# Can you have your thyroid removed or RAI treatment and still have children?



## karen18

I just have a quick question about RAI and thyroid removal.

Could I have this done and still have kids?

I am now 37 and I have mild Graves Disease and I am currently on 5mg of Carbimazole. My levels are now normal but in my last post I was explaining how I still feel tired all the time etc. Maybe due to low glucose levels, who knows?

I just want to know what my options are so any advice would be greatly appreciated 

Thanks


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## GD Women

Yes, you can have children after surgery or RAI. But it is suggested to wait until your thyroid levels are normal and stable first which might take 12 to 18 months. You will be fine for having babies as far as thyroid and treatment goes. Good luck and don't worry.


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## Andros

karen18 said:


> I just have a quick question about RAI and thyroid removal.
> 
> Could I have this done and still have kids?
> 
> I am now 37 and I have mild Graves Disease and I am currently on 5mg of Carbimazole. My levels are now normal but in my last post I was explaining how I still feel tired all the time etc. Maybe due to low glucose levels, who knows?
> 
> I just want to know what my options are so any advice would be greatly appreciated
> 
> Thanks


Hi, Karen!! GD Women has given you correct information. Do you currently have children or will this be the first for you when you are ready?


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## Lovlkn

I have 2 teens so I am highly against having children ;-)

If you are controlled on anti thyroid meds you can try right away.


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## karen18

Andros said:


> Hi, Karen!! GD Women has given you correct information. Do you currently have children or will this be the first for you when you are ready?


It would be my first Andros and I'm not currently ready and wouldn't be for at least another year and a half anyway so would you suggest I do it?

What is a persons quality of lfe like without their thyroid?

I don't want to have it removed only to find I'm still moody all the time and exhausted. I have a non existent labido and a list of other symptoms a mile long. I just want to be back to my old self and the meds are nothing more than a nightmare trying to get them balanced. Now with my glucose levels being rock bottom and me now being almost 100% sure I have adrenal fatigue as well I just need for this to all be over and done with.

It's been 3-months of living my life locked up in the house because I have no energy to do anything. I'm constantly moody with everyone around me, I don't really know who I am anymore?


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## karen18

Lovlkn said:


> I have 2 teens so I am highly against having children ;-)
> 
> If you are controlled on anti thyroid meds you can try right away.


Hi Lovlkn,

I don't know if I will ever feel good on my anti thyroid meds.

I don't really want to have children for at least another year or so that why I am contemplating having my thyroid removed.

I just want to know if I can have a normal life once my thyroid is gone, or am I going to have ongoing issues trying to balance meds for hypo thyroidism?


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## karen18

GD Women said:


> Yes, you can have children after surgery or RAI. But it is suggested to wait until your thyroid levels are normal and stable first which might take 12 to 18 months. You will be fine for having babies as far as thyroid and treatment goes. Good luck and don't worry.


Have you had your thyroid removed, if you don't mind me asking?

I just want to try and gauge how people feel that have had it done?
I would hate to go from one extreme to another because once it's taken out there's no going back.


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## Andros

karen18 said:


> It would be my first Andros and I'm not currently ready and wouldn't be for at least another year and a half anyway so would you suggest I do it?
> 
> What is a persons quality of lfe like without their thyroid?
> 
> I don't want to have it removed only to find I'm still moody all the time and exhausted. I have a non existent labido and a list of other symptoms a mile long. I just want to be back to my old self and the meds are nothing more than a nightmare trying to get them balanced. Now with my glucose levels being rock bottom and me now being almost 100% sure I have adrenal fatigue as well I just need for this to all be over and done with.
> 
> It's been 3-months of living my life locked up in the house because I have no energy to do anything. I'm constantly moody with everyone around me, I don't really know who I am anymore?


My humble opinion is to take care of yourself first and foremost and then consider having a baby bearing in mind that most if not all of these autoimmune diseases are familial.

I had RAI and have great quality of life. It took me about 18 months to heal but I was patient and I have not a single complaint.


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## karen18

Andros said:


> My humble opinion is to take care of yourself first and foremost and then consider having a baby bearing in mind that most if not all of these autoimmune diseases are familial.
> 
> I had RAI and have great quality of life. It took me about 18 months to heal but I was patient and I have not a single complaint.


If I could stay on my meds I would never have my thyroid removed. It's just that my doctor and Endo told me that you can't stay on carbimazole forever bc it's not a good drug to stay on long term?

Why? and is there another anti thyroid medication I could stay on for life?

I just don't like the option of having RAI, and my endo said no surgery for me... He doesn't consider that to be an option bc of how young I am. I'm not that young, I'm 37 and counting..ha-ha.


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## Andros

karen18 said:


> If I could stay on my meds I would never have my thyroid removed. It's just that my doctor and Endo told me that you can't stay on carbimazole forever bc it's not a good drug to stay on long term?
> 
> Why? and is there another anti thyroid medication I could stay on for life?
> 
> I just don't like the option of having RAI, and my endo said no surgery for me... He doesn't consider that to be an option bc of how young I am. I'm not that young, I'm 37 and counting..ha-ha.


That does not make sense that your endo is forcing you to have RAI when you prefer surgery. There are many good reasons to have the surgery one being you want to have a child and if you had RAI, you would have to wait a year at least. The other being cancer. Many a patient has found out they had cancer "after" the thyroid was OUT!!


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## karen18

Andros said:


> That does not make sense that your endo is forcing you to have RAI when you prefer surgery. There are many good reasons to have the surgery one being you want to have a child and if you had RAI, you would have to wait a year at least. The other being cancer. Many a patient has found out they had cancer "after" the thyroid was OUT!!


He never said I couldn't, just didn't recommend it in my case.

He gave me a list of reasons, I just have a bad memory so I can't remember any of them..ha-ha.

There was something like a 5% chance of damage to the parathyroid glands??? or something?


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## lavender

You can have children after either, but they recommend that you wait at least a year after RAI. I a 32, and really want to have kids in the next 3-5 years so this has been really important to my choice of treatment. Like my body physically aches every time I see someone with a baby.
RAI was not for me, and I felt terrible on anti-thyroid drugs. I chose surgery. I had done a lot of research, did my best to present my reasons to the endo, and he was totally willing to listen to me and support my choice-- Even though his recommendation was to stay on anti-thyroid drugs to give myself more time to make a decision, (he also seemed to think I should be feeling better on the ATDs than I was) and to choose RAI if necessary. 
It was not easy for me to assert myself and articulate my needs in my hyper state. I could not think clearly or remember anything, and I was an emotional basket case, but I did the best I could and brought a friend along for support and to help me remember things. 
It seemed that the Endo was more willing to listen to me because I came in prepared. He immediately scheduled me for a surgery consult, and told me I did not have to make a choice now if I did not want to. 
In the end, I opted for surgery and acted very quickly, and do not regret my choice. Two weeks post surgery, I feel so much better! 
Best of luck to you.


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## lavender

Oh, I just glanced at your last post. Yes, your parathyroid can get injured during surgery, it can be short term or permanent. I have been dealing with parathyroid issues and extremely low calcium levels post surgery, very annoying since I am taking 16 calcium supplements a day! It took me about a week to learn how to manage my calcium levels, and I have to crush 4 citracal pills in OJ 4x a day since the suppliments are so huge and my throat is still healing from the surgery, but it's really nothing compared to how I was feeling before. Also, my voice is not very strong, which is annoying because I love to sing. But I would take this over how I was feeling before any day. After 4 months of being totally incapacitated, I have my life back!


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