[Liz1967]

#1183509

I quickly got tired of the ups and downs on methimazole and I never felt right. With your thyroid gone, if you are a bit hypo, you take more synthroid, a bit hyper, take less until you find the perfect dose, which usually takes less than a year, sometimes right away. It isnt rocket science. With methimazole, you might find the right dose and then your thyroid, which is under attack, suddenly chugs out more hormone and it swings way hyper. Then it stops putting out excess hormone, and you are hypo. With replacement hormone, you arent off by much, matter of fine tuning, and once you find the perfect dose, you pretty much stay there and nothing suddenly throws it all off. No worries about thyroid storm, liver damage, vasculitis, agranulocytosis, thyroid cancer, etc. I feel totally normal, back to how I felt before my Graves diagnosis. Synthroid has such a long half life, there is no variation. My TSH stays about 1.6, I remember not to eat an hour after taking synthroid and no calcium for 4 hours. Blood checked every three to six months at first, then yearly. If I didnt have the eye disease, I would forget I even have Graves. Lots of people are hypothyroid without an autoimmune disease and then there are the thyroid cancer people, all taking thyroid replacement without issues. Levothyroxine is chemically identical to what your body makes, like estrogen or insulin. Total thyroidectomy worked out really well for me.
Is WCC your white cell count? That doesnt reflect anemia, your red cell count would. Agranulocytosis has a low white count. Good you have someone keeping an eye on that.

[beauty2010]

#1183510

Hi yet again
Well I have just had my fifth relapse so the writing is on the wall
Don’t feel too bad but got it early
TSH almost zero but t4 just at top of normal range
This time I was complying well with carbimazole and my life was less stressful so seems like the Graves has got a life of its own
I am 53 now and this can’t go on happening into old age as I suppose it will affect my heart
Anyhow I’m back asking all you lovely people for some advice
RAI or thyroidectomy
Would plump for RAI but the risk of eye disease scares me. I have never had it and don’t want it

[emmtee]

#1183511

Have you had a thyroid ultrasound? I was actually doing pretty well on methimazole, but I had to have my TT because I developed a nodule. I can’t advise you either way, but I can tell you that my TT was very successful and I would have eventually chosen to have it even without the nodule.

[Kimberly]

#1183512

Hello – Both options have risks and benefits. As with *any* surgery, thyroidectomy comes with a risk of complications. The most common complications with this type of surgery are damage to the nerves around the vocal cords and parathyroid glands. Having an experienced surgeon is important in order to minimize the risk of these complications.

RAI may be a concern for patients with eye involvement (as there is a higher risk of development or worsening of eye disease) and for patients who are looking to plan a pregnancy. (Patients are advised not to try to conceive for 6-12 months following RAI, and even after that, antibody tests are recommended to assess the risk of passing them on to the fetus). You can reduce the risk of worsening TED with a course of steroid therapy, but of course, that comes with its own risks!

A final note is that if you’ve been doing really well on the carbimazole, talking to your doctor about adjusting your dosing might get your levels straightened out again.

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