Does graves disease go away after thyroid removed?

For those with Graves’ disease, a common concern is whether the condition will go away after removing the thyroid. While there is no easy answer, and it can vary from person to person, surgery may not always be a permanent solution.

What Is Graves’ Disease?

Before we delve deeper into this query, let’s understand what exactly Graves’ disease actually entails. It’s an autoimmune disorder that causes hyperthyroidism, leading to excessive production of thyroid hormones.

Symptoms include anxiety, irritability, weight loss (yum!), tremors (not just in horror movies) , fatigue or muscle weakness (because who doesn’t like muscles?) . The protrusion of eyeballs also known as exophthalmos (think Marty Feldman) might accompany eye inflammation symptoms such as dryness or irritation (we’ve all had days like that). You see an endocrinologist who confirms you have Graves’ disease. Now comes the inevitable question – does your life depend on surgically mutilating your own thyroid gland?

Thyroidectomy As A Treatment Method

A lot of people opt for surgical removal of their thyroid glands because they are fed up with medications causing side effects. For others, pharmacological management fails to mitigate the symptoms effectively enough and so they resort to surgery instead.

During a thyroudectomy (the cool kids call it RAI) procedure, doctors remove all or most of the hormone producing cells inside your butterfly-shaped gland since over exposure produces undesirable consequences. Without this gland however; well here’s some fun stuff below:

  • No more iodine absorption
  • Normal bodily functions turn upside-down
  • Hormonal disharmony culminating in bald spots popping up!

As much joy as these may sound – I mean who doesn’t love sitting alone recalling how great their follicle period was; there are additional postoperative issues that may arise.

Post-Thyroidectomy Treatment

Just because you’ve bid adieu to your thyroid gland, does not mean Graves Disease is automatically a thing of the past. The very symptoms you might have attempted to escape pre-surgically can come back and hit you like a freight train. Your endocrinologist has prescribed a hormone replacement medication treatment plan which looks at stabilizing Thyroxin (T4) levels however; Trilodothyronine (T3) patients will be advised against surgery at all costs as it considerably increases the risks of permanent hypothyroidism after removal. Also You identify abnormal fluctuations in bodily rhythms such as bowel habits or sleep patterns should be discussed with professionals.

But I hear some of you say – won’t radioactive iodine therapy aka RAI help? Unlikely! What’s more fun than undergoing multiple rounds of radiation only for results less satisfying with each passing attempt? Why settle for something an amateur in healthcare suggests when professionals validate recurrence years later?

So post-surgery there are several essential monitoring tests required, they include TSH or thyroid-stimulating hormone testing along with surveillance ultrasounds.

Final Thoughts

Removing one’s thyroid gland should not be seen as an immediate remedy to Graves’ disease. Although surgical intervention manages to reduce hyperthyroidism, residual side effects might still persist or occur soon afterward – Imagine trading previous symptoms/complications for new ones? That’s like exchanging a mosquito infestation from unruly neighbors(hmm…not sure if this point fits but ok!), with a visit from Godzilla! Recovery requires constant evaluations and medicinal trauma ensuing anxiety bouts shall spur us on until resolution day arrives (#TrueSurvivor)!

It literally proves almost impossible to predict the extent towards which one’s life may get affected by this autoimmune-based condition and treatments bestowed upon thee (writer mystically disappears)!

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