please help im a little scared.........

[MrsBargirl]

I had a TT 5yrs ago have had a hard time with pain/nerve damage, I was at the Pain Clinic last friday & was telling the Dr that the right side of my neck feels tight & like its swelled. he has ordered me a scan, i think i can feel a flat roundish lump, think pancake flat!He has taken me off Lyrica & onto Nortrityline 10mg every night. Has this happened to anyone else so long after surgery??

[Hidden]

Hi - just wanted to reply (just a fellow sufferer).

It's good you have been sent for a scan, I hope they can sort it - I presume you must be on Levo or other thyroid hormone replacement after a TT.

I had a PT after they found a dodgy nodule, but not treated for hypo symptoms. They were originally looking at possible nerve entrapment at the neck for the cause of pain. But I found it wasn't that, it was low Vitamin D. I know I harp on about vitamins and minerals but I have to, as they are important too, and they can help ease the pain, as in my case.

All I can suggest is to get these checked out - irons, ferritin, folate, B12 and Vit D. The last two especially, if low can cause pain and nerve trouble - so worth checking and sorting first (it can take awhile). Low B12 can lead to nerve damage over time. Just some options to consider & eliminate - hope it helps. J

[MrsBargirl in reply to Hidden]

thank you, my vocal chord was damaged so thats where the nerve damage comes from, i have had these checked recently along with thyroid levels. i currently take 75mcg thyroxine.

[Hennerton in reply to MrsBargirl]

Just a thought. You are on a very low dose of Thyroxine considering you have had TT. The reason I mention is that I had TT in 2006. My consultant started me on 125mcg afterwards but I found I had symptoms of being overactive and gradually reduced to 75, which I seemed able to tolerate. When I went for my final appointment 9 months later, the surgeon said he had never known anyone with TT on such a low dose. A few months later I began to realize he was right and increased it to 100 one day, 75 the next and stayed on that. Now, years later I know that even this was never enough and for the last year have been trying to find the perfect combo of medication to ease all my aches and stiffness and other symptoms. I just wondered why you are on Nortrityline and whether it has anything to do with thyroid levels being too low. The knock on effect of low thyroid on the whole body is huge but not something that doctors really understand.

I realize your neck is your immediate problem right now but it may be an idea to ask your doc to do a full thyroid test to check your Free T4 and most important Free T3. Sorry not to answer your immediate question but hope you may find it useful eventually to explore the possibility of a higher dose, which could help in many ways. Good luck with the scan. xx

[roslin]

I have a lot of scar tissue and adhesions after the surgeries( had a hemispherectomy and then the whole out within a couple of months). So mine is all lumpy, and my wind pipe is slightly pulled to one side due to scar tissue. Be careful with Nortriptyline and thyroxine.

roslin

[shaws Administrator]

I always wonder why people who have had a TT are not given, at the very least, levothyroxine with some T3.

If you can get a copy of your latest thyroid gland blood test results complete with the ranges and post them which will enable members to comment. You might be undermedicated. Always get a copy of your blood tests for your own records. We are entitled to them.

[Tiredmummyoftwo1982]

Wow that is a really low dose, I'm on 275 t4 and 20 of t3 after a TT 11 years ago. If I reduce any lower I get lots of hypo symptoms

[MrsBargirl]

these are previous blood results

T4=18.5 pmol/L 10.6-22.7

TSH= 0.49mu/L 0.3-4.5

previous results were T4=17.7

TSH= 2.11

I really dont understand them & find all this info a bit overwhelming, my pain clinic dr knows what meds im on too.

[shaws Administrator in reply to MrsBargirl]

If you email [e-mail] and ask for a copy of the Pulse Online article by Dr Toft and you will see (Q6) - that he says that we can have a low or suppressed TSH if it makes us feel better or the addition of T3 to a reduced T4. Give a copy to your GP so that you can discuss it with him. Adding T3 to my meds did make an enormous difference and I didn't have a TT - just hypo.