Thyroid-lump In Neck?

[julie5914]

For those of you who have diagnosed thyroid trouble--is getting a stiff nexk or feeling like parts of your neck are swollen part of it. It comes and goes for me - my neck will funny, like I am fighting off sickness for a week, then go away for 3 weeks, then come back again, in a slightly differnt place, but usually in front. Any ideas?

I had my thyroid tested in the fall and am considering having it tested again this fall, but I'm wondering if it's necessary. We have already spent so much on medical bills.

[jenvan]

My mom has Hashi's, and her thyroid swells up b/c of it . She has to have the size monitored... It is where your thyroid is or glands that are swelling? The thryoid is in the front. You probably should have an endocrinologist ck it out...

[judy05]

I had what is called a goiter. We found it accidentally when I had an MRI. After that

it started to grow and I couldn't wear sweaters tight around my neck. I was sent to an Endocrinologist who did a nuclear scan and diagnosed it as a hot nodule. I chose to have it removed surgically and they found it to be benign and my left thyroid had totally destroyed itself (autoimmune disease). I now take a small dose of Levoxyl to prevent the same thing from happenning in the right.

If yours keep changing you should have it looked at because something is going on. As a result of this I always have to wear v-neck shirts, I am very sensitive in that area. Also prior to that my neck would get very red, but that has gone away.

[julie5914]

My neck doesn't get red, it's just very sensitive - yeah, turtlenecks bother me a lot more than they used to and I don't like my husband touching or kissing my neck - something I used to love.

Which tests should I ask for to make sure the whole range of thyroid trouble is covered?

[jenvan]

Judy reminded me that my grandmother had goiter as well, she had to have her thyroid removed...

[mommida]

To get Hashimoto's thyroiditis diagnosed an ultrasound of the thyroid ( the right side swells more for Hashi's), a thyroid function/uptake test ( a geiger counter is used to detect how nuclear matter has spread through the body), and a FULL panel on your blood (T3, T4, and ultrasensitive TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone))

My thyroid problem was not diagnosed (10 years) until I went to an endocronologist.

Laura

[CKruegerNJ]

I was told by my specialist for celiac disease that celiac disease and thyroid problems/thyroid cancer has a relationship to one another. I had lump on my neck and luckily visiable to the touch, but unfortunately it turned up to be cancer. I had a ultra sound of the neck area, as for me my thyroid panel was normal but we did not see anything until the ultra sound, then a biopsy and then my life changed. Your body talks to you, do not ignore it. Have it check out and you will be fine. Prevention is key, ignorance is doomed failure.

Good luck

Celiac since 2003 and still trying to get used to the new diet and fighting thyroid cancer.

[julie5914]

Wow. Thyroid cancer is big. You will make it through.

Thanks for telling me to listen to my body - you are right. I feel crazy doing it, but I made an appt. for this Thursday and am going to try to push for both a scan or ultrasound in combo with the blood tests. It will cost a pretty penny, but it would if it got worse, and I will have to buy a whole new wardrobe if I continue down this course. The calories in/calories out isn't adding up, and I'm not giving up until I find out why.

I'll let you guys know how the appt. goes and when I find out my results.

[ruddabega]

julie5914--

I have had hypothyroidism since I was about 6, but my blood work's always fine. I get a goiter (the swollen neck) if I don't take medication for it. If you are worried, you may mention this to your doctor over the phone to cut down on med. bills. I don't exactly know why my thyroid's so weird, but when I take a low dose of synthroid, my neck does better and I feel better.

About Celiac and thyroid problems being related-- that's completely true. Diabetes, Celiac, and Hypo/hyper/ other thyroid problems all go hand in hand because they're all auto-immune dieseases. Once you have one, you are pre-desposed to another.

I was just at the Joslin Diabetes reserch center in Boston, and I asked a scientist why this is true. He said that in utero, the immune system is 'taught' what to read as the bad guys and the good guys. If the messages get crossed and the body learns that, say, the intestines are bad guys, it will often learn that the pancreas islets are bad too. It all happens around the same time in development. Interesting, huh?

Hope that helps!

[julie5914]

Well, my thyroid came back normal, but he added an ANA test to it to see if it was related to Raynaud's, which I was showing symptoms of.

The ANA came back positive, which caused him to run other more specific tests, which all came back negative. He said he wants to recheck the ANA in 4 months.

I am glad I don't have thyroid disease or lupus, don't get me wrong. But something is making my neck swell and my body sore and swollen. I have hit another dead end.

[CKruegerNJ]

Hi Julie,

I am happy to hear that you are on your way to finding out why you feel the way you feel and that your tests came out negative. I know it is fustrating, but keep asking questions and do you own research and make sure your doctor is willing to work with you. What is ANA by the way? Don't be discouraged, keep positive and you will find some comfort.

[julie5914]

ANA tests for connective and rheumatic trouble, like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. It has a lot of false positives though. More technically, it looks for anitibodies that will attack healthy cells.