# Thyroid Swelling 1 year after RAI?



## ThyroidMan (Dec 26, 2015)

Hi! I'm new here! I took RAI last year September 2014. Then in June this year I was fainlly put on Levo and now started to take cytomel in addition to levo. Cytomel made me feel a lot better where levo by itself didn't. But since I started medication this past summer, I have had some thyroid swelling, and it comes with very minor pain, like someone poked my thyroid with a needle or something. The pain lasts for like a split second but I'm pretty certain its my thyroid. My thyroid is just kinda swallen, you can't raelly see it unless I lean my head back. It's nothing super noticable but definitly bigger than average. It got really swallen a week or two ago, and recently the swelling went down a little. Why is this happening, what causes it? And why is this happening is RAI was supposed to destroy the thyroid? Rai made me hypo for sure but it wasn't instant, took me like 6-9 months which is pretty normal I think.

Currently on 75 levo and 5 cytomel. I started taking the cytomel around thanksgiving time this year, it seems to slowly make me hyper. So I took 3/4's of it for like a week, started to get minor hypo symptoms like clicky joints. Was able to sleep again though lol, and now I take the full 5 again and starting to wake up sooner and can't fall asleep again.


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

What was your RAI dose. Many times you have to have multiple RAI doses - it's kinda a guess on how much you need. Your thyroid is probably alive and kicking, albeit at a reduced rate...so the autoimmune attack continues.


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## jenny v (May 6, 2012)

When is the last time you did thyroid labs?


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

Please get a RAIU; you my need to have RAI again. For what it is worth, I had to have RAI 3 times.

Good luck w/this. Just know there is a "new dawning" in the future.


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## webster2 (May 19, 2011)

Please call your physician, sounds like you have some residual thyroid activity.


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## ThyroidMan (Dec 26, 2015)

Hey guys! thanks for the responses!

Idk what my RAI dosage was. When I took RAI i honestly didn't know what was going on with me, all they told me was I had a disease and I kinda freaked out. Because at first they told me all I had was just hyperthyroidism. Last time I got my blood test was in November. I'm going to get another blood test early janurary, itll be my first test with T3.

Idk if I'll get more RAI because I have really mild TED going on. I heard that RAI can make TED worse. and I never had problems with my eyes other than red eyes from what I think was allergies, unless it was TED idk. My right eye is wider than my left eye, its really hard to tell really. But I do get stiffness in my eyes usually durring the evening and some nights I wake up with teary eyes and it feels like someone put sand in my eyes. That happened 2 nights straight but then my T3 came in the mail, took it and it stopped. I think as long as I stay out of Hypo then my eyes wont swell. Kinda crazy.


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## webster2 (May 19, 2011)

Has anyone looked at your eyes lately? It truly sounds like something is going on, best to get it checked.

I have only one eye with involvement, and since my thyroid was put out of commission it doesn't bother me except for being photophobic.


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## ThyroidMan (Dec 26, 2015)

webster2 said:


> Has anyone looked at your eyes lately? It truly sounds like something is going on, best to get it checked.
> 
> I have only one eye with involvement, and since my thyroid was put out of commission it doesn't bother me except for being photophobic.


Kinda lol. I went to a normal eye doctor at first. They didn't do anything really. They just tried to prescribe me glasses. Then I went to an ophthamalogist, but he said there was nothing he could do but use eye drops. He said he wouldnt prescribe me steroids or anything because my eyes didn't look bad. My eyes don't look like I ahve TED at all. Sometimes my right eye is a tiny bit wider. But dispite what it looked like, I had a lot of pain and swelling in both eyes. But I cut gluten from my diet, at least for the most part. And it really helped, I can go days and weeks without pain, but then I think i mess up on the diet and eat gluten and my eyes hurt. Small things like Teryaki sauce or Mayonaise have wheat and mess my diet up.

Few days ago I decided to see how my body reacted to gluten, since I had no pain in my eyes and felt good overall. I ate a ton of christmas cookies. Within an hour or so my eyes felt a little swallen. woke up the next morning and felt like I had sand in y eyes. I think diet has a huge part on auto immune disease for sure.


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## ThyroidMan (Dec 26, 2015)

So if I took RAI, the thyroid cells DNA are destroyed, then teh cells die. Okay, but when these cells die, don't the cells go elsewhere, like turn into wasste or something? When they die they just stay there or? I don't get it. If there could be functioning thyroid, then why do I get hypo symptoms?


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