Treatment for Overactive Thyroid

Hormones
1

Hi All,

I have been diagnosed with overactive thyroid bordering on Graves disease but without all the symptoms. The only symptoms I have is racing pulse, heart palpitations, hot and cold and aching/sensitive to the touch on body.

I am taking Propothyracil as the other medication did not agree with me. I recently finished my tablets but the symptoms reappeared with a vengeance. The consultant has said that I now have 2 choices either Radio Iodine or removal. I really do not want to have my throat cut so am thinking of Radio Iodine. I have 3 children 17,15 and 13 and have been told that I am to keep away from them for 2 weeks. Is this correct, and is anybody else considering this treatment.

2

I haven't heard of anyone else on the Board taking Propothyracil so don't know much about how people react to it.

I would avoid RAI or surgery if you can find other means to heal your disease that are non-toxic.

What I have found for myself was that adding Acetyl-L-Carnitine that I obtained from a Health Food Store to my medications helped improve my disease and even normalized all my blood values. I could then lower the amount of methimazole I needed with a view to eventually discontinuing it altogether. Initially I used regular L-carnitine and while there was improvement in how I felt, my TSH values did not rise as much as with the Acetyl-L-carnitine.

There is a research paper on the subject of the use of L-carnitine in thyroid papers by Dr. Salvatore Benvenga from Italy. You might want to read it and try this amino acid before you attempt solutions like RAI or surgery which are irreversible.

If you don't like how you feel on L-carnitine (and I haven't heard anyone on this Board say it made them feel worse), but if you did, you could always reverse how you feel by stopping it.

3

Many thanks Linda and Ann,

I have made a not of your comments and will look into it further.

I will keep you posted on my decision, once I know which way I am heading

Kind regards

Rachel

4

There are problems associated with having RAI beyond just destroying the thyroid when it may be unnecessary. I understand you could have to avoid close contact with your children for a while until the radiation wears off. Be sure you check into it. I believe it is best to do the medication like Carbimazole, Methimazole, or PTU, because you could go into remission and not need the drugs anymore.