There are three main treatments for Graves' disease: 7. Your doctor may also suggest you take a medicine called a beta blocker. Beta blockers block some of the effects of excess thyroid hormone on your body. They slow down your heart rate and reduce symptoms such as shaking and nervousness.
Beta blockers work quickly and can help you feel better while you wait for additional treatment to start working. All medicines have risks. You should talk to your doctor about the benefits and risks of all medicines. Women with Graves' disease often have irregular menstrual periods.
If your periods are irregular, you may not ovulate each month, which can make it difficult to get pregnant. In a man, Graves' disease can harm the sperm, which can make it difficult for you to get pregnant. Treatment of Graves' disease can often make your menstrual periods regular and restore fertility in women and men.
Normal hormone changes during pregnancy cause thyroid hormone levels to increase. The thyroid gland may also enlarge slightly in healthy women during pregnancy, but not enough to be felt. These changes do not affect the pregnancy or your unborn baby. Undiagnosed thyroid gland problems can harm you and your unborn baby. Symptoms of normal pregnancy, such as fatigue and feeling hot, can make it easy to overlook thyroid problems that cause the same symptoms.
Tell your doctor or nurse if you have symptoms of overactive thyroid or notice a goiter. During pregnancy, you may need to see an endocrinologist , a doctor who treats people with hormone problems.
Your doctors will check your thyroid levels during pregnancy. You cannot get radioiodine therapy during pregnancy. It can cause problems with your pregnancy and to your unborn baby.
Your doctor may give you anti-thyroid medicine instead. Propylthiouracil PTU is safe to take throughout pregnancy. Also, your treatment may change during your pregnancy. For some women with Graves' disease, symptoms are worse in the first trimester and then get better for the rest of the pregnancy as thyroid hormone levels change.
Some women can stop taking anti-thyroid medicines in the last four to eight weeks of pregnancy if their thyroid activity becomes normal. Your doctor will check your thyroid hormone levels again after childbirth. Mothers taking the anti-thyroid drug propylthiouracil PTU can safely breastfeed. For more information about Graves' disease, call the OWH Helpline at or contact the following organizations:.
Department of Health and Human Services. ET closed on federal holidays. Breadcrumb Home A-Z health topics Graves' disease. Graves' disease. Graves' disease Graves' disease is an autoimmune disease that damages the thyroid gland. What is Graves' disease? Who gets Graves' disease?
Your risk is higher if you: 1 Have a family history. Graves' disease may run in families. Researchers are working to find the gene or genes involved. Have another autoimmune disease , such as rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes , pernicious anemia , or lupus.
Are under stress. Severe emotional stress or trauma may trigger Graves' disease. Recently had a baby. Pregnancy affects the thyroid gland. Another blood test checks for antibodies that attach to proteins from the thyroid gland. High levels of these antibodies may mean Graves disease.
Or it may mean another autoimmune thyroid disease. It will also depend on how severe the condition is. Treatment may be done with:. Anti-thyroid medicine. This type of medicine helps to block the production of thyroid hormone. Your child may be given a medication known as methimazole. Propylthiouracil is not often used due to the risk of side effects, including liver failure.
Radioactive iodine. This may be used if your child has a serious reaction to anti-thyroid medicines, or if the medicine doesn't help stop the symptoms. This oral medicine destroys part or all of the thyroid gland. This blocks the production of thyroid hormone. This is a surgery to remove all or part of the thyroid.
Surgery may be done in children who have not reacted well to anti-thyroid medicines or radioactive iodine. The antibody associated with Graves' disease — thyrotropin receptor antibody TRAb — acts like the regulatory pituitary hormone.
That means that TRAb overrides the normal regulation of the thyroid, causing an overproduction of thyroid hormones hyperthyroidism. Graves' ophthalmopathy results from a buildup of certain carbohydrates in the muscles and tissues behind the eyes — the cause of which also isn't known.
It appears that the same antibody that can cause thyroid dysfunction may also have an "attraction" to tissues surrounding the eyes. Graves' ophthalmopathy often appears at the same time as hyperthyroidism or several months later. But signs and symptoms of ophthalmopathy may appear years before or after the onset of hyperthyroidism.
Graves' ophthalmopathy can also occur even if there's no hyperthyroidism. Although anyone can develop Graves' disease, many factors can increase the risk of disease, including:. Thyroid storm. A rare but life-threatening complication of Graves' disease is thyroid storm, also known as accelerated hyperthyroidism or thyrotoxic crisis.
It's more likely when severe hyperthyroidism is untreated or treated inadequately. The sudden and drastic increase in thyroid hormones can produce many effects, including fever, sweating, vomiting, diarrhea, delirium, severe weakness, seizures, irregular heartbeat, yellow skin and eyes jaundice , severe low blood pressure, and coma.
Thyroid storm requires immediate emergency care. Graves' disease care at Mayo Clinic. Mayo Clinic does not endorse companies or products. Advertising revenue supports our not-for-profit mission. This content does not have an English version. This content does not have an Arabic version.
Overview Thyroid gland Open pop-up dialog box Close. Thyroid gland Your thyroid gland is located at the base of your neck, just below the Adam's apple.
With this condition, your thyroid gland creates too much thyroid hormone in the body. These antibodies then attach to healthy thyroid cells. They can cause your thyroid to create too much thyroid hormone. Thyroid hormones affect many aspects of body processes, including nervous system function , brain development, body temperature, and other important things.
Without treatment, hyperthyroidism can eventually lead to:. This condition develops when your immune system begins to attack eye tissue and muscle, leaving your eye sockets swollen and inflamed.
This inflammation can cause your eyelids to retract, which makes your eyes seem enlarged and bulging. Up to 5 percent will have more severe symptoms. Mild cases of GO might improve on their own. Be sure to follow any recommended treatment guidelines.
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