removal of thyroid or not?

[rosebud64]

I am at a total loss here.After being unwell for over 12 years not being diagnosed properly in the first place .I was finally diagnosed approx 20 mnths ago after being locked away with ???? Bipolar disease.It finally took a Dr that listened to me to finally come to the Diagnoses of Graves.After countless blood tests etc and med changing etc and after approx 4 thyroid storms that were  counted for and eye surgery they have now decided to remove thyroid completely they have given me 21 days until surgery I would like to know if anyone out there has had their thyroid removed after being a Graves patient and how they feel about removal the benefits gained etc??? Thanking you

[tm514]

I don't know exactly how soon after RAI eye problems can worsen - note "can" and not "definitely do" get worse.  Don't get overly concerned, but make sure you note changes to your eyes and have your doctor follow you closely.  Your eyes may never progress beyond the point they are at now, which would be a great thing.

[pep88]

I meant "hyper" thyroidism...  Sorry.

[pep88]

I have not heard that RAI can worsen Thyroid Eye Disease...:-O  I have the "slight" beginnings of TED, but never had Graves or Hypothyroidism.  I had a TT for cancer, Sept. '07 and RAI afterwords.  Should I be worried that the TED will get worse?  My opthomologist said that on a scale of 1 - 10, I was a 1.  But I was so shocked to hear that I had it in the first place, that I guess I'm paranoid now...

[tm514]

I chose to have a TT for Graves almost 2 years ago and feel as though I made the right decision for me.  I was on ATD for about 14 months prior to surgery.

I had two reasons for choosing TT  - first, since Graves is an auto-immune disease, antibodies would always be attacking my thyroid as long as it was there.  RAI would have made the thyroid so it didn't overproduce thyroid hormones which is what caused the many other symptoms I was having (palpitations, hand tremors, exhaustion, brain fog, extemely emotional - cried at the drop of a hat).  However, I also had a pretty impressive case of Graves Eye Disease, and two different endos that I saw reccomended against RAI because it has been related to worsening of the eye disease.

Since either way, I was going to take replacement thyroid hormones for the rest of my life, it was easy to go with the TT.  The surgery wasn't bad, I had no pain medication beyond Tylenol for a sore throat from the breathing tube, spent one night in the hospital, was driving in 3-4 days and back to work a little over a week later.

I guess I can say I am very pleased, I feel better now than I have in a long time.  I had very little trouble getting my thyroid levels evened out after surgery, so I had it better than a lot of folks do.

Good luck to you.