Grappling with Graves’ #1: What about it and why now?

According to the American Thyroid Association, July is considered Graves’ Disease Awareness Month.  The organization’s website notes that Graves’ is an “autoimmune disease that leads to a generalized overactivity of the entire thyroid gland (hyperthyroidism). It is the most common cause of hyperthyroidism in the United States. It is named after Robert Graves, an Irish physician, who described this form of hyperthyroidism about 150 years ago. It is 7-8 times more common in women than men.”  My mother and I happen to be two of those women.

I was diagnosed in early 2020, right around the start of the pandemic. Up to that point, most of the knowledge I had acquired about the disease was from being on the sidelines when my mother was diagnosed in 2010.  I was completely unprepared for what my journey would bring. As a Graves’ patient, I have had so many problems and ten times as many questions.  In seeking answers that my doctors didn’t readily offer, I relied on various medical websites, but most of the information I read was over my head and extremely impersonal.  Aside from the basic symptoms, even some of the personal stories I read on the internet did not sound at all like the things I was experiencing.  I longed for someone to talk with who knew firsthand what I was going through.  I was thankful when I finally found that in a friend from church.

I don’t believe people really understand Graves’ at all.  Like other autoimmune diseases, it is often dismissed easily and people who haven’t personally experienced it, minimize its effects.  When you consider that thyroid hormones are responsible for keeping the brain, heart, muscles, and other organs working properly, imagine what happens when those hormones are out of whack. Throughout the month of July, I will share my experiences with Graves’ in hope that it will help someone like me who is looking for answers and struggling.  I will talk about the symptoms that led to my diagnosis, the treatment options that were available to me, and all of the residual effects that have plagued me for the past two years.  I look forward to sharing my story with you.