Please tell me your experience of having a thyroid ultrasound

[MiniMum97]

I am thinking of paying for a thyroid ultrasound privately to provide a definitive confirmation of whether I have hashimoto's or not. I had a heart ultrasound a few months ago though and they had to press REALLY hard and it was very uncomfortable. I don't fancy that pressure/discomfort/pain on my thyroid which is often a bit uncomfortable/feels slightly swollen anyway. If you've had a ultrasound can you tell me what it was like and whether you found it uncomfortable/painful? Do they have to press hard? I suspect that as the thyroid is next to the skin they can be a bit more gentle but perhaps not?

[greygoose]

I've had lots of ultra sounds on all sorts of bits. And, I have to say the worst was the heart, second only to the veins in my legs! The thyroid ultrasound didn't really leave any sort of memory, so I guess it was ok. I just remember the technician saying "Well, it's not very big", as if a) that proved something, and b) was due to something I'd done wrong. lol No, I don't remember it being even uncomfortable, let alone painful. Messy, but painless.

[MiniMum97 in reply to greygoose]

Thank you that’s really helpful. And why do med profs do that! Make comments like something they find in your body is your fault! Lol!

[greygoose in reply to MiniMum97]

Probably makes them feel superior, I don't know. But, it could just be ignorance.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Is your endo private or NHS

If NHS, push them to do ultrasound. It is normally done with Hashimoto's if situation not clear...as your is

[MiniMum97 in reply to SlowDragon]

NHS I’ll think about asking for one. Just trying to pick my battles really feeling a bit done battling.

[MelonJ]

I hope you don’t mind me jumping in on your post MiniMum97,

Just wondering if anyone can answer this, is it usually an ENT you see to get a US scan?

I’ve just started treatment for UAT (I have hashi), and I asked for a referral for a US scan. My Dr said no point that won’t help for UAT! Anyway, she did refer me to ENT because I said about hoarse throat, pressure and snoring. Are ENT likely to do a US scan?

Thanks x

[MiniMum97 in reply to MelonJ]

Hi I don't mind at all, but you are likely to get more responses to your question if you start a new thread. I am afraid I don't know the answer to your questions

[Hidden]

I had an ultrasound of my thyroid in Oct 2015 when living in France it was fine and not at all uncomfortable. I suppose it depends on your thyroid. The cost just out of interest was only 34.80 euros.

[MiniMum97 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you for replying. Good to know that two people at least did not find it painful. The heart one was very uncomfortable and painful at times and I was not expecting it hence my question! 34.80 euros is cheap! The cheapest I have found is £120.

[Hidden]

Yes although people have to pay in France everything is cheaper. For instance 23 euros to visit the GP who takes a minimum of half an hour with you, 60% of this is reinstated to you bank account, so only 40% is actually payable. Most life time medicine is FOC also life saving operations. In the UK working people pay all their lives and most do not receive the brilliant health care that exists in France which has one of the top systems in the world.

[Brad07]

I had an ultrasound of my thyroid a few weeks ago. Not painful in the slightest and very quick. It showed damage from hashimoto's...I thought I would be offered Levo on my next appointment with my doctor but he just told me my T4 is within range (they like to pick and choose as my TSH is out of range and I have antibodies - never mentioned that!) He referred me to an endocrinologist. It seems to me, even if you have proof doctors are reluctant to treat 😟

[MiniMum97 in reply to Brad07]

Thank you that’s v helpful. Sorry to hear you are having trouble getting treated. Have you showed your GP the Pulse article?:

“But if it persists then antibodies to thyroid peroxidase should be measured. If these are positive – indicative of underlying autoimmune thyroid disease – the patient should be considered to have the mildest form of hypothyroidism.

In the absence of symptoms some would simply recommend annual thyroid function tests until serum TSH is over 10mU/l or symptoms such as tiredness and weight gain develop. But a more pragmatic approach is to recognise that the thyroid failure is likely to become worse and try to nip things in the bud rather than risk loss to follow-up.

Treatment should be started with levothyroxine in a dose sufficient to restore serum TSH to the lower part of its reference range. Levothyroxine in a dose of 75-100μg daily will usually be enough.”

[Brad07]

I'm not having much luck with my GP at all. I've seen 3 different ones in the practice, 1st one said annual blood tests despite me showing her a list of my symptoms. 2nd one told me to change my diet. 3rd one told me I couldn't have a trial and I would not be able to stop levo if it didn't work and referred me to an endocrinologist who I'm seeing in 2 weeks. I feel I may have to start treatment myself because the NHS couldn't care less 🙁

[MiniMum97 in reply to Brad07]

Well that’s rubbish. Of course you can stop levo if it doesn’t work. I’ve been on levo then off again (as I developed Graves). If you don’t need it, you don’t need it for whatever reason. It won’t stop your thyroid working!

Get the Pulse article from thyroid Uk (add another post asking for the correct email address as its changed since I used it) and take the article to the endo appt. Prepare yourself for a battle endos are often just another type of rubbish doctor.