could you take a quick look and let me know your thoughts

[bestbuddy]

As you know the consultant I have been under this last month (hospital admittance for high BP & racing heart) has now referred me on to see an endocrinologist on Thursday. I have never seen one before despite being hypothyroid for many years.

Do you think the swelling in my neck is thyroid related? It is soft and spongy and hurts from time to time. Nothing hard or lumpy just seems swollen. Fluid? Should I show this at the consultation? Some days it seems more pronounced than others and strangely, it seems more noticeable in the mirror or in a photograph.

Any thoughts appreciated.

BB

[bestbuddy]

sorry the picture is sideways... it wasn't when I uploaded it honestly!

[shaws in reply to bestbuddy]

You've done better than me as I haven't uploaded anything whatsoever.

It's right you've been referred to an Endo, I think you should have been long ago. Your neck is definitely swollen. Maybe you've been undertreated for a long time.

A decent Endocrinologist should palpate your neck anyway but you can clearly see you have a swelling. Someone who has had a goitre will give their opinion.

Always get a copy of your blood test results for your thyroid gland from the GP each time with the ranges so that you can post them for members to comment. So many doctors keep their patients within the reference range which is not a good idea for many of us.

Undertreatment of hypothyroidism can give you palpitations as well as high blood pressure.

I hope you get a good, sympathetic Endocrinologist and hope you feel better soon.

[Clutter]

Looks swollen to me, BB. Make sure the endo examines it. I hope the consultation goes well.

[honey53bee]

You can definitely see your neck's swollen. It seems crazy that you haven't been referred to an endocrinologist before now. I don't know if this is the same thing but to cut a very long story short, in my own case, I've had neck swelling for months and finally managed to get an ultrasound of my neck which revealed a small, multi-nodular goitre. My blood results were in the so called 'normal' range. (I'm also a newly diagnosed hypothyroid, despite having symptoms for several years, so that's another factor). I'd always suspected I might have a goitre but was always told nothing could be felt on examination. Having said that, out of the numerous neck examinations I've had, only two medics actually felt as if they knew how to do it properly and thoroughly. I was pleased to be vindicated though and on the back of the ultrasound started treatment.

Just a thought, ahead of Thursday, why not write down all your symptoms and how long you've had them to give the endocrinologist a bit of background information. When I was seeing my endo about my thyroid, I found that it saved time when I saw him and helped me to keep focused, especially when I was having a foggy brain day. As well as taking some questions to ask, I took some photographs along (which I asked to put in my medical records with the symptom list) of how I looked when I was ill (eg. bald patches on hair, etc) to support what I was saying and help build up the vital evidence. So, take your photos along. It's useful to compare them later when you start getting better. Good luck for Thursday.

[bestbuddy]

Thank you for your comments, so it's not my imagination then. The trouble is, will all the autoimmune symptoms going on, it will be hard to focus on the most pressing. That said, I will take the photo and my rather long symptom list and hopefully someone can begin to join up all the dots, my rheumatologist certainly isn't doing so.

[shaws in reply to bestbuddy]

Hi bestbuddy,

This is a link for a symptoms list. I am sure you can tick quite a few off.

Just to say, if you reply to a comment you have to rpess the yellow Reply to this otherwise the person isn't emailed. If you've had a few replies, you can always put 'see below' so you don't have to repeat.

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_...