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Hyperthyroidism and Me, and You Too!
splash
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
First I want to get two things out of the way. At first I was going to call this thread Street Fighter II: Hyper-thyroidism, but I think people would have thought I'm a little crazy. Secondly I will go to the doctor soon to check. I'll admit this thread, as most medical threads are, to confirm my suspicions even before I go to the doctor, but I also want to know how severe some of these symptoms may have been for some people, what some of the description of the systems actually mean, and what they have ultimately done about it (radioactive iodine sounds fun?).
Strangely enough, our cat needed treatment for a hyperthyroid a couple months ago and as I was reading about it I started seeing how much I was relating to it. My suspicion is that I've been suffering from some hyperthyroid issues for several years.
Here's my stats:
27, 6'4", 160lbs
Healthier than average diet consisting of 2200-2400 calories per day
Slightly more physically active than the average person but offset by a lot of home time
Why I think I might have some Hyperthyroidism:
Graves disease is highlighted prominently on the page. I don't see any major things from that list. Minor things like eye discomfort, brittle nails, sensitivity to light, and irratability seem rather inconclusive signs to having it.
So what was your hyperthyroidism like and how severe were symptoms and how have you dealt with it. Please discuss.
Has anyone experienced any of these due to hyperthyroidism or Graves disease and can describe what it was like in more detail?
- Any eye problems
- Sensitivity to light (I have this big time)
- Thin and fine hair or thinning of the skin (what does this mean?)
- Chronic sinus infections (like what kind? I always wake up with congestion in my throat and I've had increasing problem with air flow through my nose as well as headaches, pain or stuffyness in the sinus regions)
Strangely enough, our cat needed treatment for a hyperthyroid a couple months ago and as I was reading about it I started seeing how much I was relating to it. My suspicion is that I've been suffering from some hyperthyroid issues for several years.
Here's my stats:
27, 6'4", 160lbs
Healthier than average diet consisting of 2200-2400 calories per day
Slightly more physically active than the average person but offset by a lot of home time
Why I think I might have some Hyperthyroidism:
- In the last two years I went on medication for general anxiety and to calm my overly-sensitive stomach which had been causing me horrible nausea at times.
- Since about middle school or high school I and others have noticed that my body seems to run hotter than normal. I feel it especially in my upper body and face. Similar observations have also been made about my heart rate being high for no reason.
- I have a hard time finding a comfortable temperature. I usually ere on the side of being cold, because I tend to warm up quickly doing anything. I can get overheated easily, which means a lot of sweating more than I should be for that amount of activity, getting all red-faced, and feeling extra warm for the next 30 minutes to an hour.
- I probably have a very high metabolism. My genetics are definitely to be thin and tall. I can barely gain 1-2lbs over one month when I try damn hard to gain weight, even then I will hit a "weight-gain" plateau. Contrary to what Wikipedia says about hyperthyroidism though, I never experience an unusual increase in appetite.
- The other symptoms I add to this are: hand tremors, muscle aches and weakness in certain areas (but not muscle loss), pins and needles feelings. I avoid coffee and hot chocolate because they make me feel more nervous or funny-feeling (something about how the glucose is absorbed or whatever?). I feel hyperactivity only in that my body likes to fiddle about and my mind tends to want to keep itself active all the time. Despite this, I do not feel an "increase in energy" or anything like ADHD.
Graves disease is highlighted prominently on the page. I don't see any major things from that list. Minor things like eye discomfort, brittle nails, sensitivity to light, and irratability seem rather inconclusive signs to having it.
So what was your hyperthyroidism like and how severe were symptoms and how have you dealt with it. Please discuss.
Has anyone experienced any of these due to hyperthyroidism or Graves disease and can describe what it was like in more detail?
- Any eye problems
- Sensitivity to light (I have this big time)
- Thin and fine hair or thinning of the skin (what does this mean?)
- Chronic sinus infections (like what kind? I always wake up with congestion in my throat and I've had increasing problem with air flow through my nose as well as headaches, pain or stuffyness in the sinus regions)
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And I strongly recommend against looking up diseases and seeing if your symptoms fit them, because you will start to invent symptoms that are not there in order to fit with the diseases.
And never, ever ever go to wiki disease pages, wrongdiagnosis or webmd again. That shit will eat your life away.
EDIT and if the doctor's tests come back normal, don't go bug another doctor - at that point you'd be into hypochondriac territory
Every symptom on your list could be thyroid related... Or they could be nothing. You could have a metabolic disorder. Stress. A chronic infection. A mix of factors. You could be overlooking something with your diet. You could have cancer. You could have an exotic blood parasite you got from eating undercooked monkey testicles. That's the sort of shit you get into when you diagnose yourself on wikipedia. Robman's right, it'll eat away your life and sanity if you keep clicking links.
Never take a diagnosis to a doctor. That kind of thing a pet peeve for many professionals. Best case scenario, they ignore you and diagnose for themselves. Worse case scenario, and this is more common than you probably think, they'll write you off as yet another internet hypochondriac and give your symptoms less attention than they deserve.
Yup, that's the only reason I found out about my hyperthyroidism, just went in for a physical and it came up on my blood test. Which really just hammers home the notion that it could be hyperthyroidism but it could be nothing just as easily, and only a doctor can tell you one way or the other.
While it's fair to respond with this, especially given that only a blood test is needed, I did only make this thread because I have been having major issues with these symptoms since middle or high school (10-15 years ago through now). Even other people have noticed many of these symptoms about me for many years. I didn't solicit their opinions, they bring it up. I never took the time to talk to my doctor about any of the issues until chronic sinus problems became very uncomfortable about 5 years ago (including not being able to breath well through my nose, being congested around the throat on a daily basis, pressure in the sinus areas, frequent headaches, and sensitivity to light,) and then the anxiety and stomach problems about 2 years ago. I really should have been treated for anxiety, rapid heart beat, etc about 10 years ago.
I try not to talk in hyperbole so maybe I didn't convey how much I have dealt with them, or maybe it's a moot point anyways given how hard it is to discuss medical problems on the forums. But I have to say I don't think it's fair to say that stress or diet, which have changed a lot through the years, or an accute thing like a parasite (I know what you mean, not that it's specifically this), would likely be causing these things. The chronic sinus and anxiety related symptoms are obviously not unfounded as I have been treated for them already. I tried to clearly separate what I definitely have dealt with (almost daily for years) versus minor things or things that are obviously inconclusive (irritability) and no good.
I don't know what some of the symptoms mean like fine brittle hair or thinning skin in this context. So I'm not going to even attempt saying I have these things or not because I don't even know what it means. But it would help if someone who knew more about that would explain. But if you really feel it's not worth it to discuss these at this point, then I'll accept that.
I'm not exactly worrying myself over anything or even alluding to even worse things like Graves disease as I said I don't see any major connection to that. I was wondering what a few of the symptoms listed about it or hyperthyroidism meant. I mean a doctor only has so much time and if I did want to discuss symptoms I do want to be somewhat prepared. But my mistake #2 is not having the patience and looking that far ahead when I haven't even gotten a blood test.