[Anonymous]

#1057178

My doctor recently detected a slightly high thyroid level and has ordered me to ohave a thyroid scan and uptake test. He is considering placing me on thyroid replacement medication.

I am not sure I want to take the medicine to shrink my thyroid to the point of being nonfunctioning. Anybody reading this already been through this stage of hyperthyroid/grave’s disease that could give me some insider’s insight?

Let me know.
Thanks
Lanette

[Anonymous]

#1165377

Lanette,

Read the note posted yesterday from MLC about her experiences after ignoring being hyperthyroid. Hyperthyroidism MUST be treated. It impacts adversely on the whole body. It is not something to deny, or defer. There are several treatments available, and good information sheets available from the various thyroid associations and the NGDF. Read them, read books on the subject, which are available from bookstores and libraries, and talk to your doctor about the various options, and why he/she recommends one over the other, and then choose. It’s important that you treat it early, and well. It IS treatable. Most people go on to lead absolutely normal lives, even if they are on replacement hormone therapy. It isn’t as “quick” a fix as most of us would like, but it does work.

Hang in there.

Bobbi

[Anonymous]

#1165378

Hi lanette,

I think your doctor wants to put you on anti-thyroid medication. Thyroid replacement is the hormone given to people with not enough thyroid hormone in their system. In any case, you should definitely read as many of the posts on this BB as you can. All kinds of treatment options have been discussed and debated. I think we’re also having an informal(?) chat on Wednesday and you can ask questions there, too. During the year that I’ve been trying to get my Grave’s under control, I’ve read book after book, looked up web page after web page, etc. That and this BB have helped me make informed choices and I think that’s the most important thing. Also, your doctor is there to help you. That’s what they get the big bucks for. If you have questions, your doctor can answer them. It’s his/her job. I first chose antithyroid medication and after that not working as well as I’d have liked, I decided to have radioactive iodine. It’s only been one and a half months, so I’m not fixed yet. I hope this helps you.

Caroline

[Anonymous]

#1165379

Melissa: I live in Orange County, CA and had a scan done at the Irvine Medical Center, May 19 & 20, 1997.

They had one guy go over the procedure with me, answered questions, gave me the radio-iodine pill. The thyroid draws the iodine as normal, but the radio-activity is what “glows”, and what the scan reads.

I went in first thing in the morning to take the RAI, then came back in the afternoon for the scan. It took about 15 minutes. I lay down on a skinny “bed” and the machine (for lack of a better description, it was like a camera on a long mechanical arm) was positioned first over my knee for a brief reading, then my neck for about 10 minutes.

The knee is about the same width as the neck and it seems they do a comparative reading of the two. Something like that. The scanned images are read by a computer and show on the screen. It tells what the uptake percentage of the RAI is. Example, the normal uptake for a healthy person is between 5 and 20%, and mine was at 51.84%!! Hello!

Then you leave. I didn’t feel anything, and the techs were TERRIFIC. Oh yeah, the doctor who runs the Nuceal Medicine department came in each visit to see that I was a relatively “healthy” person, who understood the procedure.

Early the next morning I went in for another 5 minute scan of the thyroid, again to check uptake. I don’t know what that percentage was, but I gather that the second brief scan tells the tech how relatively “normal” your thyroid is functioning, again by percentages.

There was no pain, no discomfort, and the people I came in contact with were gentle. ASK QUESTIONS.

One funny note: They said there was nothing to be concerned about, yet the tech who administered the RAI COULD NOT even touch the RAI pill! And neither could I with my fingers, but rather they poured it into my mouth directly from it container, which was wrapped in a larger, thick, solid-steel container. Go figure.

Hope your scan goes well, and that you too have gentle techs.

taskit

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