[Anonymous]

#1052302

Hi, Moni:

I’m not sure what you mean by “special feeling”. Are you talking about physical symptoms? Or emotional aspects (which ran the gamut)? Physically, I was somewhat more hyper for a week or two. Then, there was just a gradual lessening of the hyper symptoms as I began to feel stronger and more energetic. It is not a treatment that “works” overnight. You must expect it to take a bit of time before you’re feeling truly healthy again, so it helps to focus on the progress of improvement, I think.

As far as dietary considerations, I was given no recommendations, other than making sure I drank enough water, but I did make some changes about diet immediately following RAI. That was because I had not lost much weight while hyper, and I knew I would be heading toward the hypo zone, and wanted to be pro-active about weight issues. I had RAI the week before Thanksgiving last year, and I was going to go through the holiday festivities with hormone levels lowering. My endo predicted that I would be in the hypo zone by the end of December (and I was). Anyway, I didn’t do anything extreme about diet. Other than avoiding sweets and fried foods, it was more in the order of watching that I followed appropriate nutritional guidelines — making conscious decisions, rather than unconscious ones, about what I was eating and how much of it. The only thing I had to really work at was drinking the recommended amount of water daily. Doctors and weight trainers recommend something like 32 ounces a a day, and I had always ignored that, preferring iced tea or coffee to plain water. That’s about it. I did not gain any weight, though, which surprized me.

I hope this helps. Take care,

Bobbi

[Anonymous]

#1153685

Hi. I’ve had 3 RAI treatments – so I’ve asked a lot of questions about
them. Hopefully I can add to the information you’ve already gotten.

I was told that the iodine goes to your thyroid and some through
your bladder. They told me to drink a lot of water for 3 days in order
to minimalize any radiation affects on the bladder.

The doctors also told me that there have been no known problems with
anyone (including children) that has been in contact with someone
that recently had RAI. The reason they don’t recommend contact is for
the same reason they try to minimize the number of X-Rays they get –
they want to minimize everyone’s exposure to it.

One other thing. I did get a sore throat and a little depressed for
about a week after it. But it went away & they said it was normal.

You’ll be glad you did it. Let us know how it goes!

[Anonymous]

#1153686

Hi All,

I have been lurking on this BB for 2-3 months now. I wish to thank you all for the time you spend answering questions. Can’t begin to tell you how much I’ve learned from reading these posts. And how great it feels to know I’m not the only one suffering.

I was diagnosed with GD in Aug. ’97 and am trying for remission with ATDs. My dose goes up and down. About 5-6 weeks ago, my hair started falling out by the handful. I figured it wouldn’t last too long. At first I was thinking I would probably have to get a crewcut, but now I’m beginning to think more along the lines of Dolly Parton. Any words of advice or encouragement out there? Has anyone gone bald from GD? It’s true that I spend much less time drying my hair now, but I think longingly of those days.

Thanks, Toni

[Anonymous]

#1153687

Toni, during the first year of taking ATDs I had terrible hair problems. Didn’t go bald, but it came out in handfuls, couldn’t perm or color. My stylist tried all kinds of treatments but I ended up with a short haircut and waited it out. It was about three or four months until my hair finally started being normal. I would point out that many of the same problems have occured post RAI which I had 11 months ago and are still a problem.

[Anonymous]

#1153688

Hi Toni

My hairdresser figured that I lost almost 70% of my hair. I’ve had
a difficult time getting adjusted. For me, I just used really
gentle hair products. I don’t know if it really helped me, but
psychologically, it made me feel better.

The good news is that as my body gets closer to “normal” my hair
has been growing back. As far as I know, no one has gone completely
bald from graves. Hang in there!

CArolyn

[Author]

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