Neck discomfort and thyroiditis

[ryoryo]

I was recently diagnosed with thyroiditis after a thyroid ultrasound.  My doctor has started me on synthroid (50mcgms) and I've been taking it regularly for 6 days.  She hasn't test for antiboides yet, but she seems to think it likely that I have Hashimoto's disease.

About 2 weeks prior to the ultrasound, I started to notice some discomfort in the front of my neck -- not really pain, but discomfort.  This sometimes worsens if I've been speaking for a long time.  There has been no appreicable change since I started taking the synthroid, and I'm wondering two things:

1)  Does it seem likely that this discomfort is related to my enlarged thyroid?
2)  If so, should this discomfort pass once my medication is stabilized?  Or is there anything that can be done about it to alleviate the discomfort?

Thanks,

ryo

[Mark Lupo, M.D.]

Hard to know if the discomfort is related without a direct evaluation.  If it is thyroid discomfort it usually resolves in 3-6 weeks.  Would test thyroid antibodies to confirm hashimoto's and not a subacute (painful) thyroiditis) -- also need to correlate with thryoid labs to make sure you need the synthroid -- sometimes these are transient and do not require long-term treatment.

[ryoryo]

Thanks.  I'm going back in a couple of weeks to have my thyroid labs redone -- the doctor will test then for the thyroid antibodies as well.  She went ahead and started me on synthroid because this is actually the second time my thyroid labs came back abnormal -- the first time was back in December -- and because the ultrasound showed thyroiditis.

I appreciate the info.

-ryo