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Hi Julie,
We know how you feel, believe me! Just as an FYI ~ low-dosing was originally thought to be a possibility for retaining "normal" thyroid function, but it has been abandoned due to failure rates. I am an example myself ~ my doctor and I agreed that I wanted an ablative dose, but the dosing doctor was not informed of this decision, and he still thought a low dose could work (this was more than ten years ago, by the way). As a result, I spent literally YEARS unwell until I was willing to throw in the towel and do a second RAI to bring me back to true health.
The bottom line is that any thyroid tissue remaining active can react to the antibodies and cause either hyperthyroidism or fluctuations in thyroid hormone levels that make it more difficult to get regulated following the RAI treatment. In addition to that, a low dose has the potential to damage, but not destroy, thyroid tissue, which can be a risk all in itself. You don’t want to leave damaged cells functioning in any way, they’re unpredictable and other issues can arise.
Julie,
+1 to what SKi and ewmb said. You’re much better off with a large enough dose to make sure it works and you don’t have to do it again. I really don’t think my dose was large enough and I am worried that it won’t completely work, that I’ll end up having some functioning tissue left and it will go awry- either by making me hyper again or causing other problems from that damaged tissue (cancer?). Even though I feel pretty much all normal, I still have some weird times when I feel more hyper, so already I’m concerned that it’s still shooting out inappropriate hormones. Going hypo from total ablation isn’t a problem, and in my opinion the sooner the better that way you can get it regulated with replacement. The replacement hormone is no big deal and the same as what your body produced – in time, people on replacement say they don’t even think about it, they just take the pill and go on with their day. I hate medicine and pill taking of any kind, I don’t even take vitamins- but being on replacement is a better option for me than being borderline hyper or having to take ATD’s. And they do base your RAI dosage on the size of your thyroid, your uptake levels, the severity of your disease, how long you’ve had it, etc- so try to trust that they are doing the right thing with your dosage and talk to your doctor more in depth about it if it will help you to feel better. Let us know how Friday goes – the only difference I felt at all the first few days was a new calmness that it was done with.Hi All
What all of you have said my doctor told me last night. My uptake is at 90 percent. So when I take a dose at 20, my thyroid will take in 10 of that. The recent aches and pains I am having are all due to the thyroid. My doctor was very supportive and will see me in four weeks instead of six. I expressed my worries about weight, she told me to eat like a bird as soon as I start feeling like I am slowing down. She recommends very low carbs, and protein. She really calmed me down. She told me that the radiologist thought telling me I would go hypo quickly would reassure me, it should of, but right now I am pretty much going nuts, and very emotional. I am actually now kind of excited to wonder what it will feel like to be normal. I will go through all of this and bitch and complain the whole time, but I realize now that it is what I have to do. Sorry to be so, crazy
Julie
Julie,
It’s all perfectly "normal" with Graves, the craziness I mean! We will be thinking about you tomorrow. Remember to take it easy this weekend. Glad that your doctor was able to talk with you yesterday.ewmb
Thank you, I do not have a computer at home, so I will check in with all of you on Tuesday, Have a safe and happy Labor Day Weekend
Julie
Just an update that I feel awesome. I can run fast again, my HR finally stays where it should. I have loads of energy and can tell that my strength is back, building muscle again. Only prob is that I am gaining weight – and it’s not all muscle – I can see it is fat. Hardly eating at all and running every day and still gaining. No news from the doctor on the labs I had done over a week ago (shame on them) I was too busy working to pester them about it, but I will call Monday.
It does my heart good to know you’re doing so much better, Lacie! Glad you can get back to running, that’s so important for your own emotional health, to know you can do what you WANT. Just a quick note though ~ what you think is coming back as "fat" may well be muscle tissue. It’s just that when the tissue returns, it’s not strong, it’s just like what’s on a baby’s body. LOOKS fatty, but isn’t. Go easy on areas you don’t routinely work out, because that "baby muscle" is extremely fragile. You need to work it up slowly.
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