Swallowing issue

[wavedancers]

It's not a huge deal, but I seem to have some trouble swallowing lately (last month or so). Could that be related to my thyroid meds adjustment? I added T3 (15mcg) to my 75mcg Levo about 7 weeks ago. Or IS IT POSSIBLE to have a goitre inside the throat area that doesn't show on the neck? I do have Hashimotos.

[Mummybear0213]

I'm really interested to read some responses to this as I have the exact same problem. Sometimes I feel I have to really take a deep breath because it's like I'm not getting enough air down my throat! If that makes sense 🙈

[Beads in reply to Mummybear0213]

The deep breath thing is, I think, air hunger. This is a form of breathlessness, so when the doc asks if you get breathless you’re meant to respond with a yes (and then explain hopefully because imo there’s a world of difference between this and getting puffed out walking up a hill). It’s a hypo symptom. I’ve only recently found this out, and have been answering the question with ‘no’.

[Sparklingsunshine in reply to Mummybear0213]

I've never had swallowing issues but in January 2020 I started noticing I was getting out of breath just walking, air hunger describes it perfectly. I was very fit at that time and there was no reason I knew of to feel this way .

After a battery of blood tests, chest x rays which showed a small pleural effusion ( fluid in the lining of the lung basically) and a chest scan it came back my TSH was over range and my FT 4 low in range. I was pretty gobsmacked as I was convinced it would be anaemia as it felt very similar. 3 months later after another abnormal blood test I was started on Levo.

I've since found out that effusions round the heart which I had in July this year and pleural effusions are more common in hypo patients.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK]

There are possibilities which can only be properly investigated by things like ultrasound or MRI scans.

However much we discuss here - it will in the end be necessary to do that imaging. The best thing is to try to get that arranged as soon as practicable.

[Charlie-Farley]

Hi wavedancers

I have found latterly trouble in swallowing.

My Nan had a ‘small swallow’ and was forever choking on stuff. My mum later in life developed the family ‘small swallow’ too. Neither were ever diagnosed but I’m absolutely convinced they had under performing thyroids.

I’ve been having a dabble in face yoga and noticed the choking stopped and my ability to swallow improved. There are tongue exercises. These are all related to toning the neck amongst other things.

One is like a bull frog exercise and I’m certain this has made a difference. I put my tongue to the roof of my mouth and press and relax and it makes a bit of a noise and I can see my neck moving - I guess where the tongue is attached in the top of the throat.

Another involves looking upwards, sticking my tongue out and then moving my head from one side to the next. Another one involves pushing the skin around the lips from inside with your tongue to iron out any developing wrinkles. I make sure the bathroom door is firmly locked when practicing!

All joking apart it does seem to improve things. If anyone tries it I would be interested to know if they notice similar. If it wasn’t for the additional benefits to swallowing and not choking on stuff I might not have kept it up. 🤔

[StormsPass]

Hi Wavedancers,

I am suffering from this. Found out I was Hashi Hypo 1 month ago ish. Only symptom was pain in the neck (no swelling) starting in thyroid Adam apple area but felt external.

Progressed to swallowing discomfort then sore throats internally at night.

Went to ENT - they said acid reflux now awaiting neck ultrasound scan as a precaution.

Seeing physio tomorrow also to check if it’s muscular or at least contributing.

Sorry that’s not a solution but sharing as I’m in the same boat.

On a side note: not going to take the acid meds prescribed, will try to fix with a diet change first.

Hope you find some answers 🙂

[France92]

Trouble swallowing and breathlessness is symptoms of hiatus hernia a A&E consultant told me this week. I have one and been having severe abdominal pain and trouble swallowing . Just a thought .

[Beads]

I’d had a lump in my throat for a while, it started off a bit intermittent, when I felt rough or out of sorts it was more pronounced, at the base of my neck, on the left only. It’s got progressively worse this year and results from a ct scan (not thyroid related) showed a calcified cyst on the left thyroid. I went to the doc, got an ultrasound scan, that was followed by a referral to ent, they ordered another scan/biopsy and a barium swallow. I was told that the barium swallow showed no evidence of compression of the windpipe, but did show a small hiatus hernia (I got to see that bit of the results, quite cool). So as there’s no evidence of compression there’s no reason for paracetamol to seem to get stuck, just in that area of neck, and that all feelings of the lump in my throat were in my head, and the hiatus hernia is likely causing silent reflux which could be fixed with omeprazole, so to take that.

So the upshot was (after waiting 2 hours past my appointment time to be told it was all in my head) I took omeprazole for a week (coz it’s bloody expensive and if they weren’t prescribing it I wasn’t forking out that much and I know from here that lowering my stomach acid even further wouldn’t be good on a long term basis) and it made no difference. Yes, I have the feeling of globus (fancy medical term) which is likely due to a bit of reflux, but still have the feeling inside of the lump only on the left side (if I slept on my left I’d put it down to continuous reflux overnight producing localised irritation, but I don’t).

And I’ve waffled and lost the point of the original question. Is it possible to have a goitre on the inside? Yes, I think it is. And I think it’s more likely than on the outside. Your thyroid isn’t going to grow in only one direction, outwards. It will just generally grow, once it can’t move inwards any more it will move outwards, and then you’ll have the visible goitre. But if it only grows slightly then even if there’s no compression of the windpipe it might be touching where it doesn’t normally, this might be enough to feel even if it’s not enough to make a difference on the imaging. Swallowing, I’m fine with swallowing my massive cod liver oil capsules but paracetamol seems to get stuck, so it’s not size but coating????

Hope that helps.

[CernCrystal]

Hi not sure if this helps. When I had a goitre - seemingly not too large and often changing shape, I had all sorts of problems. Initially swallowing which progressed over the years to difficulty breathing and throwing up with lifting head suddently or running (well trying to!!). was told I had Asthma. Turned out that the scans on my neck goitre had not shown up the growths in my chest off my thyroid. These weren't known until my thyroidectomy. After operation, my "Asthma" disappeared! If you have some form of goitre, it may be worth checking that this isn't growing down under the chest bone (as tendrils) and into the chest.

[wavedancers in reply to CernCrystal]

Wow... that's scary. So sorry you had to go through that. When I am feeling better (have the flu + a UTI) I will make a GP appt and speak to her about it.

[FallingInReverse]

My original diagnosis was by a doctor who - from across the room - said he could see my thyroid problems, due to swelling (which I couldn’t see myself no matter how long and from what angle I stared at my throat!) I do indeed have a goiter (or a nodule or whatever one calls a growth on my thyroid), and the doctor could see which side it was on also from across the room!

So just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean a good doctor couldn’t or that there’s none there. Also as noted below, it could be growing towards the inside and might be there but not actually be visible to anyone.

Because of that - and agreeing with helvella below - I was told to get an ultrasound every year. I have read that studies show that when a growth hits 2 centimeters that’s when they take it more seriously (I think the likelihood of thyroid cancer is correlated to >2 cm). I’ve asked my doctor questions about whether it caused my sore throat or interferes with thyroid function. Never got any answer to that.

That being said - my sore throat/hoarseness which was an original symptom for me, has improved with optimal T3/T4.

Lastly, not being able to get a deep breath (as some have noted here in responses) has been a thing for me since I was a child. Inconclusive but I now look back and think it is all part of the long and intertwined story of my thyroid. Have also had a full battery of lung function tests that didn’t turn up anything obvious. Maybe one day I’ll look back at those results and connect some more dots.

[Popscicle]

I just wanted to add - difficulty swallowing is a recognised symptom of hypothyroidism in itself, regardless of whether there’s enlargement or a module of the thyroid gland.

[Happysmile in reply to Popscicle]

Hi. Could you point me in the direction of any research to support this please? I could do with some to show my consultant.

[Popscicle in reply to Happysmile]

It was listed in Thyroud UKs list of symptoms of hypothyroidism. I’ll see if I can find the link.

[Popscicle in reply to Happysmile]

I asked Siri - what are Thyroid UKs symptoms of hypothyroidism and the page came up. It’s the first one in the list. Difficulty swallowing is listed under the ear, nose and mouth heading.

[Happysmile in reply to Popscicle]

Good old Siri. Thanks i’ll have a look