Found out today that I have had a cervical MRI, and also have a small thyroid cyst!

I went to the Rheumy today for follow up, and she had my MRI report from november 2006 that my Neuro had sent her.  I thought that they had only done the brainstem only, but turns out that they did the whole C-spine.  This was at the same time that the first MRI with and without contrast was done on my brain that found the 10 lesions.

I asked her what it said and she said that it did not show any lesions on the C-spine in this MRI, but did say something about a cyst on the right thyroid lobe.  I didn't know that I had one at all, no one told me this back then!

So I called my neuro's nurse to ask about this and also to see who he is recommending that I see when he leaves this Friday to go to another job!  She said they would call me tomarrow and let me know. So then I brought up this scan and she verified that it was of the cervical spine, and that it showed no lesions in november 2006.

I also asked about this cyst on the thyroid. She said that it was there, but was so small that they didn't even include it in the impression, and that it was on the side notess!  She said as far as she could see that my thyroid has been tested and was fine, so the neuro probally didn't feel that more test were needed for this!

I am glad that there were no lesion, but now something else to worry about!! Should I worry about this, does anyone know If this cyst is something I need to worry about?   I looked up thyroid problems and I sound more like the hypothyroid rather than the hyperthyroid symptoms. Is there a different test to see if you have hypothyroidism?
Could this cyst have anything to do with the neck stiffness and pain that I experienced for almost a year after the attack? The stiffness/pain was in the back of the neck on the right side, and from what I read the thyroid is in the front of the neck!

They also said I have some arthritis on C-3, and C-4 and some slightly bulging disk there also, but nothing severe. Is there any autoimmune desease that has to do with the thyroid and can also cause white matter lesions?

I don't like the word cyst, and could have gone all day without hearing that, but my neuro's nurse seem to think that it was nothing to  be concerned with, I guess that is why they didn't bother to mention it two years ago.

Any suggestions what I should ask my new neuro concerning being stuck between ADEM and MS?

~Santana~

[biowham]

Hi, Santana--

A thyroid cyst is really nothing to worry about. It's in all likelihood (like >95% likelihood) benign, and even if it were cancer (it's >95% likely NOT to be, especially after all of this time), thyroid cancer is generally one of the most treatable cancers around because thyroid cells are specialists and the only ones that take up iodine in the body. So, you just pound them with radioactive iodine and kill them. There is a very rare form of thyroid cancer that (a) doesn't generally show up as an incidental cyst, and (b) occurs at an incredibly low rate that William Rhenquist died of. I'd bet the donkey that you do not have that.

A general tendency to autoimmune issues can manifest as having a few different autoimmune disorders, including having MS and some kind of thyroid autoimmunity at the same time. Quix has written about that before, I believe.

If you've had the standard thyroid testing--TSH levels, usually--and they're fine, you're fine. You can get an ultrasound of the thyroid to see how the cyst is doing or if there are more, but if you don't even have anything palpable, there's likely nothing to worry about.

I ended up hyperthyroid with a multinodular goiter with some nodules that were almost an inch across. They finally decided to take out my thyroid, and I now exist on daily hormones only and have no thyroid. Even with all those good-sized nodules, there was no cancer in my thyroid. Some of them were even "complex" cysts/nodules, which can mean more risk for cancer, but they were benign. A cyst that is all fluid is almost certainly benign, and yours probably was, given their insouciance about it. My problem was an autoimmune thing, and my TPO antibodies were pretty high.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have questions.

Bio

[santana8]

Thanks for the info, this is the same thing I read, but it helps to have someone explain it that knows more about it! The nurse said that it was so small that she didn't even know why they even mentioned it, and that you could hardly even see it!

I guess people just have a natural tendency to think of cysts as something bad, doesn't help that I have a panic disorder to boot,lol!!!!

I will let you know what the neuro says tomarrow about it all!  Thanks again for your help!

~Santana~

[biowham]

No problem, Santana. I'm a bit of a thyroid expert, not just because of my own situation. I'd say this is one thing that should NOT keep you up at night, thank goodness.

Bio

[monotreme]

Hi Santana,
   I agree with biowham that thyroid nodules are usually benign.  However, they can interfere with thyroid function if they invade the thyroid gland.  Some nodules are on the outside of the gland only.  Some invade it and effect thyroid function.

   If you have had recent thyroid studies, please check to see if anyone checked for the presence of thyroid antibodies.   Autoimmune thyroid disease and MS do have a known correlation of existing together (see my comment on essidipity's post today).  

  If you have thyroid antibodies and your thyroid levels are still normal, you can actually prevent or delay the onset of full blown thyroid disease by going on thyroid hormone now.

  Best wishes,
  Elaine