PORT ST. LUCIE — After being diagnosed with hyperthyroidism 25 years ago, Ben Crenshaw remembers, he needed around six months until he finally began feeling good on the golf course.
Crenshaw, who has captured 19 PGA Tour titles and earned two Masters green jackets, has a sense of what Mets shortstop Jose Reyes is dealing with. In 1984, Crenshaw was battling the illness — he actually had Graves’ disease — and in a phone interview with The Post, he said it dramatically affected both the way he felt and the way he played.
Crenshaw took medication, and in general he’s healthy now. But he still has to monitor his thyroid. He has his blood tested every five or six months to make sure the hyperthyroidism is gone, and he still sees an endocrinologist. He also says he must take synthetic thyroid supplements for the rest of his life.
“I can remember how I felt, and it was not good,” Crenshaw said. “Very jittery and kind of a nervous feeling.”
Every medical situation is different, and every athlete is different, as well, so Crenshaw’s and Reyes’ illnesses are not necessarily identical. It sounds as though Crenshaw’s condition may have been more serious than Reyes’ — while Crenshaw suffered physically from hyperthyroidism, Reyes has insisted he feels good and is exhibiting no symptoms. Also, Reyes is not required to take medication.
Still, Reyes has his thyroid levels tested weekly. He can’t do any physical activity for now and he is expected to be out for possibly another six weeks.
Crenshaw’s problems began more than a quarter century ago.
“In 1984, I won The Masters, and after that, I went through a divorce. I did not feel very well for a long time,” Crenshaw said, adding that this was the case for approximately a year.
“My thyroid was producing way too much thyroxin,” he explained. “I had lost some weight. I didn’t have a lot of energy. I felt weak.”
Crenshaw said it wasn’t until after four or five months of experiencing symptoms that he was diagnosed. After visiting the University of Texas’ nuclear medicine department, Crenshaw began taking radioactive iodine as a treatment for his hyperthyroidism.
Because of his condition, Crenshaw’s golf game declined.
“I didn’t play well at all,” Crenshaw said. “It affected my physical being.”
Specifically, Crenshaw found his short game hurting. For putting or chipping, his nervousness and jitters made it difficult to find his touch.
Crenshaw’s health eventually improved because of the iodine.
“After those three, four months [once taking the iodine] and subsequent tests, I started feeling like myself again,” he said.
Crenshaw has essentially felt that way for the last 20-plus years.
“For the most part, I feel perfectly fine and healthy,” he said.
That’s what the Mets hope happens with Reyes — that he can overcome his hyperthyroidism and return to good health and good performance.
“He should just keep seeing a very fine endocrinologist,” Crenshaw said.
mark.hale@nypost.com