thyroidectomy surgery side effects

I just had a total thyroidectomy on Friday, January 29, 2010. It was minimally painful procedure compaired to some surgeries I have had. I was up walking around the hospital the evening after my surgery. I was able to eat and drink, but with a bit of discomfort involved. I am 5 days post-op and still have a bit of stiffness/soreness in my neck, upper chest, and back. Sneezing and coughing can be quite painful at the momment, but there is no real pain. In fact, I have not used the Percocet prescribed to me since Sunday (two days Post-op). I did have a problem with my calcium bottoming out, but I have been put on a calcium replacement regimen and that seems to be doing the trick. The doctor has started me on 125 micrograms of Synthroid for now. I tend to have minor spells of blurred vision (you know the kind you get when you are on pain meds), but outside of that no real issues. My thyroid was removed to a multi-nodular goiter that had grown so large it was pinching off my esophagus and had forced my thyroid to all but cease functioning. It was uncomfortable and physically unatractive (at least to me it was, all my friends say they never noticed it). I was offered the option of radioactive Iodine therapy, but was told it was not garaunteed to get rid of the mass that was there. That combined with other issues I had with the RIT, I untimately decided on surgery.

I had a complete thyroidectomy 4 1/2 years ago, having been on Synthroid ever since. I don't understand how it is possible that my TSH level keep going up and down almost monthly and my dose needs constant adjustment. I am cold all the time, my blood pressure is high and so far uncontrolled. Cholesterol and blood sugar levels are great even with Type 2 diabetes. Now having lung problems. What has no thyroid got to do with all this? Is there any support group to answer? P.S. I never had any pain with he surgery either, it was easy----until I started freezing all the time. If anyone knows of a support group---please!

I had a total thyroidectomy 2 weeks ago and I have been having alot of side effects I'm dizzy tired my body hurts I'm nauseous I get winded and I got my period a second time this month. I just want to know if this is temporary I am only 33 and have always been active. I had bilateral nodulas and a large goiter. Now I'm wondering did I do the right thing?

I am recovering form a complete thyroidectomy right, I had it on April 22 and I am still sore, I will have to say everyone recovers different from this surgery. Some will heal faster some slower. I had to have mine removed due to nodules and they were clustering and growing quickly.And my thyroid was very large. When they starter surgery it was also inflamed and had scar tissue built up so I lost one of my parathyroid glands. I had a wonderful surgeon so I did very well. I just want to let you know a few things I have experienced they don't always tell you. I wont lie to you it is a painful first week. Everything for eating to your 1st BM. But they give you plenty of pain meds. to make it bearable. It isn't the pain that I have trouble w/ it is the emotions you go through after the surgery. I am a very stable person, and if i cry 1 time a yr that is saying something. Well not right now, I may be crying one minute and mad the next. It is just a process you go through while you body if going from having no hormones to finding the right levels again. You really need supportive people around you and it has taken a few weeks to get back on my feet just to feel like going out of the house. So just be ready I had been weak some days, some days it has been like having low blood sugar....just shaky all over. But it gets better. I am not saying everyone will experience this. I know of some people who went back to work in 2 weeks. I just want to let you what I wish I would have knew. The best piece of advice I will give you is know your Dr. and the surgeon make sure you like them and are comfortable with them. Make sure they have answered your questions. I had every test you could have before they even thought about surgery. It should be a last resort. And they cannot tell if you have cancer w/o doing a biopsy. And not every piece of a nodule has to be cancerous. But don't get to upset it is an easily treated cancer if it would be. I wish everyone out there all the best it is nerve racking but I am feeling better now that it is over.My surgeon said if I had waited 6 months if would have cut my airway off. So sometimes it is just for the best I am 34 and will be on Synthroid w/ you all forever. XD

Thank you to everyone who has posted questions and/or answers to having a thyroidectomy. I finally feel like I'm not alone, and that gives me comfort. I am having a total thyroidectomy in 2 days. I'm a 29 yr old wife and mom of 2. There are atleast 2 nodules present on each side of the thyroid (only the largest was biopsied). The results of the biopsy came back "abnormal/suspicious", so I opted to have the entire gland removed. I am a little nervous about having to take hormone replacements for the rest of my life but reading other msgs has made me less nervous. Obviously I don't look forward to having this procedure, nor the painful recovery. But will be relieved to have the nodules gone. I have had a benign tumor removed from my foot a few years ago and was not nervous at all about that surgery. However, having just the thought of having surgery on my neck bothers me. After my recovery in a few weeks I will post a comment about how I'm doing. Once again, thank you everyone for your comments. You have given me courage to have this done. :-D

I need my thyroid removed. I am wondering if i will gain more wait. I have gained 20lbs since I was diagnosed. I am on Synthroid, but very hard to lose weight. Does anyone know the answer?

I had a total thyroidectomy 2/8/10 turned out to be just a cyst which was good. Surgery went well BUT no one ever told me about the side affects that I would experience. I have been to hell and am slowly coming back but it will take alot of time. No one ever told me about the tears, the depression, the stress, the numb mind, not being able to focus and everything else. Lost heaps of weight but thats mostly because of not wanting to eat. Minor situations lead to tears. Work stress trebled then ended up in a disciplinary meeting for my work which was a result of my thyroid situation that lead to me making mistakes. This compounded the stress of everything else that lead to feeling suicidal. Counselling helped in that it made me see i had been through 'the perfect storm' and a lot of what happened was out of my control but still.
If i had known what would or could happen I may have been better prepared. I have changed my job to reduce the stress but am stressed about the financial implications which then stresses more. what the hell!
I finally got to speak with someone who had a thyroid disease and spoke with her about what I was feeling and thank god she made me realise I am not alone and I am not going crazy. It was so good to have someone know and understand what I was going thru because unless you have been there, no one understands or gets it. People dont want to hear you arent coping. People want you back to how you were now the ops over and why arent you??
I miss the person that i was before this illness hit me, the person who used to enjoy life and appreciate life in general. I sit here with a numb mind wondering if i will ever get back to how i was. i am on antidepressants.

I had a total thyroidectomy three days ago to remove a huge retrosternal goitre which was affecting my breathing, swallowing and voice.

Maybe I've been lucky but I've had no pain at all other than a bit of a dry, sore throat from the anaesthetic - I've had more painful throat infections. I had a cup of tea and a sandwich within a couple of hours of coming round from the anaesthetic and had no trouble swallowing. I can eat normally, breathe, sleep on my back...... I feel so much better all round.

I was warned that my voice may be affected and that I might need speech therapy, but my speech is fine apart from a little hoarseness.

My parathyroids are intact and I've been given calcium supplements for two weeks to make sure my calcium level doesn't drop while everything's settling down. I have a four inch incision and will have the clips removed later today.

I know it's early days and it will take some time to work out the correct level of thyroxine, but I'm so pleased with how everything's gone.. I only wish I'd had this done several years ago!

I had a total thyroidectomy 3 months ago. I am now on my third change in doses of synthroid. I'm up to 150 mcg right now. I have a total lack of concentration, tired, and have bouts where I cannot get warm. I've also put on weight. The worst is the total lack of concentration, and it is affecting my job. The depression isn't as bad since I began excercising, but is still there. Is it the brand of medicine, or too low a dose?

I had a total thyroidectomy 3 months ago. This is my third change in dosage of synthroid. I'm up to 150mcg. The cyst I'm told was the size of a baseball and growing down my throat. The worst part of the recovery is the depression, and my total lack of concentration. I was out of work due to the economy for almost a year and a half. I took this job about two months before the surgery. I'm sure I'm going to lose it because I feel like I'm in another world, and the depression was suicidal until I started excercising. Still depressed, but not to that point. I am so glad to hear that there is a reason for this, because I thought I was going crazy. Does anyone know if it is this particular drug, or the dosage?

hi, I had a total thyroidectomy due to cancer back in march of 2010. I had great amounts of pain in the neck muscles for about a week after surgery. Infact it wasn't the incission that hurt it was the muscles. use ice and pain meds and relax your neck as much as you can. I was told to do neck exercises before surgery from a fellow thyroidectomy pt and friend, i should have listened to her.
I to am gaining weight. Was a size six last november now 30 pounds heavier I won't tell you what size but enough to make me cry and hate my body. I am very active, have done the gym everyday and almost starved myself!! Didn't work! luckily I have a doctor who adjusts my meds by how I feel and then takes the tests!! And he believes in going by how I feel as aposed to what the tests say, yet he says we have to raise it slowly. Can't just jump to high doses.
After the surgery anyone else have a feeling of a lump of c**p in your throat that just won't move?? good luck to everyone and thanks for letting me know I'm not alone!

i had thyroid surgery a month ago because i had a nodule the size of a golf ball on my right thyroid gland. i havent had any side effects so far and i only had half of my thyroid removed. i just have about a 4cm incision in the middle of my neck

I posted two months ago. They say my levels of Synthroid are now where they should be. This is five months later. I still don't feel well all the time, but the bouts of nausea are less frequent, as well as all other symptoms, but they are still there. As far as being able to swallow, I feel the muscles pulling up from my chest when swallowing. I'm not sure if this if from scar tissue or not. The tumor was 6cm, or the size of a baseball, and growing down my throat. I work out for an hour a day, and have not lost any weight, so I suspect I would be gaining more weight if I wasn't working out. My guess is I'll never feel normal again.

I am a 29 year old mother of three. I started noticing in september that i couldnt even walk upstairs with out being completely out of breathe and needing to sit sown and rest. I felt like my heart was going to break out of my chest and my head to pretty much do the same thing. I kinda swept it under the rug until I noticed a "golf ball" sticking out of my neck. Needless to say I didnt think that was normal. I went to the dr the following day and after a 20 minute rest my blood pressure was 167/108 and my resting pulse was 150+. Not normal for a woman my age. They immediately put me on beta blockers and 6 thyroid suppresants a day. I had to take the meds for a month and a half b4 it was safe for them to do surgery. They took out my left side in all hopes that the right side was healthy and resume normal function without the need of medication. Unfortunately I got my blood work done 3 wks later and my thyroid levels were aat a dangerous level again. So, lees than a month later than my first surgery I was back under the knife getting the right half taken out. All together I had about 5 months of literally not wanting to get out of bed. I was on so much medication trying to level things out that it was almost impossible to take care of my kids,thank god for my husband since we live 2000 miles from any family or friends. After that much time of inactivity , muscle tone depleates and u still feel like you cant do much. I have very bad mood swings, and sometimes feel as if I will never be myself again. I have taken up Yoga , which is as low impact as you want it to be. It has been a life saver as far as my sleep is concerned and I have been pushing the byrn out cardio but I stop if I feel it is too much, but I try to hang in and not use this as an excuse. I am living proof that the will to work will get u far. I feel as if I went though hell and wouldnt wish it on anyone. Try yoga , i know it sound easy but it help with the anxiety that comes with the synthroid by helping u learn how to control ur breathing and gets ur body back in shape. I am one to try and push it a step further than my abilities to ensure results. Good luck and god bless all that have had thyroid issues. It is a long grueling processs to get back to normal and that is an adventure I am still on. So good luck and remember it does get better.

I just had a total thyroidectomy on 3/8/11, after surgery it felt like having a sore throat but i was eating the same day not on any meds as of yet just concerned about side effects...