I'm a 23 yr old thyroid cancer survivor who has received 3 doses of the radioactive iodine. The side effects are not extreme, but be prepared to take it easy for about a week. Other than the precautions they give you about contact with others.. ( flush the toilet twice after each use for one week, no using the same dishes as others for a week, not being within 10 feet of others for at least a few days,...This means no restaurants and movies) definately no being around pregnant women, no sitting directly on furniture (put down a sheet first, that you then need to wash). No kissing hugging, etc for one week. Throw away your toothbrush and those types of things after one week.... One of the most important things is to prevent damage to your salivary glands. This can be a miserable and long lasting complication if you dont. The best way to do this is to stay well hydrated after you receive the iodine, and to eat as many sour candies as you can stomach, as they make your mouth salivate. You want to salivate as much as possible to get the radiation flowing and not just sitting in your glands. Go to the candy store and get sour worms, warheads, chips (for the salt)...Etc etc. The salt will help as well and should taste great after the low iodine diet! Do this for at least a week, and several times a day with the sour candies. It may seem like a nuisance, but I have sustained permanent damage to my salivary glands which has made me more susceptible to tooth decay, and my mouth is always dry, and when I get a cold, my glands are incredibly sore. Good luck with your treatment.

I recently got blood tests back for high parathyroid and something else to do w/my thyroid, high ana, and high calcium.
I still have o lot more testing, but it explains 90% of my symptoms for 8 years. The doc. Who figured this out reffered me to an endocrinologist, who I haven't seen yet. But I personal think she should see one right away.

I was extreme hypo, flipped overnight to extreme hyper and was medicated with tapazole. An alergic reaction and a trip to the hospital later and I landed in nuclear medicine dept.
I was given 4 m.C. Radioactive iodine at my request because I really didn't want to go back to hypo. Thyroid function crashed-eyes blurry, couldn't walk or barely move from the muscle spasms. Endocrynologist said that she had never seen such a sensitive case history or violent reactions so quickly. Was dosed 0.125 levinsothyroxin for three months-no change in blood results. Dosed 0.150 for another three months with minor variance. Currently on 0.175 x three days and 0.150 for 4 days a week. Doctor is worried because she has never treated a female of my size with 0.175.
Still have hypio symptoms, though lessened.
Life sucks.
Should have never complained about it in the first place!

Oh, I am soooo confused.. I have had hypothyroidism for the last 2 yrs. And I am curious as to what all the talk about thyroid cancer is about. I dont want to get cancer, doesn't your thyroids swell up or something if you have cancer ? Oh

Hypothyroidism doesn't mean a thing in terms of getting thyroid cancer so I am told by my doctor. Totally different area of problems. I wouldn't worry

My name is natalia i'm 30 years old and I have hyperthiroidism.
The Dr. Recommend me iodine radioactive. I don't know what to do. Somebody knows if I can get pregnant after that ?? And why I can be in contact with people. I'd really apreciate all help.
Natalia

I am a male and 39. Have graves and am getting radio iodine treatment next week. From what I have been told by my endo doc and have read over the net, the precaution af not being near someone for a few days (how long depends on your dosage of radioactive iodine) is exactly because you are radioactive...So basically no hugging and sleeping in the sam bed. I did read that women can get pregnent after the treatment is over, but should avoid getting pregnent for a few weeks. Also, men should refrain from sexual contact for a few weeks because the radioactivity is released in the urine and you could give your partner a dose in a very sensitive spot!
From all the information I have gathered, there is no chance of getting cancer or some other scary problem from the treatment. Altough your symptoms could get worse for a few days and you could get the eye problem (eyes bugging out ) , but these side effects will eventually go away.

Would you happen to know if your hair falls out?

I am about to have the i-131 on wed. And still a little confused as to side effects.

Thanks for your posting it was very informative.

Linda

Any symptom of hyperthyroidism can get temporarily worse with the radioactive iodine treatment. This could include losing some hair, rapid heartbeat, weakness, etc. This is because your thyroid naturally absorbs iodine to help it make thyroid hormone. Thus, even though the iodine is radioactive, your thyroid might temporarily make even more hormone. In older and sick people this can be serious. If your endo doc was worried about this, he would have perscribed anti-thyroid medicine before your treatment. That is why they keep you on the beta-blocker drugs for a while after your treatment also.
I get my thyroid scan tuesday and wensday and get the treatment on thursday. Try not to worry, because these side effects are rare, and radioactive iodine really is the best option.
Let me know how yours goes.
Good luck!

Natalia pm me.

Natalia,

Firstly radioactive treatment for hyperthyroism is the safest course of action in many cases. There is a period of time that the doctor adminsitering the treatment will ask you not to get pregnant for. This is to make sure that there is no more I131 present in your system which could affect the featus. This is only for a few months, and it is not the end of the world if you do get pregnant after about 6 weeks.

You are asked to avoid close contact with other people for a few days as you will be radioactive as I131 goes to your thyroid. This is to protect them from recieving a radioactive dose. Precautions are usually not sleeping with a partner for a few days, and going out to places of entertainment for a few days.

After about 10 days most restrictions are removed, but you may be asked to avoid prolonged contact with pregnant women and small children for a couple of weeks longer to make sure all the radioactivity has gone from your body.

DO NOT WORRY, this is very safe and not having the treatment when required will cause more problems that this short treatment.

I am a 18 year old girl. when I was 11 years old I was diagnosed with Thyroid Cancer. At first the doctor had said that it was very slim that I could make it. I came through the surgery good but I was hoarse. I stayed hoarse for about a month or two. then I had to undergo Iodine Radiation treatments for about 5 years. It took so long because my stomache kept rejecting the treatments, but now I am very healthy with no trace of cancer. If God had not intervened then I would not be able to tell my story today. I will be on Levothyroxine for the rest of my life but that is nothing compared to what it could have been if it was not for God. THANK YOU JESUS. If you have anymore questions feel free to pm me . hope to hear from you.

My mother will be starting this treatment in a month and we are preparing. What I would like to know is how you feel during your isolation.. Are you able to walk around and cook for yourself? Do you function as normal or seem very weak and immobile? What can you eat during treatment? Is there anything you should avoid eating? What do you do with the clothes you wear/sheets after your treatment, toss'em? What about the things you touch, such as books? Thank you.

i was diagnosed back in 2005 with graves disease due to my over active thyroid gland. its been a long proses. but i thank god for getting me through it it has been even more harder for my spouse due to all the psychotic episodes which where cause by all the medication i was on. i have just received the radio active treatment yesterday jun 2 09, the people in my household are making me feel bad, i feel depressed because i cant be around me loved ones. there acting like i have saars or something more serious you can get air born. i was given a low dose so the doctors recommended me to stay about 4-5 feet away from anyone, for about 3-4 days.
i feel great.(except for the part that people have been treating me like an outcast) i have no side effects.
i was told the treatment would make my thyroid develop less hormone which will make me hypo.

i was diagnosed back in 2005 with graves disease due to my over active thyroid gland. its been a long proses. but i thank god for getting me through it it has been even more harder for my spouse due to all the psychotic episodes which where cause by all the medication i was on. i have just received the radio active treatment yesterday jun 2 09, the people in my household are making me feel bad, i feel depressed because i cant be around me loved ones. there acting like i have saars or something more serious you can get air born . i was given a low dose so the doctors recommended me to stay about 4-5 feet away from anyone, for about 3-4 days.
i feel great.(except for the part that people have been treating me like an outcast) i have no side effects.
i was told the treatment would make my thyroid develop less hormone which will make me hypo.

STILL SUFFERING ALMOST 5 YEARS OUT
I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer almost 5 years ago at the age 25. I had my thyroid, parathyroid and lymphnodes taken out. I had the rai treatment and have had pretty much every side effect known to man. I have low calcium levels due to having a parathyroid taken which I have to take 4000mg of calcium a day. I do not produce very much saliva, so because of that I had to get a full mouth a veeners. My teeth started to become so painful because the enamel was being eaton away by the acid in my stomach. When I was given the treatment I was put in isolation in the hospitol. I was only supposed to be there for 1-3 days but it ended up being 6. I was so sick to my stomach that I couldnt drink that much water so it was harder to get out of my system. After my treatment they discovered that my white blood cells where very low and I had to go to an oncologist to have injections to get my white blood cells up. Now with all that being said I would still have the treatment again because it saved my life ,and with 4 small children to live for well theres nothing better than that.

Good for you! You made it through,I agree with you sometimes we have to suck it up,your kids need you and that is a good motivator.I had rai in 05 for thyroid cancer also.It took a long time to get regulated and I still don't feel all that good,I was 48 at the time then I went through menopause with the hot flashes and night sweats plus they gave me too much thyroid to start out with.I am just glad I found a new dr in time to have my thyroid removed.Did you have papillary thyroid cancer?I had follicular so they didn't take the parathyroid out or lymph nodes.Sorry to hear you had to go through all that.