Thyroid problems after chemo

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mmontero38
mmontero38 Member Posts: 1,510
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
Hi to all my sisters. Was wondering if any of you developed thyroid problems after going through chemo. I had 8 rounds of Adriamycin and Cytoxan. I finished my chemo on Nov. 16th, and am now having complications that seem to be thyroid related. I have had an ekg and echocardiogram and my heart is good, but I am retaining water, am very tired, no energy and my legs and arms hurt. The discomfort I feel is almost like when you lift something heavy or if you were working all day and your muscles are achy. I have also noticed just today that the space in my neck right under the adams apple is a little swollen which leads me to assume it might be my thyroid. I went to the onc on Thursday and he did blood work. I am going back on Monday, but I was just curious to know if someone had this type of experience. I want to thank you in advance for your input on this. Love, Lili

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  • cabbott
    cabbott Member Posts: 1,039 Member
    #2
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    Thyroid problems are very common in women after and around menapause. It is certainly worth getting checked out. My sister was cold and gained weight easily for over a year before her problem was discovered. One pill a day and she started feeling better. Another friend with bc told me her doctor said bc and thyroid problems are very common together, but I'm not convinced it is a causal relationship. Guess I need to read up more. In any case, it is worth a physical with a doctor that is willing to dig at it to get your life back to normal. Good luck!
  • mgm42
    mgm42 Member Posts: 491 Member
    #3
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    Hey, Lili. The symptoms you described are identicial to those I had some 12 years ago when I was in my early 50's and 15 years prior to my breast cancer. And it was THYROID. Plain old simple thyroid disease. Not that thyroid disease is simple - I didn't it mean it that way. But my point is that mine was just that and not tied to or related to chemo, radiation, etc. As women age, their thyroids and the hormones they produce and monitor slow down or speed up. My ended up being hypothroidism and is controlled with a simple medication. But, I do remember the "tireds" and the fatigue. I did not have the swelling in the neck, at least not that I remember. I'm hoping and praying that yours will be plain old thyroid. I'll be thinking of you. Hugs, Marilynn
  • 3cbrca
    3cbrca Member Posts: 206
    #4
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    Ask the to do blood tests. I had all the same symptoms and they told me they were typical because chemo put me on menopause - I was gaining weight so fast I couldn't believe it. My GI doctor was the one who discovered they thyroid damage. My TSH was 1.0 before chemo/RT (normal is between 1-5). After chemo RT it was 48.0. I spent about 8 months sooooo tired. I went on medical leave after all my treatments because I was so tired! From the reading I've done since, it's not that uncommon and I think it should be done routinely! I can't tell you how great I feel now that I'm on synthroid!! I'm sleeping well, mood is good and I've lost 11 of the 30 pounds I gained without doing anything different!!
    S
  • lmcc725
    lmcc725 Member Posts: 4
    #5
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    I can relate. I am a premenopausal 36 years old female. I had 4 rounds ac starting in June ending 12 weeks later. I had awful awful muscle pain and we were blaming the injection neulasta, that doctors were using to keep my blood count up(which helped). Turns out in sept/oct we checked my thyroid and it was completely dormant.I had a count of 138, should 2. Looking back I had all the symptoms,20 lb weight gain, hair loss, fatigue muscle degeneration , even my eyelashes fell out (after chemo) but just blamed them on the results of chemo. I was going crazy thinking I had chronic pain syndrome caused by ac.It was so frustrating becaused for me chemo wasn't as bad as I had imagined, i guess I am one of the lucky few! So I feel while going through chemo they need to check our thyroids as standard of care.Two days after starting synthroid I was back to new, especially the pain all ended. I have gone on to have bilatteral mastectomy and silicone implants and all is well. I would answwe any questions anyone has. God bless all

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