[Redmom]

#1060090

I was diagnosed with Graves Disease 27 years ago. They tried medicine to control it and it didn’t work. The doctors said it was one of the worst cases they have seen. I didn’t have the internet to guide me, so I went along with their advice and had Radiation. It worked fine – no problems with it. I had just gotten married and about a month later had the radiation. It took about 2 years before I went hypothyroid. Gained 30 pounds in about a month. It was a very emotional time. My husband was in the military so I only saw family doctors. It wasn’t until I wanted to get pregnant and was having trouble that I found a doctor who tried to help me. They adjusted my medicine and I ended up having 4 children in 8 years. After my husband got out of the active military, I told my family doctor that I wanted to see an endocrinologist. I found a good one. He adjusted my medicine according to how I felt not just my blood test results. I have felt pretty good over the last 10 years. I am over weight and I do occasionally have aches and pains. I didn’t realize that some of what I was feeling was attributed to GD. I guess my question is this. Once you have the RAI and your medicines are at a good level – are you in remission? I guess I never asked the question if I still have Graves Disease even though I feel pretty good? I have always had a positive outlook and done things because they need to get done kind of attitude. I didn’t realize that I could still feel symptoms of this disease.
Sorry this is so long, I am realizing things that I should have probably figured out along time ago.
Thanks for having such a wonderful forum

[Raspberry]

#1180253

Hi Redmom and welcome! Remission is when your Graves antibodies are tested as being very low or down near zero. There are two tests you can get TSI or TRab which will tell you about this. Since you no longer have a thyroid your only concern with this would be if you are having other Graves’ symptoms like TED (thyroid eye disease) or skin issues like pretibial myxedema. Aches and pains or more likely to come from not being at the optimal level of thyroid replacement for your needs.

[Kimberly]

#1180254

Hello – In addition to Raspberry’s comments, the other issue where Graves’ can cause complications post-RAI is with pregnancy. It doesn’t sound like you are looking to get pregnant, but just in case, it’s important to note that antibodies can be passed on and can cause hyperthyroidism in a fetus or in a newborn. The latest medical guidance on pregnancy recommends antibody testing for all women with a past history of Graves’ at the 20-24 week mark, with the involvement of a maternal-fetal specialist recommended if antibodies are extremely elevated.

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