I have a nodule in my thyroid gland on right side. Doctors have advised Hemithyroidectomy. Advice?

That is a decision that is solely your own.

Choose your endocrinologist carefully.

Choose your surgeon carefullt, now so you will not be put into a rush decision down the road.

I had my thyroid excised 9-12-2001.

I do great. A thyroid blood test every six months, show visit with the endocrinologist.

I am going to give you a lot to think about...ask all the questions you would like.

Thyroid is the thermostat of the body....if the thermostat goes out in your house, everything goes cold, the pipes freeze, then the pipes burst, and you have an incredible mess to clean up.

This is just some of what your body goes through...

fatigue

weight gain

muscle weakness

always feeling cold

dry skin

constipation

hair loss..breakage

depression

reduced heart rate

The symptoms worsen in direct proportion to how T3 and T4 deficient your body is. The body can not live without thyroid hormone.

We are a society that wants everything at warp speed...thyroid is ploddingly slow.

If I make a change in thyroid medication today, my blood will not show the full results of that change for 6 weeks. It is preferred to gradually increase thyroid hormone every 6 weeks because if you overshoot optimum, the symptoms of hyper are going to be just as troubling as those of hypo are. In my case, once T4 and TSH were where my endocrinologist wanted them, she increased T3 only. Think radio station, you have reception... and static. So you fine tune the reception with T3 and lose the static.

Pertaining only to those patients on Levothyroxine-Synthroid (T4), about half of these patients will feel great improvement if their T3 is about 75% of normal range, for me that level is about 3.7.

T4 (Thyroxine), named for it's 4 iodine atoms, maintains a relatively stable blood level and is therefore termed long acting.

T3 (Triiodothyronine), named for it's 3 iodine atoms, fluctuates and is therefore termed short acting.

Let us ingest T4 (Thyroxine, brand name Levothyroxine-Synthroid ) Our body takes in T4 and converts the T4 into T3 (Triiodothyronine) through chemical reaction. In other words, our body takes the 4 iodine atoms and converts the 4 iodine atoms into a new compound with only 3 iodine atoms.

So from a strick biological & chemical viewpoint, many say if I can use one chemical compound (T4) to make the other chemical compound (T3) in the body, I only need to administer the T4.

BUT many studies have shown that about half of the patients on T4 feel better taking both T4 and T3.

The argument of Armour's Thyroid versus Synthroid...

One grain of ARMOUR'S THYROID is 60 mg.

Each 60 mg of ARMOUR'S THYROID contains .038 mg (or 38 mcg) of T4

AND each 60 mg of ARMOUR'S THYROID contains 9 mcg of T3 , plus unmeasured amounts of T2, T1 and calcitonin.

SYNTHROID is all T4

which explains why the addition of CYTOMEL (which is all T3) makes fifty percent or so of SYNTHROID users feel so much better.

Remember T3 is a short half life which is why T4 is prescribed as the backbone of treatment...some of us do not effectively metabolize T4 into T3. For these individuals, supplemental T3 should be considered.

This is a lot for you to digest....

just remember, your pituitary gland secrets TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) which is the message for the thyroid to respond by releasing T4...if the thyroid does not respond, the pituitary gland releases more TSH, begging the thyroid to respond...if the thyroid remains unresponsive the pituitary gland releases even more TSH, screaming at the thyroid...

I have no thyroid, lost it to cancer.

My TSH is 0.01. And no, you do not want my TSH. I am hyperthyroidic because that is how my endocrinologist must maintain me to avoid a recurrence of the cancer.

My TSH must be 0.05 or less but detectable. My endocrinologist also writes her prescriptions ss no substitution...Synthroid, currently I take 125 mcgandCytomel, currently I take 10 mcg

Thyroid medication is taken on an empty stomach with nothing for two hours after taking the medication.

If you click on the envelope near by name, you can private message me.

That is a decision that is solely your own.

Choose your endocrinologist carefully.

Choose your surgeon carefullt, now so you will not be put into a rush decision down the road.

I had my thyroid excised 9-12-2001.

I do great. A thyroid blood test every six months, show visit with the endocrinologist.

I am going to give you a lot to think about...ask all the questions you would like.

Thyroid is the thermostat of the body....if the thermostat goes out in your house, everything goes cold, the pipes freeze, then the pipes burst, and you have an incredible mess to clean up.

This is just some of what your body goes through...

fatigue

weight gain

muscle weakness

always feeling cold

dry skin

constipation

hair loss..breakage

depression

reduced heart rate

The symptoms worsen in direct proportion to how T3 and T4 deficient your body is. The body can not live without thyroid hormone.

We are a society that wants everything at warp speed...thyroid is ploddingly slow.

If I make a change in thyroid medication today, my blood will not show the full results of that change for 6 weeks. It is preferred to gradually increase thyroid hormone every 6 weeks because if you overshoot optimum, the symptoms of hyper are going to be just as troubling as those of hypo are. In my case, once T4 and TSH were where my endocrinologist wanted them, she increased T3 only. Think radio station, you have reception... and static. So you fine tune the reception with T3 and lose the static.

Pertaining only to those patients on Levothyroxine-Synthroid (T4), about half of these patients will feel great improvement if their T3 is about 75% of normal range, for me that level is about 3.7.

T4 (Thyroxine), named for it's 4 iodine atoms, maintains a relatively stable blood level and is therefore termed long acting.

T3 (Triiodothyronine), named for it's 3 iodine atoms, fluctuates and is therefore termed short acting.

Let us ingest T4 (Thyroxine, brand name Levothyroxine-Synthroid ) Our body takes in T4 and converts the T4 into T3 (Triiodothyronine) through chemical reaction. In other words, our body takes the 4 iodine atoms and converts the 4 iodine atoms into a new compound with only 3 iodine atoms.

So from a strick biological & chemical viewpoint, many say if I can use one chemical compound (T4) to make the other chemical compound (T3) in the body, I only need to administer the T4.

BUT many studies have shown that about half of the patients on T4 feel better taking both T4 and T3.

The argument of Armour's Thyroid versus Synthroid...

One grain of ARMOUR'S THYROID is 60 mg.

Each 60 mg of ARMOUR'S THYROID contains .038 mg (or 38 mcg) of T4

AND each 60 mg of ARMOUR'S THYROID contains 9 mcg of T3 , plus unmeasured amounts of T2, T1 and calcitonin.

SYNTHROID is all T4

which explains why the addition of CYTOMEL (which is all T3) makes fifty percent or so of SYNTHROID users feel so much better.

Remember T3 is a short half life which is why T4 is prescribed as the backbone of treatment...some of us do not effectively metabolize T4 into T3. For these individuals, supplemental T3 should be considered.

This is a lot for you to digest....

just remember, your pituitary gland secrets TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) which is the message for the thyroid to respond by releasing T4...if the thyroid does not respond, the pituitary gland releases more TSH, begging the thyroid to respond...if the thyroid remains unresponsive the pituitary gland releases even more TSH, screaming at the thyroid...

I have no thyroid, lost it to cancer.

My TSH is 0.01. And no, you do not want my TSH. I am hyperthyroidic because that is how my endocrinologist must maintain me to avoid a recurrence of the cancer.

My TSH must be 0.05 or less but detectable. My endocrinologist also writes her prescriptions ss no substitution...Synthroid, currently I take 125 mcgandCytomel, currently I take 10 mcg

Thyroid medication is taken on an empty stomach with nothing for two hours after taking the medication.

If you click on the envelope near by name, you can private message me.

I had my thyroid removed as it was enlarged with nodules I wish now I had known about these forums and researched before going ahead with the removal I wish I had gone for a partial rather than a total as the side effects of the medication available in UK (levothyroxine) are horrid and take a long time to get to a stage that you can live with (if you ever do).

I wish you well

Trust your doctors. I had the same with no symptoms( found by chance) and it was cancer. I had the other half of my thyroid removed 3 months later and then had four days of radioactive iodine. Don't be afraid, it may well be harmless and none of it hurt at all.

Good luck

Removed entire thyroid about 5 months later

6 months later swallowed the radioactive pills