[thyroidman]

#1060697

Hello, I’m new here. I took radioactive iodine fall of 2014, over a year ago. Currently I now take 75 mcg of Levo and 5 mcg of Cytomel. I was wondering about RAI, I read that it destroys the DNA of the cells. Do those cells stay or do they fall off and go to waste? It’s been over a year since RAI, and my thyroid gland has swallon up a little. When I lean my head back I can see it, its big but not monsterous . . . yet at least. If I did RAI are you supposed to be able to see the thyroid like this? Also recently I didn’t take my 5 mcg of cytomel for about 6 days, today i took it and now my thyroid hurts, when i touch it it hurts even!

[Kimberly]

#1184196

Hello and welcome! Depending on the dose given, RAI may or may not destroy all of the thyroid tissue. If there are living cells left, it *is* possible (although somewhat rare) for the thyroid to regenerate.

We are fellow patients here, so I would definitely pose these questions to your doctor ASAP for further evaluation. If your thyroid is indeed growing back, you will likely want more frequent blood testing to make sure you don’t go hyper again.

Take care – and keep us posted!

[Author]

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