Hashi's/swollen lymph node

[Hashimess43]

I was diagnosed with Hashi's approx 1 year ago.  Not yet in need of thyroid meds.  Problem...my right lymph node just under my jaw has been progressively swelling.  It has caused me to feel a pressure in my throat in the last few months, but very recently, it is migrating into my mouth.  My r-side only (tongue, jaw & soft palate).  When my doc was punching around inside my mouth, he found that lymph node was swollen, but didn't know what to do.  He said it's swollen, but he doesn't know WHY.  I'm hoping that someone here might have an idea & where I should turn next.  It is really bothering me (and scaring me).  Thanks for any suggestions.

[Hashimess43]

I think the part that is bugging me the most right now is that I have used most of my vacation & sick time going to doctors & getting tests done.  I would REAAALLY like to have an ACTUAL vacation day someday soon!  Thank you for your support & understanding.  It really does help.

[ShelleyN720]

I understand about the insurance. I work for local government and due to the economy, I am furloughed 6 days and am facing the 2nd 15% increase in my health insurance premiums. I have spent almost $2000 out of pocket costs since my March 2010 diagnosis of hashis. That doesn't include the $30 doctor co-pays. It is difficult to reduce stress when I am facing these financial challenges (I am middle aged & divorced)
I was raised by my divorced mom who could not afford the dentist. By the time I was in my twenties, I spent hundreds of dollars on amalgam fillings. Yes, I am also suspicious of mercury, and also fluoride as contributors to my auto-immune thyroid disease. My dentist had me on fluroide toothpaste, fluoride mouthwash, Gel-Cam fluoride gel nightly, fluoride treatmentsand their is fluoride in our water supply - I honestly believe I have suffered from fluoride toxicity! Good grief! I never paid attention to, or was even aware of  the warnings on the toothpaste labels not to swallow! I quit fluoride several months ago. Totally. I also only drink distilled water (although I still bath with tap water) I don't use deodorant with aluminum anymore. It was difficult finding a decent natural deodorant but I finally did. I understand that thyroid disease can be hereditary - but I also believe that our environment and the products we've used over the decades cannot help but have a long term effect on our bodies. Heck I even avoid SLS (sodium laurel sulfate) that is in virtuially all soaps & shampoos.
I know this sounds terribly neurotic, but I think our bodies have been stressed by all the chemicals we are exposed to since childhood.
I also used to smoke cigarettes. I smoked off & on for several years. I'd quit for 2-3 years then start again like an idiot, I knoiw this sounds crazy but it is true. However, it is very interesting to me that my hashis did not become very symptomatic until about 3 months after I quit. I have read that the chemicals in cigarette smoke mimic thyroid hormone...interesting. I have run across others whose symptoms didn't become pronounced until they quit smoking too,
Back to the teeth. I didn't have cavities either - just old fillings that were de-calcifying and the teeth were becoming weak, some cracked. I have several crowns now. I hate going to the dentist - but deep cleaning is a ritual for me every 3 months. I still believe the inflammation from that fractured tooth was what triggered my full-blown hashis - and the other stuff (fluoride, mercury in amalgam fillings etc) contributed.
I try to eat healthy, reduce my gluten intake and work very hard to reduce my stress levels through prayer and also asking myself - HOW important is it? Is it worth putting my endocrine system into battle mode? LOL

[Hashimess43]

I know you're right.  I've been waiting until after Jan 1, when my dental insurance changes to a better provider to go.  I don't think I have any cavities, but I need the TMJ looked at.  The stress I've been under lately has been some of the highest of my life.  I had chest pains, a slightly abnormal stress test & then an angiogram.  I was sooooo scared.  (and just so that I don't leave you hanging, my arteries were clean as a whistle, but my left side of my heart had a pressure of 20....as opposed to the normal 6 or 7).  None of the docs know why.....WHAT a surprise.  Sigh.....

[Sophia787]

Shelley...your take on the tooth correlation is spot on! I have had one very bad molar lower right and that is the side I had  the largest nodule and eventually cancer...now 4 months post-op, I had a root canal done months before the surgery but only a temporary filling till I could get a crown...I never completed the process because of the TT surgery. But my endo asked me one day when my thyroid was inflammed, "how are your teeth?"....he was trying to figure out what was triggering this inflammation. WHat was setting off my immune system. As I mentioned...stress is a major factor in the inflammatory process. It causes all kinds of reactions. One, it sets an alarm off in the immune system that there is an invader. If there are any weak areas....low lying infections...inflammed parts....it will go after them. My thyroid was under attack...but something set off the army!! So you have to look at all possibilities. Now that I have it removed...I am like everyone else on the synthroid ride..trying to tolerate and stabilize.

I am one of the few and unfortunate who had vocal nerve damage..still struggling to talk and though I have a voice, it strains and I find myself hoarse and exhausted mid-day.

Hashimess 43....you might want to work on getting all dental up to speed..take some of that off the plate. Not the total reason you are having the thyroid issues..but a contributing factor. Keep your stress low...rest....meditate..do all you can to keep your parts and pieces :) The gland can create both hypo and hyper side effects and often you aren't sure which is which...when it is inflammed, it will "sputter" as you said. Causing shaky hands, high pulse rate.....nervous anxiety...don't be afraid of it..learn your body...eliminate the causes of additional stress...you'll know what to do. Search for a good "sympathetic" dr..one who is open and patient while you find your calm and stable place.

Peace and well being to you both.
S

[Hashimess43]

The rheumatologist did the blood work & didn't do an ultrasound, but when the swelling in my neck became unbearable, I sought out the ENT by myself & he did the ultrasound & didn't see any nodules, but said....wait for it.....my LEFT side is bumpy & swollen.....Sigh....maybe he just doesn't know his left from his right?  Anyway!
My teeth have always been terrible, bad genes on that one, but what is happening to me that I wish I had some clue what to do or where to go is that because my right side swells, it shifts my jaw slightly & causing my left jaw to lock up (like TMJ).  That was something that I figured that I will look into once I get my gland figured out.  I really appreciate you Shelley, thanks again for helping me so much.

[ShelleyN720]

Also, Sophia's comment was right on target concernign "stress". When we are stressed I believe the entire endocrine system is affected. I am trying to learn to manage stress (I am a type A personality so I often feel stressed!!) For instance yestreday I was at a meeting at work. It was a situation where I had to ask questions of someone in a public setting where there was a possibility of confrontation. While I was speaking I could actually feel my thyroid swelling and my throat going tight! My voice became scratchy. Ugh!
Anyway, managing stress is also very important with thyroid, and auto-immune thyroid from what I continue to read and Sophia states above can be a roller coaster of thyroid hormone swings from a sputtering gland.
Did  you have an ultrasound to check for nodules when you had the blood work that diagnosed hashis?

[ShelleyN720]

I also have had an issue with swollen lymph nodes in my neck on the right side lateral (under the ear, mid-neck) The endo felt it too and ordered a CT-scan. The CT scan came up with nothing. Yet, here these glands were becoming inflamed from time to time. I believe they are "reactive" lymph nodes to the hashis.
Also, how are your teeth? I ask because I'd had two root canals on the back right bottom molars. For several months (make that 2 years) one of the molars ached consistantly. I kept going back (again & again)  to the dentist but the X-rays looked fine. Finally I couldn't stand it anymore and demanded to have the one molar pulled this past June. The root was fractured (!)  which caused ongoing inflammation. It interested me that it was the same side where my largest nodule is situated. I have often wondered if somehow, that ongoing inflammation from the fractured root canal managed to set-off the hashis.

[Hashimess43]

Ok, thank you Shelley.  I have an ENT that I have seen in the past.  I'll try seeing him again now that the symptoms have increased.

[ShelleyN720]

I'd vote for the ENT first because of the lymph nodes and swelling in your jaw. ENT's have thryoid knowledge but not all endos have neck/throat/lymph node knowledge. I have been very disappointed in the two endocrinologists I have seen. Anything beyond TSH numbers seems to confuse them! They didn't want to discuss aches & pains. Just take the pills and be a good girl.

[Hashimess43]

Wow!  Thank you very much for taking the time & energy to help me.  I know you are correct.  I have been very stressed out recently.  I didn't mention it in my earlier post for fear of confusing my issues in people's minds (or just sounding like a complainer), but I had thrown my back out & have been in extraordinary pain & have felt heart pounding & palpitations.  So, between all of that, I have been very (to say the least) concerned about my health & I don't talk about it much to my family.  They stress out enough, I don't need to add to it.  Thanks again for taking the time to help me.  In your opinion (or anyone that wants to add in), do you think I should go to a ENT or an Endo?  I think my Rheum doc has done all he can do for this.

[Hashimess43]

Thank you Shelley.

[ShelleyN720]

I suggest going to an ENT regarding any swelling in the mouth. Also many Hashis patients are given thyroid hormone in an attenmpt to reduce symptms associated with hypothyroid.