need advice on goiters

[Sandalsforever]

I have large goiters, 4cm and 3.5cm that are benign but they are growing. My thyroid blood work numbers are in the normal range. Doctor wants to take out the thyroid since more goiters are growing too. I am going thinking about doing radio frequency ablation instead. Has anyone had good luck with that?

[SlowDragon Administrator]

as per my replies in post 7 months ago

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

You need full thyroid and vitamin testing

Ft4 and Ft3 were low

Taking replacement thyroid hormone may shrink goitres

[Sandalsforever in reply to SlowDragon]

Got new blood work done in the morning and it’s similar to what it was six months except for TSH has doubled but the doctor says they go by bloodwork and they are in the normal range so will not need to take drugs at this point.

My vitamin D was low 30 (30- so I’m taking more vitamin D.

TSH 1.84 (.4-4.5)up from 6 months ago was .92 - doubled) ,

T4 free 1 (.8-1.8) about the same 6 months ago 1.1 ,

T3 115(76-281) - T3 free was tested last time different test 3 (2.3-4.2)

I do get tired more easily, my hair is falling out more. My skin and nails are dry and brittle and I used to be always hot but now I’m just normal, not hot or cold.

interesting about shrinking the goiters, my doctor said nothing will shrink a goiter, except for taking them out.

I think I might change doctors for a second time.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Sandalsforever]

was test done early morning, ideally before 9am, only drinking water between waking and test

This gives highest TSH

FT4: 1 pmol/l (Range 0.8 - 1.8)

Ft4 low at only 20.00% through range

FT3: 3 pmol/l (Range 2.3 - 4.2)

Ft3 36.84% through range

So thyroid struggling…..Ft4 very low …Ft3 struggling to maintain levels

You need folate, B12, iron panel including ferritin and both TPO and TG thyroid antibodies tested

low vitamin levels tend to lower TSH

[Sandalsforever in reply to SlowDragon]

Yes, Test was done early in the morning at 7 AM only water that morning. Will try to get other tests done

[greygoose]

They're not goitres. A goitre is a swollen thyroid. I think you mean nodules, or possibly cysts. Do you have Hashi's? Nodules are very common with Hashi's. But most people have some, anyway, even if they don't have thyroid problems. And they're very rarely a problem if they're small. The problem is if they grow and block your wind pipe or stop you swallowing. But if that's not the case, no point in removing a thyroid just because of a few nodules.

[Sandalsforever in reply to greygoose]

I was told that goiters and nodules are the same. Mine are growing down in back of my collarbone. I do have Hashimotos and some symptoms but my bloodwork shows normal so they’re not going to give me anything for it.

[greygoose in reply to Sandalsforever]

No, they're not the same. And you can only have one goitre because it's a swollen thyroid and you only have one thyroid.

Well, actually, your bloodwork does not show normal. Your FT4/3 are very low in-range. If they were 'normal' (euthyroid) they would be about 50% through the range, with the FT3 slightly lower than the FT4. Your FT3 is higher which is a sure sign that your thyroid is struggling. But doctors know so little about thyroid, and so little about interpreting blood test results, that they think that anything anywhere within the range has to be good. It isn't.

[Sandalsforever]

thanks, I have found another doctor, I will see if she is any better than my current doctor. I kind of figured this, but it is hard to find someone that doesn’t want to find the core of everything

[Bertwills]

it is not really true to say that nothing will shrink a goitre (swollen thyroid) or nodules which grow inside or alongside the thyroid. I had both at the same time. Luckily my blood tests showed that I am hypothyroid ie the TSH was above normal range & my T4 & T3 were below the bottom of the range. I was prescribed Levothyroxine which shrank my goitre & nodules within months. When I was in initially examined & diagnosed by a Professor of Endocrinology I was told that my goitre would stay swollen. She was entirely wrong.

It’s possible that it’s the iodine in levothyroxine tablets which shrinks the swellings, although the thyroid also can stop struggling once artificial hormone is supplied. You could be very deficient in iodine. Your results show that your thyroid is struggling & is not working optimally. You maybe be able to find a doctor to prescribe levothyroxine but you could also try supplementing with iodine too. Google to find about iodine supplementation or post a question here.

Soya in large amounts blocks thyroid hormones from being absorbed so avoid it completely

Please don’t let them remove your thyroid unless your nodules are cancerous. You will then be totally hypothyroid &,despite what doctors tell you, it isn’t always an easy condition to live with. Just read the posts here to give you an idea.

[Sandalsforever in reply to Bertwills]

I have read the post here and have a friend who is struggling when they took out her thyroid two months ago. I don’t want to have it removed.

that is good to know that it can shrink. I have researched it, but they’re so little out there from the medical area about thyroid. They all say the same thing, the same thing my doctor said. It is frustrating that not more is known or studied on it through conventional medicine.

[greygoose in reply to Bertwills]

Iodine deficiency is not the only reason for a goitre. Having Hashi's will also cause the thyroid to swell, but that is nothing to do with iodine. And, no, the OP should NOT try supplementing with iodine. That could make things a hundred times worse. Iodine is not something to mess around with, and should only be taken if tested and found deficient - and even then, only under the supervision of an experienced practitioner.

Nodules, by the way, are on the thyroid, not in it. And the hormones you take when hypo are exogenous, not artificial.

[Bertwills in reply to greygoose]

Exogenous means from an outside source. Levothyroxine is synthetic, ie man made & therefore artificial not from a natural source. NDT is also exogenous but not synthetic.

[greygoose in reply to Bertwills]

I don't dispute that it's synthetic, and I do know what exogenous means. I just thought you must be muddling up the two words, because levo is not artificial. Can you eat artificial food or smell artificial flowers? No. And artificial hormone wouldn't do you much good.

[Insomania]

ENT consultant encouraged me to have my goitre removed.

I decided instead to try NDT treatment for hypothyroidism and found a Dr recommended by Thyroid UK. (I had a LOT of thyroid symptoms but not the numbers for NHS treatment.)

I no longer feel self conscious of my goitre after 6 months on NDT and vitamins, minerals, adrenal support. (Iodine and selenium are in the mix.) I feel it has shrunk but I don’t have measurements to back this up because I had routine scan last year and won’t get another unless I’m concerned.