Not sure what actual true numbers are as there are so many different compounding factors with GD.
My partner has gone 5 years on PTU treatment and during that time she has been in good health symptomatically speaking except that her TSH remained suppressed, this has finally shifted and all her numbers have been good for 6 months now, we will look at weaning off the PTU at the end of the year and go for remission. I have no doubt in my mind that if she were to have a relapse that she would take the same path again.
Our view is that this is not a purely genetically determined condition & that diet, lifestyle & environment play a significant role in the manifestation of GD, so with that in mind we also believe there is a significant amount one can do to support the bodies healing process along with ATD treatment.
I have read about many individuals achieving remission with ATD’s sometimes having to go at it multiple times like James, I have also read about individuals who couldn’t go down that path because of allergenic reactions, I have also read about individuals whom have had success with surgery or RAI and others whom never quite get right after Surgery & RAI and in some cases having the eye disease & other complications resurface after many years of stability even though the thyroid was removed or ablated.
So just like treatment with ATD’s the treatment by Surgery or RAI is no guarantee of lasting remission, it just eliminates the Hyperthyroid symptoms as there is no functioning thyroid, but one is just a succeptable to the other autoimmune manifestations.
So however you flip it, there is always some risk of recurrance in one form or another, so vigilance & routine testing will always be a part of remaining healthy. Just to balance that a bit so you don’t get the why me? victim thing going on, understand that the bulk of the population is siting on the verge of a health crisis only they just don’t know it, whether it be an autoimmune disease, heart disease, cancer, diabetes etc, etc.
We all need to be more proactive & conscious of our health.
