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The side effects of methimazole or PTU sound quite scary. What can I do to prevent them from happening to me?

April 26, 2017happening methimazole PTU quite sound

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The side effects of methimazole or PTU sound quite scary. What can I do to prevent them from happening to me?

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At the present time, we have no way of predicting who will or will not develop a side effect on methimazole or PTU. Most patients taking these medicines have no side effects . Even rash is uncommon, affecting generally less than 10% of patients, and agranulocytosis (low white blood cell count) affects about 1 in 400 people. The other side effects such as lupus, arthritis, and liver disease are quite uncommon, ranging from one in several thousand people to 1:10,000 patients. The risk of agranulocytosis (very low white blood cell count) may be related to the initial dose of medication used to treat hyperthyroidism Methimazole-induced agranulocytosis in patients with Graves’ disease is more frequent with an initial dose of 30 mg daily than with 15 mg daily.Thyroid. 2009 Jun;19(6):559-63.