Treatment and side effects
Radioiodine I-131 therapy
Treatment and side effects
The Nuclear Medicine Department will arrange these appointments. You will receive an appointment letter in the post that will provide you with all the details of your appointments for treatment.
Before you start treatment
- A physicist will phone you ahead of your treatment to discuss some radiation protection aspects.
- You will need to follow a low-iodine diet for one week prior to your treatment.
- Your doctor may offer Thyrogen injections prior to the therapy, to increase its effectiveness. These injections would occur two days before your therapy on Onslow Ward. However, Thyrogen injections are not suitable for everyone. In this case, your doctor may ask you to stop taking your thyroid hormones instead. This is usually two to four weeks before your treatment.
What happens on your first day of treatment?
You will normally be admitted to the hospital on a Monday morning. The staff will take a blood sample and a physicist will go through the procedure with you. This is a good time to ask questions.
You will be taken to a room on Onslow Ward that has been specially designed for this type of therapy. The room will have been pre-prepared with some surfaces covered with absorbent pads and cling film. This is because after your Iodine-131 therapy is given, your bodily fluids, in particular your urine, will be slightly radioactive, and covering some surfaces helps us to prevent radioactive contamination in the room.
You will be seen by a doctor or specialist nurse who will ask you some questions and check that you are okay for therapy, they will also review the blood results. The therapy can only go ahead after the results of your blood tests return.
You will be given an anti-sickness tablet 30 minutes before you are given the radioactive iodine.
The administration of the radioiodine capsule is quick and simple. You will be given a demonstration beforehand on how to administer the capsule yourself. As soon as you swallow your capsule you are radioactive, and need to stay inside your room until the physicists approve your discharge.
What will happen during my treatment?
Each day a physicist will measure the amount of radioiodine left in your body. This allows them to work out when you may go home. Most patients go home on the Wednesday or Thursday, but your discharge may be earlier or later. This will depend on how quickly the radioiodine leaves your body.
To help increase the speed that the radioiodine leaves your body, it is helpful to:
- Drink plenty of fluids
- Have a shower every day
- Use the toilet as often as required
- Eat as normal, maintaining a low iodine diet for the first two hours after your treatment (you can resume your normal diet 24 hours after you have taken the capsule).
Who will look after me?
You must remain inside your room for the duration of your treatment, members of the Nuclear Medicine team and Onslow Ward will look after you.
What side effects might you experience?
Most patients do not have any side effects from radioiodine treatment. Some may experience:
- Nausea
- A feeling of tightness/swelling in the throat, or feel flushed
- A short-term taste disturbance
- Reduction in the amount of saliva that the body produces
- Tiredness when stopping thyroid replacement tablets
The above symptoms can be alleviated by:
- Drinking plenty of fluids, soon after the treatment
- Chewing gum or sucking boiled sweets, 24 hours after the treatment
Please inform the nursing staff if you require any medical help.
What happens at the end of your treatment?
After each therapy cycle, you will be asked to follow radiation protection restrictions and some simple safety precautions. This is because you will remain radioactive for a period of time after discharge and your bodily fluids will be slightly radioactive after the therapy.
You will be given a card with radiation protection instructions to follow once you are able to go home. It will also contain details so that if you have any radiation concerns, you will be able to speak directly to one of the Medical Physics team.
You will have a whole body scan and a scan of your neck region in the Nuclear Medicine Department. You will be given the date and time along with your treatment appointment. This is painless and takes about 60-90 minutes in total. The scan looks at where the radioiodine has gone in your body, and doesn’t require any additional injection or tablet to be taken.
You will have an appointment with your oncology team who will have the results of your scan and the blood tests. You may need further scans or another radioiodine therapy depending on these results.