Anyone here have thyroid problems?

[Janna and Boomer]

I'm getting all geared up for my thyroid scan on Thursday. I have been feeling like I'm choking for 3 weeks now and I'm SO SICK OF IT. > I will be glad when they can do the scan and find out what's making my thyroid swell up so that they can put a stop to it.

I did find out that my grandpa has hypothyroidism...is this something that can be inherited? I could have this...I could also just have an iodine deficiency...but I want some answers. I'm tired of sitting here in suspense and discomfort. This is me right now:


Okay, just kidding. It's not anything close to that...LOL...I just have to amuse myself somehow. :-\ LOL *cry*

[Vanis]

I have thyroid problems...but i don't think it's the same kind as yours.

I was diagnosed with Graves disease (basically a hyper thyroid, instead of hypo) back in 2000. I was told the treatment for it was to swallow some radiation, in the form of radio-iodine, and that the iodine in the radiation would pool up in my thyroid and that would in turn, radiate my thyroid and it would no longer function. At that point I would require a thyroid hormone replacement to take on a daily basis.

I did the radio-iodine. I had to stay quarantined (read stuck in my room) for 4 days because I was considered to be "radio-active" and I couldn't be around people or animals during that time.

It's been 7 years now and I still deal with fluctuating thyroid levels. It's always going up or down, which in turn causes hair loss, weight gain (or loss depending on where the level is at) and moodiness. Fun stuff, lol.

Sometimes I wish I hadn't removed my thyroid (It was basically nuked to non-existence) and instead, investigated other avenues for treating hyper or hypo thyroidism.

I would say if I had to do it all over again, I would have a long LONG talk with my endocrinologist and look into every treatment option out there. I wouldn't let them just say "This is what you do" and obey.

Good luck on Thursday! The scanning machine they use is quite intimidating (for me anyway) but it really wasn't a big deal. Hopefully you can find out what's going on and then you'll be able to research your options.

[Janna and Boomer]

What is the scanning machine like? Is it like a CAT Scan?

I know that on Wednesday I'm supposed to have an iodine injection, and then go back on Thursday so that they can see how much iodine my thyroid has processed (I think)...?

After they scan, are they able to diagnose a problem right away? Obviously, these are all questions I'll ask once I'm there...but I always like to know stuff ahead of time.