# Grave's Disease...Neep Help!



## bsuber (Oct 4, 2011)

Hi!

I'm a 22 year old female that was diagnosed with Grave's Disease a little less than a year ago. Since then, my numbers had gone down and now have gone back up. I am currently taking 30mg of Methimazole a day. My doctor has recommended I consider RAI treatment. I am worried about the side effects and was hoping some people who have had the same treatment done could tell me about their experiences. Anything would be helpful, especially from females!

Thanks so much!


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## webster2 (May 19, 2011)

Sorry to hear about this for you. I was recently diagnosed with Graves but have absolutely no knowledge about it. There are several posters here that have had RAI for Graves and will chime in. Best wishes.


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

bsuber said:


> Hi!
> 
> I'm a 22 year old female that was diagnosed with Grave's Disease a little less than a year ago. Since then, my numbers had gone down and now have gone back up. I am currently taking 30mg of Methimazole a day. My doctor has recommended I consider RAI treatment. I am worried about the side effects and was hoping some people who have had the same treatment done could tell me about their experiences. Anything would be helpful, especially from females!
> 
> Thanks so much!


I had RAI 3 times as the thyroid did not want to give up the ghost. I am not aware of any long-term side effects as this was about 20 years ago. However, if I would have had a choice and I did not, I would have opted for surgery.

Mainly because I will never know if I had cancer or not.

Otherwise, I personally was cool with the RAI.


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## Endlessness (Oct 5, 2011)

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis 

I had RAI when I was 16 years old, so about 10 years ago, and I don't have any major health concerns for now. The only problem for me is finding the right dosage of levothyroxine to replace the hormones, but it's more annoying than anything else!

I'm sure everyone reacts differently, but I was diagnosed at 7 years old, and they tried to control my thyroid for 10 years without any success, so for me, the RAI was a blessing.

I don't remember any side effects after the treatment. It was just very eery to have the doctor hand me a tiny little pill in a plastic cup while wearing a ton of radiation protective gear. "You want me to swallow that, but you won't touch it? Hmm..." 

Of course, it makes sense for him since he's around the stuff a lot for his job haha.

Anyways, I know I'm not helping because I don't have a lot of knowledge of the real risks of radiation and such, but I thought I would at least tell you my experience, and I have nothing bad to say about it even after 10 years!

Good luck with everything


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## bsuber (Oct 4, 2011)

Thank you so much! That's exactly what I was looking for. I guess my only question for you is, is it a daily struggle for you depending on your dosage? Is every day different? I guess one of my main concerns is the weight issue. I'm super active and to not be able to do anything about my metabolism would kill me. Your thoughts? Like I said, this was super helpful to hear your experience and how you felt. Thank you!


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## Endlessness (Oct 5, 2011)

It's definitely *not *a daily struggle for me. If you find your "sweet spot" dosage, you can go years without any problems. I was fine for about 5 years until I switch from Synthroid to generic.

The key is to be aware of your symptoms. When you start feeling tired for no reason, pay attention to other symptoms, and go see your doctor for a test. Usually if you do that, you won't be SO far up or down that it'll be horrible. At least it isn't for me, it's usually just annoying symptoms where I don't feel 100% myself. Kind of like if you're coming down with something and you feel off. The major thing is fatigue, and it's pretty noticeable. I also tend to have irregular period (34 days instead of my usual 28 days, for example).

As far as weight issues, I've always been pretty thin (probably because I had Grave's as a child and a teenager), and when I gain weight because of the dosage, it's never more than 10 pounds, and I lose them all fairly quickly once the dosage is fixed. And I'm not really that active  I do eat very healthy though. That's actually another key symptom. If you're gaining weight even though you're not eating more than normal (or sometimes even less because you have no appetite), then it's time to do a checkup.

I'm 5'3 and I've never weighted more than 120 lbs, even in my worst hypothyroidism state. My normal range is usually 107-110 lbs.

Again, it might be different for other people, I'm not sure if my case is normal or not  I would actually be curious to see if anyone else in the same situation has anything to say about it!


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## bsuber (Oct 4, 2011)

Exactly what I needed! Thanks for sharing! I would be interested to hear other's experiences as well!


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