# Scared Having T removal



## vicksay

Hi Everyone, I am getting ready to have My Hper Thyroid removed. its Over active, I am scared to death. I am afraid of what might happen afterwards ,I have already gained a lot of weight due to taking my meds Methimazole plus it akes me naushas . I am also afraid of just things that can happen. I want it out and to feel better. Can anyone tell me their sucess story of their operation and are you glad you did it. Thanks


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## Andros

Welome an I am sorry for your suffering! Do you have Graves' for just Hyperthyroid?

I did not have the surgery but in retrospect, that would have been the best choice but I had no alternative at the time.

That said, I am doing perfectly fine today. Actually better than ever expected.

So.......................stay on the board as we all will be here to help you get adjusted on your meds and provide much needed support!

When is your surgery scheduled? Have you had RAIU uptake and antibodies' tests?


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## joplin1975

I did not have a total because of hyperthyroid, but I can tell you that surgery was categorically the best thing I've ever done. I feel I gained a good ten years!

It can be tough at first. Success is rarely immediate. Getting your meds dialed in can be a long and frustrating process. But once you are there, it will be so, so much better.

Also, thyroid surgery is generally MUCH easier than other types of surgery.

Do you have specific questions or concerns?


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## Lovlkn

Welcome to the board!

I was terrified as well to have my thyroid removed - it took me 4.5 years while on Tapazole to come to the decision. Mainly because I listened to people who did not have thyroid issues telling me to do everything I could to keep my thyroid.

Well - I can tell you that it has by far been the best decision I have made since being diagnosed with Graves disease. I felt the relief in the recovery room - it was an immediate Ahhh moment. Eleven years post surgery I feel "normal".

Find a surgeon who does at least 4-5 thyroid removal's per week. If yours does not you may have some luck finding one on this site - mine was #1 suggestion for my area and she was fantastic!

https://www.endocrinesurgery.org/membership/findmember.html

In the mean time - while you wait... ask for some Lorazapam to help with your anxiety. I took it until the morning of my surgery. Post surgery I no longer had any anxiety.

Dialing in replacement med's is most important - Free T-4 and Free T-3 are the most important tests to have run. Get into the habit of asking for the copies of your lab results and keep a log to include result, range, medications taken and how you are feeling. This will help you dial into your replacement dose.


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## vicksay

Thanks everyone, Yes I have Graves but not all the symptoms yet. ( My . Tsh .0007
T3 1.0 )
This is the best its been in 5 years with Meds.

I do take Meds for anxiaty ,blood Pressure , high heart rate, gerd.

I am a big chicken to pain and am scared of not breathing well ,Im sorry I have so many fears ,I have fears of waking up with a breating tube exct.. My first surgrey . :ashamed0002:


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## joplin1975

My TT was my first surgery, too, and whoo boy, was I a wreck. Panic attacks for weeks leading up to the surgery. I was sobbing in the surgery prep bay...well, and all the way to the hospital. I had convinced myself that I would be in an enormous amount of pain.

As it turned out, I had virtually no pain after surgery. They wanted to give me pain meds...the nurse who did my pre-op interview told me that I would likely not have pain and to just to say my pain was 2 on a scale of 1-10 so that we could "stay ahead of the pain." So I did and all I really got (to be frank) was a nice little buzz off the fentanyl.  The worst part was the crazy hot flashes I had for about 12 hours after surgery and acid reflux. Other than that, I was up, walking, talking, and eating.

The tough part isn't the surgery. It's the phase where you have to get your meds dialed in. It feels like it takes 20 forevers and you might want to sob and storm around the house and talk about how much you regretted everything. And then finally when you get it all right your brain and your body take a huge sigh of relief and you think "well, that wasn't so bad..."


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## vicksay

joplin1975 said:


> My TT was my first surgery, too, and whoo boy, was I a wreck. Panic attacks for weeks leading up to the surgery. I was sobbing in the surgery prep bay...well, and all the way to the hospital. I had convinced myself that I would be in an enormous amount of pain.
> 
> As it turned out, I had virtually no pain after surgery. They wanted to give me pain meds...the nurse who did my pre-op interview told me that I would likely not have pain and to just to say my pain was 2 on a scale of 1-10 so that we could "stay ahead of the pain." So I did and all I really got (to be frank) was a nice little buzz off the fentanyl.  The worst part was the crazy hot flashes I had for about 12 hours after surgery and acid reflux. Other than that, I was up, walking, talking, and eating.
> 
> The tough part isn't the surgery. It's the phase where you have to get your meds dialed in. It feels like it takes 20 forevers and you might want to sob and storm around the house and talk about how much you regretted everything. And then finally when you get it all right your brain and your body take a huge sigh of relief and you think "well, that wasn't so bad..."


Thanks so much. I have been thru so Much all ready . I am a diabetic also. Just one thing after the other. I have such a fear of gaining more weight, hair falling out , Panic attacks. LOL I wish I could just turn my mind off. I heard so many horror stories ,Im so glad to hear something postive. Another thing I worry about is I live 3 hours from the hospital so I pray after I come home I do well . Thank you for the Encouragement . I desire everyones prayers. Thanks again


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## Octavia

I just want to emphasize/repeat what Lovlkn said above about getting your Free T3 and Free T4 tested, not just TSH, when figuring out your dosage. Doing so will make sure you minimize your odds of gaining weight. If you are in the upper parts of your lab's Free T3 and Free T4 ranges, you'll be in good shape!


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## vicksay

I went and saw My Surgen and surgrey will be Thursday Oct 15 .. I ask all the questions and they were answered with no promises or garantees of course. But feel this is the best for me, I dont want to take the Pig Hormone anymore. I am still scared and worried. My Numbers are T4 0.93
tsh 0.007
and T3 is 1.0 thats the best its been in five years. I go for blood work On the 14.

Plese say aprayer, Im not really afraid of the surgrey itself but complications. Thanks to all on this Board I paray for all of you.


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## Lovlkn

> I dont want to take the Pig Hormone anymore


I'm confused - I thought they were removnig your thyroid because you are hyper. Why are you on a thyroid replacement drug if you are hyper?

What med's are you currently on?


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## vicksay

Lovlkn said:


> I'm confused - I thought they were removnig your thyroid because you are hyper. Why are you on a thyroid replacement drug if you are hyper?
> 
> What med's are you ON


Yes they say mine is hyper I am on Methimozole


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## vicksay

I am on Methimazole, they put me on this to see if it would help my symptoms ,been on a year. still feel horrible and numbers havent changed, my thyroid pumps to much thyroid hormone in my system, so we are taking it out. I sure hope I feel better. I have high heart rate, and Panic attacks, naushua , tired all the time, no matabolisim , stress, I have gained weight tho instead of loosing weight. so I hope this is for the best and I feel better.


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## jenny v

Immediately after surgery, you may feel about the same (or potentially even worse) if you have a hormone dump. I felt really hyper the first few days after surgery because it took some wrangling by my surgeon to get my thyroid out (sucker put up a fight!) and being squeezed around caused it to dump all of its remaining hormone into my system. But after a few days, I felt wonderful. It was like my body relaxed for the first time in years, now that it wasn't fighting my thyroid.


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## vicksay

jenny v said:


> Immediately after surgery, you may feel about the same (or potentially even worse) if you have a hormone dump. I felt really hyper the first few days after surgery because it took some wrangling by my surgeon to get my thyroid out (sucker put up a fight!) and being squeezed around caused it to dump all of its remaining hormone into my system. But after a few days, I felt wonderful. It was like my body relaxed for the first time in years, now that it wasn't fighting my thyroid.


I ask Sergon about the dump he looked at me like I was crazy. ill just keep my ativan close by lol


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## vicksay

Oh My Gosh Guys I dont wanna be a baby, Ive had good stories and Bad, The bad is people telling me I will regret it, I will be worse and I could die, I will gain a lot of weight and my hair will fall our, some have said its the worse Pain to get over. I just wanna cry today !!! :sad0049:


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## joplin1975

The vast majority of people who have had their thyroids removed are out there living life just fine. So you don't hear from them because they are getting on with it. Are there some people who suffer? Certainly.But most of those people don't have good doctors who test TSH, free t4 AND free t3 and/or won't consider prescribing t3 meds. And many of those people don't have a resource like this board to education themselves. You are way ahead of the game.

I barely had any pain. It was easy peasy. I would do it again in a heartbeat.


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## webster2

A lot of people will share bad stories because those stories are more exciting to tell and hear. I have two partial thyroidectomies because of being hyper/ Graves. With the last one, I had not felt well in years. I am now 56 and 4 years out from the last surgery. I feel good. I lost weight and am pretty active. I only wish I had had a total 25 years ago.

My story is not exciting. I recovered well, It took some time to find the correct replacement dose. I feel well, and wish the same for you.

Good luck to you. If you are nervous, let your health care providers know. I was very nervous for the second thyroid surgery which had nothing to do with the surgery. I started telling everyone at the hospital I was nervous. I am not sure that they could do anything about it, but it sure made me feel better to let them know!


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## Lovlkn

vicksay said:


> Oh My Gosh Guys I dont wanna be a baby, Ive had good stories and Bad, The bad is people telling me I will regret it, I will be worse and I could die, I will gain a lot of weight and my hair will fall our, some have said its the worse Pain to get over. I just wanna cry today !!! :sad0049:


What people tell you this?

Probably people without thyroid disease.

If you are properly medicated on replacement medications ( we can help you there) - you will not gain weight, you will not lose your hair, you will feel "normal" . All this can take time, depending on the doctor treating you but in the end, you will be better off.


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## vicksay

The closer it gets ,The more Nervous I am, I am almost ready to back out of My Surgrey and stay on the Methazole as bad as I hate it.


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## webster2

It is perfectly normal to feel nervous. Think about after, get some comfy clothes ready, some movies, and think about pampering yourself a bit. It is really not a bad surgery.

Methimazole is hard on your liver and not a permanent solution. I can tell you how much better I feel since my thyroid is gone. I was so run down from being hyper for so long; I had forgotten what feeling normal was, it is nice.

Hang in there!


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## joplin1975

That's normal. 
It will be over before you know it!


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## jenny v

Honestly, my tonsillectomy was worse than my thyroid surgery!


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## justmethatsall

My surgery date was the exact same as yours but they just changed it now to two days before that. I am scared also but I have been so sick and I now have this huge goiter pressing in my neck.......hard to breathe, eat and sleep. My thyroid eye disease is horrible this time around. I guess I really never thought I was going to have to have it removed. I was told through the years that it could burn itself out and that is what I was hoping for. No such luck. This time around the flare up is so bad I wouldn't be able to live like this literally.

We will both make it through! I keep praying.

By the way........methimazole is not the pig hormone you talked about. It is just the opposite. You will most likely need a thyroid hormone after your surgery now instead of the methimazole. I want to be started on the dessicated thyroid hormone (from the thyroid of pigs) instead of the synthetic hormone because I have read that it is so much better for people.

I will surely say a prayer for you and I hope you say one for me.

We will talk soon and we will both be feeling so much better.

Gloria


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## vicksay

Thank you and Yes I will be praying for you, I got some test back today My T4 and T3 was Normal and My TSH was 0.007 My vitimin D was low my chlorosterol was 293 and tryg cerides was 423 . I will post more later.



justmethatsall said:


> My surgery date was the exact same as yours but they just changed it now to two days before that. I am scared also but I have been so sick and I now have this huge goiter pressing in my neck.......hard to breathe, eat and sleep. My thyroid eye disease is horrible this time around. I guess I really never thought I was going to have to have it removed. I was told through the years that it could burn itself out and that is what I was hoping for. No such luck. This time around the flare up is so bad I wouldn't be able to live like this literally.
> 
> We will both make it through! I keep praying.
> 
> By the way........methimazole is not the pig hormone you talked about. It is just the opposite. You will most likely need a thyroid hormone after your surgery now instead of the methimazole. I want to be started on the dessicated thyroid hormone (from the thyroid of pigs) instead of the synthetic hormone because I have read that it is so much better for people.
> 
> I will surely say a prayer for you and I hope you say one for me.
> 
> We will talk soon and we will both be feeling so much better.
> 
> Gloria


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## justmethatsall

Saw my endo yesterday and as I thought he does not want to put me on dessicated hormone! Dam! Well.......hope I do well on the synthroid.

My tsh lagged behind too but now very quickly I have gone hypo. the last tsh was 9.87. I will have labs done tomorrow to see where I stand before surgery next week.

Getting nervous. Are you still going through with it? As my brother says........GET ER DONE!

Gloria


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## indigovalley

The surgery isn't that bad. It's normal to feel nervous before it happens. You will likely do just great and it will be over faster than you think. I just had mine 6 days ago and it was easier than I expected. I didn't even take any pain meds afterward--I was sore but it wasn't all that painful. I did experience (like some earlier poster said) a couple days of hot flashes. When I woke up in recovery I was hot flashing like crazy LOL... I don't know what that was all about. Just make sure you rest--it took about 5 days before my energy was back to normal but overall it was far less tiring than the hysterectomy I had in 1999. Doctors will get your meds under control if you will be taking them afterward--I am lucky that way as I have already been taking thyroid hormone for decades.


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## jenny v

The hot flashes are most likely symptoms from a hormone dump. Sometimes the thyroid will get angry at being squeezed around during surgery and it will dump all of its excess hormone into your system. I was hot and jittery for several days after surgery with all of that excess hormone in my system. It was like my thyroid's one last act of revenge, lol!


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## Lovlkn

justmethatsall said:


> Saw my endo yesterday and as I thought he does not want to put me on dessicated hormone! Dam! Well.......hope I do well on the synthroid.
> 
> My tsh lagged behind too but now very quickly I have gone hypo. the last tsh was 9.87. I will have labs done tomorrow to see where I stand before surgery next week.
> 
> Getting nervous. Are you still going through with it? As my brother says........GET ER DONE!
> 
> Gloria


If you went to an integrative doctor they would surely prescribe dissected thyroid hormone.

Personally, I think an endo is the worst type of doctor to be going to for thyroid hormone replacement - I speak from my personal experiences dealing with them. They only appear to look at TSH which won;t get you to where you need to be.

Free T-4 and Free T-3 in 3/4 of range s the only way.


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## Jefhrn

I'm waiting for surgery too, scheduled for next month. I'm nervous too, but I have found the information on this board very helpful. My hyperthyroidism is from toxic nodules and one of the treatment options I tried was methimazole but I didn't react well. I also read that sometimes the doc will put you on levothyroxine Preop to try and shut down your own production of hormone.


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## vicksay

Gosh I hope I dont have a hormone Dump !!!! My Surgery has been moved to Tuesday Oct 13, 1015 ,Please say a Prayer for me. I will let all Know how it goes soon as I can. I hope I will feel great once all is done and settled. Thanks to all


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## Lovlkn

Can you please post labs. I went back into the thread and you never posted any ranges.

Date - test - result - range

You will need to learn to understand your lab results and ranges post surgery - and get into the habit of insisting they run both FT-4 and FT-3


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## vicksay

vicksay said:


> The closer it gets ,The more Nervous I am, I am almost ready to back out of My Surgrey and stay on the Methazole as bad as I hate it.


Ok I just had My Total Thyroid removed, Did It Hurt yes ! Did I have Pain Meds afterwards Yes, Morphene which Made me sick so they changed it ti=o Dalada and Phenegran. to Percocit and Phenergran plus My Adivan. My Blood pressure ran Sky High so eveyuone was worried about that. But it began stablizing with meds and I got to come home. I am 24 hours a litttle more. Sorry Im druged as Im writing. Does it hurt YES! But the more meds you take the better you will do. Pain Meds are to be a help.They gave it to me every 3 hours and then we worked down If My Pain was a 9 They always brought me more. Im eating solid foor, Carefully not to get choked. havent coulphed much. I feel really good this Morning and Hope to continue, Thanks for all the encouragement and Prayers ,Big hugs to all.


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## joplin1975

I'm glad it's over! I hope you have a fast and easy recovery.

Use those pain meds as needed but get off them as soon as you can - they will really stress out your gut!


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## vicksay

I have a terrible Headache all Day, Blood Presure staying High 179/106 , I stopped the Pain meds I dont do well on them ,changing back and forth to Tynelnol to Motron .Very sore epc ahwn I cough, Got very shaky and took a zofran and a ativan and Layed down, Hope tomottow is a better day


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## vicksay

Feeling some better today , after not taking synthroid


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