DDH - you're not alone, you have me

I also have Graves and have been in remission for over 2 years now. Read whatever you can get your hands on BEFORE you meet the endo! I had the entire UW Hospitals endo department wash their hands of me because I refused the radioactive iodine uptake test (RIU) because of my belief of the risk of side effects (see teigry's post). After a threat of filing a complaint with the state insurance board for not treating a patient who obviously needed treatment, they found an internal medicine dr who would treat me. Ironically, in less than 6 months on a very low dosage of PTU, my thryoid was under control.

Elaine Moore is a leading expert on Graves and has written a very good book. Read it and then read it again. Ask lots of questions. I have been dealing with this for 6 years but it wasn't until last year that I got the "official" Graves diagnosis even though I new I had it. A good endo is hard to find, most of them around here treat diabetics. Ask for an endo that has lots of graves patients and ask if they treat with drugs vs. radiation. Radiation is permenant. And sometimes it damages more than the thyroid.

There's a very good website out there with info and a good board. I'll search and post it. Email me if you have any other questions.

Oh, and I'd be willing to bet you don't have sleep apnea. It's a side effect of graves. Stop all the caffine immediately. Your system is on overdrive and won't slow down, that's why you can't sleep. No cold medicine with ephedrine or psydoephedrine either - it promotes heart palpatations and can keep you up for days.

Best of luck and take care of yourself!

Dar