thyroid misery

RoadhouseBlues

Hey folks. Have any of ye ever gotten a lump on your neck from an underactive thyroid. I have a small one on the right side and slightly to the rear. It feels a bit bigger than a marrowfat pea:-). I have it about 3 months. It was smaller to begin with and I thought it was just a hive. But it has definitely got bigger. I'm going to make an appointment with the doc just to be on the safe side. I also got a heavy nose bleed yesterday. First time since I was a child. Apart from that I don't feel too bad. I've definitely put weight on though. It was never an issue before but I can notice it now. RoadhouseBlues is getting a little pot belly:-). Hope the rest of ye are feeling grand. Thanks for listening.

Lumps Bumps n Blues

Hi RHB, yes, I do have thyroid nodules, they seem to be more common in females than in males, and they come in lots of different shapes, sizes, and ''consistencies'' - some of them are just cysts, but you're right to get it checked out if you're concerned. Some people go through all their lives without knowing they've got them, for others it's more noticeable. In a way, it's a bit like with aneurysms, apparently the vast majority of people have one or more without ever realising it, and nothing happens, but if you discover you have one you're better off getting it looked at and keeping an eye on it.

Best of luck, hope you're feeling ok, apart from the lump.

RoadhouseBlues

Lumps Bumps n Blues wrote: »

Hi RHB, yes, I do have thyroid nodules, they seem to be more common in females than in males, and they come in lots of different shapes, sizes, and ''consistencies'' - some of them are just cysts, but you're right to get it checked out if you're concerned. Some people go through all their lives without knowing they've got them, for others it's more noticeable. In a way, it's a bit like with aneurysms, apparently the vast majority of people have one or more without ever realising it, and nothing happens, but if you discover you have one you're better off getting it looked at and keeping an eye on it.

Best of luck, hope you're feeling ok, apart from the lump.

Cheers for getting back to me. Yeah the problem is I don't know any other lads who suffer with thyroid problems so I don't really have anyone to ask. This place is good though. I went to the doc and she said it was nothing to worry about. It can be sore at times though, so I might go back to her if it gets too much. Thanks again for the reply. RB

Amazingfun

RoadhouseBlues wrote: »

Cheers for getting back to me. Yeah the problem is I don't know any other lads who suffer with thyroid problems so I don't really have anyone to ask. This place is good though. I went to the doc and she said it was nothing to worry about. It can be sore at times though, so I might go back to her if it gets too much. Thanks again for the reply. RB

I'd really encourage you to make use of the many Facebook groups for Hashimoto's or Hypothyroidism. They have thousands of members....a number of men among them...and are from the world over. I can hardly express the difference having such a large and varied pool of experienced thyroid patients to learn from has made in my life. I even spent saturday in Dublin with a thyroid-friend via Facebook (from Arizona) who was here for work. First time we met in "real life" and it was great. Anyways best of luck

RoadhouseBlues

Amazingfun wrote: »

I'd really encourage you to make use of the many Facebook groups for Hashimoto's or Hypothyroidism. They have thousands of members....a number of men among them...and are from the world over. I can hardly express the difference having such a large and varied pool of experienced thyroid patients to learn from has made in my life. I even spent saturday in Dublin with a thyroid-friend via Facebook (from Arizona) who was here for work. First time we met in "real life" and it was great. Anyways best of luck

Cheers AF:)
I'm not on Facebook, but I may reconsider:). Thanks for the advice though. All hail boards. RB

Rosie1983

Hi all. Wanted to ask if anyone that's on Erfa knows what size the tablets come in? I've been taking Erfa for the past 2 years with relatively good results, but my blood tests recently showed that my TSH is up a bit again (was at 2.5 in April now backup to just over 4!) and my T4 is off a bit too! Very frustrating! I spent most of last year trying to get it to stay in the right ranges then it went underactive around this time last year, took about 7 or 8 months to get it back to so called normal, and now it's off again!

Anyway my endo wants me to take an extra 15mcg a day for about 6 weeks and retest it. I'm currently taking 2 x 30mcg a day, one in the morning and one in the evening. Does anyone know if I can get Erfa in 15mcg does, as I'm currently breaking the tablets in half but it's not easy to do like it is with Eltroxin, as there's no seam down the middle.

It's very disheartening having to keep getting bloods done every few months, and having to take this every day! I was hoping now that it was back in the "normal range" that I wouldn't have to worry about it as much. I was even thinking that one day I might be able to come off the treatment altogether! I'm only 32 and I really don't want to be on medication like this for the rest of my life.

It seems that every time my life gets very stressful, my thyroid tests reflect it! I've also stopped drinking bottles water recently, I used to drink Evian most days, as I haven't gotten a built in filter yet. But I'd stopped over the past few months to save money, and now I'm wondering if that's had an effect on my thyroid too...

Is anyone still here that has had good results with treating this naturally? Like changing their diet/cutting certain stuff out/ taking natural supplements?

Thanks all!

redcatstar

Rosie 1983, you are on a very low dose are you on any of the Thyroid fb sites they help with dosing etc I started on something like efra 25 days ago and I'm taking 60 in morn and afternoon and 30 late afternoon ,
I started off on 30 twice a day

Rosie1983

redcatstar wrote: »

Rosie 1983, you are on a very low dose are you on any of the Thyroid fb sites they help with dosing etc I started on something like efra 25 days ago and I'm taking 60 in morn and afternoon and 30 late afternoon ,
I started off on 30 twice a day

Thanks for replying so quickly. I've been on 60 (2x 30) a day for nearly 2 and a half years. Apart from about 4 months in 2013 when Erfa went out of stock and I was on a similar dose of Armour. Now I'll be on 75. I have a tendency to react quite strongly to any changes in dose - I was on Eltroxin for 2 years before that and swung back and forth wildly! It was horrible! I don't think taking any hormones suits me very well to be honest!

I'm not on any Facebook threads. Do you have any links please?

redcatstar

1,Ftpo for Thyroid patients, 2,ftpo -UK/Europe for Thyroid patients only, 3,Thyroid Ireland there are other ftpo groups as well to do with adrenals, gluten free, T3 only
I find the FTPO- UK/Europe group great but all are very good

cltt97

@Rosie1983 - Unfortunately 30mg is the lowest dose for ERFA. Armour does a 15mg one. And I feel your pain, they are terrible to split!

Rosie1983

redcatstar wrote: »

1,Ftpo for Thyroid patients, 2,ftpo -UK/Europe for Thyroid patients only, 3,Thyroid Ireland there are other ftpo groups as well to do with adrenals, gluten free, T3 only
I find the FTPO- UK/Europe group great but all are very good

Thanks for that I will check them out!

cltt97 wrote: »

@Rosie1983 - Unfortunately 30mg is the lowest dose for ERFA. Armour does a 15mg one. And I feel your pain, they are terrible to split!

Thanks cltt97. That's a pity, as I'm really having difficulty getting them to break evenly. I wonder would it be worth switching back to armour? Has anyone done that? Have you noticed a difference in how you feel/ blood test results?

I've gone back to drinking bottled water now, except for boiling water for tea and coffee and cooking of course! I really want to get a fluoride filter installed - my mum just got one. But would have to see if my landlord would allow it...

Also need to work on the exercising again. As when I was running regularly it definitely helped...

cltt97

I had to go on armour for a while because ERFA was out of stock, I didn't really notice much difference, if anything my blood results were slightly better. But you could just get the 15mg armour tablets in addition to the ERFA, this way it would only be a minor change.

nifty pineapple914

is anyone in Dublin on natural dessicated thyroid? Can someone PM me the name of the endo that prescribes it? I am having my subclinical thyroid symptoms looked at now, optimal tsh but very low FT4. Am having FT3 and TPOab looked at next week. Great to see talk of AIP on this board, i've been following it for a few months now.

Chemical Byrne

Hello again.

Didn't think I'd be posting this here about myself but I got a series of blood tests done the other week after getting a virus on holidays. Anyway, to my complete surprise the nurse told me that a thyroid issue was flagged in my results. My TSH was was high at 4.94 although T4 was within the normal range at 13.2. I was told to get it tested again in 6 months. I don't have any hypo symptoms and indeed my gf commented that she would have been less surprised to hear I had slight hyperthyroidism as I always have shítloads of energy.

What is the significance of this test result?

Wyldwood

Chemical Byrne, could just be transitory so take your doctor's advice and retest in 6 months.

Chemical Byrne

Hi wyldwood. What do you mean by it being transitory? Might there not be a problem at all? I hope not.
I had a stomach upset with diarrhoea on hols too and I'm still getting over it a little bit. I saw something about certain gastrointestinal viruses causing higher than normal TSH. That doesn't explain though why my T4 is very much at the lower end of the normal range, 12-22.

Wyldwood

Well firstly I'm not a medical professional just a thyroid sufferer.
Given that you were surprised that the bloods showed hypothyroid I'm guessing you're not suffering any symptoms: fatigue, weight gain, low body temperature, brain fog, lethargy etc.

The fact that you have a virus could mean your system is out of whack. Were you fasting when you had the bloods? That can make a difference to the results. It's possible you may be a little hypo but if so it's no big deal for most people as taking the replacement hormone daily is a straightforward procedure.
Don't be alarmed by the stories here as most of us are exceptions to the norm.

As advised go back in 6 months and see where you are. Best of luck and hope you feel better soon.

Chemical Byrne

No I hadn't noticed any classical symptoms and I would be familiar with them as my gf is/was hypo but unmedicated now. In fact if I had to say anything, I would exhibit more characteristics of hyper. I'm never cold, gf is cold often and she says I radiate heat 24/7, I'm lean enough and I have a lot of energy. That's what makes it an odd sounding result for me.

Yes I was not eating much around the time of the test. I was sick so had not eaten much for 2 or 3 days.

It's starting to look like an anomaly due to illness. But as you say I just have to wait it out until retest to know for sure.

I'm feeling a bit better every day now. Still not 100pc but getting there
Just glad it was on last day if hols when it started.
Thanks

RentDayBlues

Not looking for medical advice here. Have been experiencing heart palpitations this week, they started just after I had a throat infection. I mistook them initially for chest congestion but have figured what they are now.

I have hashi's but my meds haven't changed in over a year, I feel fine so wondering if this is meds related. Have any hashi's sufferers experienced palpitations? Heading to doc next week

Chemical Byrne

From what I've read at least, heart palpitations would tend to be associated with hyper. Are you taking meds for hyper or hypo?

lovelystuff

RentDayBlues wrote: »

Not looking for medical advice here. Have been experiencing heart palpitations this week, they started just after I had a throat infection. I mistook them initially for chest congestion but have figured what they are now.

I have hashi's but my meds haven't changed in over a year, I feel fine so wondering if this is meds related. Have any hashi's sufferers experienced palpitations? Heading to doc next week

I get heart palpitations, my pattern is that I only get them if I'm completely exhausted. I was given a 24 hour monitor to be on the safe side but given the all clear. The only time I've had them without being very tired was when I was over medicated, so I'd say it's worth getting your bloods done to be safe. Hope you feel better soon.

Wyldwood

I also get palpitations and have worn a 24 hour monitor, had a stress test and was told all ok. My endo says they can be a symptom of both hypo and hyper and in the majority of cases they are harmless.

Talk to your doctor and maybe have a Holtor monitor test.

RentDayBlues

Thank you to everyone, will go see doc

I'm underactive and have had palpitations in the past, I've just now realised what they are!

Chemical Byrne

FWIW, the doc also said the blood tests showed elevated monocytes indicative of glandular fever. Took another blood sample to do specific test for glandular fever and this came back confirmed. Nurse, to my surprise, said that they would let me know the new thyroid test result. Didn't think they were going to test for that for 6 months! Still no word back on the latter, maybe it was a mistake on the nurses part?
Anyway, feeling 110 percent for the past week or so. Very glad as I've heard horror stories of people being all shagged up for months on end from glandular fever. Housemate's brother was in bits for a year after it.

RentDayBlues

So got ecg done, all clear. Just waiting on bloods

lovelystuff

Just got bloods back yesterday, my tsh is way up again. I'm exhausted! Fingers crossed I'll respond to an increase in eltroxin. Very frustrated today as it's hard to drag myself around!

Amazingfun

lovelystuff wrote: »

Just got bloods back yesterday, my tsh is way up again. I'm exhausted! Fingers crossed I'll respond to an increase in eltroxin. Very frustrated today as it's hard to drag myself around!

Just keep in mind that a good few of us didnt do well on eltroxin, no matter how much we raised. NDT has worked wonders for me and many others.

lovelystuff

Amazingfun wrote: »

Just keep in mind that a good few of us didnt do well on eltroxin, no matter how much we raised. NDT has worked wonders for me and many others.

Thanks, I've heard that alright. My endo wants to exhaust eltroxin before trying anything else,and to be fair i generally do feel ok on it. My tsh has shot back up for the first time in over a year, I'm not sure if that's just because I'm starting to tolerate my dose and it needs an increase or if there's another cause!

RentDayBlues

So TSH is same level as in January but due to the palpitation my eltroxin has been reduced by 100mcg per week, hoping it won't impact negatively

Woke up this morning with a really strange sensation on the left side of my throat, feels like something is pressing on my windpipe, wondering if it's related to the palpatations which have eased a lot in the later week

tk123

RentDayBlues wrote: »

So TSH is same level as in January but due to the palpitation my eltroxin has been reduced by 100mcg per week, hoping it won't impact negatively

Woke up this morning with a really strange sensation on the left side of my throat, feels like something is pressing on my windpipe, wondering if it's related to the palpatations which have eased a lot in the later week

When did you last have an ultrasound? When I had a mass it was compressing my windpipe and I could feel pressure.