I have a multi nodular goiter. When the doctor put me on Levoxyl he said it was to help prevent the goiter from increasing in size and hopefully to maybe even decrease its size. It has not decreased the size of it but it has not increased in size either. With the doctor I had who diagnosed me we did ultrasounds of the goiter every 6 months to check its size. And before the first one I had a biopsy done and was relieved when they found it benign. Since I moved I have not had any ultrasounds down and it has been about 3 years. When I mentioned it to my current doctor she said it was not necessary since my labs are good.

I have a multi-nodular goiter which has more than doubled in size during my pregnancy. The labs show that it is benign, but the docs want to remove my entire thyroid. I too am looking for alternatives.

Did he give you any reason why he wants to remove the whole thyroid Rani?

Well, they said anything that doubles in size that quickly can't be good so they want to take it out as soon as I'm done breastfeeding my infant which is still 6 or 7 months away.

They figure that if they take out just this one nodule, at some point they'd have to go back in and take out the others as well. Taking out the whole thyroid all ot once would eliminate the need for multiple surgeries. But I don't know....

Hi Rani. Have you had your thyroid levels checked: Free T4, Free T3, and thyroid antibodies?

It may be a good idea to get another opinion.

Thanks for asking, I think my Free T4, Free T3 levels are slightly elevated. But my thyroid is still functioning.

Yes, they discovered a small goiter in me many years ago and put me on Synthroid immediately to suppress it. It did. It depends on how large your goiter is. My dad has had two surgeries to remove goiters and so did my grandmother and an aunt. Very hereditary for us! Be sure and use iodized salt.

Becky

Hi Becky,

What was the recovery from surgery like for your dad, grandmother and aunt? Did it take a long time for them to heal? For your dad's second surgery did they take out the whole thyroid?

Thanks!

I had Thyrotoxicosis from a hyperactive multinodular goitre that would occasionally haemorage.I had my thyroid totally removed 6 weeks ago. Heals pretty quick really. Sore at first of course but I was only taking paracetemol for pain after 2 days. It's ok.

shel, I hope you found some answers by now. Have you seen your doctor and/or requested information?

yes i did and they want to wait and see if i can fight it on my own they didnt really say much else! xx

I had a pretty large goiter when I had hyperthyroidism (now it's hypo-). Took me 11 months but it did go away on its own.

Rani,
I too had a multi-nodular goiter which got worse during pregnancy. My thyroid levels were always normal but I just happened to have a body scan because my friend who works there suggested it. It showed that my thyroid was "squeezing" my trachea. They suggested I take the info immediately to a surgeon, which I did. He looked at it and suggested I have my thyroid removed because it could eventually "collapse" my trachea. That would not be a good thing. Anyway, I went ahead and had my thyroid removed which turned out to be much larger than they had anticipated. It did not show on the outside of my neck very much, but was quite large internally. The surgery wasn't bad...out of hospital in about 3 days. Healing process went ok. Biggest adjustment was figuring out the right dosage of Levoxyl. Took several months to get it right. This was five years ago. I just pop the Levoxyl once a day and am feeling great. So don't totally rely on your TSH readings. Like I said, mine were always normal, but I had this huge goiter!

update- i've been to scans and theres an abnormality but they didnt say what i got to go see the specialist again!

svenska, Thank you for that message you posted. It was quite interesting and got my attention since I have a goiter, too. Mine is visible on the outside and for a while I was getting ultrasounds to monitor for any growth. It seems to be maintaining in size. Tell me something, were you very tired before your surgery and have you noticed any increase in energy and less fatigue since your surgery? Thanks.
Diane