Hyperthyroidism? - feel like I'm going crazy

[Pelvicpaininthebum]

I am very stressed and anxious so all/any advice welcome!

Symptoms:

• for a while I've often been the hottest person in the room
• hot flushes at night recently
• adrenaline surges at night for the last 3 nights keeping me awake for ages afterwards, sometimes accompanied by a hot flush, sometimes not
• lost 12lb in the last 8 months ish
• anxiety has been slightly worse the last few months or so no suddenly ramped up with feelings of panic especially at night I feel like I'm going crazy!
• vibrating feelings through my body sometimes
• Really thirsty for the last week, claggy mouth. Sports drinks haven't helped.
• raised heart rate (not excessively high but not able to be brought down)

I ended up in a&E yesterday after a terrible night with a constant high heart rate and feelings of panic. They did an ECG which was normal. They did a blood test which was normal but would this have covered the thyroid?

I'm worried it may be peri menopause but I'm only 40 and lots of symptoms have suddenly sprung up from nowhere like the fast heart and adrenaline surges at night.

Thanks for reading.

Sounds like hyper but do ask them. Also have you had a diabetes test too?

A&e wouldn't of tested thyroid you need to go to the gp they will test but specifically say you want that testing. If it is hyperthyroidism then you will get some medication and start to feel much better

Thanks for the replies! So so appreciated!

@LadyGAgain yes I've been tested for diabetes - it's not that.

@feelingbleh thank you so much that's good to know they don't test for it. I've a blood test booked with my GP 4th June so I'll call tomorrow to ask they test my thyroid when they do it. I really hope they find something wrong so I can be treated and feel better, this is horrendous!

Yes you sound like my Mum who had hyperthyroidism, you've the same symptoms. I know how miserable it is! Good news is there's treatment!

I’ve had hyperthyroidism a few times, worst was after 2nd baby. Anxiety is one of the symptoms. I also had shaky hands and my thighs ached all the time. I was breastfeeding so took PTU as it’s compatible with breastfeeding but it’s not the primary medication. Mine is always self correcting so I have to keep an eye on symptoms as it’s easy to go under active when on the anti thyroid medication

I know exactly what you mean people always look at me like I have two heads when I say i want tests to come back positive but it's better to know what you have and be treated then be told everything's fine when it clearly isn't. Il cross my fingers and toes for you. I have hypothyroidism so im the other end but medication does help I can always tell when my levels are off.

Thank you!

That's interesting, I'm still breastfeeding my 18 month old. Weird it can be self correcting.

Thank you!

Thank you for getting it! Yes when I was at a&E yesterday they initially thought it might be atrial fibrillation and I was so happy, then so upset when they said everything was fine.

Just bumping this in case I can get any more help.

My sleep is terrible and getting worse.

Sounds like it, I have Graves Disease and like you I ended up in A&E with a really high heart rate, however they did do a thyroid panel and I was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism, the endocrinologist then did the antibodies test which showed I had GD.

I thought I was suffering from anxiety, insomnia, palpitations, the internal shakes, weight loss, tremors, increased bowel movements, dry mouth, stabbing pains in my thighs.

Its a very easy illness to diagnose, takes ages to regulate.

Good luck with getting a quick diagnosis.

Edited to add, I was also so irritable, it's called Graves rage. and I had another really strange symptom, everything tasted extremely salty, I can't tell you how many meals I complained about the level of salt.

If you were admitted with suspected atrial fibrillation then the hospital will have almost certainly checked thyroid function; it’s an arrhythmia that can often be triggered by hyperthyroidism so it’s a standard test when someone presents with fast heart rate/palpitations. Make an appointment to see your GP and they can do the necessary checks. I’m surprised with that amount of weight-loss over such a short amount of time you haven’t already seen the GP?

Make sure your GP tests for T3 and T4 as well as TSH. If they can also ask about the thyroid antibody test. A lot of gp’s only test for TSH which doesn’t show the whole picture.

i was diagnosed with graves disease back in 2018/2019 and after about a year of meds it has been behaving but I do request a 6monthly thyroid test as requested by my endocrinologist

Watching with interest. Have had similar over the last year but all tests came back with nothing - thyroid, ECG etc. Dr put it down to peri 😭 There is definitely a cyclical pattern to mine and stress does not help. I was like you and almost wished for a diagnosis. Now if I wake at night, I do my best to calm myself down, talk myself down that it’s nothing serious and either read or try to drift back to sleep. I always sleep really well after a night of broken sleep (so the next night).

Your symptoms sound exactly like mine, even down to the salt thing!!

I wish I knew whether they checked my thyroid levels in hospital.

Thanks!

I wish I knew if they checked my thyroid levels or not.

The weight loss - I'm just ridiculously busy and thought I was probably eating slightly less because of this, also I'm breastfeeding still (18 month old).

I'm dreading them coming back that nothing is wrong with me, poor you. Did you have the high heart rate?

How old are you?

Can you see your results on the NHS app? Mid 40s, no other health concerns as far as I know. I literally sat with the GP as we went through the ECG results and she described it as textbook. She also took my heart rate at the appt and it was normal. It comes and goes in phases. I can’t always tell when it will happen but it’s always at night. The thing that makes it worse is getting into a cycle of panic as if I feel like my heart is racing, panicking doesn’t make it any better (so is it medical or anxiety induced or a combo of the two)? I specifically asked the GP if I was at high risk of a stroke or heart attack and it was the opposite. She was not concerned at all. It’s definitely disconcerting but no one seems to be able to find anything clinically wrong. Most likely explanation is hormones and/or night time panic attacks linked to stress. She did prescribe propanadol(?) but I haven’t needed to take it.

They may have only done cardiac bloods, so definitely check if they did a thyroid panel and as the other poster said, FT3, FT4, and TSH should be done in the first instance.