Going for full thyroid panel wednesday, but please have a look at this, any thoughts?

[Inmyfeels29]

Ok friends, so i got my panel appointment for Wednesday, nodes under jaw still ouchie and prominent, but this swelling here... Becomes more or less visible kind of randomly but is always painful and i feel the thickness. I showed this pic to my friend whos a nurse but she's not so sure she said lymph node, i even was sweating profusely and felt odd so i took my temp, 96.0. Can anyone concretely identify this painful swelling?? I have like all the hypo symptoms and the only connection i could make is hashimotos, any thoughts on this?? Thanks all! Be well.

[Nelly41]

Hello! I have recently had an ultrasound on my neck due to a swelling but mine is above my right collar so horizontal rather than vertical but we do have many lymph nodes in our necks. I have one enlarged supraclavicle lymph node and it stay a certain size but occasionally it increases and looks very obvious, it is painless though and generally unnoticeable. Hopefully your doctor can examine and tell you more xx

[shaws Administrator]

Ask the doctor for a Full Thyroid Function test as suggested by Hidden .

If doctor wont do them all you can have a private test by one of our recommended labs.

Appointments should be the very earliest possible, fasting (you can drink water) and if you were on thyroid hormones you'd allow a gap of 24 hours between last dose and test and take them afterwards.

Ask GP to also test B12, Vit D, iron, ferritin and folate.

Get a copy of the results, with the ranges, from the surgery (some charge a nominal sum for paper/ink) for your own records and post if you have a query

In the meantime this is a list of clinical symptoms.

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

[Inmyfeels29 in reply to shaws]

Ok i think i know how to bring it up, and the office manager is so cool im sure she'll understand, when i requested the panel she hopped on it that second! Thanks i will get all those labs and post them

[BonnieT in reply to shaws]

I do fast before a test but hey always say meds are ok. Usually have them five hours before.

[Inmyfeels29 in reply to BonnieT]

Groovy, i never eat in the morning, and can't have caffeine or sugar so no coffe or juice there's lots of stuff i cant have since December, when i got SUPER bad, thanks for the tip doll 💞

[shaws Administrator in reply to BonnieT]

If you are having a blood test - as well as fasting you should also allow a gap of approx 24 hours between your dose of hormones and the test and take them afterwards.

[BonnieT in reply to shaws]

I'm surprised my doctor always says it's ok. I'll try it your way next time. Thanks.

[shaws Administrator in reply to BonnieT]

Due to the doctors nearly always only taking the TSH into account. It is highest very early a.m. and drops throughout the day, so if it was very low in p.m. your doctor would probably adjust your hormones to try to 'fit' the TSH within the range. We need it around 1 or lower. So we don't want unnecessary adjustments.

[Clutter]

Immyfeels29,

Ask your GP to refer you for an ultrasound scan. The lump could be a lymph node or a thyroid nodule.

[Inmyfeels29 in reply to Clutter]

Aaah zee nodule, i actually have what they said is a nodule at the base of my skull where the neck starts 😮 nothing in my body is going to surprise me with the way im feeling, plus another thing, im the dryest person in the 🌎 i drink toooons of water vut still get dry eyes lips skin and nose, and unfortunately special place... icky 😷 wonder if its sjogrens... Weak, i will do that for sure, thanks!

[Clutter in reply to Inmyfeels29]

Immyfeels29,

Your GP can test for Sjogrens. I believe a lip biopsy is the definitive test.

[Inmyfeels29 in reply to Clutter]

I foresee a lot of poking and prodding in tha near future 😷 thanks for the tip i will compare what reallyfeduo123 said with sjogrens again and best align my symptom, a double check doesnt hurt, thank you!

[Clutter in reply to Inmyfeels29]

Immyfeels29,

There is a HU Sjogrens community. Click on My Communities on the HU banner then click on +Browse Communities and type Sjogrens into the search function.

[Inmyfeels29 in reply to Clutter]

Hey thanks! Im on it

[Inmyfeels29]

My tests listed are:

THS

T3 total

Thyroid panel (free thyroid index TBR TSH T4

How do bring up that i would want these extra test, i dont want to make them mad 😕

Thank you!

[humanbean in reply to Inmyfeels29]

Total T3 isn't a useful test. You really need Free T3 instead.

You don't need Total T4 either, you need Free T4 instead.

So you could save money on the unnecessary tests.

For a full list of recommended labs this link is useful :

stopthethyroidmadness.com/r...

However, if you are only at the start of checking out your thyroid then you don't need Reverse T3. That is a very expensive test and only needs to be done if problems arise with treatment. And it could probably be avoided even then in many cases.

From the link above, you need 1, 2 and 4 as a minimum. It would be wise to do 5, 7 and 9 as well. The others can be done later, if you run into problems.

If you are worried that they will cause trouble for you, take a friend or relative with you as a witness. It usually helps.

You might like to read this link too :

thyroidmanager.org/chapter/...

and this link from the same page :

thyroidmanager.org/chapter/...

The author of the above page is :

Carole A. Spencer, Ph.D.

Professor of Medicine University of Southern California, Director USC Endocrine Laboratories, USC Endocrine Laboratory 126 W. Del Mar Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91105-2508, Department of Medicine Univ of Southern Calif, Medical School 2025 Zonal Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90033-4526

so her opinions should carry a bit of weight!

[Inmyfeels29]

Well that is a super idea, unfortunately every time i try to make q a llist my doctors either refuse to look at it or glance at it and go, oh, my doctors dont seem interested in symptoms, mainly test results and they listen, are you in UK? I live in California USA, the medical industry here is pretty much a joke, is it pretty good where you are? I will however do this again because i am not opposed to any advice, we'll see what goes down, thanks so much!

[Heloise in reply to Inmyfeels29]

Hi Inmyfeels, I've been posting videos by John Bergman who seems to know everything about human anatomy and function. He happens to be in Huntington Beach, but CA is a big place There has been a series online for the past five days all about autoimmunity and why the immune system starts reacting. One condition like Hashimoto's (autoimmune) can also proceed to Sjogren's and then another. You have to find out what is the trigger whether it's leaky gut or some nutrient deficiency. Healthy fats are becoming more important and often avoided.

I've been posting a short summary after each episode because they are only online for one day. There are a few more to go and I think you would learn a lot from listening to the interviews and there is a lot to learn. Yesterday's episode was about stress. thethyroidsecret.com/episod...

[Inmyfeels29 in reply to Heloise]

Thank you! I used to live, in HB in the early 90s! Right across from the ocean. I wouldn't want to live there today tho, it's so crowded, im very interested in this, thanks doll

[Heloise in reply to Inmyfeels29]

Hmmm, are you close enough to get there? I would love an appointment but I'm in NY state.

youtube.com/watch?v=IdSeqUW...(Not working as expected?)

[Inmyfeels29 in reply to Heloise]

Yes I'm still close, i wonder if he accepts insurance

[Heloise in reply to Inmyfeels29]

I've followed many of his videos for a couple of years and he even offered a very low cost consultation once. He seems pretty sincere so maybe he'll work with you.

[Inmyfeels29]

Well i guess it doesn't matter where you are, the 🌎 is full of professional idiots, its exactly that here, do you have a problem with big pharm? All the doctors are booboo bandagers, unless you find the right one i suppose, there are a few out there somewhere

[Inmyfeels29]

Connecticut huh? Well there's my first vacation, thanks so much for the info!

[Inmyfeels29]

I looked at my latest labs, sodium at 134, range is 135-150, one point low 💣

[Inmyfeels29]

Well i gotta get the rest of the thyroid panel paperwork tomorrow, i will ask for that test as well, whatever it is, idk my heads a spinnin 😌 thank you

[Inmyfeels29]

Well my Dr wouldn't give me the ferritin test, he said a psychiatrist had to do it?? Is that normal? Should i see a psych or go to a walk in lab and hope to be reimbursed?

[crabapple in reply to Inmyfeels29]

It sounds to me like wires crossed somewhere. Have a look here to see what ferritin test is.

labtestsonline.org.uk/under...

[Inmyfeels29 in reply to crabapple]

Should i call and just plainly request an iron test without using this word ferritin that seems to baffle my doctors, they couldnt even find it in their system and insisted it was the same as serotonin

[RedApple Administrator in reply to Inmyfeels29]

Inmyfeels29, How about asking for an 'iron panel' or an 'iron status check'. That should include both iron and ferritin.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to Inmyfeels29]

Did you say this over the telephone?

I find it very common to hear someone say a word like "slow" - coming out sounding like "flow" due to the loss of the sibilant 's'. Trouble is, we become so used to compensating for this, that we sometimes overdo it and think the person said "slow" when they really did say "flow".

"ferritin" could (just about) be perceived as "serritin" then mangled further to "serotonin".

As you are in the USA, do what everyone else seems to do, ask for a "full iron panel"! Such as this:

questdiagnostics.com/testce...

(But note that not all iron panels include ferritin! Check.)

[Inmyfeels29 in reply to helvella]

I said it on the phone 2x and she said she couldn't locate the test, so she googled it (or so she said) and she asked the Dr, he said the test was too similar to seritonin test and psych would have to order which doesnt sound right to me

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to Inmyfeels29]

If anyone needs a psychiatrist, it's the doctor who cannot fathom "ferritin"!

Some areas of the UK make it difficult to get any other sort of iron test! They use ferritin as a sort of screening test - if that is OK, there couldn't possibly be anything else wrong. (Rubbish, but that is how they argue.)

[Inmyfeels29 in reply to helvella]

Well i just called and she said the best she could do was an iron test that may or may not include ferritin, aaand she called it seritonin AGAIN even after i explained it was for iron!

[crabapple]

That doesn't sound good. I'm going to ask shaws & humanbean to come and explain about the difference. I'm not at all sure myself.

[humanbean in reply to crabapple]

Inmyfeels29

If you have doctors that don't know what ferritin is I think you should run a mile! It is such a basic thing for them to know! I mean, really basic - medicine 101 !

Ferritin is a measure of your iron stores and is used in investigating the possibility of iron deficiency anaemia. Low ferritin is common in severe fatigue and tiredness. It has nothing to do with any kind of psychiatric condition. High ferritin is also a sign of various other kinds of iron problem or anaemia.

irondisorders.org/Websites/...

labtestsonline.org/understa...