Worried about wife - thyroid iron

[robin321]

So here I am again. My relief from my dermatologist apt gave me a one day reprieve from HA!

My HA is up due to my wife's issue. She has 3 kids. She is hypothyroid. She started medication and her thyroid numbers are now fine. But once a month - for a week or so, she gets a lot of tightness in her throat which she had attributed to her thyroid.

The Dr said it could be lots of things in that area. He pulled up a scan report that she had on the neck 2 yrs ago (same issue then). The report said she had thyroid nodules, and some swollen lymph nodes. At the time (2 yrs ago) this was seen by an ENT who want concerned. Said it looked normal. But now I am worried they missed something. The dr will send her for a scan now.

I am worried about the nodules, even though Google says it is common and mostly benign. And the nodes worry me. But surely this is 2 yrs ago, and if it was sinister then it would have gotten worse? She had a baby in that 2 yrs, and many blood tests.

The other concerning thing for me is that she has low ferritin. 6 months of iron pills hasn't helped. Doctor says he has seen this before, and wants her to take liquid iron. Of course I am worried she has something sinister internally that is causing the low ferritin.

And my mind is connecting the thyroid nodules, and the ferritin and imaging the worse.

I am trying to be strong for her and kids. But my mind keeps coming back to this. Last week it was moles, and now this!

[popejoan]

Hello, first of all doctors didn't miss anything 2 years ago and you said an Ent specialist saw this. If there was something sinister she would've gotten worse over that time, yes.
I have low ferritin, yes I'm worried and will have a colonoscopy soon but you should see it this way; it is ferritin that is low, not iron and hemoglobin. If they were low then there would be something to worry about. About throid, hypothyroidism causes low iron, they go hand in hand. And it takes ages for body to restore ferritin levels. Just trust the doctors. And please try not to google, it won't help you. Is your wife worried at all?

[robin321]

Thanks. Yes she is now worried they didn't scan where the issue is. And of course now since appt it is bothering her tons. My stress doesn't help but I try not to show it. I get distant though which isn't cool. Thanks for writing to me.

[lisa1975]

I've just found out I've got a under active thyroid theirs a really good site with lost of people with a lot of knowledge about thyroid called healthunlocked

[popejoan]

Pregnancy might have caused low ferritin as well and I read about it a lot too, a lot of women have thay and most of them says it takes long time for body to store ferritin. I know the waiting part is the worst but you will know soon and it doesn't sound like there's something wrong, hypothyroidism and iron deficiency are all women's issues. It's obvious that you're worried about her and love her a lot, if she's worried you should try to be there for her and try to reassure her. Take care.

[robin321]

Thanks Popejoan. I am going to do that. Logically I think anything sinister is unlikely. She runs 3 times a week, and does bootcamp 2 times. She is in great shape. I agree they all seem like women's issues. But you know how we all think... always worst case. I would rather be stressed about myself than her, and I hate seeing her stressed.
Thanks for taking the time to respond. It was nice and helped

[popejoan]

I'm glad I could help and you're not alone, I know exactly what you mean, I sometimes worry about my fiance's health as well.

[jimsmrs]

Sorry to butt in, my thyroid was over-active, they gave me the radio-iodine so it went under active so now I'm on Levothyroxine, but my levels haven't settled yet as the hospital is trying to tweek the dosage. I've been feeling pretty rubbish lately Could I have low iron? I'm seeing specialist next week, should I mention it?

[robin321]

I think it is always a good idea to mention the iron... you shouldn't ever take it without checking with dr though as high iron can be dangerous.

I am still very anxious today. I had a good night. Focused on my wife + kids. Wife seems less stressed.

Woke up on edge though. AM is always tough for me... I am imaging that they will call to schedule the scan, and the results will be bad an come back over our holiday vacation. I am scared we will have to rush back...
Irrational fear... probably. But feels real and I have been on edge lately even before this.

I looked back over my old posts. 2 yrs ago she was scanned. At the time the doctor said it was reactive nodes + started phases of Hashimotos. In my post I wrote that he said no nodules - so I don't know why when he read the report to my wife yesterday (same report) he mentioned nodules.
She saw an ENT two years ago, and I posted that the ENT mentioned a 2cm lymph node on the report, but she felt my wife's neck and said she didn't feel anything so it must be gone. The ENT also said it wasn't serious, just starting phases Hashimotos, and to see GP once a year.

This was 2 yrs ago! But my wife still as same issue (albeit, maybe a little better), and here we go with a scan again. Surely if it was serious it would have gotten worse? A lot worse?

And the low iron thing - this is hopefully something completely separate - and easily fixed (ie her period, or intolerance to iron). But this is playing on my mind also.

I find the holiday's - Xmas, and vacation, etc.. add pressure to my HA. The HA would be there regardless - reading my old posts proves that. But the holidays amplify it.

By the way - my old posts - what I read that I was scared about and was nothing:
swollen lymph node me
swollen lymph nodes son
blood pressure me
hernia - son
moles me