Guest guest Posted November 19, 2002 Report Share Posted November 19, 2002 Hi Debbie, I was put on thyroid hormone replacement hormone 2 weeks post RAI. I was not told prior to RAI if I needed to stop Tapazole (on which I was stabilized) so I took it until the day I had RAI. God bless, Hashi's, Graves, TED worsened by RAI Sept. 2001 http://www.mediboard.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=001091;p=1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 19, 2002 Report Share Posted November 19, 2002 CATFISHJO4@... wrote: > > Does anyone have any clue on the average percent of those who actually become > euthroid thru RAI? The numbers are quite well researched in the literature. 86% become hypothyroid, very few become euthyroid through RAI. Of that 86% some are given a second or third dose. > What would be some reasons RAI wouldn't " take " ,or again, is it just because > it hasn't caught up with a person yet? Is it possible for it to literally > not work on someone? RAI works by the Iodine decaying in the thyroid, the particles emitted literally break key parts of the cell causing the body's cell death mechanisms to kick in. The main reason it may not work is that thyroid doesn't take up the dose of Iodine given. > My endo thinks perhaps it didn't work on me cause I'm not already miserably > hypo. Being hypo would be a reason not to absorb Iodine. They should have stopped any antithyroid medication before giving you RAI, and perform a RAIU test to assess your uptake. I would have though hypothyroidism would be a contraindication. How did you end up hypothyroid before the RAI, presumably too much antithyroid drugs? Other reasons might include digestive problems or vomitting, or the thyroid being saturated with non radioactive Iodine (like the Iodide pills issues in nuclear emergencies, if you have lots of Iodine already the uptake of radioactive Iodine is less). Also the half life of Iodine in the thyroid is a poorly understood variable that can potentially affect dose, although when the thyroid receives plenty of Iodine it normally reduces turnover initially. Try the chapter on Graves' treatments in the book at www.thyroidmanager.org for a details, generally pro-RAI discussion of what happens. Simon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 19, 2002 Report Share Posted November 19, 2002 CATFISHJO4@... wrote: > > Does anyone have any clue on the average percent of those who actually become > euthroid thru RAI? The numbers are quite well researched in the literature. 86% become hypothyroid, very few become euthyroid through RAI. Of that 86% some are given a second or third dose. > What would be some reasons RAI wouldn't " take " ,or again, is it just because > it hasn't caught up with a person yet? Is it possible for it to literally > not work on someone? RAI works by the Iodine decaying in the thyroid, the particles emitted literally break key parts of the cell causing the body's cell death mechanisms to kick in. The main reason it may not work is that thyroid doesn't take up the dose of Iodine given. > My endo thinks perhaps it didn't work on me cause I'm not already miserably > hypo. Being hypo would be a reason not to absorb Iodine. They should have stopped any antithyroid medication before giving you RAI, and perform a RAIU test to assess your uptake. I would have though hypothyroidism would be a contraindication. How did you end up hypothyroid before the RAI, presumably too much antithyroid drugs? Other reasons might include digestive problems or vomitting, or the thyroid being saturated with non radioactive Iodine (like the Iodide pills issues in nuclear emergencies, if you have lots of Iodine already the uptake of radioactive Iodine is less). Also the half life of Iodine in the thyroid is a poorly understood variable that can potentially affect dose, although when the thyroid receives plenty of Iodine it normally reduces turnover initially. Try the chapter on Graves' treatments in the book at www.thyroidmanager.org for a details, generally pro-RAI discussion of what happens. Simon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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