I have bulging eyes due to Graves Disease but otherwise I feel better. Should my dose of thyroxine be adjusted?
“I have very prominent eyes associated with my Graves’ disease. The Graves’ disease was treated with radioactive iodine and indeed my goitre disappeared and I feel generally much better. I am now taking thyroxine therapy for an underactive thyroid resulting from the radioactive iodine. However, I expected my eyes to improve and they have not. Should I change my dose of thyroxine?” ANSWER: There is no point in changing your dosage of thyroxine, as it will not influence the progress of your eye disease either pro or con. The eye disease is not influenced by the state of your thyroid, or by the treatment for it. Indeed, it is my own personal view that the eye disease is only related to the thyroid disease through the basic cause of each. That is, the basic cause of each disturbance, the overactive thyroid on the one hand and the eye disease on the other, are very closely related, but treating the thyroid disease does not treat the eyes. It will do “its own thing”. The eye disease usually
