Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Thyroid

I have to get yearly physical for work along with a tb test. I made an appointment and went today. Apparently I called the on-call place rather than my primary physician. When I showed up at 5 and the office said it closed at 4 I was confused. Someone let me in since they saw me outside and my physician said he'd do the physical since it would be quick. I couldn't thank him enough for doing that.

Everything was fine until he looked at me and said, "What's going on with that goiter?" huh? When I heard the word goiter I was instantly transported to disturbing images. He proceeded to feel my thyroid and told me it was enlarged.

The thing that surprised me most is that I see an endocrinologist and no mention of this has ever been made. I told him I had my tsh levels checked last week and they were in the normal range. He asked me to call or bring in those results and said he wants to refer me for an ultrasound of my thyroid.

I just hope we can get it all sorted out. Anyone have any experiences with an enlarged thyroid and normal tsh hormone levels?

4 comments:

  1. My thyroid has never been enlarged (I dont think!) but I am on meds for thyroid issues. I love your new layout! I can read it better now :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love the new layout! I posted today about my latest visit with my thyroid specialist. He's careful to check my neck all the time now. I would ask for an ultrasound of your thyroid. Even if your levels are normal and your antibodies appear to be under control, in some very rare cases, your body may still be attacking your thyroid gland. That's what was happening with me. My thyroid specialist found it this summer. He couldn't figure out why my levels appeared to be normal but I continued to be so symptomatic and without cycles when I was off of fertility treatments. He ordered an ultrasound and found very quickly that it was inflamed and still being attacked. The solution was to put me on the brand name synthroid rather than a generic brand like levothyroxine. My insurance won't cover the brand name, but I'm so glad I followed his instructions. Three months later I was pregnant without the help of treatments (which our fertility doctors felt would be impossible).

    Another thing he's very careful about in terms of hypothyroidism and pregnancy: he said I need to be on a prenatal with plenty of iodine since it aids thyroid functioning during pregnancy. Also, he said Vitamin D needs to be carefully monitored in pregnant women with thyroid issues. He has me coming in every trimester while pregnant.

    Hope things get sorted out for you!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I did! They put me on thyroid meds and they helped me feel so much better and normalize my cycle. Any question just let me know I've done a ton ton of reading and doctors visits and all that jaz on my thyroid.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Make sure they do a full thyroid panel. T4, T3, Free T4, and T3 and TSH. Tsh is the most important but you really need all of them.

    ReplyDelete