Thyroid swollen and sore 1 side only?

[overunbykids]

Hi all. I having major thyroid upset since my hysterectomy in Feb. My current tsh is 17 (0.4-4). Ft3 2.9 (2.8-6.8) and ft4 is 8 (10-20). My FT3 is actually lower now than when I was diagnosed and before treatment! In 2013 (Tsh 27 and FT3 3.9, FT4 9).

My doctor has upped my NDT from 3 to 3.5 and has referred me to a private endocrinologist for further treatment with added T3 and HRT patch, as she feels my whole situation is too complex for he to treatr. My issue atm is tbat my throat is sore within and out. Hoarse voice and dry cough, and the right side of my thyroid has gotten quite noticeably larger with this Hashi TSH spije. I feel it is just an affect of the flare up, but she is ordering an US and possibly a contrast catscan. Am I right in that she is being overly cautious and ordering expensive unnecessary tests, or is there a reason to investigate further?. I had both tests in 2013 and was normal hypothyroid thyroid results with no nasties lurking.

[Astridnova]

It seems that there is a connection between hypothyroidism and hysterectomies, that we should be informed about before undergoing hysterectomy. It is hard to find much out about it. Apparently female dogs have a 3 times higher risk of hypothyroidism post spaying too. I wish someone had told me this before I had a partial hysterectomy.

[bookish in reply to Astridnova]

Dr Peatfield says the same - that the womb and thyroid have some kind of hormonal dialogue and that any intrusion or disturbance of this balance can affect thyroid function. Gallbladder removal and tonsillectomy are the two others that he says can cause particular problems. Interesting about dogs, surprising how much vets know about thyroids. Wish someone had told me all kinds of things before I had the partial thyroidectomy! (Shall try to avoid having any of the others). Cheers.

[Astridnova in reply to bookish]

Thank you for that info. I am a nurse (albeit specialised in psychiatry) and I did not find out before the hysterectomy. Call me stupid. :-[ Did not know about tonsillectomies either. Very interesting. I worked it out for myself, i.e. wondered about me and my mother, then went looking. I quickly found info on dogs, but very little on humans, even via google scholar. I suppose the information is suppressed because of the money to be made out of surgery. That said, my partial hysterectomy was completely elective, so that I could continue to take oestrogen, but without progesterone, which disagreed with me. I don't think that my GP knew of these problems ensuing after hysterectomies, and quite possibly the surgeon (whose scar I had to have repaired) did not know either. I get the impression that there are a lot of surgeons and surgeons assists looking for work opportunities. With regard to vets, even though they are aware of the terrible costs of spaying, they continue to do spays earlier and earlier. And all they offer for the dogs with hypothyroidism is thyroxine. How many dogs have needs for T3 like many of us? In solidarity with dogs.

[bookish in reply to Astridnova]

Most definitely agree - always been in solidarity with dogs! I suspect my Mum's tonsillectomy and then hysterectomy had much to do with her undiagnosed, but obvious to me now, underactive thyroid (both her mother and grandfather had thyroid disorders too). Incidentally Dr P encouraged me to test sex hormones then suggested bio-identical progesterone. I had to stop because of reacting to fillers etc but did think it was helping although so is the Nutri Adrenal which I still take. Are you struggling with progestagen or progesterone, or both? Best wishes

[overunbykids in reply to Astridnova]

Yes. I wish I had been informed correctly, too, but had been assured it would in no way impact my thyroid health.

[HLAB35]

It sounds as though your doctor is being as thorough as possible... believe me, this is way more conscientious than most of the GPs I have seen. Count yourself as one of the lucky few! If the test turns out negative, it could be due to, as you suspect, autoimmune attack. Supplementing selenium and cutting out gluten may reduce the chances of this reoccurring.

[Astridnova in reply to HLAB35]

Yes, I'm impressed that he knew about the role of hysterectomies and told you. Very unusual GP.

[overunbykids in reply to HLAB35]

Thank you for your reply. Yes, I think you are right.