new thyroid patient-need support

[sdbrit]

Hi - so nice to see a site with so many people helping each other, I need some of that!  I'm a 49 year old stressed out single mom.  A couple of months ago I noticed a lump in my neck, had a FNA and came back as benign hemorrhagic degenerative cyst.  Then  I noticed another lump on the lower right of my thyroid (didn't even know much about the thyroid before this)(other lump is upper left) my doc. looked worried and said I needed a radioactive scan but I found a very good endocrinologist , got an ultrasound at his office and was told the cyst looked ok but the lower lump is solid and either one large or two lumps together about 3mm by about 1.5mm, plus another small nodule.  He said I had a multinodular goiter (isn't goiter a Yiddish swear word? :).That tech did a FNA with 3 needles.  

I'll get the results sometime next week but in the meantime I'm worried, it's all I can think about.  I know that the chances of really bad news are minimal - read lots of literature, but it's not like talking to real people who are also dealing with this.  The only person I have known who has had a thyroid problem was my sister's mom-in-law who last October was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and she died in November!  I know that it was a very rare form of cancer, but it scared me then and I didn't even know I had a lump then!

I have also had hip/leg problems that started about 10 years ago (after a very stressful year).  I thought it was sciatica, I had trouble walking but with chiropractic care got a lot better and I was walking fine until fall of 2006 when I had trouble getting from sitting to standing, with a lot of pain in left groin/hip. After being told I had a ganglion cyst in the acetabulum, possibly torn labrum in the hip joint and osteoarthritis I was told I needed hip replacement, another doc then said he could fix the problem with arthroscopic surgery and bone graft.  Had surgery Dec 2006 - not a great experience, could write a book titled 'never have surgery on Friday afternoon' but that's another story!  Have not been able to walk well since the surgery - lots of pain in both legs - upper thighs and groin and knees.  Also developed slight seperation in right AC joint (shoulder/clavicle) and pain in upper arm and hand at times.  

I have been to many lots of alternative therapy people.  An OMD (oriental MD) that I have seen said I had exhauted adrenals and we discovered that I had an infected tooth which I had removed in January, probably had been infected for at least 4 years when the crown was redone, original root canal done 20 years ago.  I have also, on the advice of my acupuncturist, had all my amalgam fillings removed in the last few weeks (9 big ones - been there many years).

So, I am wondering has anyone (who was able to get through this epic) had similar symptoms because I am thinking that all my 'stuff' might be connected.  And, has anyone related thyroid issues to dental infection/mercury toxicity?  And....is surgery or radioactive goop the only way to heal - neither sounds great.  

FYI: labs are:T4- 7.3, t-Uptake - 33.0, Free T4 - 1.0, Free thyroxine index 2.4, TSH - 1.29, Thyroglobulin Antibodies - <20, Thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies 33 (reference range on last one <35, new doc took another blood draw to test that one again, don't know result yet).

One more thing: the lower lump bothers me I feel it most of the time and esp. when I swallow or have to shout at my son, ha ha - true though! (He's 14 - has iPod, video games - you gotta shout sometimes, nice kid though).

Thanks sooooo much to anyone who managed to read through all of this, I appreciate your time.  Hope you are healthy - me too!

[sdbrit]

That was funny -- maybe that's the reason we don't hear about it!!!

[TheCarMan]

Yeah, Fridays. They've been like this lately.
Must be cabin fever for the cold weather climates!

No doubt about the studies. I'm the type that thinks no matter what you argue, there is always another side. We're all gonna die from something.....it'd suck if you obituary said you died from bad teeth!

[sdbrit]

Hope my last post didn't sound rude or 'preachy' to you - not my intention.

[sdbrit]

No offense taken - most dentists don't know much about mercury toxicity - where are they going to get the info from - not the ADA, they are afraid of lawsuits because they have said it's safe!  But, if they are using amalgam it would be in their interests to not put their heads in the sand and accept medical establishment afterall the 'establishment' once thought it was crazy to think that the earth was orbiting the sun not the the universe revolving around the Earth.  You might want to let your buddy know that autopsy results in Sweden showed the pituitary glands of dentists held 800 times more mercury than non-dentists.  Also in 1994 the University of Munich evaluated tissues of babies who died from SIDS and found their tissues correlated with the number of amalgams in their mother's mouths - yikes! Germany issued an advisary against all amalgams in women of childbearing age.There's a lot of scientific studies on this  - but there is not great access to the data unless you really look for it.  Also there is rarely any interchange between MD's and dentists - when is the last time you went to the Dr. for something and he asked about the health of your teeth?  They are in your mouth and a significant part of the GI tract -- food for thought (excuse pun).

BTW - What's this TGIF deal?  Did I just drop in on the right night?

[TheCarMan]

No ofense to anyone, but I don't buy the Amalgam fillings thing. My wife works for a dentist buddy of ours. He has never heard of a problem other than needing replaced because they were ugly or fell out. He's been a dentist for about 35 years.

He does warn about a tooth getting infected while your immune system is compromised.
Just my two cents. I'm sure that there is other evidence.

[sdbrit]

Wow - Escondido almost a neighbour, I'm near UCSD and have a sister in Scripps Ranch.  If you ever need any info on TJ dentists I can help if you decide to do it - it cost only about 1/4 of the price for a holistic dentist here!  Worth the extra effort.   I'll also post the name of the detox stuff when I get it and keep this site posted on that issue.  I also red that 200mcg of selenium help - planning to go to whole Foods to get some of that tomorrow - anyone had any help with supplements?  I did read about coconut oil being beneficial and got some about a week ago, used it for cooking and on my toast and had 1 or 2 tblsps in a cup of hot water - guess what even with all that fat I lost a couple of pounds!  Tastes good too.  I read that because it's a medium chain fatty acid, even though it's saturated it is easily metabolised and creats energy, revs up the system a bit.  Also read that broccolli and cauliflower are not good for the thyroid raw (who likes 'em raw anyway)  but hopefully ok cooked.

Forgot to mention in my original post that after eating fish with cashews on it in a crust my lower lump seemed to really 'flare up' or be more bothersome - does that mean anything to anyone or is it just a coincidence?