Last month, my doctor felt a nodule on my thyroid. I got an ultrasound and results indicate multiple nodules on my thyroid, so she has referred me to an endocrinologist. I can't get in til the end of January though. Lab tests indicate low thyroid levels. Doc wants to put me on thyroid medication but will wait until I see the endocrinologist.
I'm rather scared and am wondering if anyone else here has been diagnosed with thyroid nodes. I read that multiple nodules typically don't indicate cancer, but I am still scared that I will have to go through surgery to remove my thyroid gland
Also, did ring placed on thyroid medication help you feel better and/or help you lose weight?
When I was 15 I had an op to remove half of my thyroid, as there was a really large growth you could see clearly when I tilted my head back :-/. It wasn't cancerous but the nodule was growing and who knows how big it would have gotten if I hadn't had it removed.
Don't be scared! I don't need any thyroid meds because my half thyroid ended up functioning as a whole one a couple of months after the operation. A sluggish thyroid can definitely cause you to gain weight: I gained a fair bit after my operation. Most of the weight did drop off over the next couple of years without dieting though.
A few years ago I had a huge tumor on my thyroid... much larger than they usually get and first biopsy results indicated "probably" cancerous. But I had the surgery (no cancer) and the instant I woke up from the surgery, I could not believe the difference in how I felt! I had half of my thyroid and one parathyroid removed and do take meds.
The doctors said the tumor had probably been there for years, and quite likely it is partly why I gained so much weight in the first place. It's a lot of work to lose weight, but that is really true for most people. It can be done though!!
Of course it is a bit fearful for you, but I have done my research. The vast majority of thyroid nodules/tumors are benign and even the ones which are not can usually be successfully removed.
Last month, my doctor felt a nodule on my thyroid. I got an ultrasound and results indicate multiple nodules on my thyroid, so she has referred me to an endocrinologist. I can't get in til the end of January though. Lab tests indicate low thyroid levels. Doc wants to put me on thyroid medication but will wait until I see the endocrinologist.
I'm rather scared and am wondering if anyone else here has been diagnosed with thyroid nodes. I read that multiple nodules typically don't indicate cancer, but I am still scared that I will have to go through surgery to remove my thyroid gland
Also, did ring placed on thyroid medication help you feel better and/or help you lose weight?
Thanks!
Nodules are common, so is hypothyroidism. It's too bad you have to wait to be put on meds but you will feel better after a few weeks on them.
Was the surgery outpatient or was a hospital stay involved? Did they do a biopsy before surgery or not? Recovery time?
I'm not terribly worried about it being cancer, but the thought of surgery scares me. And if I do need surgery, I'm wondering how much time I will have to take off work.
It was inpatient surgery with a couple of days in hospital afterwards when I had the op. Prior to surgery, they did do a biopsy with a syringe.
It doesn't take too long for initial recovery, but the nerves and muscles in my neck went all funny and took maybe a year to recover afterwards. You need to be careful when going from lying down to sitting up or vice versa for a while.
A long time ago, when I was 19, I had surgery for Grave's disease. I have been on synthroid for 26 years. It has never ever made me lose weight. While I still think it is a little bit scary to have it done as an outpatient, it is done every day and the patients do well if they are hypothyroid. My son who is 26 has had some nodules for about 4 years, and does not yet require surgery. Talk to people, and you can message me if you need some TLC--be glad to help. One word of advice: once you are on something, do not change it. The meds are not interchangeable, but sometimes insurance will switch you to something cheaper for their own benefit. Make sure you doctor writes that down somewhere and your pharmacist knows. That has happened to me several times, and it makes me feel really bad in about 4 days if I don't catch it. Also be careful not to take it with iron products or vitamins with iron. Some people are sensitive to thyroid products, and do better taking them at night so that they sleep during the time it may upset their stomach. It's a lot to think about. You'll do fine if you do your homework!
Many thyroid nodules are - more or less- benign. They are common in people with thyroid disease. I definitely would not jump to any conclusions or fears of cancer. They are benign more often than they are not.
Yes, thyroid meds made me feel better (alleviated most symptoms of hypothyroidism) and enabled me to lose weight. Prior to being medicated, I physically could not lose weight. After being medicated, I could but still have to work at it. But it's possible now.
Two good side benefits for me with thyroid medication were that I no longer had the wild blood sugar swings (that "I gotta eat now or I will kill someone" feeling) and it also helped regulate my temper. I used to really get angry on a regular basis. That doesn't happen hardly every any more.
I have had one thyroid nodule for 9 years. I was put on Synthroid to see if it would shrink...and it DID. In the last few years it has grown a tiny bit. I, too, have an ultrasound every year. I've had a fine needle biopsy (not bad) and the nodule is benign.
I hope you see the doctor soon.
I have over 10 cyst like nodules in my thyroid a few of them have calcifications. They were discovered when I had an ultrasound after a bout with subacute thyroiditis. It has left my newly hypothyroid and on levothyroxine but I'm grateful that I was able to be treated for symptoms that some people deal with for years in a relatively short period and I'm feeling much better now. My next ultrasound may show that they were all a result of the thyroiditis, who knows, but I will need repeated ultrasounds for a long while. Either way, no biggie thus far, though I hated how I felt untreated and I hated that I had a painful goiter.
ETA: I also hate that my ticker below is not correct right now because the stupid thing caused me to gain almost 20 lbs which is ever so slowly coming off.
Last edited by moviegrl1737; 04-18-2013 at 04:44 PM.
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