Long-Term Use of Antithyroid Medications 

Thank you. I'm newly diagnosed and this answered a lot of my questions.

This is EXCELLENT information. I was diagnosed with Graves in September 2020 via thyroid uptake scan and ultrasound to confirm the cause of my thyroid dysfunction. I was immediately offered a radioactive iodine pill by the nuclear medicine specialist after my diagnosis. I declined because I had not even seen an endocrinologist yet. I had my first appt with the endocrinologist and was placed on a 2.5 mg dose of MMI. Over the following 6 months my dosages were adjusted and my thyroid panel (T3F, T4F,TSH) returned to normal range. My medication was stopped because of an uptick in my T4F levels and I remained asymptomatic for 6 months with no medication. The TSH levels started to decrease and my endocrinologist started saying I should consider a thyroidectomy because the ATD didn’t work. I was devastated because I felt that I had not been given enough time to ‘heal’ on the medication. I switched to a different endocrinologist and was again told that a thyroidectomy was the best option because it was ‘easier’ for them to manage hypothyroidism than hyperthyroidism. I still refused the surgical option. I was placed back on 2.5 mg of MMI and my levels (T3F, T4F, TSH) went back to normal range within two weeks. My research showed that non-USA countries used long term ATD treatment with higher levels of remission so I wanted to give my body the chance to go into remission. I wasn’t even on the medication for the recommended 12-18 months, but I’m being told that I don’t have a good chance of staying in remission after long term usage. My thoughts still remain that I’d just rather stay on a low dose of ATD rather than having no thyroid and at the very least, I should be offered the chance to take the MMI for at least 18 consecutive months before a thyroidectomy is discussed.

This is exactly the information I have been looking for. Thank you so much!

Excellent information and very much appreciated!

Dr. Cooper saved me from RAI. Thank you 🙏

Excellent presentation. Thank you.

Excellent video - well presented. Thank you!

My doctor did everything in order as she stated. Glad to hear. I'm on 10mg twice a day. It was 3x daily

Lots of good information here. Thankful I have had endocrinologists who have recommended I stay on low-dose methimazole long-term. Thank you for this presentation.

Thank you so much for this !

Thank u so much for this video it helps me a lot

Nice explanation

The new studies done by the Iranian researcher were encouraging! I understand that after some years a very low dose can maintain normal levels ,but what are the levels people took during the 3-4-5 and 10 years in his study please? Im an American living in England (27years)and am being treated with Carbimazole, which I assume is virtually identical to Methimazole.I have also been treated in the USA,France ,and Netherlands.In 2006 indeed my American endocrinologist sent me straight for RAI.I declined and escaped to France .I stayed on Carbimazole 6-7 years and was on 2.5 mg before stopping and going into remission ,which lasted over 10years . Relapsed 2 years ago . Thank you .

A number of people have said that they got hyperthyroidism after vaccination, and or Covid, which would be a stressful life event causing stress than can induce hyperthyroidism.

This is very helpful. My TSH is 0.37 which the endocrine team consider “normal”. Looks to me like a normal TSH is something above 2 and below 4! (43:05). Would love to know if anyone in the UK has found a consultant who is sympathetic to this approach!

You said there are no side effects From the long term of methimazole use, but two endocrinologists told me that mathimazole can damage the liver, do you know anything about this claim?

My thyroid was perfect until after I got COVID back in June 2020. Then I noticed my TSH drop to 0.3 and free T3 increase to just barely over the high end of normal at 4.4. Then my mom passed away and I got a severe throat infection around the same time which was Feb of this year 2023. Did a Z-pack and cleared the throat infection and then in July 2023 end up in the hospital with fast heart rate 120-130bpm at rest. My TSH was

How can you NOT have trauma as a predisposition factor?! And a GI Map as part of the treatment.

If your t4, t4, tsh levels are in nor.al range and your TSI levels return to normal, do you continue on low long-term antithyroid medication? I know Dr Eve Bloomgarden says no because it will cause hypothyroidism, but is that what Dr Cooper says? Or do you go off it and then go back if you relapse?

Excellent webinar! would it be possible to get the sources from the studies referred herein? Thank you!

How is RAI / Thyroid removal surgery is a solution if you still need to take hypothyroid pill after that anyway, yet my doctor recoomended it?

Great presentation. I feel great on the Methimazole, but now my WBC is low. Is it okay to take meds to raise that count?

Is it true, that once you get off the medication 💊. Then relapse and go back on the meds. you need to treat it as if you've never had the medication before? Each time you go off and on the medication, you could end up getting a reaction, or need a different dosage ect?

Does Methimazole cause stomach pain, I eat yogurt before I take it. Then all day have a stomachache

I've been in and out with greaves disease for the last 12 years. It started when I first got pregnant 🤰. And every time I had been pregnant from then on. Whether I gave birth to the baby or not 😔. I had gotten on top of my greaves disease after the birth of my daughter, 5 years ago. Then in November last year, I got my Moderna shot. Not even two weeks later I got thyroid storm that almost killed me. And no dr at the hospital wanted to treat me, because of the attachment to the jab 😥.