just FYI as suggested by Terry - re Liang

[Guest guest]

Personally, I like to think that I'm always understanding of whatever

treatment someone opts for. I'm especially respectful of fairly informed

decisions such as yours. I just wanted to make a few comments for the

benefit of any newbies out there who are trying to come to a decision

themselves.

I understand, the group is very much

> anti-RAI. But we have to face the fact and be realistic if

> medication does not help to achieve remission. Supplement of some

> thyroid hormone while being on anti-thyroid medication will help to

> achieve higher remission rate.

As will

1) Having a TSI before going off the meds

2) NOT being kept on a high starting dose for an extended period of time,

and very gradually reducing one's dose. If I understand correctly you

started off at 450 (an extremely high starting dose. Many people can

start at 300. If they do start at 450 they'll likely be ready for a

reduction within 4 weeks.) and only had 2 dose reductions till you ended

up at 25. Perhaps one might do better going from 450 to 300 and then

reducing in increments of 50, then 25, every 4-8 weeks.

RAI only causes problems in small portion of

> patients after treatment.

Mostly, it's people with problems after RAI who will seek support groups

so yes, there are many people out there who are doing well. (As well as

many people who aren't but are settling for substandard care from lazy

doctors.)

I wonder when and where your mother had her RAI. Doctors used to

stabilize all patients on ATDs or iodine drops before administering RAI,

and I'm under the impression that they monitored their patiens more

carefully too.

If you do not have an eye problem, you

> will have much less chance to develop it after RAI,this theory is

> the same as I learned form medical literature, which is also one of

> my reason to choose RAI.

Could you quote the literature? These are not the statistics usually

quoted by this group, and I wonder if Elaine references your

sources in her new book.

From my mom's case , she never had any

> other complications after getting RAI in her 20s and she never had

> much eye problems to start with.

Does she still have eye problems?

> All right, hope my story did not bore you and will give your

> something you might be looking for.

Not all. BTW, about thyroid cancer - not much choice about having to have

RAI there, and any anti-RAI sentiment is aimed at RAI for Graves, not

thyroid cancer.

> My sons are 3 and 5. They are doing well.

I am still

> trying to keep a distance from them for 4 weeks after

> I took the I-131. If the counter in my lab can not

> pick up the signal, that means safe. So I will keep a

> proper distance from them until the counter stops

> buzzing.

Now were you told by your endo to do this or is this something that you

decided on your own? The other most informed decision made by a member of

this list was discussed over a year ago and this member is A) male and

B)also a scientist, who also took much greater precautions than are

commonly recommended.

So what would you recommend to someone contemplating RAI who doesn't have

access to a lab counter?

Also, would you say that your wife would be able to keep the precautions

you're recommending? ly I can't see anyone recommending RAI to a

primary caretaker with young children. Even if the caretaker could keep

his/her distance for a few weeks, how healthy do you think it is for

little kids to be able to see their parents but have to keep their

distance? I suppose you can say well, what if it were chicken pox, etc.,

but why put oneself in this situation to begin with if there are other,

probably better, options?

Take care, Fay

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[Guest guest]

Now were you told by your endo to do this or is this [keep your distance

from kids for as long as a MONTH] something that you decided on your own?

The other most informed decision made by a member of this list was

discussed over a year ago and this member is A) male and B)also a

scientist, who also took much greater precautions than are commonly

recommended.

I forgot to mention C) that after having had RAI getting Free T3 testing

was like pulling teeth.

Take care, Fay

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[Guest guest]

> Now were you told by your endo to do this or is this [keep your

distance

> from kids for as long as a MONTH] something that you decided on

your own?

Actually, the endo did not give any suggestion. He only recommends

RAI over ATD, especially, after years of unsuccessful try with ATD.

It was the radiologist who made the suggestion that I should

seperate my laundry for 3 days, avoid to get too close to adults for

1 week, and avoid kids for 2 weeks. Because of the counter I can use

from the lab and my family history, I would like to double the

precaution as suggested by the radiologist.

today is 19 days after my RAI, the counter is still buzzing if i put

the probe 2-3 feet from my neck, anywhere than 3 feet, the counter

barely gets a buzz. So 3 feet is my safety zone for kids. In Europe,

they used to keep people in hospital for 2 weeks after RAI. Now they

only keep them for 3 days, so for initial 3 days, I stayed in my

basement:)

> The other most informed decision made by a member of this list was

> discussed over a year ago and this member is A) male and B)also a

> scientist, who also took much greater precautions than are commonly

> recommended.

>

> I forgot to mention C) that after having had RAI getting Free T3

testing

> was like pulling teeth.

I may not call myself most informed. But I did think it over and

over between RAI and ATD, I dug a lot of papers over medline. to me

herb is not an option, though I grew up in a herb medicine world-

Shanghai, China. Herb may be good for a lot of things, such as cough

and pain relief, just it was not well-controlled studied, really

hard to control the dose, especially for hormone unbalance, it is

just too hard to get the dose right. Tried soft shell turtle soup,

it worked great, made me much less hyper than before, just too

difficult to get them in USA, and a lot of people do not like it:)

As suggested by friends here, I will get my T3, T4, TSH checked

periodically.

Once again, thanks for your support, I will keep you updated with my

progress after RAI.

Liang_________________________________________________

> The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand!

> Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER!

> Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today!