Anxiety after radioactive iodine treatment

[CC450]

I am almost 6 weeks out from my radioactive iodine treatment for hot nodules and my anxiety is still very high. Should that be subsiding by now? I believe my uptake was only 25 percent and I had one very small hot nodule and one that was bigger but still early. I guess I just thought my symptoms would not be that bad and I hope these mood swings are due to the thyroid disease. I am shaking and stressed one minute and crying the next. Does anyone else have this kind of anxiety? Would the hormone still be spilling into my bloodstream?I go back in one week for my levels and I am afraid he is going to tell me I am in normal range.

[skeeterknitwit]

Have you tried a beta blocker?  Ask your Dr. if you can take some methamazole too.

I had RAI for a hot nodule 12/08.  It took 11 weeks for my TSH to come up and Free T3 to go down.  My hyper symptoms lingered for a month after that. So you may still to deal with hyper symptoms for awhile.

Unfortunately, the Drs. don't seem to tell us that RAI is not a quick fix.  Hot nodules can be stubborn to treat.  Your symptoms "could" be because your hot nodule is still functioning.  I think that any additional treatment is not even considered for one year after RAI.

Do you know the dosage of RAI you received?

So go ask your Dr. for some meds.  You can get some of your quality of life back.
Hang in there!

[CC450]

Thanks for the reply. I was on a beta blocker until about a week ago but the anxiety was still so strong that he said I did not have to continue it (I stopped a couple of days ago). He also prescribed some Xanax. I have taken that a couple of times on unusually difficult days, but I seen to go from anxious to depressed and crying and I was not sure if the Xanax may make that worse. My RAI dosage was 15 millicuries. I believe he said it would have been the same dose if I would have had Graves disease. It makes me feel better to hear that the effects can linger for a while longer than I thought. I read somewhere that the effects of the treatment should be felt in 4-8 weeks but all of the information I found related to Graves disease and not the hot nodules so I guess I just assumed the timeframe would be less since not as much of the thyroid is involved.

I will ask him about the methamazole when I see him next week. I wish I understood the levels more, but I am still learning. I will be sure to get all of that information so it makes more sense to me.

So you have not gone to hypo and you are not on medication, correct? I wondered about that when it is just a nodule involved. I know I should have asked the doctor more questions, but I was convinced I had Graves disease because I had some eyelid retracition and so when he told me it was a nodule that could be best treated with RAI based on my age (52) I just said let's do it. All of the questions I had prepared for him were related to Graves and I was a little thrown off.  

Thanks again!!!! It's always great to hear from someone who has made it through this.

[skeeterknitwit]

Well, I didn't give you my WHOLE story.  Just the highlights, didn't want to cause you more anxiety.  My RAI was 28 millicuries.
Somewhere between week 10 & 11, bloodwork confirmed I was hypo, TSH 8.5.  I started on 50 Levo even though I was still not able to sleep.  One month later, I was begging for an increase.  The hypo hell had hit and my TSH was only 2.8.  I just couldn't function.

My Dr. told me to expect to have days when I feel "off" for 6 mo. to 1 year.  

I asked tons of questions prior to RAI.  I had read that the RAI will kill the nodule and spare the remaining thyroid tissue.  All Drs. disagreed with  this theory.  They said that the remaining thyroid tissue would be damaged at a cellular level and I would need replacement T4 (Levo).
They were right!  But your dose was 1/2 of mine.

[CC450]

Thanks for the information. I go in next week and I will most definitely have my list of questions ready. As long as I know I will eventually be normal again I think I can live with that.

Thanks for sharing.

[Smilerdeb]

Sounds like you are hypo.
The tests next week will most probably confirm this.

[stella5349]

I think that same thing Deb is suggesting. I think you are hypo too.

[skeeterknitwit]

Stella & Smilerdeb might be right too.  Hormone fluctuations are just no fun at all.
Waiting a week for a blood test can seem like an eternity.  You might try calling to see if you can get in earlier?
There are also a few things you can check at home.  You certainly can't make your own diagnosis, you need the blood test.
Take your temperature when you are feeling bad.  101 makes me cry like a blubbering idiot.
If it is 84 degrees in your living room and you are wrapped up in a wool afghan, that's hypo.
Take your BP. Is it running higher or lower than your norm?
Take your pulse -  about 60-70 resting?

[CC450]

Thanks for the suggestions! I will try doing some of those tests myself at home. I almost think it would be a relief to be hypo so I can start on the meds and hopefully get everything leveled out soon. I have my bloodwork done on Monday so I will try to push up my appointment with my endo if possible. I've had a couple of good days (I'll take them whenever I can get them). I also started acupuncture yesterday and I have another session today. She thinks she can help with the anxiety. I am ready to try anything at this point! (Although she wants me to give up my morning caffeine and I think I have to draw the line there--I already cut back to 12 ounces.)

[CC450]

Okay, I just got a call from my endo and he said my levels are all normal and that I will get my blood work again in one month. They told me I did not have to keep my appointment tomorrow, but I told them I would be in because I have some questions. I am doing better today, but I never know from day to day how I am going to feel. If my levels are normal does this mean that the anxiety is not necessarily due to my thyroid problem? I think my husband sounded a little nervous when I told him that my levels were normal.