The Good News

Progress has been made in leaps and bounds since my last post a few months ago.  Most of the symptoms are under control right now, and I'm down to only one prescription!  Here's how it all happened.

The Methimazole prescription that I was on had a better effect than even my doctor expected.  By the time I went for my first follow-up after starting it, my T3 and TSH levels were back in the "normal range", and my T4 was just a touch higher than it should have been.  Because of this excellent progress, my endocrinologist suggested that we continue with the pills and put any discussions of "long-term solutions" on the back-burner for the time being.

I had gone off the Celexa on my own accord, simply because I hated mixing so many medications and the Atenolol was keeping my heart in check.  My doctor suggested dropping the Atenolol as well, so we worked out a plan to wean my body off of it slowly.  The first few weeks after stopping it, there were some scary experiences.  In one particularly frightening instance, I found myself standing - just standing - in an elevator, and my heart was beating so fast and hard that I was feeling dizzy.  I timed it, just to be sure I wasn't imagining things, and it was going over 170 bpm.  That's not cool.

But those experiences were few and far between, so I stayed the course, and things improved.  I also started doing yoga (daily at home, weekly in a class setting) and I think it has helped immensely with being able to calm myself down during panic episodes.

The plan, for right now anyway, is to continue with the Methimazole (which is down to a tiny 5mg/day dose) for upwards of 18 months, and then reconvene.  If it stops helping, or if the symptoms return once I'm off it, we'll need a more long-term solution... but more on those options to come.