Not having fun here

I was diagnosed with Graves about 3 weeks ago. I have been so sick...tremors, headaches, body aches , extreme weakness. I am taking methimazole 10 mg plus atenolol . Can anyone tell me when I can expect to feel like myself again? I am very active, 4 kids, 1 grandchild, job in a cute shop. I have not been able to work or keep up with life. I don't do sick well and find myself weepy too often. Holidays are coming and at this rate I'm sure I won't be productive or able to enjoy myself. Any words of wisdom?? Endocrinologist seems busy and rushes me off the phone and says to stay the course, but I'm seriously getting majorily impatient and down.

I had a few good days and thought I was rounding the bend, now week four since diagnosis and drugs, I'm Back on the couch missing fun things happening outside. Question...is relapse to be expected or eventually with treatment can I expect to be consistently solid again? I'm dizzy, weak and down.

Hi. I just saw this. I hope you're seeing results now. Did you split the dose into 2 x 5 or take all at once? Splitting is good to keep a steady amount in your system.
After a month even my incompetent former doctor did bloodwork. They need to check liver and CBC, and for some people they're reacting so well they're ready for a dose reduction. If you had very active Graves and were on a higher dose, it's possible the doc would halve the dose. At this point, he may say to stay on this dose or reduce to 7.5. If your dr. kept you on the same dose please insist on being checked no later than 6 weeks from now.

I just want to add, TSH can stay suppressed well into anti-thyroid drug treatment. That's not the most relevant test. Your doc should be going by the T4 and T3 in dosing.

I assume you mean 5 mg.
Get hard copies of your labs. Every time. Find out what your dr means by 1/3 back to normal. Some doctors don't realize how irrelevant TSH is at this point and are going solely by the TSH. Though that she reduced you is probably a good sign. I wouldn't go longer than 6 weeks between bloodwork.
I wouldn't panic about a relapse. (Though I'm one to talk, I spent years waiting for the othe r shoe to drop myself ) ATDs can work, you just don't want to come off so fast. You may end up staying on a 5 mg. for a while, and that's fine. And after that, it might be prudent to halve the pill for a bit and then come off. YMMV. You'll see when you get there.

Oh boy. Very different advice here.
You really need to split your dose. Take 10 in the AM, 10 in the PM. Some would even say to split three ways but many say that methimazole has a long enough half life that you should be able to keep a continuous dose in your system this way.
You did have very active Graves. I started at 30/day too.
ATDs are anti thyroid drugs. There are two, methimazole (Tapazole is a famous brand name) and PTU.
YMMV means, your mileage may vary.

You need to INSIST on labs no later than 6 weeks after the last labs. My doc gives me a scrip, I come in a week before my appt. and the labs are ready for us to discuss at the appt. 20 mg. IS a high dose. Things are still changing rapidly. Generally, a good doc will do a dramatic dose reduction early if you're responding, then depending on how far you have to go and how well you're responding, possibly another dramatic dose reduction, then will reduce in slow increments. The idea is to stay on ADTs to allow the thyroid to settle down and heal. I got off at 14 months. This is a progression that might take as long as 2 years but on the low dose you're likely to be on for most of it, it shouldn't be a big deal.

There is a website I haven't checked out in a while, graves-support@yahoogroups. But it had the best ongoing info I've seen. Elaine Moore, who has articles and is accessible on suite101, contributed a lot. She also wrote a book called Graves Disease: A Practical Guide.