This is just a far-reaching idea for me to explain my lightheadedness. I fight it everyday for the last 10 months, and it happens when I am up and around. I progressively feel lightheaded if I've been up for about 20 minutes, and then have to sit. I have noticed when I'm up and feeling like that, I tend to lower my head and look at the floor, and that seems to help some. I have had a tilt table test that shows some orthostatic problems, but I don't have hypotension, my heartrate increases over 100 the whole time I'm up, and my bp stays around130/90. I was looking into reasons why this might occur, and one of the possibilities was carotid massage. I then started thinking how I have a nodule on one side that measured 1.2 cm in the spring. I feel it has grown, but the doc wanted to wait until next spring to ultrasound it again. I was wondering if anyone with a nodule or a large goiter had lightheadedness that was relieved with removal of the offender?? I thought with my lowering my head to look at the floor seemed to help, that maybe I was taking some pressure off of my neck structures. Hey, I'm grasping at straws, but when you are incapacitated, you look for ANYTHING! I already can't look behind myself, turning my head, as I see stars when I look forward again.
Thanks
I don't know whether your theory is true or not, but yes, I've had the same thing going on ( along with numerous other symptoms to - too many to mention lol) and I saw a surgeoon this past week.
I have a hard cold nodule which I believe I heard him tell another doc ( endo) he was discussing it with on the phone, was like 3.5 x 2.5 ( left) and one on right that was around 1 cm.
That info above came from an ultrasound, nuclear scan and his examination. Anyway, he said he could do a fna, but what's the point, it's got to come out. But I've no insurance, so we are stumped at this point.
But back to your thoughts on this. I asked him could my thyroid be pressing on the artery, since he brought up himself how close it was to the thyroid , and the risks of surgery that a doc has to explain. He said he didn't know. Only way to tell is to get it out then see if symptoms persists. From reading others post, I suspect a lot of things could be screwy due to a thyroid and they just don't have enough time to really focus on all our symptoms and so it's left up to us to be our own medical detectives...
It's frustrating, I know.. hope it all gets better for you. :-) But I think you are on to something.. just had to offer my own experiences to let you know you're not alone :-)
Thanks for your reply. You are very right when you say that there is alot that doctors still have to learn regarding the thyroid and its many symptoms. I've just never thought of the mechanical symptoms before, I'm always thinking of the biochemical reasons for symptoms. In a picture of neck structures, the thyroid and carotid "butt" up against each other, so I can see a problem there.
I do hope you both see a great surgeon. Mine said he could only imagine how miserable I had been. Yes it can grow in there like a hand and strangle your arteries and veins. Press on your trachea and cut air supply. Symptoms of not getting enough air. Pulsesating on lying down, Lightheadedness, and I had a whiskey and coke everyday after work or two if needed till I found someone who would help me. I had to have it to eat, sleep, what little I got, and breathe. One day I had to stop on the way home to get a glass of med cos' I could not get enough air in. It relaxed it and it was a good alternative to tylenol that can trash you organs. And I was already freezing. He got all of it. No worries about it coming back or cancer. To my amazement it was never clearly Identified by scans nuclear only showed norm. sized gland or ultrasounds. He said it was one of the largest he had ever done. I would check out a University Hospital with a Endo clinic. They teach the stuff. My dr. was also a professor of med. I went to Vanderbuilt, Nashville,TN 5 other doctors had told me NOTHING could be done! Over a period of 6 years. Multinodular goiter, x4 lgest. 3cms. My new Dr. told me they could have stopped it from growing! This is what I mean by a good Dr. and Surgeon.
Wow, what an ordeal! I can see where you cope the best you can in an awful situation. That is something that it didn't show up in scans, yet it was pretty bad to the surgeon. You must have felt miserable when they'd tell you all the tests showed a normal gland, yet you felt like someone was choking you. Thanks for your story!
I don't have any answers, but I suffer from the same symptoms. It is very scary. Also very hard to explain the feeling to someone that has never experienced this before. I am glad you brought this subject up. I don't have a nodule but my goiter is very large and the veins on my neck are always protruding and look bad (to me). Are your veins visable also? I hope we can all get this figured out.
My veins are not visible. It's so frustrating to have thyroid problems, but they aren't just jumping out abnormal. My latest numbers look the best they have in a long time, but I feel my worst ever.
Hi, I posted on here before about if a thyroid can be swollen, and if you can feel it on your throat, but the ultrasound came back normal. Its weird, because it feels like something pressing on my throat when I swallow. Is there other tests other than an ultrasound, to determine if there is something going on with the thyroid?
I have thought about asking for a ct scan to see all of that. I should have asked when I had a ct scan of my adrenals, but I instead asked if they could scan my ovary, as I'm getting ready to have a hysterectomy due to a persistent cyst with pain on my remaining ovary. So, I didn't want to ask for them to scan my whole body(well, almost!).
I had pain and pressure in my neck. I felt like someone was choking me too. I was dizzy, short of breath and nearly couldn't drive anymore. Those are the symptoms that led me here and helped me figure out I had at least one nodule.
I did have nodules (two large - one on each side). I was sure they were pressing on my carotid too! They did a carotid ultrasound and actually measured the velocity of my blood below and above the nodules. It was deemed normal but I took the test lying down with my head in a single position.
Because of the inconclusive FNAs and hurthle cells, I had a TT 4 weeks ago. Woke up from surgery and the pain, pressure, dizziness and shortness of breath are all gone! I am absolutely certain at least one of the nodules was causing these symptoms.
Anyway, follow your instincts! Let us know what happens!
