Worried

[Catlover3]

I am now extremely worried about having had a ct scan with contrast. I knew nothing about the contrast as I was just feeling very ill at the time. I am now petrified that this is going to cause me all sorts of problems with my hypothyroidism. I've not been feeling great with various issues going on with possible A Fib and now I'm so worried that this is all going to get worse.

[Catlover3]

Thank you for your reply. Do you have autoimmune thyroid? I'm a terrible worrier about things like a thyroid storm. I had a bad experience many years ago when I had just started using ndt and a gp said that my t4 needed to be higher so gave me 25mcg thyroxine to add to it. It sent me to A&E with my heart beating at 200bpms and I was unable to get it to slow down. I've been on beta blockers since then.

[Catlover3]

Sorry to hear about your cancer ordeal. I cannot imagine how awful that was for you. I will have to try and push my worries to the back of my head again and focus on pleasant thoughts. I can but try!

[greygoose]

I've had a few scans with contrast, and never suffered any ill effects. I have Ord's, which is AI.

[Catlover3 in reply to greygoose]

Thanks for your reply. The more positive replies I get will hopefully help me with my anxiety.

[greygoose in reply to Catlover3]

You're welcome.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK]

The commonly feared issue seems to be that the CT contrast medium contains iodine - and iodine affects the thyroid. With the possibility of long-term disruption of what might have been a long-term stable situation.

However, the amount of iodine in such a contrast medium that is free to affect us is lower than we might initially think. A lot of the iodine is bound to the other ingredients and simply cannot affect us.

This isn't to say that there is no reason to discuss with the people giving you the CT. There might be a choice of CT contrast with one being more appropriate than another.

[Catlover3 in reply to helvella]

Thanks for your reply. I'd been told that you pee out contrast within 24 hours but had seen on another article that this was not correct. It states that for an intact thyroid it stays in the thyroid for 3 months and in some situations up to 2 years. I don't know how badly damaged my thyroid is as I've never been offered a scan or anything in the 22 years I've been treating myself.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to Catlover3]

Maybe you should contact the people who did the CT?

They are responsible and need to consider if you are in any way suffering from it.

[Catlover3 in reply to helvella]

Hi. I did ring them and they said it was perfectly fine and to carry on with my normal thyroid treatment. I'm sure its just me worrying in advance. I'm hoping my worries will be totally groundless.

[Framboise]

I've had iodine contrast with a CT scan and was very worried about it, but was fine afterwards. At the time I also felt that the purpose of the scan was more important than any potential side effects from the contrast. It's worth noting though that if a first CT scan is searching for something, once the position of whatever that is has been found, contrast is not always required for future scans which are monitoring the situation. They don't always tell you this though, I had to ask, and have not had contrast with subsequent scans. Good luck!

[Catlover3 in reply to Framboise]

Thanks for your reply. I'll remember what you've said if I have to have it again.

[Catlover3]

Lol! I wish. I've got a deep seated lung infection which is being very stubborn and I am completely wiped out. Thanks for your reply.

[Incoguto]

My reply may not be a popular one, but I was going for a CT scan and I told them I had Hashimotos and was worried about a flare up and they did one without a contrast and my consultant also said that it wasn't necessary to use contrast. So it is not always necessary, unless it's something like a pituitary gland scan or mri.My mum has Hashis and had contrast and she was fine.

I was the one panicking lol

Just ask if it's needed, and if you get it, make sure you drink plenty of water afterwards to pee it out. My doctors forgot to tell my dad about it and now he has kidney issues 🤬😔