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Good luck tomorrow. I am ten weeks out from RAI and am just starting to really feel better. My tremors have really seemed to finally have just disappeared this week and my heart rate was up again for the past two but has gone down again. Keep your beta blocker around for awhile longer. Try and make sure they give you written directions for afterward. You know how a graves brain can forget. I envy your running. I did 3 minutes on a stationary bike today and it was tough. I used to walk 10-12 miles a week and do aerobics etc. It took me two years to get to RAI so I envy you that too.
Let us know how you’re doing when you feel like writing a bit.
ewmb
” title=”Very Happy” />It’s finally here! RAI is tomorrow at 9 AM. I feel like it was a pretty long wait for this appointment- nearly a month since diagnosis and my decision to go ahead with the RAI. I guess I don’t understand why it couldn’t have been done right away so that I could have started healing sooner. When I found out how long the wait would be I almost changed my mind and did ATD’s since I’d have been able to start them right away. But it’s finally here! Hooray!
I’m still walking every day about 5 miles, lifting light weights and doing core exercise. No med’s other than an occasional night time beta-blocker to slow down my heart and let me sleep. The only thing that is really dreadful to me symptom-wise is not being able to run because my heart rate goes too high. And I’m shaky- which only bothers me at work. I deliver mail and hate it when my hands shake when I have to go to someone’s door and get a signature. I wonder what people think when my hands shake so bad. They probably feel bad thinking I have Parkinson’s or something.
Well, my big goal is to be running again in 3 weeks or so. I had a marathon planned for mid-October and I know I can’t be ready for that, but I’m still shooting to run a half in October and then a full in November or December.
Wish me luck while I kick the pants off this disease!
” title=”Wink” />Hi, runlacie! I hope you are feeling well after RAI. I’m going to do it too!
You gave me a good question for my endocrinologist. I want the largest dose of radiation possible.
As long as I don’t develop superpowers, I’m good! 
As for weight, I’m a big grandma, I can take it! ” title=”Very Happy” />
I’m still three or four weeks from actually scheduling the procedure. Did your endo have you take large doses of methimazole/tapazole? Mine said that I need to get the thyroid down to almost nothing, so that the RAI would be the most effective. If you did take a lot of the med, did you have any swelling of feet or hands? That’s where I am right now, and I was told that unless it becomes painful, I should not stop taking the methimazole.
What I WAS given is an emergency prescription for my local hospital, for STAT treatment/labs. It explains that if I have any kind of infection, I may not be able to fight it off due to the low white blood cell count caused by large amounts of methimazole, and that they should take steps to strenghten my immune system. This is all very scary, and I’d like to hear from others about their experiences leading up to RAI.
Thanks for listening!
” title=”Smile” />runlacie – YEA – it is done. Let the healing begin!!! On dose, it is my understanding that it has more to do with your uptake (from the scan) than anything. I got a BIG dose because my uptake was on the low side for Graves (33% – up to 25% is usually normal). If your uptake is high – like 80% – you don’t need as much. Thyroid is a sponge – if it is superabsorbant (as it would be with a high uptake) you don’t need as much for it to absorb – like Bounty – the quicker, picker upper.
I am small frame so I thought I would get a small dose but I got the "no work for a week" and keep distance for a month. I often wonder if my cat’s thyroids felt that stuff
” title=”Very Happy” /> Actually, I kept my distance from them and they are as crazy as ever. CWell, the only thing I have noticed so far is that my stomach was hurting me a few hours after the rai. My HR is down a bit, but only because the radiologist suggested I take the beta blockers (which I really had only been taking every few nights before bed when my heart was speeding too fast to let me sleep). My propranolol dose is 10 mg and I can take it up to 3 times per day- yesterday I took it twice. I am not sure I want to continue taking it since I think it makes me feel hungry and several years ago when I took a very low dose beta blocker for PVC’s I am sure it made me gain weight. I have gained about 3 pounds so far but think it is mostly because of not being able to run and also we went on vacation and ate too much!
I found some info on the rai dose- the actual formulas used, there are a couple different ones I found and the simplest one for me to interpret looks like this: I (mCi) = [est gland wt (g) x 80 – 150 uCi/g] / 100% 24rai
so it looks like the dosage is decided by gland weight and uptake results.Cathy- I think my uptake was 70% but I can’t remember and am too lazy
” title=”Smile” /> too walk downstairs and look. I had a tough time getting my old beagle to leave my bed last night. Poor animals don’t understand. DH ran for the guest room, though!Paloma- It took about 3 weeks for me to get the procedure scheduled, which irritated me because I wanted it over with so I could get better. I didn’t take anything while waiting because my endo said that I would just have to go off of the drugs before rai, so it didn’t make sense to her to have me start anything when I was doing okay without meds. My only big problem with being hyper is that I can’t run. I hope that you are doing well on the methimazole, and try not to get too worried about those potential side-effects, I think they are very rare and lots of people take the meds with no major problems.
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