Anyone have thyroid issues as well as BC?

There are many thyroid nodules that are benign - I've been living with a 6 mm one for about 8 years one, and it's a "cold" one. My endo said to just wait and watch it. I'm hyper-thyroid though.

Did you get a biopsy of your nodule? That should relieve yoru worries.

I am on two different thyroid meds.  I just show my endrocrinologist last week.  Told him that I have BC he did not act like he was worried.  This is all new to me and I am scared to death.  I am no doing chemo and just started Tamoxifen due to start rads new Wed.  Are as I have to told to me marked.  So what should I ask or know be for i go?

I had a false positive as well on a scan. Biopsy said benign.

Deanna, that thread too often forgets to mention what excessive iodine can to do people suffering of hyperthyroid issues (dangerous!), and that the theory "not enough iodine causes breast cancer" doesn't apply to them.

Thank you, Deanna. I keep posting on this as people usually are not aware how dangerous hyperthyroid can be - it can be lethal. That is why I also posted the response to rianne, because the effects of estrogen-inhibiting therapy on the thyroid are only now being studied. And as there are fewer BC patients hyperthyroid than hypothyroid, it can get out of hand very fast.

No, you didn't. I'm not sure if it's that low (I knew about 3-4%) but most thyroid nodules are benign.

Yes, it looks wonderful, natural and very similar to my old breasts only in a larger size. I am very very pleased.

happy - discussion in a forum.

And rianne, I forgot to thank you. I am not really an expert, but I was diagnosed in 2003 with Graves Disease - so you can imagine I had a lot of time to do a lot of research.

I had a goiter for a long time and finally had a biopsy in maybe 2006.  No cancer in the thyroid, but i had a hot spot.  Later, I lost a boatload of weight, had shaky hands, etc, so I went back to the endocrinologist.  I took radioactive iodine in April 2009.  I felt an odd sensation in my left breast maybe a year later, but didn't feel a lump.  I had the same odd sensation in September, and did feel the lump.  I now know if was there the first time, but I didn't feel it.  I definitely wonder if the cancer is related to the radioactive iodine, although BC runs in my family. I'm not on synthroid, and my thyroid level is normal right now.  My goiter is gone though so that's a good thing.

I had thyroid cancer after my breast cancer.  I had a total thyriodectomy...would iodine help in my situation?  I'm on synthroid .125 mg.

I never had any thyroid problems but a nodule showed up on my PET scan so they did an ultrasound and followed up with a biopsy (Which was absolutley painful and worse than a Lumpectomy).  Anyway, I take a pill each day now and I don't notice any difference.  I would never had known I had it if it wasn't for the PET scan. 

Thanks Day, I have an appointment next month and will ask him.

P.S.  Please add me to your ritual list.

happy, a thread is each individual topic someone has started for discussion.  If you click on Forum Index above, you'll see that there are quite a few forums or topic headings.  Click on any of them, and it will show you all the individual active threads or discussions.  When you first stumble on BCO, it's easy to miss how extensive this website is.  I know I was kind of shocked when I figured it out.

In addition to the Discussion Forums, if you go to the bar at the very top of the page (Symptoms & Diagnosis, etc.), you'll find an entire informational side to BCO.

Hope this helps.    Deanna

dbl - I had thyroid cancer (papillary) & left lobe removed more 30+ years ago too!  Then had a nodule in 1989 and they removed the right lobe - fortunately benign.  Have been on synthroid  since the first surgery & increased dose again after the second to keep TSH suppressed.  For those of you who have had complete thyroidectomy, what does your onc say about desired TSH level?  My endocrinologist wants to bring TSH up (reducing synthroid dosage) but I worry because I thought the closer to 0 the better in terms of preventing recurrence.  She says too low TSH contributes to osteoporosis, which I have! I'm going to ask my onc on Wed when I see him.

I also understand that Arimidex can cause issues w/thyroid dosage.  I'm on tamox right now.

After my first surgery 30+ years ago the surgeon told me ALWAYS to ask for a lead thyroid shield even for dental Xrays and to minimize even getting those.  Said do the same thing for my children.  I did not have lump/rads - I chose mastectomy.  But I wonder when women choose lump/rads whether the thyroid is sufficiently shielded.  (I've never had a radiologist offer a shield - I always have to ask.)  But it really makes you wonder - radiation exposure is the #1 cause of thyroid cancer and there are genetic links also.  When I went to genetic counseling (negative brca) they wanted me to send blood to Cleveland CLinc which is doing a study on link between thyroid CA & breast CA and the PTEN gene (I think that's the name of it) but haven't had it drawn yet.

Interesting that quite a few of us have not only been dx'd with low thyroid function and needed thyroid meds in the past, but also had nodules or goiters, surgery, and even thyroid cancer in some cases.  It's just a shame that docs don't recognize and emphasize to us the possible connection and future risk (assuming the thyroid issues came first) vis-a-vis bc.  It makes me wonder how many of us might have been able to avoid bc if we'd only known then what we know now.

happy, some of us have made significant changes to our diets and also look a lot more closely now at what's in cosmetics.  One of the first books I picked up when I started to question how I had developed bc inspite of what I thought was a pretty healthy lifestyle was Beating Cancer With Nutrition by Patrick Quillin, PhD, RD, CNS.  Anti-Cancer, A New Way Of Life by David Servan-Schreiber, MD, PhD is another one I highly recommend.  You can check on the safety of the cosmetics you're using at http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/   I don't want to take this thyroid thread off on a tangent, but feel free to PM me if you have specific questions.  These are excellent questions, and there are things many of us (including, evidently, BCO's founder who is a physician, a bc survivor, and now has a book on living green) believe can reduce our future risk.   Deanna