Remedies for Enlarged thyroid (goiter)?

I have an enlargd thyroid. My blood test were normal and the biopsy for thyroid cancer was benign. But I still have the enlarged thyroid. My doctor said that my only choice is surgery because pills won't shrink my enlarged thyroid. Any other advice. I hate to remove something that is vital to so many other things in the body. Especially since my blood did not indicate hypo or hyperthyroidism. I don't wont to take pills the rest of my life or develop other problems from removing the thyroid.

Your instinct is correct. Your thyroid is vital to the proper functioning of your body. You should never have your thyroid removed except in the case of cancer. Only in the case of cancer does the benefit of killing or removing the thyroid outweigh the risk.

And your doctor is flat out wrong. The correct treatment WILL shrink your goiter. You just need the right tests, and the right diagnosis to find out what the right treatment is. So the first thing you need to do is to get a new doctor who knows what he is doing. Then you need new blood tests. The tests you need are free T3, free T4, and all of the thyroid antibodies. This is enough to get a diagnosis. You do NOT need a TSH test. TSH is a useless test. It is only an indirect, second hand way to GUESS at what your T3 and T4 levels are. TSH isn't a thyroid hormone, and it doesn't control or cause your symptoms.

Try a diet that is high in anti-inflammatories. Avoid dairy which can also cause inflammation. Also some people treat goiter with iodine supplementation, such as Lugol's Solution.

Treat the person, not the labs. The link below shows articles that shows how inaccurate these tests can be.

Also, you can look at tissue levels of things like iodine, or excessive levels of fluoride and/or bromide. If iodine is low, or if these toxins are high and don't allow iodine to bind to the receptors, all of which can cause a goiter.

I am guessing that they checked for autoimmune markers as well? If not, get them done.

And lastly, did you have a radioactive iodine uptake performed? If so and the nodules are cold (but still benign), they end up being cancerous in around 20% of the people.

I would look for a second opinion, ask both docs why they are recommending surgery, how long before you should act on it, and what can done in the mean time.

Also, surgery is better for goiter removal than radioactive iodine treatment.