enlarged thyroid

[a_geo]

i am really concerned about my health, i have been told that i have an enlarged thyroid, it was 2 other doctors that asked me if i have had my thyroid checked when i went in for something else at an out of hours clinic, so i went and saw my doctor and told him about it. My Gp has made me an appointment to go and see an ender something i cant remember what they are called. im 32 yrs old and i have put on alot of weight and i am very overweight now, i have really sore spots around my chin and when i eat my throat feels like i got food stuck in it, also i am getting tight chest pains and i feel like i need to gasp for air alot. Can anyone tell me what is happening to me because i am getting really worried and cannot talk to anyone about it. my doctor did some blood tests and he said not all of them came back, the ones that did were ok, but the main one he wanted did not come back, but then he did'nt do anymore tests he just made me an appointment for that other doctor to see which i am waiting for. can anyone help me because waiting is adding alot of stress!.

[stella5349]

Hopefully one of the viles include a TPO test  Free T3 and Free T4 along with TSH. I would call and make sure these were done - or you could be spinning in circles.

[a_geo]

Hi everyone, i went to the doctors today and he took more blood from me, hes testing me for loads of things he took 5 bottles of blood. He is testing me for glucose, polscystic ovaries, testorone, th4 and all the others and many other things. he said the scan showed tiny little nodules on my thyroid, but he was gonna double check it himself to make sure that there was no big nodules, do the little nodules mean its ok does anyone know? hopefully i will know alot more in about one week. keep you posted!

Ana x

[Nosonew]

I am pretty new at this myself, but my doc put me on Propanolol to help with the palpitations which also caused shortness of breath. I am only taking 10mg 3x daily (he ordered 20mg, but 10 works great). Regarding that symptom, I feel 99% better as long as I take the medication! I do take it 3x daily religiously.

I hope they get it figured out quickly for you.

[a_geo]

It is so overwhelming to know that their are good people like all you out there, for the help and support, i will write down what you have all said, as my memory is not very good and i will also call my gp up and find out the tests he did. For me this is all new stuff and im trying to understand and become more knowledgable from it all. I just hope i get a good doctor that can diagnose any problems, as my faith in the NHS has been a let down through the past. Thank you all so much.

Ana xx

[stella5349]

Thanks BethAnn I totally forgot to mention Hashi's -

[BethAnn77]

Starting in 1998 I had the same symptoms as you and was eventually diagnosed with Hashimoto's.  I eventually had surgery in October 2002 and had 2/3'ds of my thyroid removed as it was damaged and infected.  It had attached to my esopagus, pressed against my vocal chords and air way.  The infection had spread through the whole left side of my neck.  

Make sure your doctor does an antibody test.  It's the only way to truly diagnose Hashimoto's.  My level was 4 times normal and that is the main reason my doctor decided to go in and look at my thyroid.  It was worse then he expected.  I take 120 mg's of all natural Armour Thyroid and have blood tests done every 3 months.  My levels have been staying at the same levels for the last year or so.

Good Luck.

[stella5349]

What I see is you need to know exactly what tests you had done. Call the GP office back and find out exactly - if a TSH and Free T3 and a Free T4 was done. Ask for those numbers. I sound to me as through you may be experiencing mild hyperthyroidism - but one with thyroid disease hates to soeculate bacause both hyper and hypo symptoms can mock each other

I also would venture to believe you are having a case of thyroidtisis (sp) enlargement. This could be why I say one hates to speculate b/c both thyroid diseases could give this problem too.

When you see the "endocrinologist" take your test with so this see you results. It is best to have them with you (in my opinion.)

The shakes could be a mild hyper problem - or - your stress of wonder. Try to keep a calmness until you go for more tests.

[a_geo]

Thanks for responding back guys. Im just nervous and frightened and feeling a little down, i just hope it is nothing bad.xx

[Thypatient]

The other doctor is probably an endocrinologist.  There could be a number of things going on.  I know the waiting is tough but hopefully it will go by quick and you’ll get more thorough answers to what’s going on.  You can read a lot and speculate a lot, but don’t scare yourself either.

Good luck.

[898]

First step is to determine if you have thyroid antibodies which may indicate auto immune thyroid condition, known as Hashimoto's disease.
Even with normal TSH, T3 and T4 levels you may still have inflammatory process started up in your thyroid when your own body immune system attacks it (that’s why it is called autoimmune)
The second step, if the thyroid enlargement is not uniform (one side swells more then other), the ultrasound is ordered to look for any large nodules present. Based on these results the further treatment is determined.