Hypothyroid and suddenly swollen

[wallygirl75]

I have been being treated for hypothyroid for about a year now.  100MCG a day.  The fatigue had subsided slightly as well as the difficulty in concentration, but, Thursday I began to realize that some old symptoms (as well as some new ones) have been going on for a while.  I wake up in the middle of the night panting heavily as if someone is sitting on me.  My hands go tingly like the circulation has been cut off (for no reason).  I have extreme difficulty concentrating for more than five or ten minutes at a time.  However, the thing that is most disturbing to me is that as of Thursday I all of a sudden have a lump in my neck.  It is actually (slightly) visibly swollen on the lower right side of my neck.  If you put any kind of pressure on it it hurts, bad.  When I look down I can feel there is something pushing on my throat, and same when I turn my head to the right.  It hurts to swallow, but not like when you have a sore throat, it's more next to my throat that is painful.  I am going to the doctor on Tuesday, but since my maternal grandmother had a goiter, is it probable that this is just that or do I really need testing to make sure it is not cancer?  I had a hysterectomy in early April of this year and am on coumadin for another two months.  Will the coumadin limit the testing?  I will be 32 in November and am worried that this may end up being more serious than goiter.  Ideas???

[Mark Lupo, M.D.]

You likely had a small amount of bleeding into a nodule -- this is one of the most common cause for sudden swelling of the thyroid -- esp since on coumadin.

Would go for a thyroid ultrasound so see what's going on.