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Information and instructions for patients receiving radioiodine therapy for treatment
of thyrotoxicosis

You have a condition called thyrotoxicosis. This means that your thyroid gland is overactive. If it is not properly treated, your health may be affected in the future.

Radioiodine treatment uses a form of iodine that is radioactive. Iodine is taken up by the thyroid gland, so only a small amount of radioactivity is needed. Your doctor considers that this is the best form of treatment for you.

Most of the iodine is taken up by the thyroid. The rest of the iodine mainly passes out of your body in the urine.

No. Radioiodine has been used for over 50 years to treat thyrotoxicosis. Patients treated this way have been studied carefully. There is no increased risk of developing thyroid cancer or other cancers as a result of treatment.

Radioiodine can occasionally cause slight neck and face discomfort and a temporary increase in thyroid activity that goes away within 2 weeks and usually within a few days. There is a high risk of developing an underactive thyroid that will require life long thyroxine replacement tablets.

No. Fifty years of experience of using radioiodine shows no effect on the health of the children of patients who have had radioiodine. However, it is essential that you avoid pregnancy, breast-feeding or fathering children for 6 months after radioiodine treatment.

What about my tablets?

Your hospital doctor may have given you instructions about the tablets you are taking. Some may need to be stopped several days before the radioiodine treatment. At the clinic this will be explained to you. It is also recommended that you do not eat fish or seafood for 2 days prior to the therapy day.

No, but please take the simple precautions that we tell you about. These are merely to avoid any unnecessary radiation to your family members and friends.

Your hospital doctor will inform you about follow-up appointments.

How is the Iodine given and what precautions must I take?

On the day of the treatment you will be asked to attend Ninewells hospital. Please check your appointment letter for instructions about where to go when you arrive. You will be given a tablet containing iodine that you will be asked to swallow whole along with some water. The tablet will have no taste to it.

After the tablet your body contains a small amount of radioactivity therefore it is important that you take some simple precautions to restrict the radiation dose to other people with whom you come in contact, especially children. The easiest way to reduce the radiation dose to others is by reducing the time spent close to them e.g. do not sit close to a person unnecessarily, especially if there is a free seat further away.

Please read the following instructions carefully. In the first few days after the treatment your body is the most radioactive hence particular care should be taken over this period.

You may travel home by public transport provided your journey takes less than ½ an hour.

You may travel home by private transport, with a maximum of one other person in the car. You may drive yourself. If you are travelling with someone else, please ensure that you are seated diagonally opposite to the other person.

For the week after your treatment, please avoid travelling on Public transport as much as possible. This is avoid being next to the same person for too long. If you do need to use public transport during the first week after your treatment, try to ensure that you do not spend, for any one journey, more than ½ an hour on a bus, train or aeroplane. For the second week avoid very long journeys i.e. those with time spent travelling of greater than 7 hours

You may use private transport. However, in the first few days after your treatment, if sharing a car with a friend or member of your family, keep journey times short.

It is advisable that you make arrangements to sleep apart from your partner for 26 days. This figure assumes that you have no other close contact with him or her throughout the remainder of the day. If you do spend time in contact with your partner during the day it would be best to extend this period by another two weeks.

For the first 3 days you should limit contact with pregnant women and children under 18 years of age to that which is essential.

For the first 27 days you should avoid close or prolonged contact with pregnant women.

It would be a good idea if you could arrange for your children to say with relatives/friends for the first three days after your treatment if this was at all possible.

(1) Less than 3 years old
You should avoid prolonged close contact with them for 27 days

(2) Between the ages of 3 and 5 years, you should avoid prolonged close contact with them for 22 days

(3) Age over 5 years you should avoid prolonged close contact with them for 16 days.

By close contact we mean to be at a distance of less than a metre or 3 feet. It is safe to be in the same room as children but do not hold them close to your neck or sit next to them for long periods. Do not let children sleep beside you.

As all your bodily secretions contain small amounts of radioactivity you must take the following precautions:

Increase your fluid intake. Set aside a toothbrush, a set of cutlery and crockery for you own use and wash these separately for three days following treatment.

If preparing food for children or pregnant women, hands should be thoroughly washed beforehand and extra care taken with general hygiene for 3 days following treatment.

It would be best if you did not return to work for 8 days. Although this is recommended, it is not essential in every case, (please read further). If there are problems in doing this, please discuss this with the doctor or physicist.

If your normal employment involves close contact with children or pregnant women you should remain off work for 27 days.

If your work involves close contact with adults (e.g. if you stand within 1 metre of the same person for more than one hour each day) or preparing food you should remain off work for 16 days.

If your employer is involved with any type of work that might be affected by radiation, you should notify him/her that you are undergoing treatment with radioactive material.

If you require any more information or have any queries do not hesitate to mention them to your doctor at the clinic.

More information about the radiation aspects associated with the treatment can be obtained by phoning the Nuclear Medicine Unit, Medical Physics Department, Ninewells Hospital, Dundee on 01382 633888.

Radioiodine Therapy General Information	Endocrine Entry Page
Thyrotoxicosis

Disclaimer; no liability whatsoever is accepted for information given and all such information, especially with regard to drug usage (UK version provided), must be checked with a person’s health provider.

The procedures described above are those followed by the Nuclear Medicine Unit at Ninewells Hospital & Medical School, Dundee, United Kingdom. Practice elsewhere may be different. The unit serves patients from Tayside and North Fife. Patients from elsewhere should refer to their local clinicians for advice.