Overactive Thyroid Gland Treatment

Hyperthyroidism (an overactive thyroid) can be treated in several different ways. You can treat the symptoms using antithyroid drugs, radioactive iodine, or have surgery to treat the symptoms. The treatment used will depend on the age of the patient, the size of the thyroid gland, the root cause, and the overall health of the patient.

The main class of drugs used to treat hyperthyroidism symptoms is beta-blockers. These drugs don't actually reduce the amount of thyroid hormone in the body, but they do counteract its effects. In order to actually reduce the amount of thyroid hormone, the drugs Tapazole and PTU are used to block production of the hormone. The risk is that sometimes these drugs interfere with the production of white blood cells, reducing the body's ability to fight infection. Long term use of these drugs is usually not necessary unless they have Graves' disease, since hyperthyroidism will often go into remission.

Radioactive iodine is administered orally once and is usually all that is needed, curing about 80% of patients. The only restrictions are for those who are pregnant or breastfeeding. It takes about 2 to 3 months for the thyroid to function normally after treatment. However, this form of treatment occasionally results in permanent hypothyroidism. Experiencing hypothyroidism for up to half a year after this treatment is more common.

Surgery to remove a part of the thyroid gland was once a common treatment. This treatment is much less common now, because of the risks involved to surrounding tissue and also the risk of it causing hypothyroidism. Surgery is now mostly reserved for pregnant patients and children who can't tolerate antithyroid drugs as well as those with very large thyroid glands.

If you suspect you have too much thyroid hormone from hyperthyroidism, then you should consult a doctor. They will give you a blood test to determine if that is the case, and give you the best treatment options.