For those with Graves and dealing with perimenopause
Do you have a doctor that manages your BHRT *and* Graves?
I've been on methimazole for a couple of years, but it happened to coincide with going into perimenopause. Last summer I felt so awful I went to see my OBGYN and started an estrogen patch; I asked her to test my testosterone and it came back at 14, and she said this was normal, but they don't treat with testosterone since it's off-label for women. I thought I was going crazy and just slapped a patch on.
Due to supply chain issues with the patch, I went a week without it and noticed zero difference - I feel like absolute shit, cannot sleep, cannot tolerate working out at all (even Pilates or light weights), weight gain, hair loss, etc. I finally saw a hormone specialist and my testosterone was >3. She said I should've been medicated LAST year, especially given the fact I have Graves disease AND my PCP put me on a GLP-1 to help offset weight gain, sleep apnea, and inflammation. I’ve lost so much muscle, I feel so weak and exhausted.
I started testosterone shots 6 weeks ago and it was life changing for 2.5 weeks; now, I seem to dip on Day 4. I'm testing again this week but my provider is hesitant to do twice week injections, but I think I need to a) up my dose a teensy bit and b) split the total dose in half and administer two days/week to decrease dips.
I don't even know who to go to next? Who can I trust to actually look at everything and listen to me?