[Suz01]

#1018012

TSH= 0.01 (has been the same since Nov 2010)
free T4= 2.13
free T3 not back yet

12 weeks post rai, on .5 mg methimazole, 150 mg a day of metoprolol, pradaxa.
I’m getting discouraged and don’t think the rai is going to work but the surgeon won’t operate until I give it another 2 to 3 months.

[snelsen]

#1062227

You need to wait until you don’t have much thyroid hormone circulating around. Not a good surgical decision to do the procedure when you are hyper. You probably know that.

I think I asked you questions about Pradaxa, cardiologist, endo, etc? I do suggest you ask someone why this is prescribed, unless you already know that. It was not clear to me if the endo prescribed it short term, or if a cardiologist has prescribed it for other reasons unrelated to Graves’.

Three months is a long time post RAI, but you know that. I am sorry that wait is so long before you can take action on the next step. I understand you want to get your life back, and get DONE! With graves’s, you are never really done, but you are kind of done, after you get the right dose of replacement hormone, feel good, and have your labs tested now and then. Things change with age and circumstance, sometimes.
Shirley

[Suz01]

#1062228

Thanks for the reply. I’m on pradaxa because of the afib. If my levels ever get stable the cardiologist said I won’t need the beta blockers or pradaxa anymore because my heart is strong. I really wanted the surgery back in Jan and not the rai but my endo was against it.
Do you think there is still a chance that I’ll go hypo or am I just putting my time in to get to the 6 months post rai?
So far I feel the rai I had in January was a waste of time.

[Ski]

#1062229

DEFINITELY there’s a chance you’ll still go hypo from the RAI. Believe it or not, you’re early on in the process. Everything Graves’ takes a while, it’s frustrating, but there it is…

Remember that the TSH level can lag WAY behind T4 levels. It takes time to "catch up," weeks, because it gives a response to a kind of "running average" of thyroid hormone it senses in the bloodstream. In addition, long periods of hyperthyroidism can make the pituitary kind of "fall asleep," so it can take a while to kick start after the thyroid hormone levels begin to drop out of the hyperthyroid range.

Pay closer attention to the T4 levels at this stage to determine hypo/hyper ~ once you’ve GONE hypo and you’re looking for results about taking thyroid hormone replacement, pay more attention to TSH.

[Author]

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