the escape phenomena that sometimes occurs after RAI. No fun at all!

The next six months I remained on a metabolic rollercoaster while my levels tried to settle down from being out in the ozone. My T4 at the time of diagnosis was 78; TSH - O. I had a great deal of difficulty getting the congestive heart problems under control in spite of being seen about every 2 weeks by a cardiologist. I was on large doses of Tenormin and diuretics.

Finally, just after New Years '96, things seemed to settle down. I had gone back to work at the school after having been on sick leave since August. I was having problems with diffuse muscle aches and weakness in my arms and legs. My alkaline phosphatase was in the ozone. Fractionated lab values determined this was coming directly from bone tissue; yet another "happy side effect of GD because like the blood values, bone cells were being formed like crazy but never got the chance to mature due to the hyper- metabolic state.

In mid-February of '96 it all hit again. My endo said it was similar to a raging fire that you think you extinguished but have only suppressed. Every symptom came back, including the CHF (heart failure). I received a second dose of RAI, and now, nearly a year later, my TSH remains very depressed, and my T3 and 4 are starting to creep up a- gain. My endo is beginning to talk about a third round of RAI if the levels don't stabilize, something he says he's only had to do with 3 patients in over 30 years of his practice.

I'm NOT happy. I have severe eye problems - double vision mainly at night and in the early morning, and CONSTANT tearing which is driving me crazy. I had my eyes irradiated last September to try to control the inflammation and bulging. I cannot really say if the radiation has helped all that much. The ophthalmologist tells me it takes at least six months to determine therapeutic effect with orbital radiation so I'm on hold with that.

I am by no means a fount of knowledge about this disease but I have access to and read all I can get my hands on and would like to keep up the communication with others who are experiencing the myriad side effects of this disease. My sense is you have to "be there" to appreciate what we're going thru with all this. I have frequent days where I feel for lack of a better word, really zoned out mentally. Wonder sometimes if this is true clinical symptomatology, or if I'm just turning into a nut bar! I've also had problems with weight gain. Can't seem to lose weight no matter what I do. It's very demoralizing to feel such loss of control.

Eager to hear any replies to this diatribe. Thanks!

MLC