General Medicine

» Elaine Moore - Thyroid nodule in hashimoto's thyroiditis

In response to Thyroid nodule in hashimoto's thyroiditis posted by alibaba25:
Hi,
It would be good to have a test for stimulating TSH receptor antibodies to see if you've moved into Graves' disease. You may have had episodes of Graves' disease in the past, or you may have had postpartum thyroiditis. This typically causes a period of hyperthyroidism that can last several months and be followed by a period of hypothyroidism, which can last indefinitely or resolve after several months.
It's not unusual either to have episodes of Graves' disease triggered during pregnancy or the postpartum period, within a year after pregnancy that resolve within 6 months to a year.
The scan will show if your nodule is primarily hot or cold, but the scan can't tell this with any certainty. Nor can it tell what type of cells the nodule is made of. If the nodule is small and not growing it's usually considered benign. And most nodules are benign especially if they secrete excess thyroid hormone.
A low iodine diet can shrink the size of nodules and reduce associated hyperthyroidism. Anti-thyroid drugs can also be used to reduce levels. And if the nodule looks at all suspicious you'd want to have a biopsy to tell what it's composed of.
Surgery is another option and radioiodine is also used although radioiodine can cause nodule development in remaining tissue, and you wouldn't be able to have tissue studies on the nodular growth. So you have several options to consider with the least invasive approach usually recommended first. Best, Elaine