[ewmb]

#1066166

Corinne,
I am now 10 months out from my RAI and I’m still not in normal range with my hormone replacement. I have good days and bad days. If you search for my posts from my sign in ewmb you can read some of my early questions etc after I had RAI. There are some good threads here about that as there were several of us going through it at the same time last year. It is so different for everyone that no one should predict a definite for you. I hope that you start to feel better soon. I did feel good as I passed through the "normal" range of TSH for a few weeks before I went really HYPO eventually.

Good luck,
ewmb

[Ski]

#1066167

For me, the period right after RAI was not much different ~ I started to feel the "edge" come off, but it’s still a very slow process. Your body actually takes up to six weeks just to flush out the excess thyroid hormone that was in your bloodstream on the day you TOOK the RAI, so we typically don’t feel all that different until at least that marker (except, as you say, when we may or may not have the ‘dumping’ of thyroid hormone ~ I didn’t). It’s all a matter of baby steps. Once your thyroid fails, some people have a very rapid drop into hypothyroid, others drop more gradually, but it typically takes at least that first six weeks before you even need to worry about it.

I hope that helps!

[Corinne]

#1018640

Hi,
So, I had been having a real hard time with my Endo’s office: as far as them not getting back to me, explaining things to me, getting me into an appt in a reasonable time….etc. So I finally called my PC doc, turns out SHE called my endo, and they call me back right away….and I got to talk to a real person, not a machine!! (Amazing how nicely that worked huh!?!) Initially I had a follow up appointment 8 wks from now (at my first Endo appt, they confirmed once again that I have graves, and I said I wanted to do RAI, they took blood and said come back in 8wks to talk more about treatment options) now, after relaying some concerns, I have an appt a week from now. With this upcoming appointment, I think I could end up getting what I want (RAI) within the next month if I wanted. And, even though I want to start feeling better ASAP…..the next 1 1/2 months are a bit busy for me. I have a yearly requirement for my Grad School program (a seminar, where I have to present my data to the department) that I am already a bit worried about on April 12 (and another on March 22). I have had particularly bad foggy-headedness as my Grave’s has progressed, and have been worried about getting up there and forgetting my words or my data, etc. So, if I decide I want to do RAI ASAP, possibly the week after next, I was just curious to know how crappy people felt after RAI? I know its different for everyone, but I guess I want to see if there is a general trend? I know you may go hyper a bit after RAI as your dying thyroid cells release hormone, but was it worse then when you were at the peak of hyper-ness? Did you start feeling better right away? (or….at least did the foggy headedness improve?)
Please let me know how you felt shorty after RAI if you chose that!
Thanks
-Corinne

[npatterson]

#1066168

Hi Corrine,

My experience was much like Ski’s–nothingmuch was different. I went back to the office and saw four more appointments.
I had RAI a long time ago, and they were just beginning to know about the effectd on the eyes. I know now that I already had some eye disease. It took about two weeks, and all I could say is that my eyes "felt funny". It did take a while to get stable on my meds.

I was able to keep up with the things I needed to do (that I knew well) like teaching and giving presentations. It was about four years later when the bottom fell out (and most of it was not due to Graves’), but even that is a long time ago.

Take care,

Nancy

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