Guest guest Posted May 21, 2003 Report Share Posted May 21, 2003 Welcome Jbabe, PTU is short for Propylthiourac... which nobody wants to learn to spell ! ( grin ) PTU is an anti thyroid drug. Synthroid adds thyroid hormone. ( the opposite ) We all agree... this IS confusing in the beginning. Are you just diagnosed ? Are you taking any medication for your Graves' ? -Pam L- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 21, 2003 Report Share Posted May 21, 2003 PTU=Propylthiouracil. At least I think that's how to spell it is an Anti-Thyroid Drug (ATD). The other common ATD is methimazole known in the US as Tapazole (our nickname here is TAP) or in the UK as Carbimazole. Synthroid is an artificial thyroid hormone. If you are hypothyroid you need synthroid as you are not producing enough thyroid hormone yourself. If you are hyperthyroid you need ATD (either PTU or Tapazole) as you are producing too much thyroid hormone and ATDs slow the production of thyroid hormone. More confused now?? Hope not. in MA, USA Diagnosed w/Graves, March 1997 So far refusing RAI Treatment and Surgery!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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