[Anonymous]

#1075969

A goiter doesn’t always indicate maladjusted thyroid hormone levels ~ unfortunately, there are quite a few things that can cause swelling in the neck. This is one of those circumstances where the patient needs to press on ~ okay, so my thyroid hormone levels are normal. So now, we are still looking at my discomfort and unusual swelling ~ WHAT NEXT? Who should I see, what should we test, etc. etc…. It should never be okay for us to be shuttled out of the doctor’s office with NO answer whatsoever. The answer we think is correct may not be the one that’s right, so we need to keep our own minds open as well, and never let up until we have an answer, a direction, or a next step.

~Ski
NGDF Assistant Online Facilitator

[Anonymous]

#1020089

Hello, I have a friend who has a goiter BUT her TSH levels are fine the dr. says. The range is 0.5 being the low and she is 0.6 but that was two years ago. Her goiter presses on something and is bothersome but she said her dr. wont give her any meds because her TSH is “normal”.

Am I missing something here? Her other levels were within limits as well. She is very depressed AND this dr. says she needs blood pressure medicine because her blood pressure is high OH MY GOD What is wrong with this dr. Can anyone help with what I should be searching for to help her. I told her a new dr. asap. I have no clue about goiters except my aunt had one taken out 25 years ago.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Anonymous]

#1075970

Hi mamabear–great seeing you hear again!

Is this a GP your friend is seeing?

A goiter is a symptom of something wrong, and should be further evaluated as to cause. It could be caused by a thyroid that’s working hard to keep up normal production because it’s in the early stages of failure due to thyroid antibodies (Hashimoto’s) but just hasn’t started to fail yet. A friend at work had that, and was put on thyroid replacement. His goiter disappeared. (He too had NO thyroid imbalance.) A goiter could be caused by thyroid cancer. Was she checked for that? There are many causes for goiters. (Lack of, or too much, iodine are two other causes.)

As you know, we’re not doctors here, but it sounds to me like your friend needs to see a different doctor. Could you go with her and help insist that the CAUSE of her goiter be determined?

Dianne W
Online Facilitator

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