What are Thyroid Cancer Symptoms? List from Cancer Survivors
The below is a list that has been posted by the bloggers in this cancer community. There are 7616 cancer fighters that are members here. This is what they said, not what the doctors or nurses will tell you.
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Thyroid Cancer Symptoms
What Thyroid Cancer Survivors said about their Cancer Symptoms.
Lump on neck
Swollen glands tired all the time and chronic ear infections
None - was having neck/back pain. MRI showed an enlarged thyroid. Been taking thyroid supplements for 20 years for hypothyroidism.
Large noticable lump on right side of neck
Large lump left side of neck
Small sore throat, cough and raspy voice.
Semi-large noticeable lump on the right side of neck
I had no symptoms whatsoever.
Had persistent cough that lead to numerous tests which found the thyroid cancer. . . I still had the cough after surgery, but now it seems to be going away. Turns out the cough was due to food allergies and had nothing to do with the cancer. . . go figure!
lump in neck
Pain in my neck like a bruise under the skin...
A lump in the throat.
I didn't recognize them as indicating cancer: some trouble swallowing, turtlenecks bothered me, a little hoarseness.
Occassionally strep-like feeling on each side of throat for nine years. I thought it was the weather's change. That's pretty much it.
I had cancer scare for two months before surgery/final result. The biopsy came up with many 'possible', 'might', 'maybe' with all names of cancer cells.
*UPDATE* Do not ever rely on biopsy results until after the post-surgery result.
Thyroid had numerous nodules that had become larger over time. A needle biopsy wasn't possible due to the number of nodules and the depth.
Didn't even know where thyroid was until ENT doctor told me my thyroid was enlarged and boy was it. 2 large nodules. They were not cancerous though. Weird.
Goiter for 2 years and rapidly growing lymphnodes, uncountable until the cut me open.
Lump on left side of neck near collar bone
Sore throat, hoarseness, sometimes difficult swallowing (a "clicking" in my throat), fatigue, mood swings
Swollen neck, trouble swallowing. Thyroid Gland Right Lobe: Papillary carcinoma 5 mm focus near one pole. Follicular adenoma predominantly macro-follicular type, 4.0 cm. Thyroid Gland Left Lobe: Papillary carcinoma 1.2 cm. Follicular carcinoma 5.0 mm. Follicular adenoma macrofollicular type 3.2 cm diameter.
hoarse voice, trouble breathing at times
Lumps on the neck: GET ALL of them CHECKED OUT no matter how small!
Sudden itching and spreading pain in my left leg moving to my right arm within 12 hrs, then to my right leg, converting to extreme pain. Unable to sleep for over 36 hrs. Dr. expected brain involvement, ordered MRI. No indications of disease. Prescribed gabapentin, was like a miracle. I think because I could sleep. Symptoms abated for some time then returned.
I went back to my PCP who had been on this the whole time. He sent me to a neurologist (who was awful) that ran a bunch of torture tests. He then sent me for an MRI of my neck.
This is perhaps the best part of the story. When I met with him about the results he coldly said this is not neurological. Nothing else!
I had an appointment with my PCP about two weeks later. Upon reading the report he said you have a large nodule on your thyroid (WTF). What a crappy doctor that neurologist was! Didn't say a thing or send a report to my PCP...
My PCP went into high gear and ordered an Ultrasound, followed by a biopsy.
Bad Findings, consult, and surgery.
Great Surgeon, Dr. Glackin. Kind, Listens, Patient, Tender.
Both Dr's PCP Levin and Surgeon Dr. Glackin visited and made sure orders were followed and I was comfortable after surgery and the next day. I thought that only happened on TV.
abdominal and lower back pain, blood in stool, constipation
Found a lump at the front of my throat. When I look back now, the chronic inflammation of my wrists and ankles was a sign that something wasn't right. My heart was also racing, I lost a lot of hair the year before, my joints and muscles were sore all the time. Still suffering from major swelling in my wrists...
Intermittent hoarseness and difficulty swallowing (thought I had a cold). Grape-sized lump left side of neck.
Swollen sore neck.
None, went in because I had lost my voice. GP found large lump on my thyroid (Wednesday), Friday was scheduled with the surgeon for the biopsy, the following Wednesday I was in surgery
no symptoms
Fatigue, Constantly clearing my throat, Hoarseness
None. Genetic testing is the only way I found this.
Hard lump on the right side of my neck.
A big ol' lump in my throat.
None, my noudle was found by accident.
None that I thought seemed like cancer, except the large growth in the right side of my thyroid.
-Hard, sometimes painless, sometimes tender lump in neck. Turned out to be an enlarged cervical lymph node on the right side of my neck.
-Extreme fatigue; tiring out very easily
-Low-grade fever
-Frequent headaches
Severe anxiety, extreme fatigue, inability to sleep, palpitations, feeling extremely cold and nervousness.
A lump on the left side of my neck.
Felt pressure on throat like "tight turtleneck", July 2nd. Dr. didn't feel anything so probably just stress or acid reflux. Two weeks later could feel lump on right side. Ultrasound confirmed 2cm mass on August 2, 2010. Fine-Needle Biopsy on September 2, 2010 and the "call" on September 10, 2010.
None! I actually went in to see my NP about something on my foot, I complained about having had a fever so she checked my glands and found a concerning lump on the left side of my neck. In hindsight though, I think it probably caused my dizziness and migraines all this time, I just never knew.
Before I got diagnosed I was feeling very fatigued and my heart rate was very high. The only reason I was going to the doctor was to get vaccinations for school. I told him about my symptoms and he said he thought it was Hyperthyroidism. He checked my levels and everything came back fine and did for months. My doc kept checking my levels because he was positive it was my thyroid. One day my levels came back abnormal and we went from there! They did an Ultrasound and found a nodule...then did a biopsy. The ENT told me the biopsy looked a little suspicious and he wanted to take the left side of my thyroid out. When he did the surgery he decided to take my whole thyroid. Which now I am glad!!
weight gain,tired,high blood pressure.anxity, a lot of Dr. apt but thyroid came back ok,then sore throat,swelling in neck,hoarse voice.
It's been about 4 years since i have been in and out of appointments trying to find out if i had anything wrong with my thyroid i have had about 4 biopsies and in the past they were all inconclusive. I don't know what other symptoms i have had but since August of this year 2010 i had horrible bronchitis in the middle of summer it lasted for about 4 weeks horrible cough's sore throat killer headaches and lack of appetite. Since them my life has changed when my bronchitis seem to go away i had horrible heart palpitations had to go into the ER because i got so scared from my heart palpitations i was put on High blood pressure medication Norvasc. After that i was very depressed crying all the time i had to change my medication. I then went in for a physical and my doctor felt a lump on the right side of my thyroid she sent me to and ENT and he sent me to yet another ultra sound and another biopsy. I had a follow up appointment with my ENT and he told me that i had hurthle cells and needed to get it checked and removed surgically. My world felt apart and from there on i was frighten to have a surgery done. But i managed to stay strong until now that my doctor told me i had to have everything removed due to thyroid Cancer. I have been trying my best but im a complete wreck.
Two new nodules showed up on my five-year cancer CT for lymphoma. Subsequent ultrasound and then biopsies revealed papillary carcinoma. Total thyroidectomy performed 6/10/15, now starting the process for radioactive iodine ablation therapy.
I couldn't swallow food for 3 months. Food seemed to get stuck. After tons of swallowing studies, I was admitted into the hospital where a cardiologist sent me for an ultrasound which found papillary thyroid cancer that had spread to my lymph nodes.
A year ago an ultrasound on my back revealed 2 nodules on my thyroid but 2 doctors refused to do further testing, "because that's never anything." Not even a "let's keep an eye on it." Later, I developed a raspy/hoarse voice and a small bump on my throat. Saw my ENT. The hoarseness didn't alert me before but it's worse since fna
Large lump on thyroid and surrounding tissue. Progressive tiredness, and increased mood changes.
So tired I want to cry.
Chest pain and back pain from my gallbladder. Cancer was an "incidental" finding.
I had a mini-stroke on March 3, 2011. Dr. found a nodule on my thyroid while looking at my caratoid arteries for reason of stroke. I had a fine needle biopsy of thyroid on March 10 and was called the next day with diagnosis of thyroid cancer and a hole in my heart called PFO that caused the mini-stroke. I am thankful for the mini-stroke or I would not have known I had cancer. Looking back I did have symptoms of weight gain, dry skin, brittle nails, and feeling tired. I thought it was because I was older. LOL
Fatigue, cough, hoarseness, transient difficulty swallowing, sore throat, nausea, change in bowel habits
None - during a routine physical, the doctor found a lump on my thyroid.
i had never felt better in my life. i hardly ever got sick and i really just felt great.
i went in to my primary doctor about a lump above my collor bone and he noticed the nodule on my thyroid. the lump over my collar bone was a 4cm cancerous lymph node
I started having trouble swallowing food
Slight thickening of my throat, fatigue, mild cough.
Large lump/ball in the left side of my neck.
Severe insomnia. I sleep on average of 4 hrs a night. (on a good night). Scary how i dont seem to need sleep right now. I have Hyperthyroidism. I guess severe enough to keep me up all hours of the night. And severe *ewwww* Constipation. :P
tired all the time
Lump in my neck, difficulty swallowing and breathing
Possible cause of severe facial pain. They are looking into para neoplastic antibody link. No other symptoms.
Enlarged Thyroid with nodules throughout it.
Problems swallowing food, throat pain in the morning, horseness
Hair loss, Weight gain, Depression, Lack of sex Drive, Mood swings, nausea, Migraines
Lump in throat, swollen thyroid. Since I am a control freak, I pushed both my daughter and the doctors to investigate.
Didn't have any symptoms
Lump on left side of neck. Found on my own while adjusting a necklace.
No symptoms
My only symptom was being tired and just not feeling like myself.
None initially., but a month prior to surgery I felt like food, pills, etc. were lodged in my throat and would take a good hour plus for my throat to feel normal
None! A completely accidental finding on an MRI for an unrelated issue.
none specifically cancer '- I had Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. I had every symptom known for that! Docs kept trying to treat the symptoms rather than the root cause of
None.
felt like I had something stuck in the back of my throat
I had some symptoms of hypothyroidism and had a palpable thyroid nodule.
swollen neck, fatigue
Cyst on left side of neck attached to thyroid.
Mostly hypothyroid type symptoms.
fatigue, pain
None. Incidental finding on an MRI two months after shoulder surgery.
None other than lump on neck
Lump on side of the neck, weight gain, shortness of breath, chest tightness, neck pain
All symptoms I did not associate to be thyroid cancer related-- but they were
Lump on the side of neck. Extreme anxiety. Mild hair loss
Not many - Found out after TT that I have Hashimoto's, but was not hypo or hyper before surgery. The cancerous nodule was on the isthmus of my thyroid, so it was not visible or palpable.
HAD MISDIAGNOSIS FOR 6 MONTHS UNTIL I TOOK X-RAY HAD A PROBLEM BREATHING GAVE SIGN SIMILAR TO BRONCHCAITIS......, SHORTNESS OF BREATH BEFORE DIAGNOSIS...DEVELOPED BLOOD CLOT WHILE TAKING TREATMENT IN 2011.....
Fatigue, slight weight gain, anxiety
A large lump on my neck, weight gain, memory loss, and extreme fatigue.
I have known about my Hashimoto's and Hypothyroidism for about 7 years, so I have no idea what symptoms have been specific to cancer.
Large nodule in throat. Endocrinologist says these are probably not related, but the timing is spot on (memory loss, fatigue, irregular menstrual cycle).
Absolutely none - found by mistake
My left laryngeal nerve was cut during the process of removing my thyroid so my left vocal cord is paralyzed.
Feel fine have cancerous lymph nodes after being diagnoses in 2008.
I had a strange pain in my throat last June. By January I had a hypersensitive gag reflex with palpable nodules in my throat.
Noticeable mass "nodule" (4.8 cm) on right side of thyroid gland
Small nodule felt on thyroid during routine physician check.
Small palpable lump on neck
Extreme fatigue, brain fog, terrible sweating and night sweats, weakness, shortness of breath, dry mouth, and muscle, back, and bone pain.
None other than a lump in my neck 3 months before it was discovered and I did feel abnormally tired
Extreme fatigue, weight gain, noticeable enlarged lymph node in left neck
small ping pong size nodule in throat
Small nodule found on thyroid during a routine examine.