Please help.....Surgery or not surgery?? I have had an under active thyroid for 15 years. I am only 29. ...

[bucklemyshoe]

For 12 years it was stable and i was on 25 mg with no problems what so ever. Since i had my son (second child) 3 years ago it has been very unstable. I have gradually increased up to 175mg.

I have awful symptoms tiredness, depression, migraines, weight gain, hair loss, dry skin on scalp, memory loss and general feeling shit.

I have a very large gioter. Enlarged on one side. I have been advised to have it removed. I get terrible neck ache and struggle to swallow at times and sometimes heive when eating.

I am very worried about what will happen if I have my thyroid removed. Can you help me???

[Hidden]

Are you being treated by an Endo or has GP referred you to ENT specialist? I would want an endocrinologist monitoring treatment with thyroxine rather than GP.

Your ENT consultant needs to have huge experience of thyroid removal and not just be a general ENT consultant. I went on a website it was Dr Foster health or NHS website and you typed in hospital and it told you how many thyroid removal operations had been carried out at hospital. I went on hospital website and into ENT consultants and read the jargon about each consultant. I googled private hospitals in area, found out where these consultants worked privately and read what was said on the private hospitals websites. I then phoned their private practice secretaries and enquired about how many thyroidectomies they carried out per year. When I met surgeon I asked him outright how experienced he was. He was lovely, very knowledgeable and I knew within first few sentences he was the man.

I had partial thyrodectomy 27 Dec. My scar is neat, thin like a pencil mark and straight. Endos referred me and I see them end Feb to discuss treatment with thyroxine. A nodule was found on my thyroid and they could not tell if it was cancer.Luckily it wasn't. The Endo told me this nodule will grow and you will need surgery. It may be 5 years, 10 years who knows but you will need it. They said its best to have the surgery sooner rather than later as complications can arise because of the structures nearby in the throat.

This op costs £4500 to have done privately. The way things are going with funding in the NHS in a few years you probably will have to pay privately to have this op because it will be deemed as a cosmetic procedure unless it becomes life threatening. I had the op carried out in a private hospital paid by the NHS. Overnight stay in hospital home next day. Back to normal in a week.

[bucklemyshoe]

Thanks so much.

I have moved area recently so changed doctors. I am seeing a specialist this month and he is a surgent. How did you get the nhs to pay for the private procedure.

Im so unsure whether tohave it done but it is so huge. It gives me ear aches sbd neckache. People always notice it too.

[Hidden]

The hospital I attend use the private hospital for this type of op. I would have had It done at the NHS hospital the surgeon was so good but he did it at the private hospital. Can't stress enough do your research on surgeon. The one I had performed hundreds of these ops a year. Whereabouts are you in the country? . I had mine done at Cambridge.

[bucklemyshoe in reply to Hidden]

Im in Chesterfield. I will see what my specialist sats this month x

Thank you x

[Danifox6 in reply to Hidden]

Did you by any chance see an nhs endobat Addenbrookes ??

[bucklemyshoe in reply to Danifox6]

No not yet. Why is he good or bad x

[Danifox6 in reply to bucklemyshoe]

My reply is to Chickens 12

[Hidden]

I don't know the hospitals in that area. You are having symptoms from growth, you can notice it I would want it removed. Good luck

[Clutter]

I'd certainly want the goiter removed to ease the problems and pain you're suffering. Ask your specialist whether it's possible to do this without removing the other lobe, unless that's also unhealthy or packed in.

I've had a total thyroidectomy and I'm on a much lower dose of thyroxine than you, so maybe no thyroid is better than a malfunctioning one.

[bucklemyshoe]

I'm on 175 mg. It's a nightmare. X

[bucklemyshoe]

Ok well thanks for the help. I will speak to my new specialist in the 27 th and see what they suggest. Still got to have my bloods done after b increased thyroxine.