RadioActive Iodine

[LeHara]

I am taking TAPAZOLE for a while. My doctor insisted a lot on taking the Iodine pill and get fixed fast and with no aparent traces.
The Iodine of course is radioactive and can generate cancers and other related diseases but there is no proof of being harmfull for the body. But so is KFC of McDonalds or microwaved food or etc...
Nevertheless I refused to take because of all the Internet articles I read.
I am asking you, what is the opinoin on Iodine ? Why you choose or didnt choose Iodine ?
As I understood even after the treatment with TAPAZOLE the thyroid can go hyper agan...

[LeHara]

Thanks a lot for your answers. I guess I will stick with Tapazole for a while

[hypogirl80]

I would not do RAI unless I ran out all other options. Take Tapazole as long as you can to see if your thyroid problem go away by itself. If Tapazole can control your thyroid problem, give it at least three years before consider RAi or Surgery. Watch your liver as AR-10 mentioned, do the liver function test at the same time you do your thyroid blood test.  I said don't do RAI not because of cancer concern, for the last 60 years, there is no hard evidence that RAI causing cancer. I am talking about people after RAI become Hypo, so you replace Hyper with Hypo, -one, +one, not sure if you gain anything. So, I say only if your can not control your Hyper symptom, or you experience side effects of Tapazone/PTU, otherwise WAIT......

[losthope1]

I also had 2nd and 3rd thoughts about this whole i131 radioactive iodine treatment. But I did it and will  have my 1st scan tomorrow to see if is worked or not. I have Follicular cancer with Herthie cells present  and had a total thyroidectomy now on my thyroid meds. I hope I do not have to do this again it was the worst experience of my life. I was ok the day of you just take a pill at the hospital as outpatient and then go home until the next morning I was so sick to my stomach and very very dizzy which made it worse for me. My neck swelled up 4x it's orginal size and it felt like I could not swollow. After that I just slept for the next 2days and don't really remember much afterwards. The only thing I have to complain about now is I am still dizzy better than before but very frustrating. I guess I will find out in the end if it did more harm than good.

[AR-10]

It's wise to find out all that you can before agreeing to RAI treatment.

It isn't guaranteed to work, and sometimes you have to take it twice before it is effective. There is a risk of cancer. There is a risk of it affecting your saliva glands.

Tapazole may control the thyroid long enough for you to go into remission. Maybe. You may stay in remission a year or two. The Tapazole may damage your Liver eventually.

The third choice, which is as stinky as the first two, is surgery. Surgery carries special risks for hyper patients, and surgeons are leary of performing a thyroidectomy on a hyper patient because of the added risk.

Eventually you will probably be forced to do RAI whether you want to or not. Personally, I think it carries less risk than surgery, although if you have to do it twice, the risk factor changes. Surgery is more likely to succeed, but you may have vocal cord damage, or other complications.

No easy answer. No simple choice. Waiting may help. Waiting may hurt your body. It's a personal choice for anyone considering it. Why I chose it and how it has worked for me has no bearing on how it will affect you.

I have mixed emotions about it. I wanted surgery. I got RAI. It's working, I think. If I get lung cancer in five years, will I blame it on RAI, or smoking for thirty years?

I'll blame the RAI, of course. It's human nature.
Just my opinion.