Meredith2021
    Post count: 5

    Hi Kimberly—thanks for your reply June 11. Per your advice I’ll update my screen name, ellenb. Do I just log out, and then re-register, or what?

    Re treatment– you wrote:
    ‘I suspect that what you’ve read is that RAI is successful in dealing with the hyperthyroidism, as opposed to bringing about remission from Graves’.

    Could you clarify that? I’ve read that RAI does in fact cause remission from both H. Thyroid and Graves’.

    And I have a question on GDATF’s interesting February webinar that you mentioned— ‘The Long Term Use of Antithyroid Medication’.

    Two experts spoke on the advantages of anti-thyroid drugs as the best treatment—including Dr. David S. Cooper – professor Johns Hopkins, past President ATA, editor of endocrinology journals, etc.

    They showed statistics that ATD was better than RAI, but also they showed that it led to actual remission in only 50% of cases. And said many patients prefer ATD, so doctors go along with patients’ preferences, if possible.

    But the surprise was that towards the end of the webinar on ATD, Dr. Cooper said he himself took radioactive iodine (RAI) for his own Graves Disease. Said he’s doing fine, and he said so do most people who take it!

    What did you think about that? I don’t get why Dr. Cooper would give a lecture promoting ATD, then tell us he used the other treatment, RAI, for his own Graves Disease.

    GDAFT recently had an article explaining RAI advantages, written some years ago:
    “Treating Graves’ with radioactive iodine– Treatment of Graves’ Disease by the “Atomic Cocktail” by Malcolm R. Powell, M.D

    So why do patients or doctors choose ATD (Methimazole) with frequent relapse rates? And mainly, the side effects can be so much worse.

    Also, some doctors say to use ATD as pretreatment for RAI. But, an article in Medscape Medical News said:
    Radioactive Iodine Can Be First-Line for Hyperthyroidism (in the UK)

    Thank you for any feedback. It’s a confusing matter.