Hypothyroidism and graves disease

  I am 20 yrs old and I was diagnosed with hyper thyroidism, I know
  that hyperthyroidism can be cause by Graves disease. But then I had
  radioactiveiodine therapy, SO now I have hypothyroidism. My Question is,
  Can I still have or get graves disease? I am worried about this. I am
  also diabetic and worry about my eyes and my vision. I have heard that Graves
  Disease can cause blindness. IF someone could please give any kind fo info or if
  anyone has any links to any sites that would help I would greatly
  appreciate it.
  Thank you ,
  Kim

[HFHS MD JL]

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Graves' disease is a condition where autoantibodies are produced that stimulate the thyroid gland.  This causes an overactive thyroid.  These autoantibodies are known to affect other parts of the body such as the eye muscles and lower extremities.  The best way to control the overactive throid is to ablate this with radioactive iodine and then use replacement therapy to obtain a normal level.  You technically have Graves' disease in remission but you are endocrine status is hypothyroid following ablative therapy.  Active Graves' disease can cause the eyes to bulge, eyes may be red, and it may cause the eyelids to retract.  This occurs in a minority of patients and many of these finding improve with observation or sometimes therapy is needed.  People can however loose vision if there is compression of the optic nerve secondary to swelling of the surrounding eye muscles.  Regarding your diabetes, you should have regular checks by your ophthalmologist to monitor for diabetic retinopathy.
This information was provided for medical educational purposes only.
HFHS M.D.-JL
*Keywords: Graves' disease