Hello, 33 year old male with goiter since he was about 20, had two ultrasounds, blood tests, tried many things:
- Very good balance sheets: TSH within the optimal standards, T3 and T4 within the standards, lnferior Anti TPO
- Perfect blood test for the rest (CRP etc...)
- No hypothyroidism
- No hyperthyroidism
- No gluten or dairy for about eight years, no junk food, sugar
- No alcohol
- No cannabis or stronger drugs
- Tobacco very occasionally
- Iodine supplementation (iodized salt, fish and vitamin)
- Selenium supplementation (100mcg, sometimes 200)
- Vitamin D supplementation (cod liver oil)
- Multivitamins
- Several fasts up to 6 days (with and without water)
- No medical treatment
- Diet low in "goitrogen"
* No problems sleeping, hot or cold, weight gain or weight loss or hair loss, or sweating, heart at rest around 70/75
* A small benign nodule less than a centimeter (which does not explain the size of the entire thyroid) - two ultrasounds
* Kelp (250mcg Organic Sea Kelp) gives me palpitations and unpleasant stimulation (I did not dare to take it a second time)
I don't know where to look anymore, the few people I've talked to (friends or doctors) tell me that it's "like that", surely hereditary or that each person has different body characteristics (I don't do not believe too much for the thyroid)
My last tracks: caffeine and anxiety, I've had anxiety since quite young and very sensitive to coffee, sometimes I wonder if I'm not stimulating my organism too much or if I don't have an adrenal fatigue which has the consequence, the increase in the size of the thyroid. Or coffee acting like gluten, or mycotoxins, or something else like an iodine absorption problem.
Or the symbolic and spiritual side which corresponds to the passage of time, to not really living one's life as one would like, or to expressing oneself / being oneself (one believes in it or not, I give the information of the symbolism of the diseases for the goiter) with the throat chakra
Another possibility may be outlandish: it's not just the thyroid, but something behind or in the neck, muscles, vocal cords or something else swollen maybe? I have silent reflux in my throat too 😥
I have another ultrasound in January because I feel like the size has increased again. I take all kinds of advice
Thank you 🙂
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Jshadows
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Have you been told all within range, or do you have actual results with lab range?
Where you are in the range can indicate a great deal, especially if results are trending in one direction.
Have you had a test that shows you are iodine deficient as excess iodine can be unhelpful for thyroid issues - it’s often marketed as helpful for thyroid as it’s essential to make thyroid hormones. Iodine deficiency is extremely rare.
Have TG antibodies, folate, ferritin, B12 & vitamin D levels been tested?
Can you add country to profile - much of the information members can offer such as private blood testing companies & guidelines doctors follow. Might not be useful to you.
Oh sorry I'm French lol. Both, I had the results on paper and I saw with the doctor, TSH 0.99 - T3 T4 within the norms, and anti TPO I am "below" the value. There are only anti thyroglobulins which are at 6 with a limit of 4.5. My doctor explained to me that it was surely my little nodule (Benin, 1cm), it's the only link he made when he saw this kind of result (and I don't know if the anti thyroglobulins indicate hypo or hyperthyroidism because no one mentions this kind of test and value except after thyroid cancer I believe 🤔)
I did not do an iodine test, apart from the home test with the task on the arm which must remain for 24 hours (it leaves within 6 to 8 hours), when I mentioned iodine supplementation to my doctor, he did not validate out of caution (even if I know that people or the Japanese consume 50 to 100 times more), he offered me cortisol but forgot to prescribe me. Iron levels have always been good. Vitamin DI don't know, that's also why I take cod liver oil, in the idea of a deficiency and with the lack of sun currently. B12 no idea, I eat a lot of meat and it's also in the vitamins I take
Reddit: I have been taking iodized salt for about three to four months, I was eating sea salt before, and less fish. But I don't see any improvement, I don't know after how long it might show if it's iodine deficiency on the size of my thyroid
J , my friend had a goitre develop when she was 20. No other symptoms apart from the lump in her neck. She had it surgically removed the same year. She is now 66 and continues to be normal with no thyroid issues.
She had the goitre removed and that was all. She has never had any other problems. She is not on any thyroid hormones and is completely symptom free. All that happened was that a benign lump appeared on her thyroid and that bit was removed and she carried on normally.
TSH within the optimal standards, T3 and T4 within the standards, lnferior Anti TPO
Did a doctor tell you that your results were within "optimal standards"? I'm guessing that this means your results were in range? If you could give us your Thyroid Function Test results including the reference ranges it would be helpful to us. Without results we're working in a vacuum.
Doctors think that any result within range is "optimal". But that is simply not true.
Iodine supplementation (iodized salt, fish and vitamin)
Did you have your iodine levels tested before supplementing iodine? Did you know that excess iodine used to be used as a treatment for hyperthyroidism, and if you have any tendency towards getting hypothyroidism then iodine will make you much worse? Iodine is one of those things that should never be taken without proper testing first. If your levels are deficient then supplementation is probably a good idea, but having excess iodine doesn't rev up your thyroid and make it work better - it might make it work very badly.
Vitamin D supplementation (cod liver oil)
Have you had your vitamin D level tested? Cod liver oil often has very low levels of vitamin D in. Doctors recommend a supplementary level of 400 iU per day which is what you'll find in many cod liver oil products. But many people can't raise their vitamin D levels with 400 iU. They end up needing 2000 iU - 10000 iU per day - it depends on their levels. So, you could still be well below optimal or even deficient if you are relying on cod liver oil.
Multivitamins
Multivitamins are a waste of money. They contain iodine (not helpful unless levels are low/deficient), calcium (which blocks the absorption of other nutrients and could end up just lining your arteries), iron (which also blocks other nutrients). greygoose has good info on why multivitamins are not worth taking. If you are low in a particular vitamin or mineral it should be tested to find out the level, supplemented to get it to optimal, then dose reduced to keep it optimal rather than allowing it to get too high or too low.
Several fasts up to 6 days (with and without water)
This is not helpful for anyone with thyroid disease, particularly going without water. People with thyroid problems often have poor metabolism and low energy. People who are starving tend not to move much because they don't have the energy. Starvation won't improve the health of your thyroid, it will almost certainly do the reverse.
Diet low in "goitrogen"
This is overhyped as a problem. If you want to eat food with goitrogens in you should probably avoid eating them raw, but cooking will destroy many goitrogens, I think. Greygoose is also clued up on goitrogens, so perhaps she can comment on those too.
Kelp (250mcg Organic Sea Kelp) gives me palpitations and unpleasant stimulation (I did not dare to take it a second time)
Avoid kelp because it contains iodine which I've already mentioned.
caffeine and anxiety, I've had anxiety since quite young and very sensitive to coffee, sometimes I wonder if I'm not stimulating my organism too much or if I don't have an adrenal fatigue which has the consequence, the increase in the size of the thyroid. Or coffee acting like gluten, or mycotoxins, or something else like an iodine absorption problem.
Personal anecdote - I got rid of my anxiety by optimising my iron levels as far as possible. Others might find that they need to improve their B12, their folate, or something else. You haven't mentioned which country you live in. If you are interested in getting testing done privately then it would depend on where you live what your options are.
For anti Thyroglobulin, my doctor explained to me that it could be my small nodule (1cm and Benin), and that it was not useful to diagnose hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism, it was also to be checked after cancer 🤷♂️
For iodine, I only did an at-home test, with the stain disappearing in 6-8 hours instead of 24 hours. I did not eat iodized salt and fish only once a week, no junk food (which contains a lot of salt), a fairly poor iodine intake
For iodine, I only did an at-home test, with the stain disappearing in 6-8 hours instead of 24 hours. I did not eat iodized salt and fish only once a week, no junk food (which contains a lot of salt), a fairly poor iodine intake
Patch test for iodine is not worth doing at all. Been shown to totally inaccurate
Suggest you stop all multivitamins and iodine
Retest FULL thyroid and vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12 in about 2 months
Test thyroid levels early morning
greygoose may know where you can get testing done yourself privately in France
Yes I don't understand, I did the translations in English 🤔Yes I will see that. I looked at my old blood tests, iron, calcium, CRP, cholesterol etc... everything was spot on every time. For vitamin D I do not see on the analyzes, but I continue to take cod liver oil. I was consuming very little iodine and saw that the recommended 150mcg was still considered ridiculous, that it was just a "minimum" value (especially if the thyroid stores 10-15 times that amount in iodine, how well the recharge by limiting yourself like that? 🤔), in any case it was not the iodine that caused me goiter, because I have had goiter for about twelve years, and I have increased my iodine intake three four months ago 🤔
Cod liver oil contains a lot of Vit A and a small amount of Vit D. We have to be careful about not overdosing on Vit A, it's better to test Vit D and supplement with an appropriate dose of D3 along with important cofactors magnesium and Vit K2-mk7.
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I do not understand my results!
FT3 low in range. How do I help GP understand this could be the cause of some of my symptoms?
Goiter & Autoimmune Disease
Still they don't understand or want to
Now I understand my doctors approach!
