Thyroid feels hard.

[jhealthunlocked]

Hi, all. I am in the process of optimizing my thyroid dose (am currently on 2.75 grains of NDT as of two weeks ago, having had negative experiences with synthetic T4, synthetic T3, and various combinations of these + NDT over the past 4 years). I noticed today that my thyroid is now rock hard to the touch. Is this normal or perhaps just part of what happens sometimes before one is optimized? As a side note: I was diagnosed with a goiter and 2 nodules about 3 years ago but the thyroid has been small since I got to a TSH suppressive dose some years ago. The hardness seems equal on both sides of the thyroid. Thanks for any input.

[Hidden]

Hello julie11,

Well done for making the thyroid med change. I hope it makes a big difference.

I don't know what the hardness of your thyroid is, maybe nodules that didn't shrink? I would suggest you get it checked out.

Wishing you well

flower007

[jhealthunlocked in reply to Hidden]

thanks, flower

[helvella Administrator]

It seems possible you have Riedel's thyroiditis.

Have a read here:

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

[jhealthunlocked in reply to helvella]

thanks, helvella. it seems as though this is a remarkably rare disease. i don't have any other signs of it, no compression in the neck or throat, etc. have you ever heard of anyone who actually had this disease or is there anyone on here who has had it?

[helvella Administrator in reply to jhealthunlocked]

Yes - I have heard of someone.

Have a look:

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu....

There have been a few mentions here - plug Riedel into the search box.

[helvella Administrator in reply to jhealthunlocked]

This paper points out the difficulty of deciding between Riedel's and "the fibrous variant of Hashimoto thyroiditis". I know little of this fibrous variant.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/225...

In my book, you need proper scans - probably MRI and ultrasound - and, possibly, fine needle aspiration.

[jhealthunlocked in reply to helvella]

thanks, helvella.