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Graves disease choice

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Posted 12/3/2015 5:28 PM (GMT -8)
Hi:

My wife was diagnosed with Graves disease. She is 30. Her heart was always racing around 120 and it made her extremely anxious and tired. After seeing an endocrinologist she was given a choice, either destroy Thyroid through irradiation and then take thyroid hormone pills for life or take Tapazole for 1 year which has the chance of bringing the thyroid back to normal and then being drug free indefinitely. We chose the latter to not go through thyroid destruction. She started taking Tapazole about a year ago. It appeared to work while she was on it and I believe her antibodies were coming back to normal. Since about a few months ago, she was slowly reducing the dose of Tapazole and now off it entirely. Heartbeat seems ok still, waiting for antibody tests, but she does feel (albeit very slowly) that some symptoms may be creeping back. So she may start to take Tapazole again soon.

One of the questions I have is about getting pregnant on Tapazole - the doctor said it's not a good idea. Is this the general consensus on this topic?

The other possibility is that she will finally get the thyroid irradiation done and then just take hormone pills. The doctor said you have to wait 1 year after having this procedure done to get pregnant, after which if you do get pregnant, the hormone pills you are taking can be more easily adjusted than Tapazole could.

So I guess my second question is, should she go ahead and have the thyroid irradiation done? How is life afterwards? What can she expect if she gets it done?

Thanks,

B

Post Edited (brucen36) : 12/3/2015 6:31:52 PM (GMT-7)

Posted 12/3/2015 5:58 PM (GMT -8)
Hi Brucen, I do not have an answer to your questions because at 66, we are done with pregnancies!! However, I am on Tapazole as well for Graves....hoping for a remission. I am on 5 mg daily, having been only as high as 10 mg and reduced recently. I am feeling ok, too. Remission is a possibility for me.

I do know that it is safer to treat a hypothyroid vs. the Graves...and that is my question as well concerning the radioactive iodine...the life after if you choose to destroy the thyroid.

I was curious as to your wife's dosages of Tapazole and how long she was on it. Hopefully, she can stay off the drug and become pregnant soon. I have been told Tapazole is not safe to take for a period of time as it can have an effect on other organs. Considering her young age, I'd imagine it is safer to remove the thyroid at this time in her life. Most folks who have this done do fairly well after meds are adjusted correctly.
Posted 12/3/2015 7:46 PM (GMT -8)
Tapazole works by suppressing the thyroid. It will also suppress the thyroid of a fetus, which could lead to a baby with hypothyroidism. At its worse, this causes cretinism, a condition of intellectual disability along with growth retardation and other features. Treating the gland with RAI destroys it, and the hormones are then replaced with either synthesized hormone (Synthroid, Levothyroxine) or dessicated pork thyroid tablets (Armour). The thyroid supplements have little if any effect on the fetus, so this course is safer for pregnancy I believe.

Hope she's feeling better soon.
Posted 12/4/2015 7:16 AM (GMT -8)
Thank you for the responses.

My wife initially started on 20 mg Tapazole about a year ago and then after a few months weaned down to 10 mg and then 5 mg. Now it's zero.

Regarding the RAI, I wondering if anyone who had had it done could speak about how life is going that route? Are there any inconveniences? Side effects, etc?

Thanks.
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