After having rai or tt surgery do you produce any thyroid hormones

[Tatty10]

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK]

No. RAI can take a while to have its full effect. And I am assuming a dose intended to wipe out all thyroid tissue.

(Though there can theoretically be rare cases in which some are produced.)

It is possible, some time after total thyroidectomy, for at least some thyroid tissue to regenerate. More common in Graves'.

Rod

[Tatty10 in reply to helvella]

Thanks rod, if no thyroid is produced then should you have t3 t4 and tsh replacements

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to Tatty10]

No.

TSH is produced by the pituitary - not the thyroid. I am not aware of TSH ever being given therapeutically. And, with appropriate thyroid hormone levels, TSH levels often end up at quite ordinary, acceptable levels. (Doctors argue over whether TSH has any effects other than on the thyroid.)

You need T4. And many, many would argue you also need T3 but relatively few are actually given any T3.

T4 gets converted into T3 in various places in the body. So some (many) argue that it is not necessary to take it as well as T4.

Rod

[Tatty10 in reply to helvella]

Thanks so much, sorry to be such a pain, but i feel like i have just been flung into the unknown and all these hormone levels are a nightmare for me trying to understand, feels like my brain is dead, but very slowly things are making a little bit of sense.

[nobodysdriving in reply to helvella]

what Rod says is right in the sense that that's what it is being done by many/vast majority of doctors, however I believe (like some doctors believe) that having a TT does not make your body any different from anyone else's (apart from not producing thyroid hormones anymore) and that your body will decide what it needs, be it T4, T3 both or NDT or a combination of these. Some doctors argue that NDT is needed by people who had a TT as it gives T4/T3/T2/T1/Calcitonin.

Don't ever settle for 'suffering' on T4 only (if you do end up suffering as some don't and are happy) of course and keep in mind other meds may be needed by your body.

thyroidscience.com/Criticis...