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Thyroid Goiter

I am a 47 year old female, they found a goiter on my thryoid but my blood work reads normal. I have the following symtoms. I'm always cold, extreme fatigue and body aches like I am cathing the flu. I have no energy. Does this make sense to anyone? Can I have a problem with my thyroid yet have normal bloodwork. My symtoms are very real and effecting my life.
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Avatar universal
Just a word of caution here.  "Nodule" is a very generic term and a bit unfortunate since it describes many different thyroid anomolies and causes a lot of confusion (as I think Mac found out in his initial research).  The thyroid is prone to nodules, and most of us with Hashi's have them.  They're usually benign and are just monitored to make sure they don't grow.  At the other end of the spectrum, are Mac's toxic nodules, which are an entirely different thing.

"Goiter" is also a generic term for any enlargement of the thyroid. It can be caused by Hashi's (hypo), Grave's (hyper), or a number of other conditions.  So, you can see, that it's not really very useful in describing what you have.

I have a goiter and nodules, and my condition is very different from Mac's.
Helpful - 0
1144849 tn?1395455166
Hi Shelbykb, My endo wanted to do an RAI Ablation, which means basically they give a large dose of radiation and kill off the nodules and probably destroy the thyroid, then they give you hormone pills the rest of your life.  The other option was surgery to remove the thyroid, again seems crazy to me. I compromised with the endo and asked for a pill I could take while I researched the situation. They put me on Methimazole, after a few weeks of that I had to request to stop taking it because I went so HyPO I could not even get out of bed.

In my opinion the logical thing to do what to look at the underlying cause of the problem and try and treat the disease and the body as a whole and not just kill off the gland.  There are many people here that have had the RAI and they will tell you it really screwed them up .. there also a few that feel it was worth it for them.  Since RAI and surgery are permanent and WILL leaving lasting issues and problems of their own I have nothing to loose by seeking alternative treatments from a Naturopath. That was the best move I made.

In the short term, I cut out Mountain Dew, that soft drink contains Brominated Vegetable Oil. Bromides interfere with your thyroid's ability to use Iodine. (among other problems)  I stopped eating ALL fast food, Cut way way down on caffeine, Started taking a multiple mineral (that contains copper) twice a day.  A balanced multimineral supplement that has magnisum in in it helped to slow down the racing heart rate. Cut out all SOY products and goiterous vegetables

The Naturopath put me on a "Blood Type A" Diet, which is basically vegetarian. It is a little hard to get used to but I am doing very well on it. Naturopah did some testing and put me on various supplements as well.

Everybody is different and what works for one person does not always work for another. But I urge you to research all you can. The book "Living Well With Graves Disease and Hyperthyroidism"  By Mary Shomon was also very helpful to me.

You have nothing to lose by trying some natural and common sense things.

I will have another ultrasound and labs in late April and I expect to find that the nodules are shrinking, as of right now that appears to be the case and I also feel so incredibly better.  I will post those results either way so that people can see the differences.

I am happy to help anyway I can, and look forward to seeing your lab work etc.

McMillan
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Avatar universal
Thanks for your comments. I'll make sure and get & post all of my results. So glad to hear you have yours under control and are feeling better! Did they remove the goiter and what was your treatment?
Helpful - 0
1144849 tn?1395455166
to Shelbykb and burbanek, I have Toxic Multinodular Goiter. This means that my "nodules" are autonomously (on their own regardless of what the thyroid gland is doing) producing hormone at random and is not controlled by the pituitary gland's TSH.

These nodules were shown on an ultrasound.  If you had an Ultrasound done, the Radiology report  would be useful to post that also.  

In my case the majority of my blood work was "normal"  Free Ts were in range. The only thing really out of range was low TSH. This scenario can be characteristic of Toxic nodules. I feel cold an hot at the same time and swing from hypER to hyPO because of the random production of hormone by the nodules.  I have mine under control now and am feeling pretty good.

Please post your data so we can better help you.

McMillan

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Avatar universal
Exactly, not feeling well and having to worry about your health is depressing.  Being hypo doesn't help that any.

I feel that a good, diversified diet is the best thing you can do for almost anything...avoid pre-packaged, cook your own meals.  Depending on specific problems that might come up, there are a few "tricks of the trade", but best dealt with when or if they arise on a per symptom basis.
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Avatar universal
Thank you so much for your comments.  I will make sure to get my lab work. Do you recommend any medication,s vitamins or treatment I should discuss with doctor? I am not sure what they are going to do about goiter yet.

again thanks it's great to have someone to discuss this with. So many people just say you just need some rest or maybe your depressed. I have to say what I am going through has made me depress but I was not when all of this started.
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Avatar universal
It's good to get in the habit of getting a copy (printed) of all lab work for your records.  In addition to the results, the report has reference ranges on it.

Your symptoms sound very hypo.  When you get your results, you can post them if you want members to help you decipher them...don't forget to include ranges if you do.  Believe me, almost all of us know what these symptoms can do to your life, and it ain't pretty!

Best of luck with your doctor.  Let us know how you make out.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
That makes a lot of sense. I will ask for my blood results. As I mention I'm cold most of the time but can also break into a sweat at the same time. I have lost weight but the worst is the body aches. All of the sudden I ache everywhere like I am coming down with the flu. I live on Advil it's the only thing that helps with the aches and pain. Also the extremem fatigue.

I will see the doctor this week to know what he is planning to do. My fear is he will do nothing. The symtoms I have are very real and affecting my day to day life.
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Avatar universal
I too had a goiter, it was huge.  Doctors can't explain why and it puzzles them that it left on it's own.  I had an elevated heart rate in the hundreds, was sweating often, energized to the point where I couldn't keep still.  My blood pressure was elevated, and I had palpitations. They put me on heart medication to slow my heart rate but that made the palpitaions worse so they took me off.  Later an ultrasound showed lesions as well.  Had a biopsy, it show no cancer to my relief.  The strangest thing is that my blood work always comes back normal.  It has never once been-out-of-range.  One thing about the thyroid, remember that lesions are common.  But if it's cancer, thyroid cancer is one of the easiest to cure if caught in time.  So have that biopsy done to ease your mind, and to do what you have to do if there's something else going on.
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Avatar universal
Please post your actual thyroid lab results.  You should include reference ranges since these are specific to your lab and have to come from your own lab report.

Too often we hear doctors telling people that their labs are "normal" when reference ranges used were obsolete or testing inadequate.

burbanek, cold intolerance is a symptom of hypO.  What are your other symptoms?

Shelbykb, your symptoms definitely sound hypo.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Yes,

You could have a problem. I have recently been diagnosed with multinodule goiter and cystic lesion. My doctor says I need a boipsy but he doesn't say I am hyperthoid because most of my test results are in normal range. I think I am because I have so many symptoms. I am cold alot. My heat is on 75 degress. I have a sweat shirt on am my hands are like ice. I wish I could get more help.

Good luck.
Helpful - 0
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