TOTAL THYROIDECTOMY AND YOUR MENSTRUAL CYCLE 1 YR. LATER

I am 22 and after having surgery in August 2008 to have the left lobe of my thyroid removed due to a nodule the size of a grape fruit, I had to have surgery again in December 2008 to have the right side of my thyroid removed because they did find cancer in the nodule. I'm not on hormone treatment now because I'm still waiting to have my radioactive iodine therapy. It is so comforting to know that I'm not the only one going through all of these things. I have not had my period since right after my surgery, I know I'm not pregnant I have taken two test to make sure of that, so it's comforting to know that this seems pretty common after a total thyroidectomy. I too have started to gain weight, and having been a very thin girl before the surgery this probably has been the hardest thing for me to deal with post surgery.

I read your concern about your thyroid and how you are not feeling yourself. I want to tell you that you are going to be fine! I had my thyroid removed in 2005 and I feel an increase in energy and less nervous. My doctor changed my dose to 150 mg of thyroxin and it helped me a great deal. I had 2 undergo 2 treatments of radiation but it was only to make sure that there were no signs of cancer left. I went into surgery with a very positive attitude and that helped me a great deal. I want you to feel positive too and let me tell you that will change the way you feel. Don't worry about the weight you gained, as long as you are healthy, you are fine. It's pathetic how the media protrays that you are only beautiful if you are stick skinny and 6' tall, well that's not true. I'm sure you are beautiful just the way you are. Try new things, go out with friends, do things that are for YOU and I can guarantee that with your positive aproach, you will be on your way to a happier life. Take care and don't worry about all the little things!

I'm 27yrs old & I had my thyriodectomy 8/10 a little over a month ago. I wasn't warned about any of the complicatuons or possible side effects. I was told that I'd only be in the hospital over night and idjust take one pill for the rest of my life and be fine. Go figure I was wrong. Enight tuned into 7nights in the hospital. 1pill turned into 13 now. Outside of the slice across the entire length of my neck I had my parathyriods damaged during surgery.The surgent dropped me as a patient faster then her could glue me closed and sent me to an endo specialiist. Now not only has my period missed this month and there is no way I'm pegnant unless I'm Mary my body doesn't hold or produce calcuim, magnesium, or potassuim anymore. Outside of my phosphurus being way to high. I've been in the er 13times in my only 21daya since I've been home and out of the doctors I've been seeing no one can help. This was the worst surgery I could have ever done. Only positive outlook is I already had children so thankgoodness I didn't want anymore. And the scar will the numbness and lunmpy feeling ever go away?

hi all i was only 11 years old when i had all of mine removed now 16 years on and yes i have gained weight and loss hair i get bad cramps in the night of which i heard is caused by lack of callcuim which i have been tested for and mine was so low i now have to live of callcuim replacement i have also just had to put my 2 year old daughter through this all as my family have a disorder called men2a not to sure if any of you have heard it before but it has changed my life and the way i live if it wasnt for my mum being tested and having the opp over 20 years ago 17 members of my family would not be here today including myself the tied spells some of you are getting could be caused by lack of iron as i myself went through this and now am on iron and yes i do have more energy then i did 2 years ago as for the weight i actually took 50micro grams more then the doctor told me on a weekend it has never made to much of a difference to my blood test and with a healthy eating plan and excerise i not only have manged to control my weight but loses all the weight i put on over the years this dose change from month to month there could be the odd month where i just take my proper does when i was younger i actually didnt take my medication for nearly 5 months and i became so ill and the weight just pilled on so do remember to take the right amount that is prescriped to you if you think the weight is still gaining just tell your doctor you want a second opioion? on the blood test

I think most people here seem to be on Synthroid or some variation thereof. While I have not had my thyroid removed, I do have Hashimoto's hypothyroidism and was on Levothyroxin (generic Synthroid) for 7 years. It took me that long to realize the medication was destroying me physically & mentally. I now take Naturethroid and feel about 90% better. About 90% of my negative symptoms have gone away completely since the switch (no more anxiety, leg/foot cramps, negative thoughts, insomnia, carpal tunnel, migraines, I could go on & on). I truly believe there is something very dangerous about Synthroid (from my experience!). If you go to ***edited by moderator*** web addresses not allowed(look up Synthroid), ***edited by moderator*** web addresses not allowed, or ***edited by moderator*** web addresses not allowed you will find a lot of info.

I am a 49 year old female 1 month post thyroidectomy, nodules were positive for cancer. It took nearly a year for doctors to determine what was wrong with me and in that time I had gained almost 100 pounds.  The tumors growing in my thyroid were hard like marbles is how my surgeon described them. The tumors were pressing against my windpipe and compressing my parathyroid, causing difficulty breathing and recurring calcium seizures that were misdiagnosed as TIA (ministrokes). Within 72 hours post thyroidectomy, I had a critical calcium event and spent 2 days in ICU while the doctor tried to get my calcium levels stable.  My weight came down the first two weeks post surgery, but now it has begun to climb again.  Before all these health problems I had been a personal trainer and group exercise leader.  I continued to lead group exercise right up to the week of my surgery inspite of the breathing difficulties I was having, because I felt helpless to stop my weight from going up and the "group" kept me moving and gave me a reason to try harder.  I thought after surgery it wouldn't be as difficult to exercise or be more active if the breathing difficulty were gone, but now I'm exhausted even when I wake up in the morning. I resumed my strength training program (much reduced) and my bones hurt so much the next day it was nothing like I had ever experienced before. My husband and I walk 2 miles almost ever night for the past 2 weeks and it has no effect on my weight in any positive way.  I am not accustomed to seeing no results for the effort and work I put in.  I've decided to not get on the scale, but to focus my efforts on doing the work, without the work, maybe things will be worse, so without the scale, I don't experience so much discouragement. Its difficult to deal with undeservered weight gain.  I mean, if a person overeats and sits watching tv all the time, then that person can expect to gain weight; but if a person controls calorie intake, exercises as vigorously as can be tolerated, that person should not see weight gain.  My struggle is in wrapping my mind around that idea and yet remain motivated to work as hard as I can without any physical reward.

I get the leg cramps! This is the reason I was looking for information. I just had one. I also get super tired and my bones ache a lot. I was put on calcium for life and VitD. I wonder if the bone aches and need for calcium are related. I find that during my menstrual cycle, I am increasingly tired. It knocks the wind out of me for like a week. I am pretty sure it has something to do with the thyroid not producing while I am in need of hormone or something wacky...I am going to go look that up...

Hi bbc113. I am happy that I have seen these posts but more so, yours because you even ask for a word of encouragement. I had complete thyroidectomy on March 4th 2013, (1month ago). I have not seen my period which used to be very regular before. I am 47 soon but I was scared I might be pregnant though the test came back NEGATIVE. I recognise certain symptoms of myself in some of the experiences I have read about , yours and others. I have gained only 2 lbs so far since the surgery but I feel hungry very often. My advice to you is to try to eat healthily. Use foods that will fill up (fibre foods) but are still nutritious e.g. quaker oats, fruits like apples, fresh fish which are rich in calcium, iodine and protein e.g. craw fish, mackarel, sardines, spinach and soy milk. I do wish you better health quickly. Try to stay positive and to do things that occupy your mind so you will not become depressed or too mody. I know am no doctor but I have found great strength in reading THE WORD ever since. God bless you dear and all others like myself whose bodies have changed and we are trying to live in the best health yet possible.

Im only 20 when i undergo total thyroidectomy. I had this kind of condition called HYPERTHYROIDISM.. i asked my doctor why i have this kind of illness in my body at my young age, its sometimes hereditary he replied. i search everything about this kind of medical condition and ask everyone around me who has the same condition. They say that it would be better if i decided to remove both left and right lobe even if the only abnormal lobe is the left part only, because theres a possibility that it will happen again and the worst thing is , it can be cancerous. Then after hearing all of them, ive decided to have surgery called TOTAL THYROIDECTOMY. And after all the procedure, now im taking a life time medication (thyrax 100mg), a regular labs and check ups every 3mos. But its been 7mos since i had this operation and my monthly period become irregular until now. Should i see an OB gyne ask for any madication again? Or wait until it normalize? I have no idea if my period will be regular again?? And im also gaining weight since then. :( i cant do a lot of exercise because i also have congenital heart desease, its not good for me to get tired. All i can do is to prevent myself on eating too much but i called it suicide because i love to eat a lot. what should i do?

I had my full thyroid removed.. It has been eight weeks. I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. My weight has increased and no menstraul cycle.. After reading the comments I dont feel alone. Depression increased. Will this ever change. I have changed medicine twice.

Hello,
a very good friend of mine (we know each other since elementary) went through this last year. She had complete thyroidectomy, too and she had radioactive iodine treatment before that to shrink the tumor. I know it's hard, but it takes time for your body to get used to synthetic thyroid hormones. And not only that, you also need a good endocrinologist who is willing to work out the problems with you - it's not only the brand of medicine you take, but the dosage is the most important thing. Things will get better once your tsh levels rise. What I'd also recommend you to do is to check your vitamin D levels and to talk with your doctor about taking T3 medication, alongside T4 (synthroid and Thyrosint are T4, but just after the surgery your body might not yet be able to fully convert T4 to T3).
Hang in there!

So thankful to be reading these posts. I had cancer and got my thryoid out 2 years ago in Jan 2012. I was on birth control for acne and wanted to go off of it (I'm one of those people who doesn't like to be on pills....so taking Levo is soooo frustrating to me). I went off of it last year, Mar 2013. I haven't had a period since! Just had blood work and other things checked today (won't know my results for a bit tho)...like I said, I'm glad to have found this page because I see that it's not just me with "issues."

I have also had the stupid weight gain issue. I eat Paleo, so super squeaky clean, but I put on weight like nothing. Yeesh, I wish I could lose it as easily as I gain it. Even with doing kettlebells, walking, and other forms of cardio, I just can't shake the weight like i used to. Again, I thought it was just me...glad to see that this is experienced by others as well. Still sucky, but a little more comforting I guess!

Thanks for your posts, everyone.

with this your reply am a little bit re-leaf, my left thyroid was removed June 22 this year 2015 the following month i saw slight bleeding which lasted for 3 to 4 day since then i ve not menstruate again and am afraid. and i was not place on medications.

Ask your doctor for more than the TSH test. He needs to check your free T3 and free T4 as well. Make sure you're not eating foods that interfere with your thyroid medicine. My doctor and peer-reviewed literature on the subject states that protocol for treatment is to increase your level past hypothroid in order to reduce the risk of cancer.

If he doesn't listen after you've discussed it with him. Take a recorder and record your final conversion with him, ask him why he doesn't follow the gold standard for treating hypothyroidism- make sure you record it, look for a different doctor, and give him a negative rating online on EVER SITE on which you can rate him. If you really want to make a difference, report him to the medical board. No one else should have to go through that.

If he thinks he can continue screwing you over for telling the truth and sues you...you have evidence.

There are very consequences to not being on the proper thyroid medicine level.

Best of luck!

I hope you're doing better. Your medication dosage is too low based on what I've read and have been told by my doctor. Watch your diet. I just learned that ALL of my favorite foods can interfere with Synthroid.

Some medicines- antidepressants, prolysec, and others, can also affect the efficacy of your medication. I take my throid medicine right before I go to bed because I'm not a routines person. I've also supplemented my diet with coconut oil for GERD.

Sometimes I wonder if endocrinology is the field where doctor who don't make the cut get into. Because honestly speaking...they ought to do better than some do with for their patients.

I had a terrific ENT surgeon that stayed in contact via txt messages for about 2 weeks after the TT. His name is Dr. Terris. He's in Augustus. And he's awesomeness personified.

Good luck!