[Gravescantcatchme]

#1060761

Hi, I’m a newbie who has been living in some alternate reality since my diagnosis last fall. Due to a lot of messed-up insurance stuff you don’t want to know, I have been seeing an alternative medicine doc. He tried several different things with me, none of which worked, before prescribing methimazole and sending me to an endo (it took 6 months for me to get in to one). I had an allergic reaction to the meds, so I’ve basically been untreated since April, when my total T3 was 777. I had really hoped to avoid RAI or thyroidectomy, but the endo I saw this week scared me half to death, telling me I had no choice but to treat this because it could kill me. So I will be having RAI sometime in the next month or so.

I have found that other people, even those who have had thyroid issues, seem to think this is no big deal. A nurse friend of mine who underwent RAI decades ago responded to my diagnoses with, “oh, yeah, I had that. I was hot all the time.” Seriously? That does not even begin to describe what I have gone through in the last year. But I have also heard horror stories about RAI. Had one friend tell me it was the worst thing that ever happened to her! So I’m scared not to have treatment, and I’m scared to go through with it.

I’m not sure what I’m wanting in response to this, other than for someone to tell me this gets better. Maybe some of you who have gone through this can tell me what to expect. TIA.

[Kimberly]

#1184618

Hello and welcome – I’m not sure what type of allergic reaction you had. Hives is a common one, but it can be tricky to sort out whether those were caused by the meds or by the hyperthyroidism itself.

The latest medical guidance notes that for “minor” skin irritation with Antithyroid meds, you can keep taking the drug in conjunction with antihistamines. Ultimately, your doctor would need to make a judgment call as to whether or not your reaction was “minor”.

For information on the pros/cons of all 3 treatment options, check out the “Treatment Options” thread in the announcements section of the forum.

For someone who is extremely hyperthyroid, special precautions are needed prior to surgery or RAI. For RAI, the medical guidance recommends a beta blocker prior to treatment for patients with Free T4 levels 2-3x the upper limit of normal. (Not everyone can take a beta blocker, as this can potentially worsen asthma and certain blood vessel conditions.) The guidance also says that pretreatment with methimazole should be “considered” in these cases.

Take care – and keep us posted!

[Gravescantcatchme]

#1184619

Kimberly, thanks for the welcome! This is all really confusing, especially since the docs don’t always say the same thing.

My reaction to methimazole was that my hands and feet blistered and peeled and were really itchy. I stuck it out for two weeks, hoping it would go away, but it didn’t and the pharmacist told me to stop taking it. My endo told me that because I reacted this way to one drug, the likelihood of side effects on a different drug are increased. I am taking a beta blocker, which is keeping my heart rate in the 90-100 range most of the time. It will be interesting to see what the labs show, since I haven’t had bloodwork done in several months.

I will read up on the posts here and see what I can learn!

[Author]

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