No one can tell you what your best option is, except perhaps your doctor. I did RAI. What were the side effects? There was a soreness in my throat for a while, but not enough to take pain killers. Other folks have reported a very sore throat, and the need to take painkillers. Essentially, thyroid cells are being destroyed, and there is some inflammation that accompanies it. About one week after RAI — give or take some days — the dying thyroid cells dump their stored supplies of hormone into the body. These cells are not making "new" hormone, so the period of increased hyperness is limited to a few days. But some people, who were not told to expect this, get scared thinking something is wrong. Many of us were given medication to help us through the days when this dumping could make us most uncomfortable. Many people online told me that becoming hypothyroid was a "side effect" of RAI. I didn’t agree: the whole purpose of RAI (from my point of view and that of my endo) was to make me hypothyroid, so that I could never easily go hyperthyroid again. But I guess it depends on individual perspective whether or not you think this would be a "side effect."
How long it takes an individual to go hypothyroid after RAI depends a lot on individual factor: the dose given, how much made it into the thyroid, etc. I went hypo within about five weeks. Other folks have taken longer, and in some cases, much longer. I have heard that about 10% of patients must repeat the procedure. This is the same "failure" rate as we are given for surgery, though. I suspect the failure rate for both is associated with how much thyroid the administering doctor is trying to remove. If the doctor is trying to make someone "euthroid" (normal thyroid levels) it is more likely not to work. It is very difficult to guess-timate how much of a dose would be needed to place someone within normal levels.
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