Thyroid removed

[Peanutx]

Hi I've got an overactive thyroid which has come back after only three years, went to the clinic on Tuesday and was told they will remove it. Is it right that they have to get the levels down before they remove it?

[Peanutx]

Thank you, only when I went the doctor she is putting me on a higher doze of carbimazole and has sent me for a scan and then wants to see me in August and then will have it removed?

[Heloise]

You may want to read this about being thyroidless.

stopthethyroidmadness.com/2...

[alangardner]

never EVER forget that THEY cannot force you to have any treatment or surgery YOU HAVE TO AGREE TO THE PROCEDURE , you need to check out ALL of the options -- the benefits and the pitfalls -- of each way that you go ,,,,, never forgetting that once its gone -- if it doesn't work -- you cannot put it back or replace it ,,,,, and as follow up treatments are so erratic you need to weigh up ALL of your options before deciding and not be forced into something that may or may not be the 'easier /cheaper ' option for THEM at this time to the detriment of your health ....alan x

[Peanutx in reply to alangardner]

Thank you

[Silver_Fairy]

Please research removal of the thyroid. As Alan said, they cannot force you. Many do better after having their thyroid removed but many dont. Endos tend to want to be able to discharge you back to your GP to be treated when you become hypO.

You could always ask to go back on to Carbimazole (at whatever dose helps) and see how you go.

Do you have Graves antibodies?

[Tigreg]

In my case, here in France, prior to my TT, they put me on Carbimazole for about 6 weeks in order to get the levels within the reference ranges. Once the levels corrected, they put me on iodine drops (Lugol) for about 6 days prior to operating. Hope this helps.

[Peanutx in reply to Tigreg]

Yes thank you from what I understood that's what she said that I have to be well before they remove it. I can't have the iodine because I have 3 children a I wouldn't be able to be near them for a month

[Tigreg in reply to Peanutx]

No Peantx, the iodine (Lugol) prior to thyroidectomy is not radioactive. It's just normal iodine given to enlarge the thyroid before operating in order to make it easier as reallyfedup123 wrote.

I was also told that they actually recommend removal by thyroidectomy rather than by RAI. Apparently with RAI you can never be sure that they removed everything.....?

[linlow]

Unless you have other complications that you haven't mentioned, surgery for an overactive thyroid is so 'last century'! Particularly without doing other investigations first. Do follow the other suggestions here to investigate alternative options AND the effects you may/will suffer - they do not stop at going hypothyroid. My aunt had her thyroid removed and ended up living the rest of her life with a tracheostomy, as a consequence, when it all went wrong. I'm not saying that that is a regular occurrence just part of the bigger picture you need to look at.

Although this site drhyman.com/blog/2010/10/09... isn't discussing thyroid issues it is concerned with resetting the immune system, just one area you should be looking at. This one is about hyperthyroidism watchfit.com/general-health.... This one discusses the connection between leaky gut (something that can be cured with live kefir) and graves disease though it doesn't discuss the actions of T1 and T2 the part they play in autoimmune disorders doctordoni.com/2015/10/grav...

You have time so do do your research

[mrsm49]

My consultant (and most others it seems) told me it was a simple thing of just taking a daily pill after thyroidectomy. Now the stats say that for 80/85% of people with no thyroid that is true so hopefully you don't need to worry. If like me you'd prefer to know the ins and outs then read on, if not then don't read further and remember most people are fine post TT once yr over the operation itself.

However for the others left It's far from simple, there are a number of "ducks" that you need to get in a row post TT ,like b12,vit d, folate,ferritin,calcium,magnesium and these must b a certain level and NOT just in range.

Then you need to get the right thyroid medication, there's problems with dosage (sometimes people need a dose in between pill sizes so you'll need to break tiny tablets up) Changes in doseages can take 6/8weeks to stabilise as there's often a symptom lag. Sometimes you'll need to try a different brand of levo as some react to the different fillers. Sometimes people would be better with adding t3 to their levo, or taking NDT or just t3 but you'll probably need to source a t3 friendly endo as most aren't.

Many other things like stress, illness, menopause can affect the medication you need so as you go through life you may need to change what yr on. Some feel better in summer than winter.

Getting the right raft of blood tests (ft3 is vital) to see what's happening in your body is a trial in itself, even if you can get the gp/endo to order the tests you need, the actual lab sometimes decides you don't need them! Then if you actually get the tests you need not many seem to be able to understand them but even if they do they need to take account of yr physical symptoms too.

Basically you'll need to educate yourself using sites like this so you can take control. Writing a log of symptoms and monitoring things like resting pulse ,morning temp is extremely useful and in conjunction with blood tests will help decide the best treatment plan.

So for the 15/20% of people that don't respond in a "textbook" way there is light at the end of the tunnel! I'm getting there myself, I can't tell you how much better I am with advice from these sites . I wish you well with your decision. Take care x

[Peanutx in reply to mrsm49]

Thank you x