RE: Fwd: Tapazol vs. PTU

April 21, 2000

Jan and all,

Is that true about Tapazole causing liver cancer? I just started it a

couple days ago. I am on 10 mg 3 times a day. I know all the other

possible side effects, but havn't heard the liver cancer thing. Yikes.

My labs were drifting up and the goiter was getting bigger, so I decided

to try the med. I am still doing the acupunture, Chinese med and supps,

thought I am probably not taking every one on the list.

This is pretty depressing. Maybe I should ask for PTU? IT is more

effective and are the side effects as bad as Tapaole?

Deb

April 21, 2000

It was my understanding that PTU has long term associations with bone marrow

loss, liver damage, etc. Don't know about tapazole.

debspiritwalker@... wrote:

> Jan and all,

> Is that true about Tapazole causing liver cancer? I just started it a

> couple days ago. I am on 10 mg 3 times a day. I know all the other

> possible side effects, but havn't heard the liver cancer thing. Yikes.

> My labs were drifting up and the goiter was getting bigger, so I decided

> to try the med. I am still doing the acupunture, Chinese med and supps,

> thought I am probably not taking every one on the list.

> This is pretty depressing. Maybe I should ask for PTU? IT is more

> effective and are the side effects as bad as Tapaole?

> Deb

>

> ------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Your high school sweetheart-where is he now? With 4.4 million alumni

> already registered at Classmates.com, there's a good chance you'll

> find her here. Visit your online high school class reunion at:

> 1/3139/7/_/6563/_/956368873/

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--

It does not require many words to speak the truth.

- Chief ph

April 21, 2000

You all need to check out pharminfo.com or some such site before you get all

upset over your meds. Tapazole does have side effects, but I chose it over

PTU, because it is PTU that can cause liver problems: jaundice, cancer,

etc., not Tapazole.

debspiritwalker@... wrote:

> Jan and all,

> Is that true about Tapazole causing liver cancer? I just started it a

> couple days ago. I am on 10 mg 3 times a day. I know all the other

> possible side effects, but havn't heard the liver cancer thing. Yikes.

> My labs were drifting up and the goiter was getting bigger, so I decided

> to try the med. I am still doing the acupunture, Chinese med and supps,

> thought I am probably not taking every one on the list.

> This is pretty depressing. Maybe I should ask for PTU? IT is more

> effective and are the side effects as bad as Tapaole?

> Deb

>

> ------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Your high school sweetheart-where is he now? With 4.4 million alumni

> already registered at Classmates.com, there's a good chance you'll

> find her here. Visit your online high school class reunion at:

> 1/3139/7/_/6563/_/956368873/

> ------------------------------------------------------------------------

April 22, 2000

Thanks ,

Deb

April 22, 2000

>

> Hi Everyone,

>

> I am interested in the differences between using

> Tapazol and PTU (or any other antithyroid

> medications).

>

> Since being diagnosed with Grave's about 4 mos. ago, I

> have not taken any drugs, only supplements.

> recommends starting off with an antithyroid drug to

> become stable and then gradually get off of them. My

> dilemma is that when the endo was explaining the

> difference between RAI and Tapazol (didn't mention

> PTU) he was pushing RAI (surprise!!!) and when I

> balked at that he said a less effective method would

> be using Tapazol, but that down the road studies have

> shown that it may cause Liver Cancer. Well that

> alternative lost all appeal right then and there. So

> now I am in a quandary because I do feel that it is

> necessary to stabalize my condition, but don't have

> enough data on antithyroid drugs to make an informed

> decision.

>

> Thanks for any information or experiences that you

> have had with antithyroid medications.

>

> Jan

------------------------------------

Hi Jan -

If your doctor didn't even have the decency to level with you about

there being 2 different AntiThyroid Drugs - how can you believe

anything the clown says? I've taken Tapazole for 21 years. Please

see below:

During the first few months of taking ATDs, make sure you have your

" liver enzymes " and " complete blood count " checked as often

as

possible, to make sure the drug toxicity isn't harming your

system.

There are VERY FEW cases where the ATDs may cause a problem,

but the

chance is always there. However, IF there is a problem, it

will

usually surface within the first few months. After that,

just

have

your liver and blood count checked about twice a year while

on

the

ATDs.

Get another doctor who isn't so nuke-happy!!

Best Wishes,

Chris

April 22, 2000

mary and others

i have been on PTU for a little less than a year. i do not wish to take RAI

or have surgery, so i know that i will need to be on an ATD for possibly

years to come. at this point i have had no adverse reactions to PTU. but,

the liver problems and the cancer worry me. my liver cannot be to happy with

me, after years of coffee abuse (quad shots twice daily), drinking on the

weekends, chinese herbs, john's supplements etc........ i no longer drink

coffee, but i feel that my liver is still having problems functioning. i

tried drinking alcohol the other night and it made me feel really ill (i only

had three beers). with the megadoses of john's vitamins and the various

chinese herbs i am on, should i get off PTU to give my liver a break? could

i go to tapazole without any ill effects? should i?

mary margaret

April 22, 2000

> >

> > I am interested in the differences between using

> > Tapazol and PTU (or any other antithyroid

> > medications).

> >

As far as I can tell, tapazole is the less toxic drug: PTU has been

classified as a " probable carcingogen " by the US Dept. of Health and Human

Services. Long term use has been linked to thyroid cancer in humans (4 out

of 350 or so in the study cited on the US Dept of Health and Human Services

web page---go to " national toxicity report. " ) and high doses caused tumors

and cancers in lab rats.

Both drugs have potential side effects that, as said, tend to

manifest themselves fairly early on.

I tried PTU for six weeks and developed one of the less common reactions,

liver disease. My liver enzymes were suddenly horrible, off the charts.

However, in three weeks after stopping the drug (and using acupuncture and

herbs to repair my liver) my liver was normal again. Don't let the

potential side effects frighten you from trying ATDs as they are easily

noticed and the damage they might do to your body is generally repairable.

April 22, 2000

Margaret,

Just advice--I'd check with your endo on tapazole vs. ptu and see what

he/she has to say. The doctor might not be aware of PTU's classification

(mine wasn't). If you want, I can fax you the page of info on it and you

can show this to your endo. my email is petr0013@... let me know if

you want me to snail mail or fax the page from the toxicity report.

Second, if you have an acupunturist or other natural doctor, I'd ask that

person about your liver. See what he/she recommends you can do to

strengthen and help your liver. . . one thing you can do is eat milk thistle

seeds which are available at any natural foods coop.

Give this some thought and investigation with an eye toward the long haul.

Re: Re: Fwd: Tapazol vs. PTU

> mary and others

> i have been on PTU for a little less than a year. i do not wish to take

RAI

> or have surgery, so i know that i will need to be on an ATD for possibly

> years to come. at this point i have had no adverse reactions to PTU.

but,

> the liver problems and the cancer worry me. my liver cannot be to happy

with

> me, after years of coffee abuse (quad shots twice daily), drinking on the

> weekends, chinese herbs, john's supplements etc........ i no longer

drink

> coffee, but i feel that my liver is still having problems functioning. i

> tried drinking alcohol the other night and it made me feel really ill (i

only

> had three beers). with the megadoses of john's vitamins and the various

> chinese herbs i am on, should i get off PTU to give my liver a break?

could

> i go to tapazole without any ill effects? should i?

> mary margaret

>

> ------------------------------------------------------------------------

> You take good care of yourself, how about your planet? It's

> tough to be healthy when your environment isn't. Find out

> what you can do to protect your planet and yourself at ENN.com,

> the Environmental News Network.

> 1/2798/7/_/6563/_/956431793/

> ------------------------------------------------------------------------

>

April 23, 2000

thankyou mary

i will ask my doc about ptu vs tapazol, although her solution will be RAI .

hopefully i can get an unbiased answer from her. my accupunturist has been

working on my liver chi.... so hopefully that is helping. also, milkthistle

is quite wonderful, i agree! i think i will take that for awhile (i haven't

been taking it). my endo keeps asking if my tummy is upset by the ptu. she

is surprised that it is not. i have always had a cast iron stomach.

mary margaret

April 24, 2000

I was told if you're going to having problems with either of the meds it

will show up within the first 2-3 months. I've been on PTU on and off since

Fall/1996 and haven't had problems. When your thyroid levels are tested an

enzyme panel should also be included. Agranulocytosis is the official word

for bone marrow problems (discontinuation of the drug corrects the problem).

However, PTU is the med recommended if a woman is pregnant or plans to get

pregnant.

Re: Fwd: Tapazol vs. PTU

It was my understanding that PTU has long term associations with bone marrow

loss, liver damage, etc. Don't know about tapazole.

debspiritwalker@... wrote:

> Jan and all,

> Is that true about Tapazole causing liver cancer? I just started it a

> couple days ago. I am on 10 mg 3 times a day. I know all the other

> possible side effects, but havn't heard the liver cancer thing. Yikes.

> My labs were drifting up and the goiter was getting bigger, so I decided

> to try the med. I am still doing the acupunture, Chinese med and supps,

> thought I am probably not taking every one on the list.

> This is pretty depressing. Maybe I should ask for PTU? IT is more

> effective and are the side effects as bad as Tapaole?

> Deb

>

> ------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Your high school sweetheart-where is he now? With 4.4 million alumni

> already registered at Classmates.com, there's a good chance you'll

> find her here. Visit your online high school class reunion at:

> 1/3139/7/_/6563/_/956368873/

> ------------------------------------------------------------------------

--

It does not require many words to speak the truth.

- Chief ph

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Your high school sweetheart-where is he now? With 4.4 million alumni

already registered at Classmates.com, there's a good chance you'll

find her here. Visit your online high school class reunion at:

1/3139/7/_/6563/_/956370770/

------------------------------------------------------------------------

April 24, 2000

I recently read that milk thistle can " cause " liver problems in some cases.

Does anyone know about this?