Hi, Dominic:
The problem of radiation exposure has come up frequently here, because it IS a concern. There are several things that you have to keep in mind, however.
First, the effects of RAI have been tracked in long-term studies and have shown NO increased rates of cancers in individuals who had it done. And that includes people who have had much, much larger doses of radioactive iodine than those of us with Graves’ get (like people who have thyroid cancer — who sometimes get triple our dose). These studies have also shown NO increased risk of having babies with birth defects. In other words, it has been demonstrated that it is well within the limits of being reasonably safe.
Being hyperthyroid, on the other hand, has many extremely negative effects on long-term health, including heart damage and bone loss. Weighing RAI against remaining hyperthyroid, obviously RAI wins.
There are other treatments available to us, obviously, but none of them are absolutely safe, although all of them are REASONABLY safe. We, as patients, have to try to be objective enough to weigh the real risks against the probabilities of “success” of any of the treatments. I firmly believe we have to keep an open mind about all of them, because our doctors may, in fact, recommend, for very sound medical reasons, that we have one over another. If we close our minds, out of misplaced fear, we are doing ourselves a disservice.
Bobbi
NGDF — Asst. Online Facilitator