Reta use with Graves’ disease — any experiences?

I’m asking on behalf of a friend who has Graves’ disease and is thinking about starting Reta. Her main worry is how Reta might affect her condition. Besides talking it over with her endocrinologist, is there anything else she ought to think about?

Has anyone here with Graves’ disease used Reta? How did it go for you? Any personal experiences you can share would give her a starting point — thanks in advance.

4osty said:

I’m asking on behalf of a friend who has Graves’ disease and is thinking about starting Reta. Her main worry is how Reta might affect her condition. Besides talking it over with her endocrinologist, is there anything else she ought to think about?

Has anyone here with Graves’ disease used Reta? How did it go for you? Any personal experiences you can share would give her a starting point — thanks in advance.

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Disclaimer: I don’t work in medicine, and none of this should be taken as medical advice.

With that said, I had to look up Graves’ disease, and it seems an elevated heart rate is one of the symptoms. Reta raises heart rate as well, so speaking for myself, I’d be extremely cautious about using Reta. If your friend is set on a GLP1, my suggestion would be that she talk over Tirz with her Dr. Even Tirz appears to carry some concerns that, at minimum, call for much closer monitoring than most of us need.

trey915 said:

Disclaimer: I don’t work in medicine, and none of this should be taken as medical advice.

With that said, I had to look up Graves’ disease, and it seems an elevated heart rate is one of the symptoms. Reta raises heart rate as well, so speaking for myself, I’d be extremely cautious about using Reta. If your friend is set on a GLP1, my suggestion would be that she talk over Tirz with her Dr. Even Tirz appears to carry some concerns that, at minimum, call for much closer monitoring than most of us need.

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I agree that monitoring is essential. Honestly, I doubt her PCP has much familiarity with Reta, Tirz, or peptides in general. Both of us expect she'll simply be told to stay away from all peptides entirely, with no real medical or scientific investigation behind it. That seems to be the typical response patients around this area receive.

I don’t think location has much to do with it. Peptides resemble the supplement space in a way, and doctors hesitate to suggest them because of possible legal action.

Reddit shows a range of outcomes on this.

Has your friend had any recent episodes of elevated heart rate tied to her Graves' disease? If that's the case, tirz with the possibility of adding elora might be a simpler route. In fact, some folks prefer tirz + elora over reta regardless.

Per the Reddit AI, when reta is used: "Test baseline thyroid labs, continue monitoring frequently while on Reta, inform your clinician, and only adjust thyroid meds based on labs and medical guidance."

I have Hashimoto's thyroid failure, not Graves. While on Reta, I've found that my thyroid medication needs to go up by roughly 10%. In winter it may need to be even higher than that.

Keep in mind that T3 is the active thyroid hormone and is what directly governs metabolism. People whose Graves is uncontrolled tend to be thin because their thyroid levels are high.

Once Graves is properly treated, patients can become obese, since metabolism drops considerably when thyroid levels fall.

My suspicion is that Graves treatment (tapazole) would need adjusting with any GLP1, and likely to a greater degree with Reta than with the others.

JUST A GUESS. I could be utterly wrong.

A friend of mine just went through her second thyroid storm (at least I believe that's the term). Both times she wound up in the hospital for days, and it really hurts to see. The medication that keeps it under control leaves her wiped out, and I started wondering whether any peptides could be of help.

Reta came to mind. Thyroid function and blood sugar control are closely linked, and at one point she was told she was prediabetic (despite always being very thin), which got me thinking there might be a blood sugar angle here. She wasn't ready to raise a GLP with her doctor, but I was running through all the possible upsides and hadn't considered how the heart rate side of things might factor into that choice.

I just feel for her. If it had been me, I'd have been terrified, especially since they couldn't work out either time why it happened… though I'm the one blessed with anxiety and she's the calm one.

cujet said:

I have Hashimoto's thyroid failure, not Graves. While on Reta, I've found that my thyroid medication needs to go up by roughly 10%. In winter it may need to be even higher than that.

Keep in mind that T3 is the active thyroid hormone and is what directly governs metabolism. People whose Graves is uncontrolled tend to be thin because their thyroid levels are high.

Once Graves is properly treated, patients can become obese, since metabolism drops considerably when thyroid levels fall.

My suspicion is that Graves treatment (tapazole) would need adjusting with any GLP1, and likely to a greater degree with Reta than with the others.

JUST A GUESS. I could be utterly wrong.

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Thanks — I'll share this with her. There are certainly some points she should think through.

When her thyroid is well managed — hormone levels within normal limits and no hyperthyroid symptoms — meaning elevated heart rate isn't a concern, then there shouldn't be much of a problem. Still, picking tirz instead of reta is the more sensible choice because of the extra margin of safety: tirz raises heart rate by only a few bpm, while reta may push it up by 8-10 bpm and sometimes considerably higher.

Calm Logic said:

Reddit shows a range of outcomes on this.

Has your friend had any recent episodes of elevated heart rate tied to her Graves' disease? If that's the case, tirz with the possibility of adding elora might be a simpler route. In fact, some folks prefer tirz + elora over reta regardless.

Per the Reddit AI, when reta is used: "Test baseline thyroid labs, continue monitoring frequently while on Reta, inform your clinician, and only adjust thyroid meds based on labs and medical guidance."

Click to expand...

Thanks.

lessthanhalf said:

When her thyroid is well managed — hormone levels within normal limits and no hyperthyroid symptoms — meaning elevated heart rate isn't a concern, then there shouldn't be much of a problem. Still, picking tirz instead of reta is the more sensible choice because of the extra margin of safety: tirz raises heart rate by only a few bpm, while reta may push it up by 8-10 bpm and sometimes considerably higher.

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Great, thanks. Based on what most people have said, Tirz appears to be the route to take here, with her physician's guidance, obviously!

From what I understand, every GLP-1 raises heart rate, though Reta tends to cause the largest increase among them. In the past I used Taurine to help lower my resting heart rate while on Reta, and it did shave a few beats per minute off it. In time it settled down by itself, so I quit the Taurine. I ended up starting it again though, since it helps me get to sleep and is beneficial for eye health too.

Just sharing for what it's worth: elora is reportedly meant to bring resting heart rate down.