PLEASE HELP, I'M DESPERATE FOR GUIDENCE

[ashwilliams]

My thyroid is completely out of control and has been for sometime. I went to the female doctor in March (2012) because of symptoms I believed were related to female problems (chronic fatigue and hot flashed, mostly). Since then, I have been trying to get answers in relation to what is going on with my thyroid but I have been unsuccessful thus far. To summarize:

March: went to female doc, had my blood taken, was told I needed to see my primary care physician about an abnormal tsh level. Started on 25 mcg of Levothyroxine by my gynecologist in the meantime.

April: Primary care physician orders more labs, my tsh level is still high (5.8 range). I continue taking 25mcg of Levo.

May: Went into the doctors office for a 4 week follow up appointment, labs report tsh still high. My doctor increased my dosage of levo to 50 mcg. At this point I was diagnosed with HYPOthyroidism and thyroiditis due to the high number of antibodies (TPO level 143)

June: Went into doctors office for 4 week follow up, labs revealed a still high level of tsh. My doctor did a physical examination of my neck and found a goiter to be present. He sent me to have an ultrasound performed.

July: Ultrasound of my neck was completed with results stating that I have a multi-nodular goiter. At this point my doctor pulled me off of the Levo for a 6 week period so that I could have a thyroid uptake scan completed to determine whether or not the nodules were hot or cold.

August: MOVED TO TAMPA, FLORIDA

September: I had a thyroid uptake scan completed at Tower Radiology in Tampa, Fl. My test results were sent to my doctor in Georgia who had been treating me prior to my move. The report showed NO hot or cold nodules and I was told by my doctor to start back on Levo until I found a primary care physician in Tampa.

[Mark Lupo, M.D.]

This is a history of hypothyroidism due to Hashimoto's with associated ultrasound changes that may or may not represent true nodules.  The I-123 scan that you had recently did not add anything to the evaluation.  The target TSH is around 0.5-2.0 and a further increase in the levothyroxine may be required.  If you have previous ultrasound showing possible multinodular goiter, this needs to be looked at by an expert thyroid clinician to determine if anything needs to be biopsied independent of the findings from the I-123 imaging that in this case did not add anything.

[ashwilliams]

October: Continued on Levo 50 mcg, stopping completely toward the end of the month due to increased symptoms and generally feeling as though the medicine was not helping

November: Started seeing a primary care physician in Tampa. Doctor order blood work and gave me a b12 shot to treat chronic fatigue, the shot worked for about 2 weeks, helping me to feel slightly less fatigued. Received lab results: tsh .19, tpo 296... doctor gave me a referral to see endocrinologist.

December: met with endocrinologist and had yet another lab test performed. test revealed tsh .17 and I am unaware of the tpo level. I was diagnosed with hashimoto's and scheduled for a biopsy of a nodule that had grown from about .2 cm to 3cm. I went in for the biopsy and before the doctor could begin was told that I did not have nodules and that what were originally thought to be nodules were actually enlarged lymph nodes and that i needed a ct scan.

My question is: Is there any reason for me to be alarmed? Do these instances look worry-some for cancer. Unfortunately, my endocrinologist did not work out as he had very bad bed side manner and also failed to get the required forms sent to the center where I was having the ct scan done on time. Now, I am in the middle of controversy trying to figure out where this enlarged "lymph node" diagnosis came from?