From a study that appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine about two years ago, in January, it appears that taking prednisone at the time of RAI will prevent the RAI from causing any worsening in the condition of the eyes, due to TED. The way the study was structured, they noticed that 15% of patients had a TEMPORARY worsening of TED after RAI, but that administering prednisone along with the RAI completely eliminated the temporary worsening.
As far as other matters, you could probably benefit by getting a copy of one of the books recommended on the National Graves’ Disease Foundation’s list of recommended reading. Both THE THYROID SOURCEBOOK by Sara Rosenthal, and YOUR THYROID: A Home Reference by Drs. Cooper, Ridgway and Wood have chapters in them that explain things, in understandable language. These books have been available through online bookstores, in large bookstores (like B&N; or Borders), and probably are available in your neighborhood library. It doesn’t sound like your doctor takes a lot of time to explain things, and these books might help. You could also quietly insist that the doctor answer your questions. Whichever would make you feel better. But you do need to get the answers to your questions. I can only imagine how stressful this time is for you. It was hard enough for me to make treatment decisions about myself, but if it were my child, I would have been even more stressed. Anyway, these books helped me a lot, and perhaps they would help you.
Wishing you luck,
Bobbi — NGDF Asst. Online Facilitator
Bobbi@ngdf.org
