[pinky35]

#1063004

Ah- thanks, I see what you’re saying. I’m still new to this–I was hyperthyroid and symptematic, I just chose to go right to RAI instead of trying meds, if that makes sense. I think I misunderstood the question.

[smj78]

#1063005

I think I am leaning towards RAI now. My family is kind of against me having surgery when there is another option. I know I have to do what is best for me, but it is helpful to hear the opinions of those around me, especially my mom and sister who are nurses. I know the risks of having something bad happen are very, very slim with a good surgeon, but my mom just had a co-worker whose vocal cord was effected by it. She as well is a nurse and did much research and interviewing before picking an endo and surgeon.

My plan is to schedule the RAI for a few weeks from now. In the meantime, hopefully the increased meds will help even out my levels some more. I will see the optomotrist and call my endo with some last few questions and whether I should start steroids. I was told to stop the meds a week before the RAI. I want to know if/when I would start them again after my procedure. I want to also check her thoughts on the risk of thyroid storm again.

Hopefully I’ll have a good expereince to share on here.

[snelsen]

#1063006

Glad you have made your decision. if it continues to feel good, then it is the right one for you.

One comment. It is my thought that an optometrist may not have the training or the equipment to assess your eyes, try to determine if you do/don’t have TED. It’s just not in their job description and field of study. I suggest you ask him/her
to refer you to an ophthamologist who is familiar with Graves’. Or a neuro-opthamologist. Just another thing for you to explore. To prepare yourself for an eye exam, have a pretty clear list of how your eyes have changed, or are changing. Someitmes an orbital CT is ordered to confirm the diagnosis. Maybe you just have subtle eye swelling and puffiness, and thar’s it? But if you eyes continue to get worse, you do need to be seen and followed by a neuro-ophthamologist.
Look forward to hearing from you again.
Shirley

[smj78]

#1063007

ok-I just have puffiness right now. This was a referral from the endo. I was getting the impression that he is very familiar with this, but I’ll double check. I think she just referred me b/c if was one of my concerns that RAI can make them worse. Thanks for the input.

[snelsen]

#1063008

I think so too. How wonderful that you have an endo who is listening to you, addressing your concern. Agree with your plan.Your concern that RAI could make your eyes worse is a valid one. Find out as much as you can. ALWAYS good to have baseline exams. Then you and docs can tell when things might be changing.
sn

[Ski]

#1063009

Just jumping in to say that it really ought to be an ophthalmologist ~ they’re the only doctors trained to handle TED. A really good tool for your first appointment is a picture of how you looked before TED, so they can evaluate for themselves the changes that have occurred. Sometimes even [u:ukwp79rs]we[/u:ukwp79rs] don’t realize what exactly has changed.

[smj78]

#1063010

Yes, it is an opthamologist. I will have to really search for an old picture of me. I try to avoid cameras! ” title=”Smile” /> Thanks for the tip. It is hard to see the puffiness in pictures though. I’ll have to find a closeup.

[deblitz]

#1063011

My understanding was that it is safer and easier managed to be hypo and pregnant, than hyper. And the meds for hyper are worse for the baby.

[snelsen]

#1063012

to dbitz and smj78

A couple thoughts to debitz @ the beginning of this post re hypo and getting pregnant. I am not sure if this should begin a new thread. A facilitator can move it if it needs to be moved. Take a look at RAI posts, or RAI and pregnancy posts. Check about the time after RAI that you should not try to conceive. I believe it is closer to 6 months. Somewhere on this site, there is a discussion questioning being slightly hypo and getting pregnant. I don’t know anything about that. There may be some EVIDENCE BASED studies out there, there may not be. Every now and then, I hear that someone drank butterscotch shakes to get pregnant, and it worked! So sometimes these things are very coincidental and anectotal. But from my personal experience with being hypo, is that I would not wish EITHER being hypo or hyper for anyone. And from a healthy you perspective, I think this assumption should be discussed with your endo AND OB doc, combined with labs and how you feel.
Seems more reasonable for you to be "normal" with your thyroid when getting pregnant, ie, controlled withe right dose of Synthroid, which reverts you back to a normal thyroid endocrine state that you have been all your life, and before GRaves’.

To smj78. In one of your posts, you mentioned optometrist, which is why the following comments encouraged you to go to an opththamologist. So I think there was a difference in terms, so that is not an issue anymore. In another post, I believe your endo told you:

"I’m worried about the eye issues too, but I did have the endo say that who’s to tell I would not get worsening of the eye issues anyway. I’ll feel better after hearing what the opthamologist says. My issues are puffiness at the moment. No vision issues and they don’t appear larger to me. "

Prior posts address conversations of TED and RAI, so they are good references. And when you see your eye doc you can discuss the incidence of TED with that doc.

Realizing your major interest is a treatment choice for Graves’, and getting pregnant, I just wanted to share my own experience with TED, and suggest that your endo might be mistaken in telling you that you will not get worsening of eye issues. I am not sure any doc can guarantee that.

Some of us have mild TED, and some of us have full blown TED. From my own experience, and from the literature and posters on this board, I do think that the answer is slightly different than There is small percentage of people who have Grave’s who do get TED, The degree of eye involvement is all over the map, with many of us having very slight symptoms that do resolve. But it is possible to develop TED [b:1lcgpvpi]YEARS[/b:1lcgpvpi] later. In my case, it was decades later,and I have the other extreme of TED, with all the symptoms, doctor visits and surgeries.

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