[ewmb]

#1067160

A regular heartbeat! I know how you feel. The fog starts to lift when you know that you are going to get better.

ewmb

[runlacie]

#1067161

Great news enough3! Since your t3 and t4 are in range your tsh is probably not too far behind!

[enough3]

#1018793

Hey Everyone,

I’m 4 weeks post RAI and I’m hyper. My tsh is 0.019. BUT, my t4 and t3 are in range. ” title=”Razz” /> I actually feel fine. A little trouble falling asleep now, but taking a little ativan to help. All in all I feel great. Would do it again in a heartbeat!!

[enough3]

#1067162

Okay..I feel like CRAP!

I have felt great up until about 5 days ago. I’m soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo tired..my eyes fell weak…I have NO energy. I feel like I need to cry… I have NEVER felt this way. Family life is great…don’t understand. I’m NOT a cryer…

I’m 6 weeks post RAI. Had labs done around 4 weeks..and my TSH was 0.16 and T4 was normal….what could be going on?

Any suggestions?????

P.S-Still glad I had ablation….just trying ot figure this out.

[Ski]

#1067163

It takes about six weeks for the body to flush out the excess thyroid hormone that remained in the system on the day of RAI, so the possibility is that you’ve hit "the wall" where you no longer have excess thyroid hormone, and indeed may not have much replacing that. With all of these symptoms happening all at once, if it were me, I’d get to the lab and have levels done immediately. That way you can get on replacement hormone soon, if you’ve already gone hypo. If the levels don’t read hypo right away, wait a week or so and try again, but you may also want to have a quick telephone call with your doctor (if the tests do not read hypo) so you can discuss your symptoms and the results of the lab tests, and perhaps the doctor would be willing to start you on a VERY tiny dose of replacement in order to get you started building it back up.

[enough3]

#1067164

thanks Ski.

I’m planning on getting my labs done tomorrow.

Good thing to know about the 6 week mark.

I’ve noticed I’m flumbling with my words. This morning I asked my family what they wanted for dinner (meant breakfast) and did not realize I said that till my hubby told me. Kind-of weird to have to think about talking right…ha ha

[hansontrish]

#1067165

I have not had the RAI done yet, but I completly understand the whole, fumbling over words. I know what I’m thinking… but I can not get them to come out right some of the time. And typing can be a chore sometimes. I’m in school so that makes it so much more difficult to concentrate. I feel like a kid with ADD but the opposite. Not only that but all of a sudden I have forgotten how to type and spell. I know which letters I want but can not remember which ones go there, I know the word does not look right but can not figure out why. I would consider my self to be an educated person, but at times I don’t think I could compete with a 3rd grader.

It can be very frustrating. I have told my doctor about it and he said it was very normal. Along with various other things.

So abaltion was the thing for you??? I’m getting it done soon, kinda nervous. I’ve had a lot of symptoms and for a long time, they finally figured out why I’m having all these problems recently, I’ve been dealing with them for about 3 years, and a dx was made in Oct. The doc put me on high dose of ADT so I’m assuming that going hypo will cause you to have to re-learn a portion of most things. Something as simple as an everyday task, might need to be thought of ahead of time. I guess it’s a good thing I’m not a plastic surgeon… ” title=”Smile” />

[susandemarco]

#1067166

Hi,
I am having RAI January 8, 2010, and am very nervous about this. I have had Graves disease for about twenty years. I took PTU on and off during
that time, with remission for about eight years in the very beginning, and then less of a remission each time. Now as soon as I go off the
medication I am right back where I started. That is why I have decided to have RAI.

I have been following some of the people that have had it whithin the last six months, and it seems that everyone has all the same things going on,
well maybe almost the same. I realize everyone is different. I hope my situation is the same as most of the others. I am so nervous, but if
is very comforting to be able to read about other people’s experiences.

Thanks again,
Susan

[ewmb]

#1067167

enough,
I had the same thing happen to me only around 8 weeks. It is probably what Ski said a shifting on the levels in your body. Be ready though for your labs to not show what you want. It took me four months post RAI to get the numbers I needed to go on replacement hormone. If your levels are still really hyper on paper it will be a while before you get any treatment. I felt bad for a while but it does get better soon.

Take care and good luck with your labs,
ewmb

[enough3]

#1067168

6 weeks post RAI and I’m hyper. I totally thought I was hypo… My TSH was 0.012 and my T4 is 12.8-both high. I called my Endo’s office and left a message. SO, what do you guys think? Will I have to go back on PTU or can I ride this thing out? Anyone go hyper? If so…did you go hypo quickly?

If you have to go back on ATD’s….will I be okay on PTU..does my chances of a reaction get higher?

[ewmb]

#1067169

enough,
I went back on methimazole for a few weeks to get through the rough patch until I was hypo.I had been off for 3/4 of a year before the RAI. It took me 4 months from the time I had RAI to get the numbers that were hypo. My endo actually told me that this would probably happen. He’s seen it before lots of times. The way it was explained to me was that the body is getting rid of the excess hormone stored and then starts trying to overcompensate and you can actually go really low on your TSH before it starts to come back up as you have so much extra hormone in your blood….. or something like that. Can’t remember exactly. You are on the right track though. Take the PTU if you think it will make you feel better. This is a slow and steady race to the result you want.

ewmb

[Ski]

#1067170

Definitely something to discuss with your doctor ~ just because it hasn’t happened in six weeks doesn’t mean that it won’t. Changes in thyroid hormone can happen painfully slowly. In addition to that, they can take a while to show up, even after they’ve started moving in the right direction. Talk with your doctor, discuss not only lab results but also how you are feeling, and go from there. You definitely won’t be the first patient who takes a while to go hypo. The RAI does MOST of its work in the first six weeks, but it has the potential to continue reducing thyroid function for up to six months, so hang in. If you and your doctor agree that ATDs in the meantime may help you, it’s certainly an option. Patience, patience, patience. That’s our mantra.

[noginogi]

#1067171

I had my RAI treatment 4 days ago. It’s so nice to be off the low iodine diet but my pulse is still very high (102 today) and I’m so nervous around others – even my good friend! I hope these symptoms go away soon as the hormone levels come down.

Does anyone know what the average amount of time it takes to start feeling better after RAI?

Thanks for your help.

[Ski]

#1067172

It’s really hard to say what your experience will be. Overall, SMALL improvements are noticed pretty quickly, but then there can be brief periods of setbacks, and it’s also true that things move terribly slowly in all things Graves’.

First there’s a chance that you may feel a bit worse before you get better ~ somewhere in the first few weeks you can experience something we refer to as "dumping," in which you feel hyper again for a few days. This happens because as the RAI destroys the thyroid cells, they release the hormone they’ve been storing, all at once. We used to say it’s typically about two weeks out, but I’ve seen some people here talking about going through it earlier, and others later. It didn’t happen to me at all, just so you know. It’s not an absolutely certain occurrence. Speak with your doctor ahead of time ~ if you find that you feel that way, you can counteract the symptoms with beta blockers (if you can take those ~ asthmatics cannot).

Secondly, it can take your body up to six weeks just to flush out the excess thyroid hormone you had in your bloodstream on the day you took the RAI, so you wouldn’t feel markedly better until that’s gone.

Overall, you SHOULD notice small improvements day by day as your hormone levels come back into the normal range. Look for them. It’s always better to have your mind pointed in the direction of gratitude than hardship.

Try to remember that once your levels hit the normal range, AND stay there, your body will be able to BEGIN to heal from the damage the hyperthyroidism has caused. Until then, your body is still going through an emergency state. Any time your thyroid hormone levels are moving rapidly (even if they’re moving in the right direction), your body interprets that as an emergency, because it’s not supposed to happen that quickly. So during that time, you may notice that your hair thins a little, and your nails may be brittle. Once your levels are normal, and they’ve stopped changing, then you will notice even more healing and feeling better, but again, a little bit at a time.

I hope that helps!

[noginogi]

#1067173

Ski, I just wanted to say. You are awesome.
It’s so nice to have a site with RELIABLE and ACCURATE info on Graves.
I only wish I had found this site 4 years ago when I was diagnosed.
Thank you for your help in this tough time!

[Author]

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