# thyroid levels in normal but symptoms getting worse? dr wants to do RAI



## boat309 (Jul 11, 2013)

so i found out i had graves about a year ago. i was started on methimazole 10 pills a day and was droped to 3 pills about 8 weeks ago. and my levels started to drop slowly. about 2 weeks ago i went back to the dr and he said that my levels were all in the normal range. but my symptoms have been real bad, almost the worst they have ever been. he recomended the RAI. my qustion is if my levels are fine how will the RAI help?? and why are my symptoms getting worse if my levels are getting better??


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## Lovlkn (Dec 20, 2009)

If you have any lab results with ranges can you please post them.

Range is fairly wide and many people feel different, even when "in range".

If you do not have lab results call your doctors office and tell them you want copies of all labs they have run on you.

When you say 10 pills and 3 pills, can you tell me the dosage of those pills?

RAI slowly kills off the thyroid - it can take years and many times a 2nd dose is required. You will have thyroid hormone fluxuations along the way which may not necessarily make you feel any better.


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## Prudence (Oct 30, 2012)

If you have high levels of antibodies, your labs can fall into what your lab considers nornal...yet you'll still feel the symptoms. My labs right before my second RAI were normal-yet the RAIU scan showed I was indeed still overactive. In fact, before my first RAI, my ranges were perfect-yet the scan showed I was severely hyper. I was also on methimazole then and though it had worked for over a year, the effect of it simply wore off and I felt terribly hyper.


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