Radioactive Iodine Scan and/or Treatment? Your Experience?

Posted by catherinec @catherinec, Jun 11 7:09am

If you are willing to share, I'm anxious to get straightforward feedback about any experience you may have had with a radioactive iodine or with treatment...

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Thyroid Cancer Support Group.

It is hard to know what info you are after with what is posted, but if a scan is ordered try and see if it is i-123 which goes out of the body faster. For i-131 ablation/treatment it can be a double edge sword, it can really damage salivary glands. Most think it is just overnight, but gradually over the coming years you have many new dental issues post i-131 ablation and it may be very dose dependent. So it can help kill any cancer but it can cause some damage. If you get RAI abalation drink so much water and do more dental brushing and waterpiking after swallowing the RAI pill that you help yourself, and that means a real lot, not just a little.

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@bjroc

It is hard to know what info you are after with what is posted, but if a scan is ordered try and see if it is i-123 which goes out of the body faster. For i-131 ablation/treatment it can be a double edge sword, it can really damage salivary glands. Most think it is just overnight, but gradually over the coming years you have many new dental issues post i-131 ablation and it may be very dose dependent. So it can help kill any cancer but it can cause some damage. If you get RAI abalation drink so much water and do more dental brushing and waterpiking after swallowing the RAI pill that you help yourself, and that means a real lot, not just a little.

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This is incredibly helpful information. Precisely the kind of thing I'd hoped to learn. Oddly enough, I've already got serious issues with damage to salivary glands without any exposure to i-123. Currently in the process of having almost every tooth in my head crowned to deal with the havoc it has reeked. On the other hand, I'm afraid not to proceed with the i-123 ablation/treatment in light of the fact several of the lymph nodes were found to be positive with the thyroidectomy. Mayo doesn't take my insurance, so I've got a second opinion scheduled with Moffit in Tampa next week.

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