Preparing for Radiation Treatment

[clay44]

My wife is having ratiation iodine treatment next month and starts her low-iodine diet on Monday (July 28).  I am concerned that the doctor just switched her from cytomel to synthroid and told her to continue taking this until her treatment.  I was under the impression that she should stop synthroid two weeks before the treatment.  We live in Japan and the doctor doing the treatment is in Hawaii so there is a communication problem - we are going through a nurse here in Japan who communicates with the doctor in Hawaii.

[AR-10]

I had to be off my Synthroid for five weeks before I took the RAI pill. Most doctors say six weeks, but I was ready at five weeks and sick enough the doctor did not want to wait another week.

Two weeks is not enough. It takes six weeks to get Synthroid completely out of your system. The RAI may work after a month with no Synthroid, but two weeks is certainly not "standard procedure".

I would make further inquiries. The low iodine diet is pretty useless if she is going to take Synthroid. Maybe her circumstances are unusual and it is appropriate, but it doesn't sound right to me.

[AR-10]

I crossed a few wires.

You think she should stop the Synthroid two weeks before the procedure.

The doctor says she can take the Synthroid right up to the day of the procedure, and I assume she will just keep on taking it.

This is not normal. It may work just fine, if she gets a larger dose of RAI, but it's not the way they do it around here.

Maybe they do things different in Hawaii?

[dscoochie]

Or, she could be taking thyrogen injections instead of going off her meds.  That is what I am doing for RAI - I'm not stopping my synthroid at all and taking two thyrogen injections the two days prior to the RAI ablation.

Definitely speak to you doctor.

[AR-10]

I didn't know you could take thyrogen injections that close to treatment. That is the way to do it. I never thought about that.

My Endo doesn't do thyrogen shots. She's a masochist, I think.
That, or Iowa is still in the stone ages.
Maybe a bit of both. :o)