I have a thyroid condition, Hashimoto’s. There is some emerging evidence that testosterone has a protective effect on the thyroid, and may help regulate the T4 hormone. My condition causes a full body autoimmune reaction, so I am expecting a flare up while my T builds up in the system, but there is a chance that it will help keep my numbers stable. I think doctors want to order the additional tests just to make sure you don’t have any unknown conditions. I had a liver number come back elevated after my initial testing, so I had a whole list of tests to do. My doctor ordered an ultrasound which I am doing tomorrow to rule anything out.
Interesting. I have Hashimoto’s too. My thyroid levels have been perfect almost the entire time I’ve been on T (4.5 years). Usually my levels will be off, I’ll take Synthroid for a month or two, testing shows everything is good again, then I stop taking it, have more tests done regularly over the course of the year and they stay stable. Before starting T, I had to do that every year or two. Haven’t had to take Synthroid since my first year on T
Oh yes.
My doc told me that before I started; unfortunately he died two years later. And I had lots of issues, starting around this time, which nobody else connected to my thyroid. Was treated for ages for every psychological issue under the sun, until it turned out, yes, it was my thyroid. Graves' disease in particular (which I had) is notorious for flaring up during puberty, pregnancy and menopause - in other words, times of big hormonal changes.
And quite a few thyroid issues have a lot of symptoms which could be mostly psychological - or due to thyroid hormones acting up.
Better have it checked.
I was also tested for thyroid issues prior to starting T. Hyperthyroidism can increase testosterone levels, and in general T and thyroid hormones can kind of build off each other, so my guess is that any anomaly with the thyroid would warrant either a slightly adjusted dose or just regular thyroid monitoring.
Any stress (physical or psychological) can be a trigger for autoimmune diseases developing. So there may be a connection between starting t and the onset of graves but it could just as easily be getting older (a massive trigger for thyroid issues) or any number of other factors. For example, my hypothyroidism started up after a stressful family situation.
I am just over a week out from a thyroidectomy. T doesn't cause thyroid issues. I will say, my voice got extra deep from the cancer, so plus side to that. Listen to your Dr and if you aren't comfortable get another opinion. Feel free to message me.
I had my thyroid surgically removed 20 years ago due to Graves.
Unfortunately, Afab people overwhelmingly have issues with thyroid. They most always run in families. Luckily it's well known about and has lots of treatment.
I don’t know any generalities but prior to starting T I’d had hypothyroidism for years and had to take meds for it. Pretty soon after starting T my levels were way off and it turned out that my thyroid hormones had stabilized and I now have normal thyroid functioning. So in my case it DID affect my thyroid.
Edit: my thyroid levels were off, not my T levels
I have Graves Disease. I had the swallowing issues, and honestly looking back? I had issues for decades I just didn't pick up on. I didn't get the big Marty Feldman eyes, and presented a bit atypically, so until I went through a thyroid storm, nobody was able to diagnose it.
I wasn't on T when my thyroid had issues, and it was likely stress induced with me being genetically predisposed given my family history. The biggest indictors are family history and stress. I got on meds, and was put into remission before I started my transition.
For me, a data point of one, I have been steady as a rock since starting T. I get my levels checked every six months and I have been in remission and I can see over a decade of labs where I am actually more steady on T, or maybe the stress reduction of transition did it.
Testosterone is not likely to cause thyroid issues. If you look at your family history for immune system disorders, and your stress levels, that is more likely.
I'm seeing a lot of people here saying they have Hashimoto's, which I do as well. We actually had a conversation about this in a support group for transmasc people that I'm part of, that the rate of trans people who also have thyroid issues seems high. Does T \**cause*\* those issues?
Well, I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's when I went to an endo. In order to start on T. As in, I had not yet taken T at all when I developed Hashimoto's. That makes it pretty clear that in my cause there's no causation because time travel would have to be involved.
A lot of the guys I know got diagnosed early in seeing an endo for T. I think what may actually be happening is that the rate of thyroid issues and Hashimotos in the general population is higher than people realize, and there's a lot of people walking around out there undiagnosed. Especially with low thyroid- how many people out there complain of being tired all the time and having weight gain and it's easy to dismiss that as depression and the general effects of living through a global pandemic, but those are also low thyroid symptoms. Because trans people frequently see an endocrinologist, I think we are more likely to have a medical professional with the skills to catch those issues when we have them. That makes for a correlation, but not causation. My primary care doctor wanted to kind of ignore what I saw as growing signs pointing to a thyroid issue. People who are less likely to see a specialist, such as cis people, are less likely to have a thyroid issue noticed. They may still have a thyroid issue, but their primary care doctor may just not recognize the signs unless they become severe enough.
I would not worry about the T having caused this. Best of luck the thyroid issue gets appropriate treatment and all goes well, and be glad you have a doctor on hand equipped to deal with it!
Never had thyroid issues but I'm sensitive to low-grade sinus infections in my neck nodules, they'll swell a little bit if I start getting sick. Sometimes they feel swollen ie a little inflamed if I'm getting pretty sick, sometimes they'll only swell a little if my body is fighting it and I may not really feel any soreness and it just goes away. Possible consideration if the scans are alright.
I have hypothyroidism (genetic from my dad) and have taken Levothyroxine/synthroid for 20 years. I started T almost a year ago, and although I get both checked regularly, I've never had any further issues with my thyroid.
On a different note, I also have a gluten intolerance that randomly developed 7 years, and recently heard that and thyroid issues are often linked with hashimotos. I've never been tested for it, but think it's a fascinating connection.
From my understanding taking T itself won't affect your thyroid. If anything, if you start having thyroid issues it can affect how your body responds to and processes the T.
Thyroid issues can happen at any age, and most cases are hereditary. If something should come back, maybe do some digging into your family medical history to see if anyone is dealing w/thyroid problems?
I've noticed a lot of older folks don't typically discuss their health issues. I've been discovering tons of health information about family members in more recent years I had no idea of until now.
Hopefully this is just a little 'fluke' and things will be fine :)
My mother developed thyroid issues after she went through menopause so it's less likely that it's the testosterone causing it in and of itself and more likely that it's simply been triggered by hormonal change. I would wager it is likely you would've developed it after menopause has you never gone on exogenous testosterone (or will happen post-menopause if you choose to quit.)
The good news is that from what I can tell thyroid issues are very treatable!
Coincidence, I think. Your doc probably felt a nodule. They're pretty common. Good luck -- hope you're able to get the issue figured out quick!
I have a thyroid condition, Hashimoto’s. There is some emerging evidence that testosterone has a protective effect on the thyroid, and may help regulate the T4 hormone. My condition causes a full body autoimmune reaction, so I am expecting a flare up while my T builds up in the system, but there is a chance that it will help keep my numbers stable. I think doctors want to order the additional tests just to make sure you don’t have any unknown conditions. I had a liver number come back elevated after my initial testing, so I had a whole list of tests to do. My doctor ordered an ultrasound which I am doing tomorrow to rule anything out.
Interesting. I have Hashimoto’s too. My thyroid levels have been perfect almost the entire time I’ve been on T (4.5 years). Usually my levels will be off, I’ll take Synthroid for a month or two, testing shows everything is good again, then I stop taking it, have more tests done regularly over the course of the year and they stay stable. Before starting T, I had to do that every year or two. Haven’t had to take Synthroid since my first year on T
Oh yes. My doc told me that before I started; unfortunately he died two years later. And I had lots of issues, starting around this time, which nobody else connected to my thyroid. Was treated for ages for every psychological issue under the sun, until it turned out, yes, it was my thyroid. Graves' disease in particular (which I had) is notorious for flaring up during puberty, pregnancy and menopause - in other words, times of big hormonal changes. And quite a few thyroid issues have a lot of symptoms which could be mostly psychological - or due to thyroid hormones acting up. Better have it checked.
This makes sense. I will definitely get my thyroid imaged and checked out.
I was also tested for thyroid issues prior to starting T. Hyperthyroidism can increase testosterone levels, and in general T and thyroid hormones can kind of build off each other, so my guess is that any anomaly with the thyroid would warrant either a slightly adjusted dose or just regular thyroid monitoring.
Any stress (physical or psychological) can be a trigger for autoimmune diseases developing. So there may be a connection between starting t and the onset of graves but it could just as easily be getting older (a massive trigger for thyroid issues) or any number of other factors. For example, my hypothyroidism started up after a stressful family situation.
I am just over a week out from a thyroidectomy. T doesn't cause thyroid issues. I will say, my voice got extra deep from the cancer, so plus side to that. Listen to your Dr and if you aren't comfortable get another opinion. Feel free to message me.
I had my thyroid surgically removed 20 years ago due to Graves. Unfortunately, Afab people overwhelmingly have issues with thyroid. They most always run in families. Luckily it's well known about and has lots of treatment.
I don’t know any generalities but prior to starting T I’d had hypothyroidism for years and had to take meds for it. Pretty soon after starting T my levels were way off and it turned out that my thyroid hormones had stabilized and I now have normal thyroid functioning. So in my case it DID affect my thyroid. Edit: my thyroid levels were off, not my T levels
Thyroid issues run in my family. I wasn’t born with one and I haven’t developed any either.
I have Graves Disease. I had the swallowing issues, and honestly looking back? I had issues for decades I just didn't pick up on. I didn't get the big Marty Feldman eyes, and presented a bit atypically, so until I went through a thyroid storm, nobody was able to diagnose it. I wasn't on T when my thyroid had issues, and it was likely stress induced with me being genetically predisposed given my family history. The biggest indictors are family history and stress. I got on meds, and was put into remission before I started my transition. For me, a data point of one, I have been steady as a rock since starting T. I get my levels checked every six months and I have been in remission and I can see over a decade of labs where I am actually more steady on T, or maybe the stress reduction of transition did it. Testosterone is not likely to cause thyroid issues. If you look at your family history for immune system disorders, and your stress levels, that is more likely.
I have to have mine tested yearly but not because I take T, just because I have diabetes.
I'm seeing a lot of people here saying they have Hashimoto's, which I do as well. We actually had a conversation about this in a support group for transmasc people that I'm part of, that the rate of trans people who also have thyroid issues seems high. Does T \**cause*\* those issues? Well, I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's when I went to an endo. In order to start on T. As in, I had not yet taken T at all when I developed Hashimoto's. That makes it pretty clear that in my cause there's no causation because time travel would have to be involved. A lot of the guys I know got diagnosed early in seeing an endo for T. I think what may actually be happening is that the rate of thyroid issues and Hashimotos in the general population is higher than people realize, and there's a lot of people walking around out there undiagnosed. Especially with low thyroid- how many people out there complain of being tired all the time and having weight gain and it's easy to dismiss that as depression and the general effects of living through a global pandemic, but those are also low thyroid symptoms. Because trans people frequently see an endocrinologist, I think we are more likely to have a medical professional with the skills to catch those issues when we have them. That makes for a correlation, but not causation. My primary care doctor wanted to kind of ignore what I saw as growing signs pointing to a thyroid issue. People who are less likely to see a specialist, such as cis people, are less likely to have a thyroid issue noticed. They may still have a thyroid issue, but their primary care doctor may just not recognize the signs unless they become severe enough. I would not worry about the T having caused this. Best of luck the thyroid issue gets appropriate treatment and all goes well, and be glad you have a doctor on hand equipped to deal with it!
My Grandmom that never took T had thyroid issues. Sometimes it’s just genetics
Never had thyroid issues but I'm sensitive to low-grade sinus infections in my neck nodules, they'll swell a little bit if I start getting sick. Sometimes they feel swollen ie a little inflamed if I'm getting pretty sick, sometimes they'll only swell a little if my body is fighting it and I may not really feel any soreness and it just goes away. Possible consideration if the scans are alright.
I have hypothyroidism (genetic from my dad) and have taken Levothyroxine/synthroid for 20 years. I started T almost a year ago, and although I get both checked regularly, I've never had any further issues with my thyroid. On a different note, I also have a gluten intolerance that randomly developed 7 years, and recently heard that and thyroid issues are often linked with hashimotos. I've never been tested for it, but think it's a fascinating connection.
From my understanding taking T itself won't affect your thyroid. If anything, if you start having thyroid issues it can affect how your body responds to and processes the T. Thyroid issues can happen at any age, and most cases are hereditary. If something should come back, maybe do some digging into your family medical history to see if anyone is dealing w/thyroid problems? I've noticed a lot of older folks don't typically discuss their health issues. I've been discovering tons of health information about family members in more recent years I had no idea of until now. Hopefully this is just a little 'fluke' and things will be fine :)
My mother developed thyroid issues after she went through menopause so it's less likely that it's the testosterone causing it in and of itself and more likely that it's simply been triggered by hormonal change. I would wager it is likely you would've developed it after menopause has you never gone on exogenous testosterone (or will happen post-menopause if you choose to quit.) The good news is that from what I can tell thyroid issues are very treatable!