[Anonymous]

#1052277

Thanks for your interesting thoughts on this subject.

You mentioned that four separate doctors told you that remission (steady remission at that) was highly unlikely. Well, gee, I wonder why my doctors were the first to suggest that I give antithyroid meds a try and encouraged me to stick with it…

My Endo was a former president of the AACE and a co-author of their guidelines for the treatment of hyperthyroidism (can be seen on their website). He NEVER gave me such a dismal impression as you paint. My Internist, respected in our community, handled just about all Graves’ patients that showed up in our town – the first thing he suggested was the drugs and encouraged me to be patient and stick with it. The radiologist, I was referred to when I wanted to discuss the possiblity of RAI, was also one of the most respected in our tri-county area. She said that she would never encourage RAI as the first treatment choice for a woman my age (I was 32 at the time) and that she thought I should give the drugs a try, throughout her career she had seen many successes.

Perhaps your doctors were all the type that RAI was the first suggestion on the tips of their tongues – I would bet that doctors who think that way would also paint a less rosey picture of doing the drugs (which do require more management from the physician). I also have to say that my personal research did not show such a dismal view either – I only looked at percentage of remissions in terms of permanence, and I saw opportunity to win with my thyroid intact.

In the famed C.S. Lewis books, The Chronicles of Narnia, there is a character, Puddleglum the Marshwiggle. This character always looks at things from the worst possible angle, dwells on future imagined ill repercussions and is in most ways gloomy and pessimistic (but he is good-hearted). I figure if one goes into something with that attitude – the ears are primed to hear the negative answers that appeal to them. However, if you go in as an optimist, your Hope drowns out many defeatist attitudes. I don’t believe in not examing all the facts or burying my head in the sand, but I certainly believe in seeing the bright side, accentuating the positive.

I notice that a couple of people who took RAI as their first choice always like to paint a gloomy picture of ATMs, as if substantiating their choice not to use them – why, I’m not sure but I have my ideas… I just wish everyone the best in the treatment they choose – I pray that they are full of hope and fight to make it work!

Glynis

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