Hi my name is richelle & I am new tonight to ehealth...Anyways...I seen your question and just had to respond...I had my thyroid totally removed in january of '02...The actual surgery wasn't all that bad...The worst part of the whole ordeal was the "fine needle biopsy" #1 the needles aren't that fine! And before they begin they will give you a numbing shot that needle is about the size of a bic pen! I had 4 nodules on my thyroid so my biopsy was very involved. When the biopsy was completed my neck was so swollen I couldn't turn my head or barely speak...I had the biopsy, the radioactive capsule that you swollow then they take pictures, and the radioactive injections, all my tests were inconclusive! but because you asked I will tell you that the worst part of the whole ordeal was that biopsy...It hurt worst than the thyroidectomy itself! Don't mean to scare you and I wish you the best...Please keep me informed of your results.
Your in my prayers,
richelle

Thank you so much for responding. I had the biopsy done a week ago and all is fine. It wasn't as involved as yours was and I didn't swell up nor did I have much discomfort afterwards. It was just one nodule and I need to have another ultrasound in 6 months to see if there were any changes. Thankyou for you well wishes...Much appreciated
denise

Wow! That is great! I am glad to hear everything went ok for you. I kind of thought mine was just extra bad because there was so many nodules...There was 4 so that was 4 numbing shots and I think like 7 passes through each nodule so I was poked about 40 times. but anyways... Good luck with everything!

I underwent a thyroid biopsy two weeks ago and the procedure is painless. The numb your neck up with a local shot of lidocaine and depending on then go through the skin with a small needle and take out tissue samples. You won't feel anything cause your neck will be numb. I had a total thyroidectomy done on thursday and came home yesterday. I've had it all done and the doctors are very optimistic that it's not thyroid cancer. You should be fine when undergoing the biopsy. I had the same concerns as you did but it turned out not to be bad at all. Good luck.

I had a nodule biopsy and it was pretty painless. The doctor informed me that worse case scenario was that it would be cancerous, but he said he never knew a patient who died of a cancerous thyroid nodule, which was comforting. The next step is to do a thyroid scan/uptake where they will try to determine if the nodule is affecting my thyroid's ability to regulate my system. The doctor says it is rare that they remove a thyroid nodule if it is not interferring with the thyroid. I wonder if this scan is even neccasary since my doctor said that he is 99% positive that it is not cancerous.

I'm confused... Are you pregnant?

I had my thyroid biopsy done by TED HITTLE, MD I will say he had a very heavy hand, I had such pain during and after the biopsy I almost blacked out from the first sample!!! The pain was so unexpected, mind you I am not a whimp either I had a baby and a female surgery and an amino before, you all know the aminos have LONG LONG needles too!! Anyway, I wish I had taken some Motrin and ativan or xanax before the biopsy. I was told afterwards it does depend on the Dr. techniques I would say if you are going to see the same Dr I did, RUN FOR THE HILLS! When I went in to see my regular dr for a follow up for the results I told him I had so much pain and got a shiver when I thought of the test for 3 days after, I think I had post traumatic stress those few days to follow!! I had never had such a feeling of woe before. My regular Dr says thats not the way it is suppose to happen. He has done many of them himself but couldn't do mine with out it being ultra sound guided he didnt have anyone for the ultrasound so he sent me to the Imaging suite across the street. I was in such pain for a week afterwards I was on vico (thank God I had some left over from a knee injury) and Motrin for 4 days and Motrin for another week to follow and still felt pain after 2 weeks when I pressed on the area the pain was deep still inside. I really went with no fear thinking I can bear the pain. my sister had one herself before and from all I had read and all I had watched on the internet, well, I couldn't bear it!!!! He hit a place the 3rd try and made my gag reflex start it was so awful I fought the urge to gag for several seconds I finally couldn't hold it back.. OH MY GOSH!!!! GOOD LUCK to you all I have to get another done in 4-6 months all that pain and only 1 out of the 3 tries were able to be tested. Funny too, there was some tech guy and an observer looking at the samples with each with draw too he was there to make sure the tissue sample was enough, what a shabby end of the deal I got!!!! Turns out, there wasn't enough tissue? Who was that guy then if he didnt even know what he was doing? With a total of 4 people in that room other than myself things could have went a lot smoother!!! You think they sold tickets to see a woman get tortured. You can email me at presouz at gmail dot com if you want to know more or tell me your horror story, I think we need to get the word out there, some of these Dr as not cut out to DO THEM!!!! I wish us all well and GOD BLESS US ALL~~

HELLO I JUST HAD ONE MONDAY THE 14 OF JULY IT WAS NOT BAD ALL I FELT WAS A HEAD AKE ON THE RIGHT SIDE WHEN THEY WERE DOING IT AND THE SAME ON THE LEFT I GOT NUMED UP GOOD I HAD GOOD DR WHO DID IT IT LEFT ME BRUISED ON MY NECK WERE THE NEEDLES WENT IN SO IT WILL BE OK THE HEAD AKE WHEN AWAY IN A FEW HRS. SO LOTS OF LUCK

I have had 3 separate occasions for Biopsy. The first two were easy and fine. The third time hurt like hell. I had it done yesterday and my neck is still sore and I can barely swallow. It hurts when I cough, talk, bend my head down etc. I just wait for the results now...I just went in for a scan though and the technician said "I have to get a drink of water" half way though and came back with another doctor so I knew something was up then they told me what was about to go down...

I just had a fine needle aspiration today and had to actually have the doctor stop in the middle of the procedure. I just could not tolerate the horrible sensation...the pain was a very deep, bizarre, creepy pain. I have given birth twice and have had facial surgery and thought this would be a cinch...I was WRONG. We are just going to watch the nodule for changes...and if they ever insist on a biopsy I will insist on being knocked out.

Hi I had one yesterday. They drew 5 samples from two goiters. They numbed the area. I honestly had no pain from the biopsy, but the numbing needle was like a small bee sting (or simple blood test) and no big deal honestly. There was virtually no pain in the procedure, but just some pressure that was of no discomfort. I just had my eyes closed. The needles are small, but the sample tubes hooked to them look like big needles. The scary part was honestly them explaining what theyre doing! Have no fear - keep your eyes closed and youll be fine!

I guess the big thing is to make sure you get numbed up first. I went in for a biopsy on my thyroid in 2005....I have several goiters on both sides, so they took several samples. There was NO numbing...he just straight up did the needle aspiration. The needle was in for around 45 seconds at a time, over and over again. I do not consider myself a pain wimp, but this had tears running down my face and my brain went to it's happy place. Pain afterwords was limited to something like a bruise. Once it was over, I was fine...but shaken up. I see that several doctors above had numbing medication applied, that seems to be the way to go. It definitely would have made my experience much better!

I had my asperation done way back in 1993, they did numb me up first but didn't say anything about swelling. I went back home, my husband went to work and my throat started swelling, scared me soooo bad that my blood pressure went up and made it swell even more. The worst part was the swelling,it felt like I couldn't get a breath, would have been ok if I had known first and could have iced the area right away. The results were inconclusive, I later had the nodule removed, it was cancer so they went in and did a total thyroidectomy. I get check every year and am glad to say I am still cancer free.

I had this procedure done and was really surprised that it hurt so much. All of the literature said it was virtually painless. I was numbed but it was still almost undendurable. I switched doctors over it. My new doc told me that the pain with the procedure varies a lot depending on your thyroid. My thyroid is very scarred and dense. Most people have relatively soft thyroids so the procedure is not too painful for them. You might want to ask your doctor if you have a firm thyroid from lots of scarring to better gauge the pain involved. Be sure to get the biopsy though to make sure you are cancer free!