Ear pain following FN Biopsy on Thryoid?

[kluesy]

Has anyone had ear pain during and following their fine needle biopsy on their thryoid?

They said my nodule was on the back side of my thryoid, but the last three needle biopsy sticks they did were VERY painful.  I felt shooting pain that went to my right ear (nodule is on right side), and the ear still hurts today(day after biopsy).

I have been losing my voice for several months(hoarseness) and was concerned the increasing in size nodule was the reason.

Someone said you have a nerve that goes up the back of your thryoid that controls your voice, so I wonder if that is why I am getting so hoarse, but I didn't know it was connected to your ear.

They said I would hear something in 3-5days if it was bad.

[FSUBooster]

I had a biopsy on my thyroid two days ago and woke up this morning with ear pain in my right ear...almost as if I had a pimple in my ear.  I presumed the two were related but after reading the other posts, I am convinced of it.  Interestingly enough, I too have had swallowing issues for about two years. Several times per week, I would suddenly have a problem swallowing- causing me to cough uncontrollably.  

[kluesy]

Thyroid biopsy was benign but still having ear and throat pain and losing voice.

Endo told me to see ENT.

[MANmom]

Private message me or answer this post, I would love to know what it is...

[kluesy]

So glad you are doing well now!

thank you for all your info.

yes, I do have Hashimoto's, I believe my antibodies were around 250, so I know eventually my thyroid will all be gone anyway.   I am just apprehensive about any surgery because I also have Addison's(adrenal insufficiency) which can make any surgery a bit more risky.

But it is pretty bad now, so even if the biopsy comes back benign, I kinda hope they take it all out so I can get my voice back and stop choking.

Thanks again for taking time to help.  I should know something by next week if it is cancer or not.

[Maripoza10]

Praying you are well. Thanks for sharing.

[MANmom]

I, too, had swallowing difficulties, I would take a bite, swallow and it would get stuck 1/2 way down...then I would get massive rapid hiccups until I swallowed water.  It felt like flushing a toilet, the stuck part would go down quickly but was kind of painful.  After the surgeries, no more swallowing issues.  

Tachycardia, funny you mention that, my sister had that, she also had thyroid cancer, although I don't know if there is a connection.  Other symptoms I had were night sweats, hot/cold, joint pain, especially my elbows, fatigue, hoarseness, blood pressure spike, and then I lost 5 pounds which NEVER happens.  It took us 7 months to get a true diagnosis.  I chose to have 1/2 taken out, my right side had 3 nodules, there was really no thyroid tissue left on that side.  I took a gamble that it was not cancer and that I could keep the other 1/2 that was still functioning.  They found 4 micro-tumors, largest was 2mm, pin head sized.  The Endo told me I could leave the other 1/2 in (it had a complex tumor 1.6cm) but all my surgeons said "take it out!"  I listened to the surgeons, glad I did. I had the other 1/2 removed 6 weeks after the first surgery, there they found the mother-lode, a 1.5 cm tumor.  I had RAI 7 weeks later, and so far am cancer free, I have my 2 year thyroglobulin test coming up in June, but all is good.

In regard to the surgeries, they were a peice of cake, non-debilitating, I was out walking a mile on the second day, two miles after that and back to my usual routine within a week.  The worst thing was working up for the Radio Active Iodine treatment, I was given no thyroid replacement hormone until after I recieved RAI, my TSH was 186.   A year after RAI I felt great, my meds were adjusted to fit me and I feel no different than before I had my thyroid, EXCEPT no joint pain and no hoarseness...I am a singer and voice teacher, so that is very important.  I am better without my thyroid.  The only bad thing is that my doctor at the military hospital where I am treated had to deploy to Kuwait, so I got another doctor that assumed my meds were too high and embarked on a 16 week trial to try to bring me down to a lower level.  I gained back 10 pounds, had toe cramps, all the hypo symptoms.  I finally convinced him to go back to the dose I felt best on, things are good again.

Have you been tested for Hashimoto's or anti-bodies?  If you have Hashi's, sometimes that can cause the symptoms.  I had Hashi's.  I realized that my thyroid would eventually stop working anyway, so it was worth a shot to remove it.  In my case it was the best thing I ever did.  Hope that helps.

[kluesy]

Thanks for your reply.

So you had to have two surgeries?  I kinda have a bad feeling about this all since it is affecting my voice and I have been choking on fluids and vitamins for several months now.

I also have unexplained flushing(no sweat), shortness of breath, and other strange symtoms (just diagnosed with POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome).

Can thyroid tumors cause these things?

Did you have a long recovery from your surgery?

The biopsy dr said the pathologist wanted another sample, so they did 5 sticks(the last one hurt the worse, felt the pain shoot up in my ear).  They talked in another room, then he came in and told me to be sure and call my doctor if I hadn't heard anything in 3-5days, cause no news is not necessarily "good" news.   Now that I think about it more, kinda sounds like he was telling me it wasn't good.

Oh well, at this point, I am losing my voice and choking,so might be for the best for it all to come out.

[MANmom]

Yes, all that is true.  I, too, was having problems with hoarseness, they removed three nodules on one side, and no more hoarseness.  Unfortunately they did find cancer (not seen in the biopsy) and they had to do a total thyroidectomy.  The recurrant laryngeal nerve controls your breathing as well as your vocal function, if they damage it during surgery, you could have permanant vocal damage, or even in the worst case a tracheostomy for the rest of your life.  I also had ear pain with my biopsy, not to worry, just nerves there that run to your ears.  My pain went away in a few days.