Graves’ disease? Not diagnosed

[Cloud6]

Hello I am new to this site. I have been getting symptoms which I’m a bit confused about and I suspect it is Graves because most of the symptoms are hyperthyroid ones?

Tremor in face and in small parts of my body

Uncontrollable sweats

Palpitations

Insomnia

Frequent bowel movements

Goitre

But also these ones?

Weight gain

Puffy eyes

Cold feet

Can anyone please help me to understand? There is a history of thyroid disease in the family so I am quite worried. Thank you.

[Valarian]

They could be symptoms of Graves’. Have you discussed your symptoms with your GP?

[Cloud6 in reply to Valarian]

Yes I had a blood test done on Monday and I had a call today to discuss the levels

[Lora7again]

I think you should have a blood test to check your levels. Having said that I kept going back to my GP surgery for over 2 years and they kept fobbing me off. They even told me I was suffering from the menopause. You can read my story on my profile page if you are interested. If you can afford a private blood test I would do one. I use Medichecks and they have special offers on for people who use this site. The trouble is that a lot doctors do not take thyroid disease seriously some do but I haven't come across one yet unfortunately.

[Valarian in reply to Lora7again]

I was being investigated for persistent cough and racing heart beat with no suggestion of Graves’ when they decided I was due a full check which included TSH...because TSH was non-existent they also tested FT4. Just luck really, but in retrospect it was obvious that all the symptoms were there.

@Cloud9 , when you contact your GP, make sure you mention that there is a history of autoimmune thyroid disease in your family.

[Cloud6 in reply to Lora7again]

I had a call about my bloods taken on Monday and I am to start levothyroxine. Thank you

[Valarian in reply to Cloud6]

Although there are some symptoms which are more common when you are hyper and others more common when you are hypo, there are some people who seem to get them the other way around - hence the stress on getting tests.

If you post your results, I’m sure someone here will be able to help explain them to you.

[Cloud6 in reply to Valarian]

!Thyroid peroxidase antibody 840 IU/mL (<34)

!TSH 28 mIU/L (0.2 - 4.2)

!Free T4 10.7 pmol/L (12 - 22)

Free T3 3.3 pmol/L (3.1 - 6.8)

[LiliAmsterdam in reply to Cloud6]

Yup. You have Hashimoto’s. You probably had the initial flare (which initially appears as Graves). With such high TPO it is very unlikely to be Graves.