Re: Radioactive Iodine - Betty

May 4, 2003

Hi Betty. Many people do well after RAI, however, it's not an

overwhelming majority.

Don't kick yourself too hard. After being here awhile, you will find many

people in your shoes, as you can see from the posts to .

One of the best things you can do to help RAI working for you is use the

info you'll get from this group.

You'll want to be aware of

-symptoms of hypo (there's a symptoms list on the homepage, I think)

-the best labs to get and how often

-your medication options

-eye symptoms

The overwhelming # of endos aren't familiar with the 3rd and best

standard options - anti thyroid drugs (ATDs) so they get their patients

hypo via RAI (or occasionally surgery) which they presumably do know how

to care for. This may not be so. You are going to have to ask your dr.

some tough questions to see how competent s/he is. Here's a partial list:

- How often will you monitor me? Should be frequently the first year or

two.

- What tests will you use? A dr. who relies on TSH alone should be

dumped. Your dr. should be willing to test, on a routine basis, TSH,

FREE (not total) T4 and Free T3. The Free T3 is important. Synthroid,

which is the thyroid hormone replacement drug most commonly prescribed,

works on the T4 hormone imbalance. This may be enough for many people but

judging from the experiences of members of this list, after RAI T3

imbalance is a factor also. Your doctor should feel comfortable with

prescribing and monitoring you on T3 hormone such as Cytomel or Armour.

Flax oil and omega 3 have been discussed recently. These would be very

good supplements for you to take as you now run an increased (significant

but not say, 80%) chance of developing thyroid related eye problems.

Take care, Fay

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