[Anonymous February 10, 1998 at 3:56 pm Post count: 93172]

#1152864

Linda,

Lots of physicians want to run to RAI because for them it is easier to treat.

I found out that there is another drug called P that is given to pregnant
women and breast feeding women for graves.

I am getting a second opinion.

There is a good book called the “Thyroid Sourcebook by M. Sara Rosenthal

She wrote the book after she went through alot when she had thyroid
disease. In the intro (written by a doctor) that the book is for
patients to learn about their diseases. Especially when the doctor doesn’t know
that much..

that is a paraphrase of what is said.

The book only costs 16.00 at Barnes and Noble.

Lynn

[Anonymous February 10, 1998 at 8:35 pm Post count: 93172]

#1051952

I posted last week- I got the results of my scan and uptake. My uptake was normal, the scan showed a few abnormalities. I was told that the past 5 months could have been a viral infection in my thyroid that masked as Graves. I don’t understand why my blood test readings were so abnormal. What if this is the beginning and it’s just going to get worse?
The worst thing is that my endo had wanted me to consider RAI after I reacted to the Tapazole. Now I learn that there really isn’t anything wrong? I’m really losing what little faith I had in the medical profession. I will still be checking into this BB regularly to keep myself informed. ( I’m still taking my beta blocker, though. I’m not ready to give that up yet!)

[Anonymous February 11, 1998 at 7:37 am Post count: 93172]

#1152865

No, not “just” an infection, but an infection that caused you to be hyperthyroid. In thyroiditis, the thyroid cells can become so swollen that they will leak thyroid hormone into the blood. You can even develop a goiter with thyroiditis. Blood work will show that your levels of thyroid hormone are too high, and your pituitary reading (the TSH) will be low, because the pituitary will be trying to shut the thyroid down to lower those blood levels of hormone. The blood work doesn’t determine the cause of the problem, it just shows that it exists.

Whatever the cause, hyperthyroidism makes us SICK. The symptoms can be the same. And in well over 90% of hyperthyroid patients, the cause of the hyperthyroidism will turn out to be Graves. The only difference really is that in your case your body’s immune system will eventually rid it of the problem. In the case of Graves, the problem usually becomes incrementally worse over time.

Diagnosis is a tricky business. The odds on favorite, by a huge margin, was that you had Graves. And you were given antithyroid meds initially, which is also a treatment used sometimes, even in known cases of thyroiditis, because being hyper is NOT good for us. The possibility of RAI would be the next, logical step for treatment when you proved to be unable to take the ATDs. Fortunately, the uptake and scan is necessary for the RAI, and also is a more definitive way of determining cause. So, I wouldn’t beat up on your doctor too much. Not only was thyroiditis not the odds on probable cause of your problem, there is no good treatment for thyroiditis, other than riding it out. There are no antibiotics, etc., that can rid you of the problem sooner. You have to wait for your body’s immune system to get rid of the cause. If the symptoms are severe, beta blockers and ATDs can make you more comfortable. Which is what your doctor did. It was only when you proved to be unable to take the ATDs that your doctor pushed for RAI.

Wishing you good health, SOON.

Bobbi

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