People with Graves disease have three treatment options: radioiodine therapy, medications, and thyroid surgery. Radioiodine therapy is the most common treatment for Graves disease in the United States. Graves disease is often diagnosed and treated by an endocrinologista doctor who specializes in the bodys hormone- secreting glands.
                
Radioiodine Therapy
                
In radioiodine therapy, patients take radioactive iodine-131 by mouth. Because the thyroid gland collects iodine to make thyroid hormone, it will collect the radioactive iodine from the bloodstream in the same way. Iodine-131stronger than the radioactive iodine used in diagnostic testsgradually destroys the cells that make up the thyroid gland but does not affect other body tissues.
                
Many health care providers use a large enough dose of iodine-131 to shut down the thyroid completely, but some prefer smaller doses to try to bring hormone production into the normal range. More than one round of radioiodine therapy may be needed. Results take time and people undergoing this treatment may not notice improvement in symptoms for several weeks or months.
                
People with GO should talk with a health care provider about any risks associated with radioactive iodine treatments. Several studies suggest radioiodine therapy can worsen GO in some people. Other treatments, such as prescription steroids, may prevent this complication.
                
Although iodine-131 is not known to cause birth defects or infertility, radioiodine therapy is not used in pregnant women or women who are breastfeeding. Radioactive iodine can be harmful to the fetus thyroid and can be passed from mother to child in breast milk. Experts recommend that women wait a year after treatment before becoming pregnant.
                
Almost everyone who receives radioactive iodine treatment eventually develops hypothyroidism, which occurs when the thyroid does not make enough thyroid hormone. People with hypothyroidism must take synthetic thyroid hormone, a medication that replaces their natural thyroid hormone.
                
Medications
                
Beta blockers. Health care providers may prescribe a medication called a beta blocker to reduce many of the symptoms of hyperthyroidism, such as tremors, rapid heartbeat, and nervousness. But beta blockers do not stop thyroid hormone production.
                
Anti-thyroid medications. Health care providers sometimes prescribe anti-thyroid medications as the only treatment for Graves disease. Anti-thyroid medications interfere with thyroid hormone production but dont usually have permanent results. Use of these medications requires frequent monitoring by a health care provider. More often, anti-thyroid medications are used to pretreat patients before surgery or radioiodine therapy, or they are used as supplemental treatment after radioiodine therapy.
                
Anti-thyroid medications can cause side effects in some people, including
                
- allergic reactions such as rashes and itching  - a decrease in the number of white blood cells in the body, which can lower a persons resistance to infection  - liver failure, in rare cases
                
In the United States, health care providers prescribe the anti-thyroid medication methimazole (Tapazole, Northyx) for most types of hyperthyroidism.
                
Anti-thyroid medications and pregnancy. Because pregnant and breastfeeding women cannot receive radioiodine therapy, they are usually treated with an anti-thyroid medication instead. However, experts agree that women in their first trimester of pregnancy should probably not take methimazole due to the rare occurrence of damage to the fetus.
                
Another anti-thyroid medication, propylthiouracil (PTU), is available for women in this stage of pregnancy or for women who are allergic to or intolerant of methimazole and have no other treatment options. Health care providers may prescribe PTU for the first trimester of pregnancy and switch to methimazole for the second and third trimesters.
                
Some women are able to stop taking anti-thyroid medications in the last 4 to 8 weeks of pregnancy due to the remission of hyperthyroidism that occurs during pregnancy. However, these women should continue to be monitored for recurrence of thyroid problems following delivery.
                
Studies have shown that mothers taking anti-thyroid medications may safely breastfeed. However, they should take only moderate doses, less than 1020 milligrams daily, of the anti-thyroid medication methimazole. Doses should be divided and taken after feedings, and the infants should be monitored for side effects.2
                
Women requiring higher doses of the anti-thyroid medication to control hyperthyroidism should not breastfeed.
                
2Ogunyemi DA. Autoimmune thyroid disease and pregnancy. emedicine website. emedicine.medscape.com/article/261913-overview. Updated March 12, 2012. Accessed April 10, 2012.
                
Stop your anti-thyroid medication and call your health care provider right away if you develop any of the following while taking anti-thyroid medications:   - fatigue   - weakness   - vague abdominal pain   - loss of appetite   - skin rash or itching   - easy bruising   - yellowing of the skin or whites of the eyes, called jaundice   - persistent sore throat   - fever
                
Thyroid Surgery
                
Surgery is the least-used option for treating Graves disease. Sometimes surgery may be used to treat
                
- pregnant women who cannot tolerate anti-thyroid medications  - people suspected of having thyroid cancer, though Graves disease does not cause cancer  - people for whom other forms of treatment are not successful
                
Before surgery, the health care provider may prescribe anti-thyroid medications to temporarily bring a patients thyroid hormone levels into the normal range. This presurgical treatment prevents a condition called thyroid storma sudden, severe worsening of symptomsthat can occur when hyperthyroid patients have general anesthesia.
                
When surgery is used, many health care providers recommend the entire thyroid be removed to eliminate the chance that hyperthyroidism will return. If the entire thyroid is removed, lifelong thyroid hormone medication is necessary.
                
Although uncommon, certain problems can occur in thyroid surgery. The parathyroid glands can be damaged because they are located very close to the thyroid. These glands help control calcium and phosphorous levels in the body. Damage to the laryngeal nerve, also located close to the thyroid, can lead to voice changes or breathing problems.
                
But when surgery is performed by an experienced surgeon, less than 1 percent of patients have permanent complications.1 People who need help finding a surgeon can contact one of the organizations listed under For More Information.
                
Eye Care
                
The eye problems associated with Graves disease may not improve following thyroid treatment, so the two problems are often treated separately.
                
Eye drops can relieve dry, gritty, irritated eyesthe most common of the milder symptoms. If pain and swelling occur, health care providers may prescribe a steroid such as prednisone. Other medications that suppress the immune response may also provide relief.
                
Special lenses for glasses can help with light sensitivity and double vision. People with eye symptoms may be advised to sleep with their head elevated to reduce eyelid swelling. If the eyelids do not fully close, taping them shut at night can help prevent dry eyes.
                
In more severe cases, external radiation may be applied to the eyes to reduce inflammation. Like other types of radiation treatment, the benefits are not immediate; most people feel relief from symptoms 1 to 2 months after treatment.
                
Surgery may be used to improve bulging of the eyes and correct the vision changes caused by pressure on the optic nerve. A procedure called orbital decompression makes the eye socket bigger and gives the eye room to sink back to a more normal position. Eyelid surgery can return retracted eyelids to their normal position.