Goitre with subacute thyroiditis ?

[madeline05]

Hi folks,

I am new to this board since yesterday so being doing a lot od reading on posts on here and its just so so helpful.

I am still awaiting my bloods, hopefully tomorrow and ultrasound this week on my enlarged goitre on the right hand side of my neck.

Im just wondering with subacute thyroiditis is it possible to have an enlargement on one side? or would it enlarge the whole thyroid?

I ask this because mt face on the side of the goitre and been swollen, my eye keeps watering, my ear is sore too, I also felt my neck was warmer on the side of the goitre. However yesterday I started taking nurofen and the swelling in my face has really come down.

I also today feel like my throat on either side is sore and a heaviness in my chest like a chest infection, hard to explain. I had a rasher in a fry earlier and it stung going down? TMI haha but Im just wondering if I have a infection of some sort?

sorry for the long winded post. Im just all confused. My doctor told me I had a nodule on my thyroid, Then he said he was a goitre.

Someone here on a post said a goitre is an enlarged goitre not something on it. so would that rule out a nodule?

This swelling seem to come up over night aswell. sorry again for the ramle.

Any advice would be great , thanks so much. x

[greygoose]

Hi madelline05, welcome to the forum.

Yes, a goitre is a swollen thyroid. But you could have a nodule on it. Or even several.

I think your doctors was just a bit confused about terminology. They're easily confused when it come to thyroid.

[madeline05 in reply to greygoose]

Thank you for reply greygoose x

[greygoose in reply to madeline05]

You're welcome.

[Bertwills]

Hello, just to let you know that when you receive your blood tests it’s a good idea to ask for the full results at reception & post them here with the ranges. Hopefully it won’t just be TSH but if it is post that here.

If you are hypothyroid then you should be prescribed levothyroxine & this will reduce your goitre. Doctors sometimes say that it won’t but it did for me so it’s likely that it won’t be permanent.

[madeline05 in reply to Bertwills]

Thank you bertwills for your reply. I didn't know that that medication can shrink it. Good to know.I got my bloods done this morning so one I get them I definitely will post them up here. Thank you for your help x

[serenfach]

I had a goitre and that was when finally I was diagnosed. I had to point it out to my GP but it was large. It went within weeks of starting Levo.

There seems to be a trend to label people with sub acute at the moment. My Endo said I was sub acute despite me being treated for the last 20 years.

This brilliant forum will help further when they have your blood results and give you a way forward. Hug.

[madeline05 in reply to serenfach]

Thank you serenfach..Do you mind me asking did you have a nodule on one side or was it Ll enlarged? How big was the nodule and did they do biopsy?

I have a small hiatus hernia at the minute at the top of my stomach but in the last few days the acid is killing me.. As in its very sore. Never really ever suffered with it before till this wkd after I found the goitre. I might put up a post about it.

Thanks x

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to madeline05]

LOW stomach acid as result of low thyroid levels is extremely common

Low stomach acid causes acid reflux, indigestion and bloating

Thousands of posts on here about low stomach acid

healthunlocked.com/search/p...

Web links re low stomach acid and reflux and hypothyroidism

nutritionjersey.com/high-or...

stopthethyroidmadness.com/s...

thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...

How to test your stomach acid levels

healthygut.com/articles/3-t...

meraki-nutrition.co.uk/indi...

huffingtonpost.co.uk/laura-...

lispine.com/blog/10-telling...

Useful post and recipe book

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

But never just assume you have low stomach acid

healthygut.com/4-common-bet...

[serenfach]

I had two biopsies as they did not believe the negative of the first one. Second was negative too.

Low stomach acid is common in Hashi's. Gps usually give an antacid, which of course makes it worse. Try the baking powder test.

For the test, you'll drink half a glass (4 ounces) of cold water combined with a quarter teaspoon of baking soda, on an empty stomach. Then time how long it takes you to burp. If it takes longer than three to five minutes, the theory goes, you don't have enough stomach acid.

[bajmon]

Hi, I just came across your question and wonder how you getting on? I had Subacute Thyroiditis, which is a rare pos-viral thyroid infection. The main difference from any other Thyroiditis are giant cells visible on ultrasound. Did you have those? I had those seen straightaway but sadly I came across very stupid medical team who had no idea what this meant. It took me 5 minutes to google this. It took them 5 months to agree with me that surgery was not needed and it was not cancer! 4 years on and I'm still mentally recovering. I was put on Levo on the hypo phase and it's not recommended and I'm still on it and looking to come off to check if my thyroid is capable of functioning on its own. Find a good Endo, rest a lot, take supplements for thyroid and take ibuprofen! I had several nodules which were growing so fast and I have never experienced so much pain in my life. How are you doing now and have the symptoms gone away?

[madeline05 in reply to bajmon]

Gosh I so sorry you had to go through that. Unbelievable that you diagnosed yourself so quickly and it too them s long honestly. So where are you at now? how are you doing on levo? is it a hard medication to manage?

Strangely enough I was at an endo appointment today. Wonderful man, so nice and caring to talk to. He says that my bloods has improved a lot in the year. He does not want to put me on meds and wants me to get my bloods checked every 6 months to stay on top of it . He says in time it does look like I will have no option but to see how I go atm. My 4 nodules have not grown anymore so that good. I do suffer with sinus infections since this all kicked off a year ago but apart from that, my vit d, b12 iron is slowly improving so I will keep at that.

Tbh I was extremely stressed in a new job last year and personally my health was not good, i do think this played a part too.

Thanks for contacting me.

[madeline05 in reply to madeline05]

Sorry to answer your question did I see (giant cells visible on ultrasound) I dont remeber that being said at all. Maybe I can go back and check.

[bajmon in reply to madeline05]

Hi, I just reminded myself, since I read all the studies 5 years ago, my case was/is subacute granulomatous thyroiditis, hence why the giant cells. There of 2 other types of ST so I guess you don't necessarily have the same type.

[bajmon in reply to madeline05]

Hi, I'm glad you are managing with no Leo atm. Subacute Thyroiditis can take two years to solve itself so you're half way. The last, longest phase is the hypo so perhaps this won't be too bad for you. I was contacted by another forum user who also got ill with this at about the same time as I did in 2020 and her TSH was extremely high comparing to mine yet I was put on Levo to get ash levels close to 1.5 in case I wanted to get pregnant. I am at this level most of the time and still very symptomatic and unwell ever since 2020. I have to take days off from work and ironically, I work in NHS and they are not very understanding. It's very difficult to empathise with invisible illness I guess. I have to choose between working and having some fun or even go on a trip at the weekend. I am constantly exhausted, moody, sad, emotionally numb, achy, I have tinnitus that use to only come on when I was very tired in the evening, now I have it constantly. It's very difficult to live this way. All I can think about is taking several weeks off work to sort this out and see if I can feel better not stressing but that itself is stressing me. God forbid I took time off and someone did see me in the park and that would have to include doing things I love and relax. I also was under extreme stress for several months prior to the illness and tbh I've been on constant fight or fly mode for the last 6 years since staring the job. Stress is terrible for health but I've been told that especially it can be destructive to thyroid so you have got it right that stress probably has contributed to your thyroid issues. I have not contacted any dr yer to request coming off Levo. I read a lot and learned that if Levo is given to patients with healthy Thyroid, the gland with her suppressed and stop working, if dose isn't 100% to completely replace hormone, thyroid will fight back making you feel unwell. Also Levi will give side effects which I think I have. Sorry it's all about me :/ Please tell if you have even been on Levo? Also, have they tested those nodules that you have? How do they know you specifically have ST not any other thyroiditis? What I read back then is that specifically in ST shows giant cells in ultrasound and it's a rare post-viral infection. Maybe try to take ibuprofen for 5-7 days 2-3x a day or whatever the allowed dose is to see if those nodules will go away. I still can't believe this helped me after so many months of pain. It didn't help for pain that's why I didn't consider taking it, I only took paracetamol as it helped for a little while. I was not given anything else even though I was waking up at night screaming from pain. After ibuprofen I took steroids to complete the infection clearing. After few days of both scans confirmed no more nodules.