Hi Torontogal,

If Sammyjam's solution turns out not to be the correct one, here's something else to think about.

My wife was having some very uncomfortable sensations around her thyroid gland, especially when lying down. It felt as if she was being slowly choked, and she started to develop what looked like a goitre. She went to the Doctor, who ran the usual blood test, and this came back negative. In spite of that the pains grew more intense and and more constant, so she insisted on being referred. This process took her from one reluctant and disbelieving doctor to another, until she could barely speak or breathe. Eventually, faced with a looming crisis, they stuck a long needle straight into the now very enlarged gland, and took a sample of tissue. It turned out that she had large polyps growing on the side of her thyroid gland, getting bigger all the time.

There are two morals to this story. Firstly, standard thyroid blood tests do not reveal everything which can have an impact on the thyroid gland and its normal functioning. And secondly, if you have a reason to suspect that something is amiss with your thyroid gland, persist with doctors who are often not very keen to follow it up without a positive blood test.

Andy