[Ski]

#1065032

Doctors get to have their opinions, but you get the final say. No one is going to strap you down and make you take RAI. Any doctor that takes an attitude when you express your opinion is not the doctor you want. That simple.

[thompson91]

#1018464

Ok, I finally got an apt with the local Endo in 3 weeks. This was the third time I called them this week. Finally the doc saw my charts. When I called today she said it wasnt there at first but found it and it said URGENT on it!! I asked why and she said all Graves pt do. Ok, that doesnt make me feel better. I left her know how I would like to handle this trying Anti meds first and that for me I dont want RAI. She scheduled me with a doc who has been doing this a long time and is real good she said. I asked if he’s old school and she said no he’s up to date on things and even orders labs that the labs dont know what is. She scared me a little though and said she knows I’m against RAI but if he says to get then I should listen to him because he’s so good. But I dont want RAI! I told her I’ve been researching on net and she said yeah the docs dont like that too much and there’s so much more to it and info. How difficult does this get with wanting to try meds vs doing RAI the dr might want. My husband (who is trying to be supportive) says I’m getting all worked up for nothing. I’m hoping he’ll be reasonable and at least try meds first. Does anyone know from your thyroid scans what #’s seem to be worse? And will most Endos let you try meds first? I have 3 weeks to "worry" about this.

[lhc11]

#1065033

Just want to emphasize, like Ski, that the choice is yours. Ironic, since when you are hyper (at least in my experience) it’s that much harder to have choices/make decisions. As for research, my two cents are that the best places for research into Graves are 1) this site and 2) PubMed. I wouldn’t necessarily trust anything else too much–I found a lot of stuff out there online that was very hyperbolic/scary/incorrect. There are a lot of folks on this board who have had RAI with no problems (and I say this as someone who chose surgery, for personal reasons). At any rate, if what you want to do is stay on the meds, no doctor should be telling you that you can’t. The meds I was on brought me down to normal levels in about 2 months–a rough two months, I grant you, but the pills worked!

Hang in there,
lhc

[Bobbi]

#1065034

While I agree in principle with both Ski and lhc I want to give you a somewhat different slant on things. There are very good medical reasons why an individual patient should do one treatment over another, and it has nothing whatsoever to do with any "personal" opinion of a doctor. For instance, if you have some type of pre-existing problem with your liver — like autoimmune hepatitis or some other liver problem — doing the antithyroid meds could be more dangerous for your long-term health than removing your thyroid. Patients with other problems — heart problems for example — can be cautioned against the surgery or RAI. You, as the patient, owe it to yourself to keep an open mind and closely listen to what the doctor advises you and find out the OBJECTIVE reasons why that advice is being given.

More often than not, we do have a choice of treatment options. Situations in which we are advised against a treatment are not all that frequent. All of our treatment options are safer — in general — than remaining hyperthyroid. But if your doctor strongly suggests that you get one treatment and avoid another that you think you want, you need to get a second opinion from another doctor, because it could well be that in your specific case, the treatment you want to do is not safe for you.

I do wish you better health soon.

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