[Ski]

#1070250

Having had RAI, it’s not surprising that your uptake percentage is much lower now. Unfortunately, that is not the measure of how sick you are. Your thyroid hormone levels are the measure of how sick you are, and an extremely high T3 level is something to be concerned about. T3 is very volatile ~ it’s the active form of hormone that our body actually uses, so it can fluctuate rapidly, changing several times a day, but there is still an upper limit. Beyond that limit, you are definitely hyperthyroid. T4 is the inactive form of hormone that the body converts into T3 when needed, and more often that is the level that is tested (along with TSH) to find out where you stand. Did you get those results as well?

It’s not very common to have continuing issues with hyperthyroidism this long after RAI (unless you’re just taking too much replacement hormone), but if you were not given enough RAI to fully destroy the thyroid, then the small amount of tissue remaining has the potential to react to the antibodies and make you hyper yet again.

The doctor would have to tell you exactly what "lumpy" means to them. I can’t really say. I could guess, but no one wants that. ” title=”Wink” /> The newest scan should help the doctor explain that.

[DebbieLBurton]

#1070251

I was on a higher dose of replacement orginally and over the years it has decreased substanially. I was wanting to renew my prescription in the late winter when it was discovered that my levels were running high. My tsh is only 55 currently so I was a little surprised that my T3 would be a concern to the doctor. When I was orginally diagnosed my tsh was 120 and after RAI went to 205 – so with levels where they are currently I am surprised at what I can do in a day! We didn’t discuss the "lumpy thyroid" so I didn’t know if this was something normal after RAI.

[DebbieLBurton]

#1019230

I had my doctor appointment today and was given lots of new information. I still have a couple of questions that I thought of after – just wondering if anyone can give me some insight? He told me my T3 was the hightest he has ever seen – but don’t know what the numbers were . What does this indicate? He also he said that my thyroid was lumpy. Is this something to be concerned about? I had RAI 9 years ago and he said that it is unusual for it to reoccur at this point. Can anyone help me with some answers? FYI my RAI intake 9 years ago was 58% and this time it is only 29% which confirms that I am not as sick as last time…that’s good news to me (I am also functioning at higher level this time!!!)

[ladyrein]

#1070252

I have hypo-thyroidism. In the past six months my medications dosage have has been steadily increasing, with little progress. And now my graves disease is begining to show up again, especially on my right side. It is hard to focus with both eyes and I am getting very concerned. Being active-duty military I am limited to the referral of the Tri-care medical system to get to see a good endocrinogologist. Honestly, I am very concerned about my health, because the physician I am seeing acts like it is a routine check-up everything I go to see him. Is it possible for me to have graves disease with hypothroidism?????

A Stressed Soldier :” title=”Question” />

[Ski]

#1070253

There may be some confusion about what you refer to as Graves’ Disease ~ sounds like you’re talking about eye involvement, which has a different name. That’s Thyroid Eye Disease, but it was once referred to as Graves’ Eye Disease. It has its own course, and for the most part is not affected by treatment of the thyroid, except that RAI can cause a "temporary worsening" of the symptoms. In my case, it was a few months of a little more bulging and grittiness, but in some people it’s more pronounced. Other than that, thyroid symptoms and eye symptoms do not track together in any way, so it’s not unusual for you to be experiencing hypothyroidism and yet still having eye symptoms.

You should be seeing a specialist for your eye disease ~ an ophthalmologist would be the right source. There are things they can offer to help minimize the overall bulging that happens. The eye disease has a distinct "hot phase" that can last for months, in which the eyes continually change, bulging and receding. After that hot phase is over, there is usually a period of stability, then a short period of improvement, and then doctors can start to discuss what damage is left behind by the scar tissue. If you minimize the bulging that happens in the hot phase, you may reduce the need for procedures to correct the scar tissue at the end.

One last thing ~ increases in thyroid hormone replacement can take up to six weeks to be fully metabolized in the blood stream, so it is a long road if you’re starting from a very low point. In addition to that, it’s really not safe to up our dosage by more than one dose level at a time, which adds to the time spend dialing in your correct levels. Try to be grateful that you’re headed in the right direction, but continue to give yourself a break.

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