Thyroid Conditions

I have a multinodal goiter.  I was diagnosed about 8 years ago and have been on armour thyroid (60 mg/day) to try to suppress the growth and alos to address hypo symptoms I was experiencing.  The thyroid is still growing and the last ultrasound they said it is starting to push against my windpipe (even diverting it).  The largest node went from about 1.5 cm x 2 cm to now about 4.5 cm x 3.5 cm.  There are other nodes all over the place. 

I don't want to get it out bc I don't want to depend totally on the meds.  I'm alos a little cautious about vocal cord and parathyroid damage from surgery.

My doctor is leaning toward, if not outright recommending this, but it is my choice.  She says the suppression therapy has not worked and the thyroid will likely keep growing.

Any thoughts on this?

Thanks!

Pink

Hi Pink,

Welcome to our board.

Your situation sounds similar to mine.  In my case, I had my right lobe removed way back in 1975.  I just had the rest of my thyroid (left lobe) removed in early September after living with hyperthyroidism and a multinodular goiter for about 20 years.  I was never on meds for it but in the last year or more, the nodules kept growing and the effects of being hyper for so long were a big concern for my endocrinologist.

I did choose the surgery and my parathyroids and vocal cords were okay.  However, I still haven't recovered my "singing" voice and I'm a bit hoarse especially when I talk a lot during my teaching.  I'm told this is all temporary but will take six months to a year to get it back.

I can't make the decision for you but in my case, I finally did have to give in and deal with it.  I just had bloodwork done and will see how the thyroid meds are working.  It's not a big deal to take the pill every day and I actually feel the same so far....which makes me wonder if my dose is too much.  We'll see when I get the test results back.

Let us know what you decide.  As I'm sure you know, it's very important to have a surgeon that is very experienced in this procedure.

 

Calley7

I have been hypothyroid almost a year. Today I went to the doc because I have had a hard time sleeping. she had my thyroid tested because she thinks it may be hyper thyroid.

I feel restless, cant sleep, just feel edgy. Had an EKG and it's fine but BP is 150/86.

Have to wait a week before getting results. Ugh! What can we do to help ourselves while waiting to know for sure? This feeling really sucks!

Jan