CAT Scan - Contract Dye?

[bertiedog]

I am looking for some advice if possible. For those of you who have had this type of scan done were you ok having the contrast dye done? Like many of us here I am extremely sensitive to many things and am concerned about having this dye put in me. I have several conditions including hypothyroidism for which I take thyroid medication and know that iodine is involved but my nervous system tends to overreact whenever anything is injected into me, vaccines included.

If you have any advice or suggestions I would be very grateful. I do need to have the scan though as I have unexplained weight loss but have also recently found out I have quite low stool elastase but not quite low enough that the NHS would consister treatment. My gut is extremely irritable and stool results show some pathogenic bacteria which are extremely difficult to eradicate plus I negatively react to many of the herbs to treat the condition.

Thanks

Pam

 

[BaileyBeached]

I have pretty severe mcas (I can only eat 2 foods every day). I was super scared of the dye, so I took Benadryl before getting the CT with contrast dye. I take thyroid meds too, but I was most worried about my mcas issues. I ended up being fine.

 

[bertiedog]

I have pretty severe mcas (I can only eat 2 foods every day). I was super scared of the dye, so I took Benadryl before getting the CT with contrast dye. I take thyroid meds too, but I was most worried about my mcas issues. I ended up being fine.

Thanks a lot for letting me know. I am really pleased you did fine with the dye. Do you take any T3 or is it just thyroxine? I take a small amount of T3 twice a day along with 50 mcg T4.
Pam

 

[Nord Wolf]

I've had many CT scans and many were with contrast dye. No longer, however. I can't say I'm "allergic" to the dye, but almost immediately upon it entering my system I become insanely dizzy with vertigo. Even laying on my back on the table the world would spin like mad. The dizziness was so bad that I couldn't even stand after the scan. They would have to wheel me to a recovery room and the last time took me 90 minutes to rebound to my normal state. Each time the dye was used the episodes grew longer and more intense. Finally they put in my file that I was allergic to the dye for lack of a better way of explaining it.

My doc said the chances are high that every time from here on out that the dye might be used the reactions would just become worse and more pronounced, so it is best that I avoid dyes completely.

Today I avoid all contrast dyes for CT scans and MRIs.

 

[Lena9701]

I also had the dye (the iodine version) with incredibly severe mcas when I could tolerate about 5 foods total and was fine. I had to have it done like 4 times over a year and it stayed fine for me. Just one experience, I know these things can be different for everyone

Eta I think it may have made me a little emotional and possibly increased my environmental sensitivities a little but only for like 6 hours or so.

 

[Zebra]

I've had, literally, countless CT scans with contrast and I've never had a problem that I could attribute to the CT scan itself or the contrast agent.

Two issues, regarding contrast, that you should know about:

1. The contrast is injected very quickly and may cause an immediate sensation of warmth throughout the body. You may also feel like you are going to wet yourself. This is completely normal and good radiology technicians will warn you about this just prior to your scan.

2. The contrast agent is hard on the kidneys. It's important to hydrate before and after the test to help your kidneys excrete the contrast agent. One radiology tech recommended 64 oz of non-caffeinated fluids.

Hope this helps!

 

[mattie]

I feared the contrast dye too,
But did not give me any problems.

 

[BaileyBeached]

Thanks a lot for letting me know. I am really pleased you did fine with the dye. Do you take any T3 or is it just thyroxine? I take a small amount of T3 twice a day along with 50 mcg T4.
Pam

I take 30mg of armour thyroid daily. The artificial stuff was not helpful for me

 

[BaileyBeached]

I've had many CT scans and many were with contrast dye. No longer, however. I can't say I'm "allergic" to the dye, but almost immediately upon it entering my system I become insanely dizzy with vertigo. Even laying on my back on the table the world would spin like mad. The dizziness was so bad that I couldn't even stand after the scan. They would have to wheel me to a recovery room and the last time took me 90 minutes to rebound to my normal state. Each time the dye was used the episodes grew longer and more intense. Finally they put in my file that I was allergic to the dye for lack of a better way of explaining it.

My doc said the chances are high that every time from here on out that the dye might be used the reactions would just become worse and more pronounced, so it is best that I avoid dyes completely.

Today I avoid all contrast dyes for CT scans and MRIs.

I'm not sure about this, but I feel like someone told me ct contrast dye is different from mri contrast dye?

 

[bertiedog]

I've had many CT scans and many were with contrast dye. No longer, however. I can't say I'm "allergic" to the dye, but almost immediately upon it entering my system I become insanely dizzy with vertigo. Even laying on my back on the table the world would spin like mad. The dizziness was so bad that I couldn't even stand after the scan. They would have to wheel me to a recovery room and the last time took me 90 minutes to rebound to my normal state. Each time the dye was used the episodes grew longer and more intense. Finally they put in my file that I was allergic to the dye for lack of a better way of explaining it.

My doc said the chances are high that every time from here on out that the dye might be used the reactions would just become worse and more pronounced, so it is best that I avoid dyes completely.

Today I avoid all contrast dyes for CT scans and MRIs.

Thanks for letting me know and I am sorry to hear you have had such a bad time with this proceedure. It really does sound horrible and I remember only too well what a horrid thing vertigo is as I used to regularly suffer with that for many years until my thyroid and adrenal were treated. I always have a dread of it tbh.

Pam

 

[bertiedog]

I also had the dye (the iodine version) with incredibly severe mcas when I could tolerate about 5 foods total and was fine. I had to have it done like 4 times over a year and it stayed fine for me. Just one experience, I know these things can be different for everyone

Thanks so much for telling us about your experience which seems to have been cvery tolerable for you despite having mcas reactions. I was told way back in 1998 that I produced too much histamine but nothing was suggested about from anti histamine tablets when needed which isn't very often at all I am pleased to say.

Pam

 

[bertiedog]

Two issues, regarding contrast, that you should know about:

Thank you for bring this to my attention. The problem I have is that my central nervous system can overreact at so many things probably because my body cannot produce cortisol at least not in sufficient quantities so I have to take daily Prednisolone. I can slightly increase my dose before the proceedure which should help.

Pam

 

[Nord Wolf]

I'm not sure about this, but I feel like someone told me ct contrast dye is different from mri contrast dye?

Yes they use different dyes for the two procedures. I've only had the dye for CT scans, and I think they have a few different ones for the CT scans alone, but not sure.

Thanks for letting me know and I am sorry to hear you have had such a bad time with this proceedure. It really does sound horrible and I remember only too well what a horrid thing vertigo is as I used to regularly suffer with that for many years until my thyroid and adrenal were treated. I always have a dread of it tbh.

Each time I had the CT with dye, and the reoccurring reaction, the technicians on duty said they have never in all their years seen the reaction I display, never even read about it before. At the time I found the statements hard to believe, but over the years I've experienced many reactions to things the healthcare field claims are "new to them." So, today it no longer surprises me when I have a reaction that docs can't explain...

 

[Lena9701]

I'm not sure about this, but I feel like someone told me ct contrast dye is different from mri contrast dye?

I think MRIs use gadolinium and not iodine, which has many more potential issues. I would be really reluctant to use gadolinium contrast, even though I was fine with the iodine one

 

[almost]

I had a chest CT today. The tech offered contrast dye, as the doctor didn't specify and they default to use contrast.

I asked what they used; she didn't know for sure off the top, thought it was iodine. I asked for the bottle, and yes it was. 100ml at 300mg iodine/ml. Do the math: I get 30,000mg. Now yes, that is not ingested, but it has to go somewhere, so likely the kidneys take the hit. I think that is just too much.

I said no.