Just reaching out to see if anyone has had a right Hemi Thyroidectomy due to a nodule?
How was the operation and recovery, also how was the function after? Also hoping for a benign diagnosis
Hemi Thyroidectomy : Just reaching out to see if... - Thyroid UK
Hemi Thyroidectomy
Written by
Headandneck72
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Read more about...
30 Replies
•
Oh dear - dreading this already had cancer in the neck now his 😐
What are you on now regarding tablets - and are you coping - what about weight?
To be honest I’ve been taking thyroxine but I not been given the regular blood test when I should, I’ve been under active for a while but I had radiation to my head and neck in 2018 and I think it’s damaged my function, I found the nodule in 2014...I have a suspicion my thyroid was always chugging but I was within range so nothing was done for me as I had all the symptoms...all the FNA were inconclusive and I’ve had a few
I’ve put on 1.5 stone and I’ve stopped taking it for a week and had bloods taken today as I want to know what my body is doing on its own. I’m new to all this as only been on meds for 3 months 100mmg. It’s quite complicated this thyroid stuff - my doctor refuses the full test and only tests the T4, I’ll have to go private most probably
Bloods should be done after 6-8 weeks on constant unchanging dose levothyroxine
Testing a week after stopping levothyroxine won’t show much. Low Ft4 perhaps. TSH takes 4-6 weeks to change after any dose change
For full Thyroid evaluation you need TSH, FT4 and FT3 plus both TPO and TG thyroid antibodies tested.
Also EXTREMELY important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12
Low vitamin levels are extremely common, especially if you have autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto's) diagnosed by raised Thyroid antibodies
Ask GP to test vitamin levels NOW or test privately
Recommended on here that all thyroid blood tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and before eating or drinking anything other than water .
Last dose of Levothyroxine 24 hours prior to blood test. (taking delayed dose immediately after blood draw).
This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip)
Is this how you do your tests?
Private tests are available as NHS currently rarely tests Ft3 or thyroid antibodies or all relevant vitamins
List of private testing options
thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...
Medichecks Thyroid plus antibodies and vitamins
medichecks.com/products/adv...
Thriva Thyroid plus antibodies and vitamins By DIY fingerpick test
Thriva also offer just vitamin testing
Blue Horizon Thyroid Premium Gold includes antibodies, cortisol and vitamins by DIY fingerprick test
bluehorizonbloodtests.co.uk...
If you can get GP to test vitamins and antibodies then cheapest option for just TSH, FT4 and FT3
£29 (via NHS private service ) and 10% off down to £26.10 if go on thyroid uk for code
thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...
NHS easy postal kit vitamin D test £29 via
vitamindtest.org.uk
Very important to stay on same brand levothyroxine at each prescription, once you work out which brand suits you best
Wow thanks for your comprehensive reply - I think I’ll def get bloods private after operations over
These are the only bloods I have to go by at the moment - I don’t understand any of it to be honest
TSH is the message from brain (pituitary) telling thyroid to work
High TSH means asking very loudly
Low TSH, not needing to ask much
On levothyroxine TSH should ALWAYS be under 2
Majority of thyroid patients, when adequately treated will have TSH well under one
The most important results are ALWAYS Ft3 followed by Ft4.
Looking for Ft3 (active hormone) to be minimum of 60% through range and usually Ft4 (levothyroxine and storage form of hormone) will be at 60-80% through range in order to get Ft3 high enough
When did you start taking levothyroxine?
What dose are you on
Essential to regularly retest vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12 at least annually when on levothyroxine
Low vitamin levels are extremely common complication of hypothyroidism
Common to develop poor conversion of Ft4 to Ft3, when vitamin levels are low
I started on meds in August 2020 on 25mmg I’m now on 100mmg not had vitamins checked since then
The doctor won’t give NDT as I’ve asked and won’t test anything but Thyroid function
Then like thousands of other U.K. members you need FULL thyroid and vitamin testing privately
Bloods should be retested 6-8 weeks after any dose change or brand change in levothyroxine
Which brand of levothyroxine are you currently taking
Do you always get same brand
Were vitamins tested in Aug 2020
What vitamin supplements are you currently taking
For full Thyroid evaluation you need TSH, FT4 and FT3 plus both TPO and TG thyroid antibodies tested. Also EXTREMELY important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12
Low vitamin levels are extremely common, especially if you have autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto's) diagnosed by raised Thyroid antibodies
About 90% of primary hypothyroidism is autoimmune thyroid disease.
Recommended on here that all thyroid blood tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and before eating or drinking anything other than water .
Last dose of Levothyroxine 24 hours prior to blood test. (taking delayed dose immediately after blood draw).
This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip)
Is this how you do your tests?
Private tests are available as NHS currently rarely tests Ft3 or thyroid antibodies or all relevant vitamins
List of private testing options
thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...
Medichecks Thyroid plus antibodies and vitamins
medichecks.com/products/adv...
Thriva Thyroid plus antibodies and vitamins By DIY fingerpick test
Thriva also offer just vitamin testing
Blue Horizon Thyroid Premium Gold includes antibodies, cortisol and vitamins by DIY fingerprick test
bluehorizonbloodtests.co.uk...
If you can get GP to test vitamins and antibodies then cheapest option for just TSH, FT4 and FT3
£29 (via NHS private service ) and 10% off down to £26.10 if go on thyroid uk for code
thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...
NHS easy postal kit vitamin D test £29 via
vitamindtest.org.uk
I usually get given the generic mercury pharma Levothyroxine sodium 110mcg
So you need to make sure you ALWAYS get same brand of levothyroxine at each prescription
Getting full thyroid and vitamin testing done
100mcg may be high enough dose, but it may need tweeking
I had a hemi way back in 1989. Remainder of thyroid failed to recover for 2 months but upon taking Orovite tablets (B & C vitamins) I recovered fully, feeling absolutely wonderful, but for only a couple of weeks. This then sank back a bit to a feeling merely of very good health.The Orovite had certainly worked then in a spectacular fashion, but they failed to do anything for me during more recent failures in my health.
As you are putting on so much weight it seems certain that you are being treated incorrectly. You could improve with either T3 or preferably NDT. Otherwise you could simply become worse and worse. A full blood test could help, but I cannot comment on that as never had one.
I had a hemi 14 years ago for a rare benign Hurthle Cell adenoma. Had slight symptoms for years but didn't know anything was wrong until I bloated up 10lbs and broke out in severe cystic acne. Following the hemi I lost all that weight plus some, acne went away however my appetite disappeared. Two years later I was put on levo, only because my endo said my TSH was 5. Up until that point the only symptom I had was slight fatigue and loss of appetite.
So you had the opposite effect and lost weight - ok.....was the operation painful?
I was only 27 at the time and not suffering any severe fatigue even in the face of obvious thyroid issues so I made a quick recovery. No pain meds were necessary and I was active once the drugs from surgery wore off. That may not be a typical outcome. You might expect some discomfort in the area and irritation from the tube down your throat. It was two years later before I took Levothyroxine only because I didn't know I was supposed to. The ENT surgeon said the rest of my thyroid should pick up the slack, however when I went back to my endo two years later he said most people have to take Levothyroxine after surgery. I would have appreciated him telling me that BEFORE he suggested surgery. My TSH was 5 so he recommended I go on it. I was okay on it until my late 30s.
Hi, I had a hemi 10 years ago due to nodule which was benign (I found it, had some symptoms). Healed well, felt fine until weather cooled in Autumn (op in March) then hypo symptoms hit but bloods 'fine' so no treatment offered. Been battling to work out causes and treat myself since. Considerably better than I was then but it has been a rollercoaster with other autoimmune conditions etc developing. Getting my diet as clean and anti-inflammatory as possible and getting vitamins and minerals optimal has made a big difference. Best wishes
Oh ok what was the recovery from the operation like? Was it painfull?
Actually no, it wasn't too bad. I'd never had a general before so had no idea what to expect and made the mistake of saying beforehand that what I'd like to eat afterwards was a tuna sandwich - bad move, so it wasn't with me for long! I was awake listening to music overnight as it was so noisy in the hospital I couldn't sleep but otherwise really ok. I was a bit tired for a few days, but relieved to get it over and eating/sleeping ok once home. I looked a mess as it was a largish scar with staples (good excuse to buy some lovely scarves!) - my dad had a hemi 2 months before me in a different hospital and his scar was tiny and not stapled. His doctor said mine was old fashioned! But mine has healed to virtually invisible and did it quite fast (which is surprising really as after that I started healing really slowly and badly to quite minor things. Partly I think the general depleted my B12 etc so it wasn't until I felt really unwell and started to investigate for myself that I got my vitamins and minerals back up. Mum had been ill for years and had recently died and my sister plus Dad and I all needed ops within that first year and all struggled with really low B12 afterwards. Worth keeping a check on and worth knowing that Nitrous Oxide (if they use it) can convert your body's active B12 to inactive, so bloods might look ok if they only test serum but actually not be.) Zinc is good for healing so might be worth adding a bit (not too much) if you aren't already getting enough in food/supplements. I'm sure all will go well x
Oh thank you that’s great info - can I take my own B12 and Zinc as doctors won’t tear me for that
You really don't want to supplement B12 without at least trying to test. If you find you are deficient you need to know why - vegetarian/vegan, poor absorption because of Coeliac/gluten damage, Pernicious Anaemia, etc - and taking a supplement skews the test so you would be unlikely to get a sensible baseline result. If you don't have any old results (GPs do usually check B12 at least once) Medichecks do an active B12 test which will show you the useable bit (assuming that you can use it at cellular level - B12 is a bit complicated, like thyroids!) medichecks.com/pages/search...
Pumpkin seeds are good for zinc. I use a low dose supplement (15 mg or less per day) which shouldn't be a problem for most even without testing although Medichecks do a test if you want to do one and I'm sure others are available. Here's a bit of info on zinc purehealthclinic.co.uk/2020...
You could check with the anaesthetist that it is not a Nitrous Oxide one, there are others more commonly used I believe, and then it is just a case of the stress of the op and healing rather than the anaesthetic too. Stress can still play havoc with your vits and minerals.
OkI’ll mention this and book a private blood test after my surgery- thanks so much
My pleasure. It is daft really, because when I found out that Nitrous could be a big problem, especially if you were borderline for B12 when you had it, I contacted the hospital and they insisted that mine wasn't Nitrous (although they couldn't tell me what it was). But stress can hammer your B12, as can illness. I know that our family have weaknesses in B12 and saw it clearly in Dad before he started the wonderful Better You B12 Boost. I needed B12 and methylfolate (400mcg) but it resolved some (not all) of the neuro symptoms I'd started to get. As with the thyroid, I think you have to go by symptoms more than bloods. (There have been cases of neuro damage from recreational laughing gas use.)
SlowDragonAdministrator
B12 and anesthetiser
Extremely useful link, thank you.
This suggests I should take B12 before my op? Think I might can’t hurt
I’ve just had these results and the doctor now wants to see me - what do you make of this?
So this test was done when on 100mcg levothyroxine?
Obviously shows you are under medicated
On levothyroxine TSH should ALWAYS be under 2
You need 25mcg dose increase in levothyroxine
Bloods should be retested 6-8 weeks after each dose increase
Which brand of levothyroxine are you currently taking
Do you always get same brand
Just testing TSH is completely inadequate
After 6-8 weeks on 125mcg levothyroxine get FULL thyroid and vitamin testing done....privately if necessary
Well as I said I stopped taking it last week but I was on I usually get given the generic mercury pharma Levothyroxine sodium 100mcg
I just want to see what my body does after my operation when I have half removed obviously I’m just worried it’s cancer because of my radiotherapy to my neck
It’s stopped working recently and I’m showing underactivity
Well as I said I stopped taking it last week but I was on I usually get given the generic mercury pharma Levothyroxine sodium 100mcg
So how long exactly had you not had any levothyroxine before this test
It’s stopped working recently and I’m showing underactivity
What do you mean....if TSH was riding it means you needed dose increase in levothyroxine
TSH usually takes several weeks to react to dose change
Extremely important to take levothyroxine everyday and keep TSH under 2
Important to always get same brand of levothyroxine at each prescription too
Sorry - so I stopped taking it a week ago as I’m having surgery so I wanted to see what my thyroid does after that
My thyroid only stopped working in September it was ok you until then
You really do not want to stop taking levothyroxine before operation
They won’t operate if your hypothyroid.
Levothyroxine is for life.
Thyroid function likely get worse after thyroidectomy
If any nodules are suspect for cancer ....levothyroxine dose is managed to keep TSH extremely low or suppressed
Bloods should be retested 6-8 weeks after being on constant unchanging dose and unchanging brand of levothyroxine
Not what you're looking for?
You may also like...
Hemi Thyroidectomy-
Hello all - had my Hemi Thyroidectomy a week today. It’s not been too bad, was in pain obviously...
Right Hemi thyroidectomy
Hi Can I just ask has anyone had a Hemi-thyroidectomy? I had my right side removed 1 week today,...
Hemi thyroidectomy update
Morning all,
I had a left side hemi thyroidectomy on the 12th November, I had a 7cm x 5cm lump...
Voice damage after Hemi thyroidectomy
I’m 2.5 weeks post surgery and voice still very weak worried it’s not going to return? Any help...
TSH levels 6 weeks post hemi-thyroidectomy
Hi everyone, this is my first post, so I hope i'm doing this right!
I'm a 35 year old female and I...
Partial thyroidectomy 
2 days post hemi thyroidectomy-how should I feel?
Recurring toxic nodular hyperthyroidism 3 years after hemi thyroidectomy 
Thyroidectomy
