[SamanthaHuneycutt]

in reply to: Graves Disease and Radioactive Iodine Treatment #1185722

Big_goit wrote:

Hey! I’m a 17 year old from NC who was diagnosed with GD least year at age 16 lol so we have a couple things in common! I got a “total” thyroidectomy in August 2019 but a large portion of my thyroid grew back in less than 6 months so I’m now in the process of scheduling radioactive iodine treatment for the near future.
It’s awesome that you did your senior project on thyroid related stuff! Would you care to share more about your experience with radioactive iodine? How did you feel in the days after treatment? Good luck at East Carolina University!

Hey everyone! It’s been a while since I’ve posted in April! I’ve been applying to graduate schools for epidemiology and global communicable disease. I thought I would elaborate on the above question about my radioactive iodine treatment! When I got it done following my freshman year of college, I did not immediately feel any different. I stayed in my room for a few days in “quarantine”; kind of ironic now with Covid-19. Still to this day, I hardly feel any different than I did before. I think potentially the reason I didn’t feel as much of a shift in my overall health from the iodine treatment was because my body had become accustomed to fluctuating levels beforehand (in and out of remission from medication to no medication over 2 years). Following the treatment a few months later, I was able to tell my medication (.175mg) was too high (because I was awful at remembering to take it, so lab results would come back low) so when I would be consistent with taking it, I would have hand tremors and a fast heart rate. My symptoms following treatment were all due to my forgetfulness, not due to the actual iodine itself. Since my post in April, I have gotten my levothyroxine lowered to .150mg and become very consistent with taking it and my labs came back perfect. I have now “graduated” from my pediatric endocrinologist and my primary care physician will be doing my blood work and labs from now on. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season!

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