thank you all for your comments. i wanted to let everyone know that i finally heard from the dr yesterday and he said that my ultrasound looked good. there are no cysts or tumors. it is just enlarged on the right side. he said that since i have almost all the symptoms of hypo and have the enlarged thyroid, he thinks maybe we caught it early before it affected my blood work. he is going to put me on a low dose of thyroid medication and i have to have blood work again in 2 months. but this time they will do the complete thyroid bloodwork.
at least now i know i'm not just crazy. thank you all so much and i will keep you posted.
Hi, I have to say I know what your going through and it can be a very painfull. I had an ultrasound done then I had a nuclear thyroid scan done and my levels came back high so the next step was to get a biopsy done and thats my next step but I really feel for you because its very fustrating and I as well have no insurance and it is really crazy when you can't work because of the pain. I wish you the best
I had HUGELY enlarged thyroid (goiter) for years and had consistently normal bloodwork with no symptoms of any problems for years, so that is apparently no big deal. Finally had TT this past summer as growth was affecting my airway and was into my chest. A great website with a lot of information that may help put your mind at ease and answer some of your questions is wwww.endocrineweb.com. Good luck!
thank you all so much. i am sitting here waiting for the dr to call. i did not hear anything yesterday so i should find out about the ultrasound results today. i will let you all know what i find out.
also, bratbenson: have you heard anything about your bloodwork yet?
The ultrasound will tell you the measurements of your thyroid. It will also show any possible growths on the thyroid and its measurements as well. The results of the ultrasound will aid the doctor in determining if you need to have a FNA (needle biopsy) done to check if the growth(s) are cancerous. 95% of the time the growths ARE NOT cancerous. I have a 3.0mm growth on the right side of my thyroid. I have had 2 ultra sounds, and the FNA done. There was no cancer detected in my mass BUT because of the size of the growth I will be having surgery to remove the right side. Like said by mizhyde, your TSH can be normal but it the good side of the thyroid can be burnt out because of it having to compensate for the other side. Trust me I know it is hard but try not to stress off of the ultrasound too much. If the thyroid is so enlarged that it is making it difficult to swallow I think the doc may suggest surgery ( BUT I AM NOT A DR, SO PLEASE DO NOT WORRY TOO MUCH UNTIL THE DR TELLS YOU AN ANSWER). Keep in touch and let us know how things turn out.
thank you all so much. i am driving myself crazy today hoping to get a call from the Dr about the ultrsound. how much can they actually tell you from an ultrasound? should i also ask the dr to do complete thyroid bloodwork instead of just the TSH? or will this all depend on the ultrasound results?
wow i am 25 and i have been back and forth to the dr for 5 months now. I understand how you feel my thyroid is also enlarged, it started out on one side then the other its hard to swallow and i feel tired and horrible all the time. my bloodwork came back normal too 2 months ago i just had another one done today so i hope to find something to get rid of this its awful. good luck and let me know what they find and i will do the same.
thank you for the responses. i am just wondering if my TSH was normal but i have the symptoms of hypothyroid and my thyrois is enlarged, would this mean that i do have a thyroid problem? and what would be my next step?
Be patient and try not to worry. I have an enlarged thyroid and my levels are currently TSH 3.72. The endocrinologist suggest blood work in 3 weeks. Have you tried appling for financial assistance. I had to at two local hospitals and and with the endocrinologist. If your doc is not affiliated with a hospital maybe you should look into finding one that is. One other thing. Try to get an appt with an endocrinologist who is affilated with a hospital. Hope this helps and hope you feel better soon. If theres any more I can help you with let me know. Jessi
The thyroid looks like a butterfly, one side can become enlarged and "cold" i.e. not working, the other side compensates for this but it burns it out too. That's why your levels are normal. My enlarged thyroid was removed and found to be cancerous, so please do not ignore this symptom. Thyroid medicine will most likely be prescribed.