[elf]

#1067024

5 months.

But, we need to consider one’s goiter size and the uptake scan result. (Which I don’t remember, – something like 60-70%?). My dose was 10 mci. I was eurothyroid, taking no medications, for 5 months after RAI. Had hyper spike 3 months after RAI.

[hockey]

#1067025

Hi enough,

Sounds like we have had similar things happening (from reading your previous posts) – only I’m a few weeks ahead of you (RAI was Oct 2nd).

I too thought I was having a TS in early Nov (5 wks out), but guess I didn’t. I just felt awful for about 2-3 weeks (weeks 4-6 post RAI were the worst). Then, it seemed to get a little better. I have just been riding it out (no meds – no BB (never was prescribed them, ever!) & no ATDS (allergic to them)).

My TSH is still suppressed & T4 (no longer testing for T3) is nearing what I thought my endo had said was ‘normal’ – however, without a normal range TSH, I guess it’s still not really normal.

I have had regular blood tests every 2 weeks (since RAI) until the last week of November. Now, as the numbers are lowering, I’ve been asked to do them weekly – a bit of a pain, but it’s nice to stay on top of what is happening.

I can say that lately I have been feeling tired (falling asleep at 9:30-10 while reading books to the kids to put them to sleep). When I worked out (played hockey) the last weekend in Nov, I felt GREAT (good thing too as we were short players). I can’t say how the workouts have gone since as I haven’t played since then. I’m hoping my games this weekend (have 2 & again we are short players) will work out OK. I guess things are on the mend – who really knows.

Good luck!

[PAT1953]

#1067026

Elf, Did you gain weight in those 5 months? I had RAI on Wed. I’m feeling fine right now and waiting for the bomb to drop. Your lucky your doc orderd blood test every 2 weeks. My first one is i 6 weeks. Seems long time to me.

[enough3]

#1018778

How long did it take after your ablation to go hypo?

How often did you do labs?

Thanks:)

[enough3]

#1067027

Thanks for replying:)

Pat, my doctor told me to get labs when I did not feel well. If I felt ok..she said wait 4 months! No way! So, I’m going every 2 weeks..I’m hoping my labs will start to turn out better.

As to the weight gain issue…I’m really curious about how that has effected everyone. As of yet, I have not gained a pound. I actually have lost a couple. My RAI was Nov.6th. My Endo told me that I shouldn’t gain weight. She said that if I continue to eat like I’m hyper…then I may.

[runlacie]

#1067028

Hi! I don’t remember all the details (oh, how soon we forget!)… but
small goiter/high uptake = I got just 7mci on July 20
I was euthyroid at my 4 week labs, but still felt hyper.
By Sept I felt pretty good for about 2 weeks and then started crashing hard into hypo
End Sept hypo and started Levo on 9/23 (2 months after ablation)

Original dx w/Graves’ was in June, and I lost 5 pounds while hyper
I gained that plus 10 more back by September… but am now back down to only 2 pounds over my pre-Graves’ weight.
The hypo part was really, really, hard… it seemed I ate 1000 calories a day (plus I run, ALOT) and still I was gaining. But as soon as I got on the replacement it got better. I’ve been losing again. I eat pretty much, but also run 50+ miles per week. I feel great, better than pre-Graves’ (it’s probable I have had thyroid issues for a long, long time).

[elf]

#1067029

Pat, I got about 10 lbs in the 5 months after my RAI, but again I have to always remind people that I just had a baby before RAI and was too skinny for a post-partum middle-age woman at 41. So adding those extra 10 lbs was restoring the "normal me", and doing away with the "fast-metabolic sick me".

[enough3]

#1067030

runlacie & elf- was the 10 lbs. you gained from eating extra (hyper state) or not eating and just gaining? How long did it take to lose? I’m soooo hoping I don’t gain..

what was the big hypo symtoms you experienced the most when it was time for replacement?

[runlacie]

#1067031

enough3- I hardly ate at all when I gained the weight. I had the metabolism of a slug and even with heavy exercise and 1000 calories (I kept track!) I still gained. It seemed like every morning I would get on the scale and it would be half a pound up from the day before. I think I retained more water when I was hypo, though, so some of that weight could certainly be due to water retention. At my worst of hypo I found it difficult to move sometimes… like I’d be sitting on the couch and just couldn’t scrape myself up. I drank POTS of coffee just to keep moving. My legs would literally fall asleep while I was running and sometimes I thought maybe I would just nod off, too. My RHR fell into the low 30’s (normal is high 40’s for me), I complained loudly to the doctor and still she didn’t want me to get my labs any earlier and wouldn’t give me replacement until I had the labs. I seriously considered just going to the ER and trying to get help there, I was afraid to go to sleep.. afraid my heart would just stop. The doctor insisted that with my normally low HR that I would be okay, and in the end, I am. The weight gain was a real downer, but at least it’s going away now. I think we have this idea in our minds that hypo people are overweight, but I’m now realizing that it’s probably the hypo people who do not have adequate replacement that maybe have troubles and as long as we keep up with the labs and taking the thyroid we should be okay.

[enough3]

#1067032

runlacie- do you think that if you had your labs done sooner that you could have started replacement? I really hope that I don’t get to that place of a RHR of 30’s & low 40’s..that would certainly freak me out. My Endo said I can have my labs done anytime I want. I have been at 4 weeks..then 6 weeks. I’m planning on going at 8 weeks….looking back, would you go 2 weeks in between labs…more or less? Just wanting some thoughts. I just want to catch the hypo thing before it catches me.

[enough3]

#1067033

hockey- have you gained any weight? My TSH is 0.012….T4 is high at 12.8. Very frustrated b/c I thought I was going hypo…in all actuality I’m hyper.

[Nick]

#1067034

Hello enough3,

I am still hyper like you… Aren’t you glad you are not alone???

It has been almost 2 months since the RAI treatment. I do labs almost every 3-4 weeks. Not much has changed. My TSH is still very low (below the range) and the FT3, FT4 within range but at the high end.

I still have fast heart rate. Without the beta blockers (50mg metoprolol / day) my heart runs in the 110-120bpm. With the beta blockers, I am usually in the 85-95. Still high in my opinion.

I continue taking tapazole, now 15mg /day (3 dosages of 5mg every 8 hrs).

Can’t wait for this to stabilize… I am tired of it…

I have now lost 30lb since August…

Good luck to you

[PAT1953]

#1067035

Nick,

Was just wondering what your dose was when you had your RAI? I just had my RAI on Wed, Dec 16 and I’m really wanting it to work. Does your Doctor give you any clues as to why it is taking so long? My uptake at my nuclear scan was 37%. What was yours? The endo dosed me with 20 mil. I just can’t imagining putting my body thru it again! My endo even said at the hospital, "hopefully it will work"., after I took the pill. That would be total crap if it didn’t work. Hey guys is it possible that it takes longer than 2 months?? Nick I hope you the best, I have had issue with the heart going wacky too. It is very bothersome. The beta blockers do help. I found the beta blocker 25mg every 8 hours is so far working pretty good. My endo says I can take 100 mg a day if I needed to. I did the extended release ones before RAI and they didn’t work as good and I was taking 50mg a day and they lost their puff toward the end of the 24 hours. Anyways keep us posted.

Patti

[Ski]

#1067036

It can take quite a while to go hypo after RAI, and you can’t say for a certain fact that it hasn’t done its job for at least six months. Also remember that the antibodies themselves cause damage to the thyroid, so while the RAI is working and the antibodies exist, your thyroid is actually getting something of a double whammy toward destruction, and even after the RAI is incapable of causing any more changes (at the six month mark, typically), the antibodies can continue to destroy the thyroid, so even if the RAI didn’t do QUITE enough to make you hypothyroid, there’s no particular reason to rush into a second RAI right away. You still may see hypothyroid without it.

[Nick]

#1067037

My RAI dosage was 10.9 mci. They did not meassure the uptake afterwards.

My normal uptake a month before the RAI was ~46%.

I have read it takes longer for men to work, because there are some differences in our tissue…

Take care all

We are all in this together…

[Author]

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