Thyroid very small

[bossbird]

Hello a friend who has thyroid issues when she was examined the dr struggled to find her thyroid

[Hashihouseman]

Because doctors know the thyroid is an imaginary gland that does not in fact exist but can be blamed for a wide range of imaginary signs snd symptoms thus validating many patients hypochondriasis.

[humanbean]

In Hashimoto's the thyroid gland often swells to create a goitre / goiter.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hashi...

In Ord's Thyroiditis the thyroid gland shrinks / atrophies.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ord%2...

Almost nobody seems to remember Dr Ord these days. I have read suggestions that Hashi's and Ord's are the same condition at different stages after onset of autoimmune hypothyroidism.

The treatment for Ord's is the same as it is for any other type of hypothyroidism - replacement of the missing hormones.

[Hidden in reply to humanbean]

Mine has shrunk. I have hashis.

[humanbean in reply to Hidden]

You might have had Ord's rather than Hashi's. But it seems that Dr Ord is no longer remembered, and all autoimmune hypothyroidism is referred to as Hashi's.

And besides, with antibodies slowly destroying the thyroid it will eventually shrink even in cases of Hashi's.

[Hidden in reply to humanbean]

It's hard to know if Ord or Hashi. Diagnosis is Hashi and I had high antibodies of one, but not the other, type. I've just looked up Ord's.

It looks like the main difference is simply the presence or absence of a hyper stage. I wasn't aware of a hyper phase. I first had post partum thyroiditis, which apparently does have a hyper phase before it goes hypo. I felt great after my baby - the usual I've-just-had-a-baby-and-am-up-in-the-night-breastfeeding tired, of course, but well and lost the pregnancy weight easily etc. Then I started to gain weight again and didn't feel well any more. So I guess that first bit after the baby must have been a bit hyper but honestly I felt fine until the hypo stage. It certainly isn't something I'd have treated medically!

[SlowDragon Administrator]

She needs full Thyroid and vitamin testing to see how badly function is effected.