Hypothyroidism or Thyroid Cancer?

Question

A specialist diagnosed me with early or mild hypothyroidism. I have a goiter and im taking my meds everyday but my meds dont seem to be working she said its at its right amount but im still tired all the time and its hard for me to lose weight. She said there is a mass on my thyroid and I have a biopsy coming up. Is it more likely I have thyroid cancer?

Answer 1

if you have Hashimoto's thyroiditis the nodules [masses can form as decease is progressing]; however the palpation is very unreliable method to determine type and size of mass.

Several patients were ultrasound-tested and no masses were found!

{unless the mass is large enough to be seen during swallowing with neck stretched].

Answer 2

Not necessarily..... Has she ever adjusted your meds or just picked an amount and left it there? What they are supposed to do is put you ona dose, then 6 weeks later re-do your bloodwork and adjust the medicine accordingly.  Just because your TSH is in between the correct range doesn't mean it's the "right" dose for you...I had to adjust mine for over a year to get it right and feel 100% again.  Doctors also tend to medicate you to just under the top of the range - the national average of people with HEALTHY thyroids is about a 1.0...... (which is on the low middle of the range :p  )   I would definatly try a second opinnion. (it took me 4 doctors to get this right).  If you were on the "right" amount, for 6 weeks (the meds take at least that long to get in your system) then you should be feeling a bit better and the goiter should be shrinking.

You can have masses that are non-cancerous.  Honestly, I don't remember the specifics, I'm going to give you some links...the one for the disscussion board is fabulous, the people over there were a wealth of infomation when I was going through all this.  

Answer 3

Firstly, make sure you are taking your medicine correctly.  You should take your levothyroxine first thing upon waking and wait half and hour before eating.  For breakfast you shouldn't eat anything with soy in it as that can delay the absorption of the medication.  You'd be surprised how many things have soy in them, like bread bought from the shops so your safest bet is either to eat porridge you have made or scrambled eggs (or just the whites and some vegetables if you have high cholesterol).

Secondly, lumps in the thyroid should be investigated properly.  This means a Fine Needle Biopsy or Aspiration with ultrasound to investigate lump in order to rule out cancer.  The good news is that the majority of thyroid cancers are 99% curable.