Rating: 
Summary: Elaine Moore Saved My Life
Review: 3 years ago Jan. 2001, I was so ill from all the horrible symptoms of GD and on a cruise, I could not even dance with my husband. When we got back I went to the emergency room to have every heart test and all. This major hospital did not check my thyroid for the reason for palpations, but found nothing wrong with my heart.
After suffering for another 3 months, the next general MD I went to immediately diagnosed, just from my symptoms (what later blood work confirmed) that I had hyperthyroid. Test confirmed it was from Graves Disease. He gave me three options; drugs that have terrible side effects, surgery that can nick your voice box etc., or RAI; Radio Active Iodine. RAI is the route he signed me up for but I cancelled the appointment after my research on About.com forums scared me to death.
Also because you have to have monthly blood labs, I went into a shut down because my veins are so small at the bend of the arm where they want to take the blood, that most experienced nurses usually give up and get someone else to try several times. I am a good patient but this was very hard. I went into denial for a year since the heart palpitations were controlled with Atenolol. I could not take the forums. It was like always doing to a cemetery. There is no good news there. I was feeling so much better, yet did not go to any doctor and certainly not back to the one whom I did not follow his direction to have RAI, which I knew I would not do. I had to know the truth and trusted God to heal me or send the truth I needed. I now am ready to go back to him with my testimony...and hope he wants to listen. How many doctors are ruining the lives of their patients!
Now I was more careful with my health and diet than before. I believe from research that my whole crisis started from taking various diet aids getting ready for that cruise. No one should take anything that messes with your metabolism. That is the same thing as messing with your thyroid! If you can, avoid losing it!
I got back on About.com after that first year to find that there was now an expert; Elaine Moore on the forum who really sounded like she knew what she was talking about. Plus there were so many women who were seriously helped by her. I wrote her, telling her my history. She informed me that the Atenolol would not work for the long haul. Soon after the palpitations violently started until I was very scared at what they were doing to my heart. Thinking that I was going to have to go for surgery, I ordered her wonderful book. Education is so powerful and the truth will set you free. I got the information that was vital, and golly was I glad that I procrastinated until I got the answers I needed to make an informed decision.
I started on 30 mg of Tap. in Jan 03 with no side effects following her guidelines and keeping tabs on her several forums and her website. I found a local lab, with a tech gal who was profoundly good with a butterfly in my wrist vain. Monthly labs were a breeze. I found a local Physician Assistance that was willing to keep a watch over me, and give me the prescriptions I needed. Getting a PA was suggested on the forums, as they are usually willing to learn and work with you. The Endo experience is often a horror story or at best a pain and difficult, though the good ones came highly recommended on The recommended Doctor List. Praise God for the Internet!
In a year of regulating and slowly lowering my dose, after a year and 8 months I am now totally off all Tapazol with slightly low Free T3 and Free T4. TSI is going way down and I will soon have my TSH taken again to see if that is now working again. Over the time I have been on TAP since Jan 2003 I have had no side effects from the drug and have been well except for boughts of hypothyroid from needing to lower the Tapazol again.
I just cannot thank Elaine Moore enough for her research and dedication to see us well and whole, without the unnessary consequences of ruined health for life because of the treatments. With the help of her informative book and her website forums, I have been educated to take charge of my health with correct choices.
Almost every person in my family, who has ever been seriously ill, has either died or has awful consequences because of severe or wrong treatment for cancer etc. It is wonderful when a dedicated person takes the time from her life to write a book that literally saves lives. Anyone who wants to start a fan club write me at ... AllWellKassie @beachychic.c o m
Blessings and luvluvluv to Elaine!
Rating:
Summary: An excellent resource for Graves' patients
Review: As a fellow author of books on thyroid disease, I'm impressed with the breadth and depth of this book. Elaine raises interesting questions about Graves' treatments, and this book has helped to shape more debate and analysis about treatment options. An excellent companion book to this title is another book for Graves' patients by Elaine Moore: Thyroid Eye Disease: Understanding Graves' Ophthalmopathy, available on Amazon, too! I'm delighted that it's now possible for Graves' patients to have a more complete home library through Elaine's work.
M. Sara Rosenthal, Ph.D.
Author of The Complete Thyroid Book (co-authored by Kenneth Ain, M.D.), The Thyroid Sourcebook, The Thyroid Sourcebook for Women, The Hypothyroid Sourcebook, and The Thyroid Cancer Book
Rating:
Summary: A Thyroid Book that Moves Beyond the Gland to the Whole Body
Review: Graves Disease: A Practical Guide should become the gold standard for thyroid patients and their families. Like other popular books on Graves disease, Moore's maps out the basic Graves symptoms, Graves Opthalmopathy, diagnostic procedures, and treatment options. That's where the comparison ends. Unlike the other books I've encountered, this one ventures into more complex territory, and does it well. For example, instead of the standard single page on the nature of autoimmunity, Moore gives us a chapter that starts with the basics and gets detailed. She tells us what the immune system is; she clearly discusses antigens, antibodies, and autoantibodies in a way that allows the Graves patient to actually understand the intricate misfirings that result in disease. Nifty little illustrations let us see that antigen and the binding antibody. Any thyroid patient knows that our favorite refrain is, "the thyroid affects every cell in the body." This book might not hit every cell, but sure gives us a run at it: we learn about the various hormones and how Graves affects them, about vitamin deficiencies that go hand-in-hand with Graves and how those deficiencies play out upon our bodies, we're treated (yes, treated, considering the clear cut prose) to a lesson in the anatomy of the thyroid. In addition, Moore ventures where others are afraid to go, offering the latest theories of how the environment and hereditary play out together in the development of thyroid disease. She also incorporates alternative medicine into her discussion of treatment options through the testimonials of people who have employed alternative methods with or without allopathic treatment. The end result of this well-written and thoroughly researched book is that the newly diagnosed can read this and know precisely what is happening inside of their bodies and become fully informed on their treatment and lifestyle options.
Rating: 
Summary: Need a translator
Review: I am disappointed in this book mainly because it is so technical and hard to read. The reviews made it sound like it was easy to read, that is one of the reasons I bought it. But, even with a bachelors of science degree, I am having a very hard time getting much out of it. Being thorough is one thing, but it reads like a medical text book with no explanations. If you are in medical school or a practicing physician, you may be able to understand this, but sadly for me, it is way over my head.
Rating:
Summary: Thorough but biased view of the disease
Review: I bought this book when I was first diagnosed with Graves Disease. It provides a great deal of information, but the section on personal stories does not provide a wide enough view of treatment options. Every story detailing a certain treatment ended badly and there was nothing good to say about it. The book is generally biased against specific treatments, so I do not feel it tells the whole story.
Rating:
Summary: The Most Informative and Helpful Book about Graves'
Review: I recommend this be the first book read by everyone (and their family and concerned friends) who has recently been diagnosed with Graves' Disease. Diagnosed just a few months ago, the indepth and well researched information presented in this book by Elaine Moore has helped me considerably to understand what is happening to me and to choose and manage my treatment with more confidence, rather than getting frustrated with more web searches and/or blindly depending on what the doctors tell me. There is information in this book that I have not found in any other book on the subject (or the web) and certainly not from any of the 4 doctors I've already consulted with. Get this book first! Don't make the same mistake I did by spending all that time on fustrating web searches and money on other books, and still wondering and worrying about my situation. Search the web and get the other books later but start with Elaine Moore's Graves' Disease: A Practical Guide. Your mind and body will benefit from it.
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Summary: THE BEST INFORMATION SOURCE FOR GRAVES DISEASE
Review: If you have Graves' disease you need this book. This is the only book I've found that deals specifically with Graves and it's uniqueness from other thyroid illnesses. As a 3 year veteran of Graves, I learned long ago that I must be my own advocate. This book educated me and helped me to understand much of what my body has been feeling. I feel much better equipped, having this new knowledge, to communicate effectively with my healthcare providers. I cannot thank Elaine Moore enough for writing this book. Every Graves patient should own a copy.
Rating: 
Summary: Thorough but disappointing
Review: This book is a must have for GD patients and their doctors. I refer to it constantly! Many thanks to Elaine Moore for writing it and for her tireless work in helping Graves patients everywhere! Looking forward to her book on Thyroid Eye Disease, coming out soon! (Spring/early summer 2003)
Rating:
Summary: Graves Disease: A Practical Guide
Review: This book is an excellent resource - well researched and comprehensive. Moore provides a detailed and understandable tour of the thyroid in relation to grave's, as well as a thorough review of treatment options and considerations. Grave's Disease: A Practical Guide is a must read for anyone coping with this illness.
Rating:
Summary: thorough but biased
Review: Whether you are new to the world of Graves or a long time patient, this book will help you make informed decisions about your treatment that will improve the quality of your life. Elaine Moore's book, "Grave's Disease: A Practical Guide" will give you the foundation you need for understanding this baffling autoimmune disease. The author provides a solid scientific framework for understanding Graves Disease and the many challenges facing patients. This book fills a gap for Graves patients so that they can make informed life enhancing choices about medical treatment and consequences. Illustrated and well written, this book clarifies and illuminates the necessity for Graves' patients to be well informed and full partners in the treatment of their condition. Ms. Moore explains this autoimmune disease that is often misdiagnosed and mistreated. Her own experience with this disease and her scientific training give her a perspective grounded in experience and professionalism. A wise investment, this book will save many patients from making decisions that do not benefit them and help select treatment options that do. If you have already gone through treatment for Graves, this book will help you optimize decisions about medication and review new options that may not have been presented to you. I have learned more from Elaine Moore's book about Graves than any other. This book literally will be a lifesaver for readers fortunate enough to have it as a resource. The author is to be commended for writing a text that will benefit both patient and provider.
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