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5 Posts
Hi all! Glad to have found this board--have found a wealth of information and experiences here!
My name is Jen. Am 40 yrs old. I have a 3 cm hot nodule that is causing me to be hyperthyroid. I found the nodule in spring 2011 after a routine physical and tsh numbers came back low. Because of family history, choose to go to endo, who found the nodule. Had ultrasound/FNA, in June 2011, and nodule was benign.
For the past year and half, have chosen to live with hyperthyroid symptoms (dry skin, itchy head, hair falling out, anxiety) mainly because I feel pretty good and not sure the solutions would be worth the trouble. I thought perhaps that losing weight, limiting processed foods, focusing on general health could help manage. It has helped some, but I also have flare ups every 5-6 weeks of pain in my thyroid where nodule is, lots of clearing of throat, coughing, click when I swallow, more hair following out.
I don't have Graves or Hashis--had the autoimune test and came back negative. Had the thyroid scan (uptake scan), which shows that most of my thyroid has shut down and that nodule is producing all/most of thyroid hormone--hot nodule. My tsh numbers have been in hyperthryoid levels, but not so low that I need to act, according to endocrinologist.
So if I want to act, rather than do nothing, I need to choose. Dr has given me option of taking Methimazole to manage hyper symptoms ( 5mg every other day), but I'm afraid of liver side effects, so don't really want to take. I could do RAI or have a partial thyroidectomy--and know there's a chance I will/won't need synthetic thyroid hormone with either. Having a hard time making the decision.
I'm concerned about the effects of RAI on my body, afraid it's going to kill off healthy thyroid tissue, afraid it won't shrink nodule, afraid it will just mess my system up, especially since I think my quality of life is pretty good. Concerned about being away from my family--3 young kiddos.
But the partial thyroidectomy is surgery, which scares me too. Once half my thyroid is gone, there is no getting it back. This seems so permanent. But I like the immediate results--have surgery, one night on hospital, two weeks recovery, and will hopefully know quickly if rest of thyroid will kick in or if I will need medication.
OK--that's enough for this long winded introduction--sorry! Have to make a decision. It's time! Thanks for reading! Would love to hear if you have similar experiences!
My name is Jen. Am 40 yrs old. I have a 3 cm hot nodule that is causing me to be hyperthyroid. I found the nodule in spring 2011 after a routine physical and tsh numbers came back low. Because of family history, choose to go to endo, who found the nodule. Had ultrasound/FNA, in June 2011, and nodule was benign.
For the past year and half, have chosen to live with hyperthyroid symptoms (dry skin, itchy head, hair falling out, anxiety) mainly because I feel pretty good and not sure the solutions would be worth the trouble. I thought perhaps that losing weight, limiting processed foods, focusing on general health could help manage. It has helped some, but I also have flare ups every 5-6 weeks of pain in my thyroid where nodule is, lots of clearing of throat, coughing, click when I swallow, more hair following out.
I don't have Graves or Hashis--had the autoimune test and came back negative. Had the thyroid scan (uptake scan), which shows that most of my thyroid has shut down and that nodule is producing all/most of thyroid hormone--hot nodule. My tsh numbers have been in hyperthryoid levels, but not so low that I need to act, according to endocrinologist.
So if I want to act, rather than do nothing, I need to choose. Dr has given me option of taking Methimazole to manage hyper symptoms ( 5mg every other day), but I'm afraid of liver side effects, so don't really want to take. I could do RAI or have a partial thyroidectomy--and know there's a chance I will/won't need synthetic thyroid hormone with either. Having a hard time making the decision.
I'm concerned about the effects of RAI on my body, afraid it's going to kill off healthy thyroid tissue, afraid it won't shrink nodule, afraid it will just mess my system up, especially since I think my quality of life is pretty good. Concerned about being away from my family--3 young kiddos.
But the partial thyroidectomy is surgery, which scares me too. Once half my thyroid is gone, there is no getting it back. This seems so permanent. But I like the immediate results--have surgery, one night on hospital, two weeks recovery, and will hopefully know quickly if rest of thyroid will kick in or if I will need medication.
OK--that's enough for this long winded introduction--sorry! Have to make a decision. It's time! Thanks for reading! Would love to hear if you have similar experiences!
