How to Survive Radioactive Iodine Therapy

Doctors use radioactive iodine therapy as a form of treatment to destroy papillary or follicular thyroid cancers. Patients take this treatment in a liquid or capsule form orally. The radioactive iodine travels through the bloodstream, where it's absorbed by thyroid cells. This provides a systemic treatment, because the medicine treats thyroid cancer cells that have traveled from the thyroid to other parts of the body.

Things You'll Need

• Pain medication
• Tart beverages
• Hard candy
• Antiemetics
• Bland foods

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Instructions

• 1

  Consider taking pain medications to relieve discomfort. Patients receiving radioactive iodine (I-131) commonly experience swelling and pain in the neck where any thyroid tissue remains.

• 2

  Ask the doctor about thyroid hormone replacement therapy. Since radioactive iodine kills the tissues that produce thyroid hormone, you may require hormone pills.

• 3

  Reduce the bladder's exposure to I-131. Drink ample amounts of water and other beverages to dilute the radioactive iodine and flush it from the body quickly.

• 4

  Drink tart beverages or suck on hard candies to stimulate the production of saliva. Radioactive iodine therapy can cause a dry mouth. You can also moisten foods with sauces to make swallowing easier.

• 5

  Control nausea and vomiting. You can take antiemetics, medicines that control nausea. Eat small frequent meals and leave spicy, greasy or sweet foods off the menu. Choose foods easy to digest, such as baked potatoes, yogurt, noodles, canned pears and oatmeal.

• 6

  Adjust your family planning to account for radioactive iodine's effect on fertility. Doctors suggest women wait at least a year after therapy before becoming pregnant. Men can lose fertility in rare circumstances, so ask your doctor about sperm banking.