Why do I have a goiter the size of a tennis ball growing in my neck?

yes, I did just give birth. I heard that it could be possiably from child bearing, but it seems hereditary in my family to have hyperactive thyroids. being so my mother and older sister are on medication, without the swollen gland! I do not understand why all of a sudden this would appear. Any logical explanations out there?

I had a similar problem, so I will tell you my story(hope it helps and doesn't bore you to death). This all happened after I had my daughter...I don't know if pregnancy caused it or if it was just coincidental. I first found out about my enlarged thyroid when I was sick. I went to the doctor for being sick, and she told me my thyroid was enlarged and wanted to run tests. I had felt it, but it wasn't that large at the time, so I just thought it was a swollen gland from infection. I had my thyroid levels checked, and they were normal. I went to an endocrinologist and he checked my levels again...normal. At that time, he told me that my only option was to have it removed because he couldn't treat it with medicine if my levels were fine. It wasn't very noticeable then, and I couldn't bare the thought of having my throat cut(he also told me insurance would not cover it because they would consider it 'cosmetic'). Anyway, over the course of the next 2-3 yrs, it gradually grew bigger and bigger. I had my levels checked several more times and they were always normal. I finally went to a new doctor, and she immediately referred me to a surgeon. The first time I saw him, he said it needed to come out. He said the larger it gets, the more chance there is of getting cancer in it. He measured my thyroid and my left nodule was 6cm wide. In January of last year, I had my entire thyroid removed leaving nothing but my parathyroid glands. My thyroid had grown so large that it wrapped around my esophogus and surgery lasted 6 hrs. I now take thyroid replacement hormones daily. If it does not go down, I would highly recommend seeing a specialist. The scar is barely noticeable. They make the incision so that it fits right in with the wrinkles in your neck. I hope this gave you a little insight. By the way, I was never diagnosed with anything other than a simple 'goiter'.

you already said the reason: pregnancy. it should go down. if it doesn't start to go down (maybe take measurements around your neck) within the next couple weeks, see your doctor. chances are, you should be on meds like your mom and sister.

as for the reason, your body needs more thyroid hormone during pregnancy to help the baby grow.


oh, and if you start feeling restless, overly warm and unable to sleep, just go ahead and see your doctor anyhow.

I think you should see your doctor. Not to get you startled or anything, i think it might be a tumor. It could also be AIDS because your glands around your neck tend to swell up due to a loss of white blood cells or something like that. Well that's just my opinion (not a medical opinion) or I could be wrong and it could just be nothing serious. Make sure you go see your doctor.

goiter is caused for a lack of NaCl Sodium Chloride, so eat loads of sea salt just gobble gobble!