some advice ?

Hello

I had a right lobectomy 20 years ago after some nodules were diagnosed

I had one follow up with the surgeon and asked whether or not I needed medication and was told " no - that lobe wasn't working anyway, so your hormone levels won't be affected"

I thought this rather odd - but accepted what the rather brusque man told me.

I have struggled with obesity for about 28 years - and whenever I go on a diet I can usually lose 2.5 stones in weight- but despite attending a gym three times a week I simply cannot get past the 2.5 stones loss

so of course, I give up and put the weight back on

I have very dry and thin hair and dry skin ( but have always had that) and now I am 54 my energy levels are really depleted

I am type 2 diabetic and on anti depressants for the past 6 years

I have had general Thyroid Function Tests throughout the past 20 years as part of my ongoing blood tests for the diabetes - but my GP has never flagged up a problem with the results

I was chatting to an acquaintance yesterday and she was shocked that I am not on any medication and thought that the reason i can't lose more than the 2.5 stone could be because of my thyroid

sorry for the long post- I know sometimes it helps to have some context - so my question is - has anyone else here had a partial lobectomy and NOT been prescribed medication ? and the second part- if I decide to have private blood tests taken - which ones would be the most appropriate for me ?

thanks in anticipation

[dolphin5]

Yes, I had 20 years between having my first partial thyroidectomy, and my second. After the first I had no medication, but they only removed a small portion of the gland.

What you need to do is to ask for a printout of your thyroid test results so that you can post them on here. Lots of people will then be able to tell you whether you appear to need medication.

What doctors do is to just check that you are within a "normal" range (if they check T3 or T4). Often they only look at the tsh, and they don't worry if it's a bit high. Most doctors don't prescribe treatment until the tsh is very high, and this is usually after the patient has many negative symptoms.

[whiterat]

They haven't given me any medication after my partial thyroidectomy for Hurtle cell tumor over two years ago. I ache all over now its cold weather and stay at home more. Don't work, due to not feeling strong enough. Going to have private blood test soon. I suspect I have hashimotos but not been told. They tested antibodies but I didn't get told the result before my op. Was just glad it wasn't cancer and grateful after three months to get my speech back to normal.

[Tamzin27]

Hi,

I had a partial lobectomy 7 years ago and a second lobectomy 3 weeks ago. I wasn't prescribed any medication when I had the first lobectomy. I was much more tired and put on weight too, but never thought of asking for Thyroxine. I always blamed my symptoms on other things, until a doctor put me on 25 mcg Levothyroxine 7 years later. I immediately felt energise but haven't lost weight. My tiredness improved massively though. Unfortunately, I've had to have the whole thyroid removed 3 weeks ago due to constant pain and multiple nodules.

Don't know if this helps. Good luck.

Tamzin27