[Cirlonde]

Hi! I wanted to chime in here because I have recently been dealing with problems with my thyroid. It started out that I had very high blood pressure (I'm 25 and it was running 140+/90+ consistently at home and much higher at the doctor's office). I've also been "hot-natured" for as long as I can remember...my perfect situation was to have the bedroom window open with a fan in it when it was about 40 degrees outside. The rest of my family complained...a lot.

So, mainly because of the high blood pressure, my doctor had a couple of tests run and sure enough, my thyroid numbers came back showing that I have hyperthyroidism. She immediately sent me for some kind of scan where I had to swallow a radioactive pill and then wait, go back six hours later and have a bunch of pictures taken of my neck and thigh. I don't really understand it, except that it wasn't uncomfortable or anything. This scan showed that I had five centimeter nodule (or goiter) on the left side of my thyroid. The doctor pinpointed this as the cause of my over-active thyroid and recommended scheduling for surgery. I flipped out and basically ran the opposite direction. In other words, I went from November of last year until April of this year pretending the problem didn't exist.

In April, I actually felt the nodule on my neck and it was becoming visible through my skin when I tilted my head. That scared me into making an appointment with an endocrinologist (a specialist). This doctor was very helpful and knowledgeable. Over the next few months, I went for a lot of blood tests and the doctor finally determined that the problem was in my thyroid and not my pituitary gland (this was a good thing...much easier to fix). However, my problem couldn't be fixed with medication only (something to do with my TSH levels) so I had two options.

Option #1: I could have surgery and they would try to remove just the side of my thyroid that had nodule attached. However, the doctor warned that there was a 50/50 chance that the surgeon would get in there and see that the other side of my thyroid was "at risk" for developing the same problem again and he would remove that side as well...leaving me with Hypothyroidism (under active thyroid). I would also run the risks of surgery in general...them cutting something wrong, etc.

Option #2 (and the one I chose): I could take a radioactive iodine pill which would literally kill my thyroid. This process has minimal risks associated with it (and those are mostly just for parents with small children or women who intend to become pregnant soon). And the result is the same as if my surgery had revealed other thyroid problems. Also, I will no longer be at risk for thyroid cancer or new nodules appearing.

So, in June, I popped the pill and stayed home for 3 days. I experienced a very small amount of nausea but nothing bad and then went back to work. The doctor said it will be at least 3 months if not longer before my levels settled out and he can put me on hypothyroid meds, so I go back for that appointment at the end of this month. And I'll have to have follow-up appointments each year for a while and/or forever. But the meds are cheap and have very few, very mild side effects if any. The only change I've noticed so far is that my tolerance for heat seems to be a bit better...I still don't like to be hot, but keeping the house at 75 is comfy...compared to the 68 it used to have to be!

Sorry this is so long...but it's a lot of history to cover!
-C