Ready for Body Scan

CindyC
CindyC Member Posts: 27
edited March 2014 in Thyroid Cancer #1
I am wondering what other people experience when they are taken off Synthroid for a body scan

Comments

  • Rustifox
    Rustifox Member Posts: 110
    #2
    Hi, Cindy,
    This is really where 'your mileage may vary' comes in. Some folks barely notice side effects from hypothyroidism when off hormones for scans and/or treatments - others have the entire laundry list of symptoms - there is a good outline of some of the most common ones here, on page 4:
    http://www.thyroid.org/patients/brochures/Hypothyroidism _web_booklet.pdf

    (Personally, I print off page 4 and post it on the fridge for my family, so they know I'm not losing my mind, and the symptoms are temporary...lol).

    On the most extreme end, there can even be very real psychological impacts when we are off the hormones - depression, mood changes, etc, all the way to psychosis and/or hallucinations - but most doctors monitor us carefully to ensure we don't reach this extreme state. There is some information about this (very very rare side effect) here:
    http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/topic280.htm
    http://www.aafp.org/afp/20001201/2485.html

    Overall, aches, pains, feeling like a slug is very normal, though. If you encounter any unusual or distressing side effects, don't hesitate to contact your family doctor ... and immediately advise (if they don't know already) that you are profoundly hypothyroid in preparation for testing. For me, I had the entire laundry list and then some the first time, and almost no symptoms for a shorter hypo period the second time... so it does vary, depending on "how hypo' you become.

    Hope this helps!
  • times3
    times3 Member Posts: 5
    #3
    HI Cindy,
    I've been without a thyroid for 20 years. I have had all the symptoms. I guess everyone is different. Fatigue, no concentration, naps every 20 minutes, throid fog. The thing that helps to know is it has an end and you recover and get back to "normal". I've gone off it every 3 years or so to test for recurrance. I have cancer again (THIRD TIME ) but now I use the thyrogen to get my tsh up instead of going off my synthroid. It's way easier this way and theoretically, your t4 shouldn't change so much. Hope this helps...at least to know you're not alone.

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