Last week i went to the docs and aksed for ascript to check my thyroid to see if that had anything to do with my hair problem. I said that nobody else seems in the slightest bit interested so i have to do the research myself! He wantedt o give me antidepressants so when i said ‘will that make my hair grow back’ i think he got the message.
Anyway, my blood tests arrived in the post today.
My cancer marker has dropped to 7.3 so am really pleased about that.
Then i opened the thyroid test and it says normal count is
0.34 - 5.6 well mine said
0.03 !!!
So have been looking stuff up and afew things dont add up. Overactive thyroid - weight lose - i have been pilling it on but loosing now dieting and exercising.
Anyway, i see my specialist on Mon so will see what she says.
As i have no way of knowing what my original amount was i have nothing to compare it with.
Actually, as i was writing the first post i remembered in 1997 i had a thryoid test when i was living in Jersey. Just phoned my old doctor and he got my results out. It was normal then and he said this result is low. he explained that because it doesnt mention a T4 test it could mean either i was under or over active.
So i am getting very excited at the thought of having thyroxin and loosing more weight and MAYBE growing my hair!
I cant bloody well believe that my team here didnt think of checking it and i will shove this test result infront of her nose on monday.
pineapple
just seen your post. i have asked for a test for underactive thyroid too as i have some classic symptoms (apparently) - always feeling cold, v. slow hair and nail growth and so on.
please let me know how you get on - so hope this unlocks some solution to your hair and its reluctance to make a come back. i’m keeping fingers crossed for you on that one.
x
Hi Joanna,apart from putting on 3 stone and was still rising till i went on a diet and excerise binge in time for my holiday, and of course the hair situation i dont really have any other symptoms. I do get a bit tired but i put it down to being 13 stone instead of my usual 9 1/2 to 10. I have noticed the last couple fo weeks that i feel trembly, my hands are still but its just a feeling inside. I thought it might be lack of chocolate but tried some 
and it made no difference.
I am still getting afew pains in my head but they are not as bad as before but i still have nose/sinus/ear problems and i have put it down to that.
I dont really know if its dangerous if its not sorted but i am going to see om specialist on Mon so if she wont deal with it i am sure she will send me to see someone else or maybe just my doc can sort it out. Not looking forward to more blood tests though - i hate hunt the vien sessions.
Hi Joanna & Pineapple
I recently had blood tests to try and find a reason for my weight gain, tiredness and general unwell feeling. One of the tests was thyroid, but it came back normal so that ruled that out. Like you both I almost wished there was something wrong to explain the problems, but silly really I know.
Anyway good luck with your appt on Monday, hope they have some answers for you and you too Joanna.
By the way, my tumour marker was 17 which for me is still far too high, so yours was very good Pineapple.
Love P x
Peacock, i dont really understand these blood test for CA 15.3, i know they can go up and then down but the bit i dont understand is why is there anything? does that mean theres a bit of cancer - surely if you didnt have it there wouldnt be anything? i might try to ask her on Monday about that and report back. I dought that she will be chatty with me though especially if i point out that i am having to do my own research with my hairloss because nobody else is in the slightest bit interested! Its true though.
Hi pineapple
I would be interested to find out about the tumour marker blood test,docs never really explain them very well
Lornaxxx
Just back from my appointment.
Very happy, cant go into detail but there is going to be some action of some sort about the hair not returning etc as there are now 17 other cases in Brittany!
Anyway, wont say any more about that but i am very happy !
My thyroid - she says i am hyper which she said is unusual because after the treatment i have had its normally hypo, but she wants me to have a scan on it so have appointment at the docs this afternoon to sort out an endocrine specialist.
Has anyone had a scan on their thyroid? what do they do?
Pineapple
Very pleased for you that there might be some action on the hair growing front.
Like Lorna I’m interest in the tumour marker blood test - I’ve never been offered one of these.
I was over active (Hyper) before I was diagnosed my symptoms were weight loss, feeling hot and slightly on edge all the time. I didn’t ever have a scan.
good luck Wizz
I am so sorry but we were so into talking about the hair thing that i forgot to ask her about the ca 15.3. I will tyr to remember when i see my surgeon in oct. Sorry about that. I am in France and they do this test routinely here in primary DX but dont think they do it in the UK.
I am just back from the doctor and i have another different blood test for thyroid tomorrow morning, then on Sat for a scan and him on Mon to talk about the results.
he said its either a nodule - in which case it has to be removed
If its not a nodule then its a anti body thing and i will have treatment for 18 months then it should work ok on its own after that. He says i have to have treatment before my holidays or i will be ill while i am away!!! i go to Turley in 3 weeks. I asked what he means by ill. he said that i would become very breathless and bad palpations and possibly faint. So i have to have something before my hols. so i said if its a nodule i cant have an op before and he said that they could give me pills so i would be ok on holiday and get the op as soon as i return. I felt ok till i came out and know keep getting brealthless ! lol
Sorry to hear that you have a thyroid problem Pineapple, but it sounds as though it can easily be treated, so let us know how you get on. Breathlessness is a nightmare, because I feel when I walk a few minutes I am the same, although nothing has shown up in my tests.
Does this mean an over, or an under active Thyroid and has it been a consequence of your treatment for cancer, or just one of those things?
Take care
Love Carole
HI Pineapple,
I had a CT scan late last year for another reason and the CT results showed i had a thyriod nodule,i was quickly sent off for an ultrasound on my thyriod which confirmed a multi nodular thyriod (benign).The ultrsound can usealy confirm wether nodules are benign but Sometimes they do a FNA on a nodule to confirm,(thyriod cancer is very rare) Im also haveing 3 mthly blood tests as am starting to show signs of hyperthyriodism ,some nodules can cause you to make too much thyriod hormone makeing you hyperactive, while others dont.
I was told here they only usealy operate to remove nodules if they grow so big as to cause restrictions on your airway or if you get difficulity swallowing, i am awear of mine when i swallow and ofen clear my throat, but am just being monitored yearly as many nodules just stay the same size .
Thyriod nodules are very common apparently and many people have them but dont know it untill picked up accidentialy by a scan for another reason or have a swelling in your neck or problems swallowing. There is also a radioactive iodine liquid they can give you to drink to destroy the gland. Like you i will have to take thyroxine at some point proberly soon, and am surprised at how many people with BC have thyriod problems either before or after DX.
Hope all gos ok
All the best
Lindiloo x
The specialist said if its caused by chemo then its underactive but as mine is over active its just one of those things.
The last 3 years, since a month after finishing rads, i felt like i was being stangled when i swallow. Some times it gets abit worse for a few weeks then settles down again. I have had it for 3 years and its there every single time i swallow. My onc said at first that it was probly my oesophegus (sp) that is immflammed after rads and it flares up now ang again. Then afew months later i went to my gp and he sent me for an normal x-ray and the doctor did a scan just at one side of neck just looking for lymph glands but i was bordering hysterical as i was convinced i had throat cancer. You rmemebr whats its like in the months after treatment finished (well still now ) so they were looking for cancer stuff. But they said it looked ok and i just learned to live with it but i still have it - it never goes away. So i said this to my doc yesterday and he said that no way have i had this problem for 3 years absolutly no way or i would have been very ill. So i dont know what to think.
He asked me if i had lost weight so of course i said over a stone but i am taking credit for it because i have worked so dammed hard.
He is convinced the thyroid thing has just happened.
He also said he was sorry to tell me that its not the thyroid thing stopping my hair from growing back - he said it could of been if it had been under but not over. So bang goes that theory. My specialist said yesterday that the whole team are all in agreement that its def the Taxotere - so i suppose they want to keep me as one of their stats for the official thing thats going on now.
I cant help but wonder if my throat thing i have felt for the last 3 years is something to do with it. I cant feel any lumps but i suppose i will find out either Sat or definatly by mon.
I just have to cope with the nurse comming round again this morning trying to find yet another vein - my arm is still bruised the the other day and am dreading it.
Oh no ! someones just told me that i will get iodine injected into a vein for this scan. WHERE ARE THEY GOING TO FIND A VEIN TO INJECT IT IN.
I can see me being sent home because they wont be able to put the stuff in me.
Oh Pineapple, you are in my thoughts, it sounds as though this scan will get to the bottom of it. I thought there was a very slight risk with rads that it can damage the oesophagus but I think the risk is slight.
I’m sure they will be able to find a vein somewhere if you need an injection, can you do some deep breathing while they do it to relax you? I would have thought you should have been told that they would be doing this, so maybe you are worrying and it won’t happen.
Either way, at least you should know what the problem is after the scan.
Bon courage with it, let us know how it goes
Love P xx
Thats really weird - i could have sworn i posted on this thread this morning and its appeared on the other ladies thread - sorry about that i am not meaning to post twice - admin maybe you could remove the other posting i did. Dont want to hijack someones thread.
Been to see my GP with reults.
I have to have another test now!, on the nodule because they need to see if its the nodule causing the problem. If its not then i can have 18 months worth of treatment and hopefully it will work fine after. if its the nodule then i will definatly have to have it removed.
So really hoping its not the nodule.
With a bald head a scar across my neck i will look like Frankinstiens monster.
I have started beta blockers and neo-mercazole, even if i have to have the op i need this drug to reduce the thyroid before the op.
I am so sure this started just a month after my rads finished.
I am expecting a phone call today from the thyroid specialist to give me my appointment to see him. I wonder what they will do? how do they check a nodule - i told me GP i am not having a needle stuck in neck and he laughed and said thats not what will happen.
This Sunday i go to Nantes to see Lenny Kravitz yeeeehaaaaaaa and the following Sunday we are off to Turkey - bliss
Hi Pineapple
Ignore my PM I just sent you.
All these tests are a nuisance, but at least you are getting nearer to the answer and hopefully it will just mean tablets. So, is it an over active thyroid you have or an under active, or neither and something else?
Enjoy Lenny Kravitz…
Speak soon
Love Carole
Hi All
Sorry to jump in on this thread but I have just this morning been to my docs and he has said he is 99% sure I have an over active thyroid.
I was Dx March 08, WLE 11/12 nodes clear, triple negative, 3 fec, 3 tax 15 rads with 5 boosters. I remember starting having the constriction feeling around my neck when rads had just started and on my 1st review my onc said the symptoms were ‘classic’ anxiety symptoms. I have put up with it and up with it, sleeplessness and real irritability until last night when I spilled my tea down me and nearly had a thrombosis attack with the rage I felt inside. I actually said to my OH that I was sick of myself and that I had something wrong in my head. I went to my docs (new as I felt I was let down by my old one with going with high blood pressure symptoms) I told him all my symptoms and mentioned that there is a link between BC and thyroid and he agreed with me straight away. I have just had a blood test which will have to wait for the results and also they have requested a scan. One thing is that I am glad that I’m not going mad but on the flip side I am worried about having another condition!
I really haven’t got my head round it all yet and would appreciate someone elses slant on it all and any advice.
thanks
Anita
Anita - how are you getting on?
I am just back from the specialist.
I have an overactive thyroid - another test said i have graves disease- and started one lot of tablets before my holiday. But while i was there i got this terrible rash and had to come off them.
I have started another lot so i hope these are ok or i will def have to have the op.
They hope the tabs will work and i have them for 2 years and after i stop hopefully my thyroid will work normally if not its the op.
I have to have a blood test every week for the next 2 months (god knows how they will manage this) and i have to see the gp every week for the next 2 months. If my immune system crashes i will have to have the op.
I have to have the tabs or i will have heart failure! great, i think she could read my mind as she was telling me about all the blood tests.
I told her i was so sure i have had it for 3 years and that it started 3 months after i finished rads and she was nodding as though she had heard it all before. my gp says no way have i had it for 3 years or i would feel and be ill but i dont feel any different now than i did 3 years ago. I have had this constriction around my throat for 3 years so i am sure i have had it that long.
She said the other problem is they have to keep an eye on my bones because the tabs can cause osteophorus (sp) and because i am on Femara its a double wammy. So tomorrow i have first blood test with the new tabs and she is testing my calcium and vit d levels.
Another update, because i have found out why these tabs i am on are the second choice. I have to phone emergency GP if i get a sore throat, my wee or poo changes colour, i feel fluey get a temp and so on.
I cant live on high alert for 2 years like that! So i phoned the specialist i saw the other day and told her - she said she didnt blame me! I also said that i also didnt want another op - worried about weking up with a drip in my arm (bad side) like a lady did on this forum. I asked her if i could have the radio active iodine and she said they dont routinly offer it to my age group (too young for some things then) but because i have asked she said yes HOWEVER she needs to check with my onc as i had rads after chemo.
Has anyone on here had rads for BC then a year or two later had rdioactive iodine for thyroid? its 3 years since my rads finished