Topic: Concerned about Thyroid Ultrasound results. Thoughts??
Tammy N.
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 26835
posted
I've been experiencing a lot of pain since starting iodine. I understand this can happen if you are majorly deficient in iodine, so I have been taking it slowly.
The ultrasound report says the thyroid is slightly enlarged and the isthmus is slightly thickened. (It includes specific measurements.)
Additional wording: There is a vague hypoechoic region occupying the mid right thyroid lobe. The area measures approx 1x2cm in size. Whether this represents focal heterogeneous tissue or a true mass is unknown. There is also a much larger hypoehoic region occupying large portions of the left thyroid lobe again possibly representing parenchymal mixed echogenicity or nodular replacement of much of this lobe. Thyroiditis could give a similar mixed echogenicity. This should be correlated clinically and with thyroid function studies.
btw - all of my thyroid blood tests always come back normal. I don't think I've been tested for Hashimoto's though.
My LLMD wants me to follow up with an endocrinologist. Wish me luck finding a LL one.
I will be seeing my ART doc tomorrow and will discuss further.
Thanks for any words of wisdom you can share.
Posts: 2238 | From East Coast | Registered: Jul 2010
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map1131
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Member # 2022
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Tammy, yeah good luck finding a LL endo. My TPO thyroid anti-bodies tested through the roof, like 1300 and normal 30 about 3 yrs ago.
PCP got all scared after he had been treating my hypothyroid for years. Oh my, he said this is an auto-immune problem and you could feel so much better seeing a endo for complete study...blah, blah. It could answer all your issues that we thought were lyme related.
My thyroid is dead, ultrasound showed no visable signs of blood flow. No surprise, I've been on synthroid for 25 yrs.
Ultrasound did show a shadowed area that endo stated is not cancer related/like. She just recommended measure and retest a year later for changes.
Endo did decide I was taking too high a dose of meds and lower my dosage. Big mistake, because within 2 weeks I went completely wacko, crying, ranting etc.
Went back to tell her all my sx with lower dose and she told me to see a "head" doc. My PCP put me back on my normal dosage and I fired the endo.
I had done my research and knew that LL endo specialist say levels must be kept higher for those with lyme. I gave her Dr D. Metzer endo study info and she just refused to educate herself on lyme & the thyroid/hormones.
The way I see all this is.....if I was a very smart bacteria(s) and I was going to hide out from the bad guys? Me & some of my colony buddies are going to hide in this dead thyroid. No wonder my immune-system is trying to attack that gland.
I hope ART will lead you down the correct path.
Pam
-------------------- "Never, never, never, never, never give up" Winston Churchill Posts: 6478 | From Louisville, Ky | Registered: Jan 2002
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Tammy N.
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Member # 26835
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Thanks Pam. Doesn't sound like a fun road you've been on.
My report didn't say anything about blood flow.
I will try to find a somewhat knowledgeable endo. Maybe I'll call compounding pharmacies and see if that leads me somewhere.
btw - why Synthroid instead of bio-identical?
Posts: 2238 | From East Coast | Registered: Jul 2010
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map1131
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Member # 2022
posted
25 yrs ago, way before lyme. The way traditional medicine does things. Exactly why one shouldn't take the thyroid meds like synthroid/levothyroxine, because it will eventually kill the thyroid.
Study up on Deborah Metzer MD, LL endocrinologist.
Pam
-------------------- "Never, never, never, never, never give up" Winston Churchill Posts: 6478 | From Louisville, Ky | Registered: Jan 2002
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Tammy N.
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Member # 26835
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Thanks Pam, will look into that doc.
Are you on bio-identicals now? If yes, any difference in how you feel?
Posts: 2238 | From East Coast | Registered: Jul 2010
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map1131
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posted
No bio-identicals. I had an apt with compound pharmacy last August. Suddenly found out I had coronary artery disease and canceled apt to take care of heart first.
I'm already on so many vit, supps etc. The thought of more stuff just makes me gag. I do need to do something because post menopause is troubling.
Pam
-------------------- "Never, never, never, never, never give up" Winston Churchill Posts: 6478 | From Louisville, Ky | Registered: Jan 2002
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MichaelTampa
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Member # 24868
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quote:Originally posted by map1131: 25 yrs ago, way before lyme. The way traditional medicine does things. Exactly why one shouldn't take the thyroid meds like synthroid/levothyroxine, because it will eventually kill the thyroid.
Pam
What would you (or the doc you mentioned above) think about taking T3 and T4, where the T4 is levothyroxine? Does including T3 make it such that it wouldn't "kill the thyroid" over time? I think, still, the T3/T4 mix isn't really complete, as there is T1 and T2, if I remember.
Posts: 1927 | From se usa | Registered: Mar 2010
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posted
it is the antibodies that kill the thyroid gland, not the thyroid hormones one takes.
Taking the right dose of thyroid hormones lower the TSH, and TSH triggers antibodies.
Posts: 366 | From Europe | Registered: Nov 2008
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map1131
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 2022
posted
I have a family history full of thyroid disease, so it was in my genes. I've seen many different alternative docs etc over the years that have told me their opinions on synthroid/levoth and how it kills the thyroid.
If I could find an out of box thinking endo I could try many different combos to help me. I might as well be shooting for the moon.
What came first the chicken or the egg northernlights?
Pam
-------------------- "Never, never, never, never, never give up" Winston Churchill Posts: 6478 | From Louisville, Ky | Registered: Jan 2002
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