Goiter and lump in throat

[giules90]

Hi everyone, was wondering if there is ANYTHING that will help the feeling of a lump/choking in my throat? I have hashi's and I am currently on 75 micrograms of thyroxine since august. I had hoped it would ease this feeling but it is just getting worse. There is not a day goes by without it. I have a moderate goitre with a single nodule which was measured at 8 mm. I am due to have another US in early December and further blood tests.
I still have other symptoms that have not subsided much either but this one really gets me down. The last time I saw my endo she told me there is not much that can be done except surgery. Now I don't rate her as knowing a shed lot about thyroid disease (think she mainly deals with diabetes) but is she right? Sounds a bit drastic to me.
Or am I just gonna have to put up with it? I also have constant cough and lose my voice a few times a day and get 'sinus' symptoms daily.
My labs are 'in range' so neither my endo or doctor are concerned now. They even got me to do lots of other blood tests to see if I had something else. Of course I don't, they all came back fine.

My latest labs are as follows:

TSH 3.12 (0.50 - 4.00)
Free T4 15.5 (10.0 - 19.0)
Free T3 4.1 (3.5 - 6.5)

Not sure if these are related but also had Serum complement (C3) done which came back slightly high
1.85 (0.79 - 1.77)
and serum rheumatiod factor 14 (<14)
The above two were done (amongst others) because of constant body aches and pains I get and am due to see a rheumatologist in November. They are the only two that were highlighted in my lab report but the doctor didn't even mention them.

Any advice you can give me would really be appreciated.
Thanks

[giules90]

Yes I had antibodies tested and came back positive for hashi's. The last lot I had done in August were:

Anti-thyroid Peroxidase >1300 (<60)
Anti-thyroglobulin 300 (<60)

I am going to try to be tough, but these doctors reeaallyy don't like being told that they are wrong do they?!!! I got a bit uppity at my last endo appointment cos she told me I was in range and my symtoms were not down to my thyroid! Time for a new one!

Hope all is well with you :)

[redheadaussie]

Hi. I am teaching my doctors to pay attention to symptoms and I also tell them that if I was in USA being a TSH of yours would make me classified as hypo. I think you are going to have to really be tough, and I know it's hard.Man! I have been doing it for over 20 years and am only NOW finding some hope!  But then I didn't know enough back then to push for the tests I get done now.
  Your dose is pretty low. It may not be enough to alleviate the goitre at this stage. Maybe say to your doc that the normal starting dose is 100mcgs (which it is!) and see if they would be willing to 'allow' you to go up for at least 6 weeks.

Here in Australia, an endocrinologist tends to focus on diabetes and 2ndly thyroid (if at all) For some reason our Endo schools are not geared up to be just thyroid.
Did you have any anti-bodies checked to see if you have Hashimoto's? Coz if you have them you will then probably need a higher dose to help with the inflammation.

[Barb135]

Yes, do give the selenium a try; it helps me, but doesn't seem to do anything for others, so you just never know.  

I totally understand about the v-neck issue; I'm like that myself, but I didn't mean to "wear" the ice pack or cold cloth - I meant to just use it when you can.  Yes, it's only "temporary" relief but relief is relief, no matter how long it lasts.  I often just go into the bathroom at work and soak a paper towel with cold water and lay it across my neck for a few minutes. It eases the pain and choking for a little while, at least.

Just make sure you don't *rub* the area.

[giules90]

Thanks for that, I thought it was a bit of an extreme thing to say!

I will try selenium and see if that helps, I have tried various pain killers with and without ibuprofen (have a lot of headaches also) but they don't help. Not sure about putting ice pack or cloth on my neck, I am strictly a v-neck girl now as anything near my neck irritates it.
I will try to talk to my endo at next visit about FT3 levels but am not hopeful. Will know from labs and how I feel by then if the selenium has helped I guess.

Thanks again and all the best to you.

[Barb135]

I don't agree that there's nothing to be done, other than surgery.  Many of us have Hashimoto's, nodules and the "choking" feeling.  There are actually a couple different things you can try:

1) Some people find that taking selenium helps keep the antibodies "calmer", which helps diminish that choking feeling.

2) You can try taking something to reduce inflammation, such as ibuprophen, or something - I, personally, prefer advil.  

3) You can try putting an ice pack or cold cloth on your neck.  

4) Be sure that you don't rub your neck because that seems to make the inflammation worse.

Looking at your blood tests, I'd say you might be able to use a small dose of T3 med, since your FT4 is about mid range, but your FT3 is very low in its range.  That indicates that you might not be converting the FT4 to FT3.  FT3 correlates best with symptoms and if you get those levels higher in their range, it's quite likely that more of your symptoms will go away.  Many of us find that we do best, when FT3 is adjusted into the upper 1/3 of its range.

There are also reports indicating that selenium also helps with the conversion of FT4 to FT3.