How to Test for Graves' Disease

The only way to truly know whether you have Graves' disease is to visit your doctor and allow him to test your thyroid, looking for any suspected conditions. You'll first undergo a simple blood test to see the levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and thyroxine in your body.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Radioactive iodine test
• Blood test
• Doctor

Get Tested for Graves' Disease

1. Visit your doctor if you are having any symptoms of Graves' disease, especially protruding eyes or lumpy, reddish skin on your lower legs.
2. Have a blood test. Your doctor will test your thyroid levels. You may also undergo a battery of tests designed rule out other medical conditions.
3. Consider having a radioactive iodine-uptake test to confirm Graves' disease. You will be given a small amount of radioactive iodine, which will later be measured in your thyroid gland. A high uptake of radioactive iodine indicates Graves' disease while low uptake occurs in other hyperthyroidism conditions.
4. Expect your doctor to test your thyroglobulin (Tg) levels. Elevated Tg occurs in patients with Graves' disease. Your Tg levels could also indicate thyroid cancer, which is always suspected with any thyroid problem.
5. Follow up with testing every 2 to 3 months after diagnosis. Additional blood tests will determine how well your treatment is going.

Look for Physical Signs of Graves' Disease

6. Know that before your doctor runs any tests, he will perform a thorough physical exam.
7. Recognize that many eye problems may occur. In Graves' disease eye disease (Infiltrative Thyroid Ophthalmopathy), antibodies attack the tissue behind the eye and the muscles. With this condition, there will eventually be visible swelling, with a protrusion of the eye and a retraction of the eyelids.
8. Realize that Graves' disease often causes a noticeable skin conditions on the lower legs and feet. The skin will appear lumpy and reddish, and is often described as "orange peel skin."
9. Check for goiters, marked by enlargement of the thyroid gland. In more advanced cases, the goiter will be easily seen as a hard looking mass in the neck.

Tips & Warnings

• Home thyroid tests are available, with results sent from a certified lab. Such tests should not serve as a replacement for visiting your doctor.
• Graves' disease tends to run in the family, so your doctor will ask for a complete medical history. You should know at least your immediate family's medical history before you go to the doctor.