Chronic swollen thyroid glands

[dswhite2]

My spouse is 24 and suffers from a reoccurring swelling of from what I can tell are her thyroid glands. This is a reoccurring problem to which any doctor (including her PCP) will treat her with antibiotics. She did have her tonsils removed in the year of 2009 and the surgery was successful meaning without major complications but her swelling still occurs about once a month. She suffers from mild anxiety and depression. She only takes 'natural' medication for the depression now and takes some other natural supplements (ie food based prenatal vitamins). Are there any thoughts that we may consider to rid her of this as it heightens every other little problem and creates major pain for her in daily life when this occurs. Thank you for your time.

[dswhite2]

Thank you for your time laura1967. I did hear some about conducting a more in depth look at it because the problems did not subside following the tonsil removal. I was also privileged to the information that when she was around the age of 5, a part (on the left side of the neck) or one of the glands (if they are separate but it sounds like they may not be considering what you wrote about the butterfly) actually became detached and that side of her facial region continuing to the neck was severely swollen.

Do you feel it would be best to return to the PCP, or I guess we would to get a referral for an ultrasound?

Thanks for your thoughts. They helped more than I can express.

[laura1967]

The thyroid gland is a big butterfly shaped organ, and should be viewed with an ultrasound. Then they can tell if it is swollen or goitered or if there are nodules. It would also help if she had a thyroid panel done: TSH, Free T4 and Free T3.