Nodules on right lobe of thyroid

[Mrs_]

Hi everyone,

This is my first post on here. Just looking for some advice. I have had a goitre for at least 7 years which was scanned intially around 4 years ago the doctors lost my results so I had a scan a couple of months ago and was told I had nodules on the right lobe but they were benign - Is this possible to tell off a scan. I keep on having bloods as I have lots of hypothyroid symptoms but my Doctor keeps telling me I am fine. My last TSH was 4.9 and 6 months previous it was 4.3. I am now anaemic and was told to manage it by my diet and no treatment has been given. Is this normal treatment?

[greygoose]

Depends on your definition of 'normal'. It's not right, that's for sure, but it frequently happens.

You are actually hypo when your TSH hits 3 on two consecutive tests, but NSH doctors like it to reach 10 before they will daigne to diagnose. You'd think the goitre would give them a clue, wouldn't you? But, they are truly clueless!

[Mrs_ in reply to greygoose]

Thanks i thought as much, do you know if I paid to go private I would be treated?

[greygoose in reply to Mrs_]

I have no idea. It depends so much on the individual doctor, his knowledge and his attitudes.

[Clutter]

Welcome to the forum, Mrs_.

Thyroid nodules <1cm are rarely malignant. Thyroid nodules >2cm are usually fine needle aspiration biopsied in the UK to rule out malignancy.

Ask your GP receptionist for your recent thyroid and other blood results and ranges and post them in a new question for advice. NHS will usually treat hypothyroidism when TSH is over range. There are several types of anaemia, iron, B12 and folate, and they all require treatment to correct anaemia. If diet could do it you wouldn't have become anaemic in the first place.

[Mrs_ in reply to Clutter]

Thankyou I will start a new post but all iron, b12 and folate are low and my dr sent my bloods to the lab saying i was already on tyroxin so its a little confusing. Thanks for the advice I will try a new post.

[Clutter in reply to Mrs_]

Mrs_,

If they are all low they all need treating. We can advise when we see the results.

[Hidden]

You are highly likely hypothyroid with a TSH that high whether the doctors think so or not.

I suspect it may not be possible whether a goitre is benign or not without taking it out first. Certainly I was not told one way or the other on both occasions I had ops for goitre and multinodular goitre until after the ops.

The docs need to keep a watch on how your goitre behaves as it can suddenly change and start to strangle you internally. It is likely that it will have to be removed one day but the docs take the idea of any operation on the thyroid gland very seriously indeed as it can be very dangerous.

If they start to tell you that a goitre does not affect your health and hypo symptoms, then they really need to go back to medical college and actually listen to what the lecturers tell them.

[Mrs_ in reply to Hidden]

Hi thanks for your reply. It is so frustrating to deal with and when I asked my Dr how they knew if it was benign or not he didn't have an answer and just said that is what the report says. I will have my results later on so I will post them. Thanks again

[mrneduc]

I had a 5x2 cm nodule which I was told was 90% sure to be malignant. It wasn't. I had 2 fine needle aspirations which were indeterminate. You should perhaps ask for a FNA to put your mind at rest

[Mrs_ in reply to mrneduc]

Thanks for your reply. I felt a bit fobbed off by my Dr as when I questioned the results and said I understood that the NHS may not fund the FNA or biopsy but I was willing to go private his response was that you can have anything done if you go private and suggested they would do unnecessary work if I asked them to. Thanks again

[mrneduc]

It's apparently difficult to diagnose thyroid lumps so you need scans and FNA. Maybe yours was a clear no so they felt it was safe to leave. I don't know anyone who had a definite diagnosis from a FNA they always seem to be indeterminate

[Mrs_ in reply to mrneduc]

Thanks for the reply. the scan did show thyroid nodules but i didnt see the report the dr just said they were benign which i thought would be impossible to diagnose off a scan only but he seemed quite confident they were. thanks again for the reply.