Dr wants me to have RAI

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-30-2004
Dr wants me to have RAI
4
Fri, 08-31-2007 - 9:28pm

I became hyperthyroid during my pg with my DS.  It came very early, diagonsed at 7wks, and went into remission by the beginning of my third trimester.  Fast forward to this summer (DS is almost 20mo old) and after thinking I had an anxiety disorder, it dawned on me that it could very well be my thyroid again.  I insisted on immediate BW the day I had my *ephiphany* and two weeks ago yesterday I got the news that I am once again hyperthyroid.  I saw my endo yesterday and he feels that if I am in any way thinking about having more children (I probably will), that RAI is the best treatment plan.  I'm torn.  I asked about remission from long term PTU and he said that even with remission, I am almost guaranteed for preganancy to cause a return and that PTU is contraindicated in early pregnancy if at all.  I was on PTU from 15wks pg to about 32wks and DS is fine.  I spoke with my PCP today and she agrees with the endo and she even spoke with him yesterday afternoon for me.  My mom also had hyperthyroidism when she was my exact age (33) but never during pregnancy.  She had RAI with no regrets and as a nurse, mother and former Graves' pt, she thinks I should do it.


My biggest fear is the inability to get the right dosage of synthroid in a relatively quick time frame.  I am scared to death of gaining a lot of weight, even though that sounds vain and childish.  My endo said the average gain, in his experience, is 5-7lbs.  That would be fine and easy to cope with, but of course I've heard of horror stories of huge gains due to having trouble getting the right dosage of synthroid.  I know I will need to be my own advocate.  (Does anyone have an opinon on dual hormone therapy rather than single?)


My other concern is going crazy from being away from DS for isolation.  The nuclear med scheduling nurse at my hospital said that since you can't tell a young child to stay 6ft away (if I do it, it would be 2wks b/f his 2nd bday), you need to just stay somewhere else.  They consider 2yrs the cut off for needing prolonged isolation.  She was originally telling me 2wks and I told her she was crazy if she thought that was realistic.  The endo said it would be more like 4-7 days.  My mom thought it was amazing how things have changed in the 29yrs since she had RAI, b/c she didn't have any restrictions and I was 4yrs old.


Any input or shared experiences would be really helpful.


TIA

 


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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-01-2006
Sat, 09-01-2007 - 10:27pm
Hi! I too was diag. w/ hyperthyroidism during pregnancy. Mine wasn't too bad during pregnancy so I never went on meds until after my daughter was born. About 3 months post partum I felt terrible. They put me on the generic for tapazole (methiamzole). I was on that for about and year and it made me go into remission for about a year not needing any meds. Just this past April I was feeling lousy again and went to endo to find out I was now hypothyroid. I was diag. with Graves originally and my endo said this can happen since the thyroid can burn itself out. I didn't have RAI and my endo's felt that if meds didn't work that would be the next thing. I want to have more children, but haven't gotten preg. as easily as I did before. The whole RAI thing seems a little scary to me esp. since you have to stay away from your son, but it sounds like you probably were more hyper than I was during pregnancy so maybe this is the right thing for you. Go with your gutt feeling. Hope this helps a little. Keep me posted on what you decide. Best of luck to you!
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-30-2004
Sat, 09-01-2007 - 11:37pm

I was pretty bad during my pg and warned about the possiblity of throid storm during delivery.

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Avatar for cl_calley7
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-20-2003
Sun, 09-02-2007 - 5:54pm

Hi Dana,


Just from all you have said, I probably would conclude that RAI would be the way to go also.

 

Calley7

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-20-2007
Sat, 10-20-2007 - 6:06am

I was also