[Christine]

#1018047

I had RAI for a horribly hyperthyroid 6 years ago, and have been on meds since then as my thyroid isn’t active anymore. But, I still have thyroid symptoms: fatigue, feeling like "my battery is dead", and now 2 molars that are on the Chinese thyroid meridian are failing…….even though my teeth have always been the healthiest part of me.

We have researched many other reasons, for years, for these symptoms, but my nutritionist and dr are now wondering, once the RAI is really over..what actually happens to the tissue when it is "dead" and not functioning? Are there any studies on that? Does it just sit there? I know we can replace the hormones, but the body must have to re-circuit to bypass that dead tissue to connect with the other organs?

I have heard of cases, but can’t find any on the internet, where some folks, like me, have had to have their thyroids removed some years after the ablation. I know the body can adapt to having "dead" tissue in there………but in my case we are wondering if perhaps that tissue is such a burden to my body that it would be better to also have it removed?

Has anyone had any experience with anything like this?

[Ski]

#1062399

If your replacement hormone is not given in the right amount, you can continue to have "thyroid symptoms" due to an imbalance, without any thyroid tissue. My understanding is that when the thyroid cells are destroyed, they are completely destroyed and absorbed into the body at the cellular level, so there would literally be no tissue there. If there’s anything left, it’s an extremely small piece of nonfunctioning tissue. In addition to that, the thyroid hormone it was there to produce is now provided by the thyroid hormone that you take in your pill, so there’s no need for it to be "connected" to anything. The thyroid takes in iodine, makes thyroid hormone from that, stores it, and releases it as "requested" by the pituitary (through the "messenger" of TSH). Once it’s released into the bloodstream, the body converts it to T3 and uses it as needed. So if you are experiencing issues with thyroid hormone imbalance after RAI has destroyed your thyroid, the likelihood is that the solution has to do with adjusting the amount of thyroid hormone circulating in your bloodstream, which is managed through thyroid hormone replacement pills. Removing whatever is left of your thyroid tissue wouldn’t help in any way.

[Christine]

#1062400

Thanks Ski,
We have played with my dosages every which way. We have tried Synthroid, and Naturthroid and now am doing best on Armour. We have tested antibodies. We have done a great deal of work on this, and still I have hypothyroid symptoms, unless I overmedicate and then go into hyper.

The general assumption is that the dead cells are reabsorbed, but we can’t seem to find any literature on what actually, physically, happens to an ablated thyroid, after the radiation is gone and everything settles down. And, so we are wondering if perhaps there is stil lsomething going on with that thyroid tissue, it obviously is not hyper, but perhaps something is still going on and we are thinking of doing a biopsy on it to see if it is there, what is going on….but I can’t seem to find any literature on anything like this.

btw, I used a University Prof’s Geiger counter when we did the RAI…..they had said I would be free to be around a mate, etc in 3 days. At 3 days Imy radiation level was still so high it literally stopped 2 geiger counters bc they couldn’t measure that high. It took 2 weeks to get into the "safe" zone on the Geiger Counters. The medical folks said that wasn’t possible, but that’s what measured on 2 different geiger counters.

Thanks,
Chris

[Ski]

#1062401

If you are continuing to experience hypothyroid symptoms, then it would stand to reason that the thyroid tissue remaining in your body (if any) is not functioning at all. It’s not as if the dead tissue could "suck up" circulating thyroid hormone, things just don’t work that way. The fact that you say you are only okay if you "overmedicate" and go hyper is a bit misleading, because as soon as you go hyper, you’re not okay any more. If you’re feeling well on Armour, you may be one of the people who need a bit of T3 mixed in with their T4 in order to feel just right, and that may have been what you were chasing as you adjusted doses with other meds. T3 is potent, though, and has a very short life in the bloodstream, so typically a doctor will ask you to take two smaller doses over the course of a day than just one in the morning ~ if that’s not the way you’re getting your dose, you may want to talk with the doctor about that. It can level out your days. Only T3 works that rapidly and dissipates that quickly ~ anyone that is on T4 is fine taking one pill per day, splitting it wouldn’t change it ~ but splitting up a dose of Armour may help you feel consistently better.

As far as the geiger counter readings vs. what doctors tell you ~ my guess is that you were holding the geiger counter right up to your neck. It’s true that the levels are high right there, at first, after RAI. After the first few days, it is still recommended that we stay some distance from people (and not cuddle them up to our neck) if we plan to be with them for a long period of time. Readings that were gathered three to six feet away from you would have been helpful in order to understand what exposure someone in the same room with you would experience. As time passes, it all dissipates and the risks get lower each day.

Please remember that radiation exposure is a lifelong thing ~ we have some radiation in our bodies naturally, and we are exposed to some form of radiation every day (the sun is a good example), so the overwhelming majority of restrictions related to radiation come from the hope that we can ensure the minimum possible exposure over a lifetime. A high geiger counter reading doesn’t mean that you are "poisonous," it’s simply a gauge of the level present in your immediate vicinity.

And one final comment ~ the restrictions for the first few days after RAI have more to do with the fact that our body is literally flushing out RAI from our pores. The RAI that is NOT taken up into the thyroid leaves the body through our fluid waste channels (saliva, sweat, urine), and that poses an immediate risk of ingestion or absorption to our housemates, so we get the recommendations to be completely separate from everyone for those first 48-72 hours. After that period of time, it is "only" the radiation in our thyroid we need to worry about. That’s why the restrictions lift, not because there’s some rapid loss of radiation in the thyroid after those first few days.

[jiboosmom]

#1062402

Chris,

I would request an ultrasound to see if there is any tissue left and go from there.

I just had RAI and am praying that I am regulated easily. I am one of those who feels great slightly hyper. I used to suffer with depression during the winter and have had no signs of that this year in my hyper state. I wonder if your body just requires a little extra hormone to feel normal. I am curious how that works.

I hope you start feeling better soon! Keep us posted!

Susan

[Author]

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