Radio active Iodine

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Hello, I am having RAI and my dosage will be 5.5GBQ. I have two young children and wondered if anyone has been in the same situation and can tell me when they were able to go home? Any tips to help flush it out your system quicker?

  • Hi, I don’t have young children but had 5.5GBQ in January 2023 having previously had a lower dose.  To be honest it seemed the same.  

    They gave me a card at the end to say I had to keep away from children for 3 days after going home. I had been in hospital Monday to Wednesday.  The guidance they give you depends on your radioactivity readings at the end of the hospital stay. 

    During my treatment in hospital I made sure I had a drink of water, tea or whatever,  on the go all the time while I was awake.  I used the shower 2 or 3 times each day.  I chewed gum /sugar free sweets regularly too, to protect my salivary glands, 

    Good luck! 

  • I am having my RAI in a few days. I also have children but I am making arrangements to have them stay with family for 10 days. They said the same to me that they will let me know how long to isolate when I leave the hospital, but i dont want to take any chances. I know im luck to have fmaily around but my hospital said I could come back and check my radiation levels to confirm they have reduced to a safe level. Definitely would ask about a follow up after a few days.  

  • Hi Dee Va,

    hope you are well. I’m also having RAI in July and would appreciate if you have any feedback on how it goes! I am super scared of isolating and going through any side affects alone. 

    Hope it goes well

    Jade x

  • Hi, I have now had my RAI and in total had to stay isolated from my small kids for 7 days (2 nights in hospital) 5 days at my parents house. I then had to sleep in a seperate bed once I got home for a further 8 days and to be very careful with sharing drinks/kissing etc. All in all it wasnt too bad and followed the instructions they gave to me. I drank about 3 and a half litres of water every day, showered twice a day and went running 3 days after to sweat it out! 

  • That's great advice  

    I had my treatment this week. I spent a night at hospital and now I'm isolating at home. I packed each days clothing in a different zip lock bag and didn't touch my going home bag until I was about to leave. I took spare slippers to wear in the room and left my trainers outside my room before I took the tablet. 

    I took minimal toiletries and a disposable toothbrush. I wiped everything down with a wipe before I packed it for home. 

    Take entertainment of some sort. There is usually a TV and some books in the room. 

    I drank 3 ltrs while I was in hospital and am trying to maintain that at home. I am also doing exercise to try sweat it out too. 

    I haven't had any side effects at all will see if that changes over the next day or so. 

    Hope it goes well. Let me know if you have any other questions.