What is graves disease treatment

Antithyroid medications are typically preferred in patients who have a high likelihood of remission women, mild disease, small goiters, negative or low titer of antibodies. If methimazole is chosen, it can be continued for months and then discontinued if TSH and TRAb levels are normal at that time.

If TRAb levels remain elevated, the chances of remission are much lower and prolonging treatment with antithyroid drugs is safe and may increase chances of remission. Long term treatment of hyperthyroidism with antithyroid drugs may be considered in selected cases.

If surgery thyroidectomy is selected as the treatment modality, the surgery should be performed by a skilled surgeon with expertise in thyroid surgery to reduce the risk of complications. Your doctor should discuss each of the treatment options with you including the logistics, benefits and potential side effects, expected speed of recovery and costs. Although each treatment has its advantages and disadvantages, most patients will find one treatment plan that is right for them.

Even if you are treated with antithyroid drugs alone, hypothyroidism can still occur. Your doctor will check your thyroid function tests frequently to assess thyroid function following treatment. The patient consumes a small quantity of radioactive iodine by liquid or capsule.

Once swallowed, the iodine collects in the thyroid. The doctor will then perform several scans using a radioactive tracer. The first is usually done hours after the iodine has been taken.

Following this, a second scan is usually taken 24 hours later. Iodine is found in seaweeds, such as kelp and dulse. The NIDDK also advises people to speak to their doctor before taking a multivitamin supplement or using cough medicine, as these can contain iodine. It is important to attend all scheduled health appointments, however, because treatment for an overactive thyroid can trigger an underactive thyroid, or hypothyroidism. Symptoms include a lack of mental and physical energy, weight gain, and depression.

Some hyperthyroidism symptoms can vary depending on natal sex, but many symptoms are common in both males and females. Learn about them here. Hyperthyroidism is a medical condition caused by high levels of thyroid hormone in the bloodstream. Learn about the causes, symptoms, and treatments…. A person's diet can affect the symptoms of hyperthyroidism. This article looks at which foods and nutrients to eat and which to avoid for an….

The dose of I usually used for radioiodine therapy does not affect other body tissues. In the meantime, treatment with medicines called beta blockers can control your symptoms. Almost everyone who has radioactive iodine treatment later develops hypothyroidism , or underactive thyroid, because the thyroid hormone-producing cells have been destroyed. However, hypothyroidism is easier to treat and causes fewer long-term health problems than hyperthyroidism.

People with hypothyroidism can completely control the condition with daily thyroid hormone medicine. Beta blockers. These medicines act quickly to relieve many of the symptoms of hyperthyroidism, such as trembling, rapid heartbeat, and nervousness. Most people feel better within hours of taking beta blockers. Antithyroid medicines. Antithyroid therapy is the simplest way to treat hyperthyroidism. Antithyroid medicines cause your thyroid to make less thyroid hormone. Doctors most often use the antithyroid medicine methimazole.

Doctors usually treat pregnant and breastfeeding women with antithyroid medicine, since this treatment may be safer for the baby than other treatments. Doctors use propylthiouracil more often than methimazole during the first 3 months of pregnancy because methimazole may harm the fetus, although this happens rarely.

Also rarely, propylthiouracil may affect the fetus, but any effects are less harmful than having uncontrolled hyperthyroidism during pregnancy.

Once treatment with antithyroid medicine begins, your thyroid hormone levels may not move into the normal range for several weeks or months.

Sometimes doctors use surgery to treat people with large goiters, or pregnant women who are allergic to or have side effects from antithyroid medicines. Before surgery, your doctor will prescribe antithyroid medicines to bring your thyroid hormone levels into the normal range.

This treatment prevents a condition called thyroid storm—a sudden, severe worsening of symptoms—that can occur when people with hyperthyroidism have general anesthesia. Pathogenesis of Graves' disease. Kahaly GJ, et al. European Thyroid Journal. Ross DS, et al. Bobanga JD, et al. Treatment of patients with Graves' disease and the appropriate extent of thyroidectomy. Morrow ES. Allscripts EPSi. Mayo Clinic. May 18, Nguyen CT, et al. Graves' hyperthyroidism in pregnancy.

Current Opinion in Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Obesity. Davies TF, et al. Treatment Graves' orbitopathy ophthalmopathy. Accessed May 27, Nippoldt TN expert opinion. June 5, Related Graves' dermopathy Graves' dermopathy: How is it treated?

Graves' ophthalmopathy.