how do you know if you have goiter?

[TamraW]

Thyroid patients, could you please help me? I have pain along my jaw, in my chest, and my neck feels tender and bloated. I'm always tired. I have extreme GERD and migraines, especially along the back of the head. My inner ears are always clogged. Also, my bones ache,and I get this weird pain in my body when I touch a certain part of my neck. My eyes are dry, but I had my eye doc do a full exam and he said he didn't see anything thyroid causing my dryness. I had an ultrasound, and the doc only mentioned three nodules, which are benign from the biopsy. If I had an enlarged thyroid would she have seen it?

Right now, the surgeon is looking at my chart for possible hyperparathyroidism. He says I've got a 50/50 chance. My calcium and PTH are only slightly elevated. If not that, then what else is making me so sick and my vitamin D levels drop?

Thanks,
Tamra

[redheadaussie]

Hi again. We aren't sure if at my TT my parathyroids were damaged or if I have always had the problem.  I have always had low calcium levels and low Vit D levels but they got worse after the TT so my presumption is I had some problem before and it was made worse by fiddling around to take my thyroid out.
So long term calcium and Vit D for me!

The submandibular gland Totie mentioned are glands under the mouth which are salivary glands that can get blocked and infected.

[TamraW]

My pain is all over my neck. I do have swollen lymph nodes. I have TERRIBLE heartburn and GERD, so I'm thinking the swelling might be coming from the gas.

What is a submandibular gland?

Thanks!
:) Tamra

[Totie]

Is your pain one sided? I had a goiter, but it was painless (huge).

I was having a lot of pain on the right side of my jaw line, it took almost a yr. to figure out it was my submandibular gland along with two enlarged lymph nodes.

Surgically removed, pain gone. Just a thought.

[TamraW]

Hi, again! I tried the swallow and button test and nothing. Thanks for that! I am thinking my neck pain and tenderness is due to the extreme GERD I'm having. I do know that hyperparathyroidism causes GERD among many other gastro issues. I will have to wait and see what my surgeon says about my newest labs.

Thanks so much!


BTW, if you don't mind me asking, how did you become hypo?

T.

[TamraW]

Thanks so much for your advice. I spoke with my surgeon again. He's leaning more toward parathyroid disease. None of the endos I've seen have done serum calcium tests on me, just ionized calcium. My surgeon is having me take two more calcium/PTH tests to be sure. So far, my ionized calcium levels range weekly from 9.4-10.4 and my PTH varies weekly 40-71.

I have had my gastro docs pursue other vitamin D diseases. They've run lots of tests, including Celiac, and nothing. Yes, you are right about increasing Vitamin D. I'm not taking as much as my endos would like, because I seem to feel more sick after the D.

I tried the swallow test and can't tell. A friend is coming over to look at me swallow, too. I will also try the collar test.

Thanks so much!

:) Tamra

[redheadaussie]

Many thyroid patients have low Vit D. It is not clear if this is part of some auto-immune function.
  A goiter is a large swelling in the neck, just above your collar bone and just inside the outside of your neck. If you stand in front of a mirror, take a mouthful of water, then lift your chin up and swallow you will more than likely see the goiter. It looks like a puffy triangular bag on each side of your throat.  If you have a shirt which buttons right up put it on and see if it feels tight and kind of uncomfortable. Move your head around and you will be wanting to rip the shirt off!

  Many people have nodules on their thyroids. In fact at autopsies it is often noted that the general population have benign nodules all their lives with no ill affect.

  It is very possible you have hyperparathyroidism.  It really depends on the reference ranges the doctor is using for the calcium and the PTH test. I myself am hypoparathyroid. I have low calciu, and low-normal PTH, with low Vit D. I also have Hashimoto's Disease.

Have you had any iron studies done? The lack of iron can give symptoms as you mentioned. Especially migraines, and neck pain.  

I must mention that low Vit D has other causes too. It is not just thyroid patients who have this issue.

If you increase your Vit D you may and you have hyperparathyroidism, you run the risk of it becoming worse. You need to know what your levels are of Vit D, calcium and PTH before you can start to take any supplements. Do you have those results? If not, ask your doctor for them.

Hope that helps, or perhaps has confused you more!
Cheers