Did anyone else's hypothyroidism become noticeable shortly after a virus/illness?

[EffieW11]

I've always wondered what it was that caused my hypothyroidism - I was 15 when I was diagnosed, and, unlike many hypothyroid patients, thyroid conditions do not run in my family.

A couple of years before my diagnosis, I spent a whole summer very ill with some kind of glandular-fever-esque virus - terrible vomiting and nausea, but once I'd been sick, I would sleep for hours and then feel well again. Fatigue was a prominent symptom of that virus, and I suffered from what appeared to be post-viral fatigue, with the occasional bout of nausea, for around a year afterwards.

It was only after my neck began to swell with a goitre that I was taken to the doctors and diagnosed with hypothyroidism. I was just wondering if anyone else had experienced something similar to this before their diagnosis, and if so, is there some kind of link between viral illnesses and thyroid issues? I've always been curious and would be interested to find some answers!

[susymac]

Yes.

I believe there has already been a link between auto-immune hypothyroidism and the Epstein–Barr virus (glandular fever) discovered. I read about it over 2 years ago, and have no idea where I read it, but there is deffinately a link.

I had glandular fever, cocksackie B and hep C when I was about 18 and never been right since. but whether I got that because I was already auto immune or whether it caused it, I cant say, it was another 28 years before I was diagnosed with thyroid problems despite having obvious symptoms and high MCV simply because I was underweight and they never thought to check.

Unfortunately there is no way of checking which came first from 30 years ago.

[ejh1]

My disease became evident a couple of years after contracting bacterial meningitis at the age of 25. I often wonder whether it caused it or was an effect of it, but am slowly coming to the conclusion that I was possibly slightly symptomatic before, which was only evident on extreme exercise (I used to be a competitive athlete, and was never quite as good as others in my trials and seemed to take longer to recover. My heart rate was also under 50bpm, which could be due to training or hypo). Of course, this is a bacterial infection, but a nasty one I nearly died from and took a long while to recover from.

[Muffy]

Many patients start to show symptoms of hypothyroidism after they have had a virus.

[GentleOrange]

I think it was pregnancy/childbirth that caused it for me. I don't remember any specific illness, but I felt exhausted from mid pregnancy and after, until I was diagnosed when my son was three years old.

[ging in reply to GentleOrange]

Me too. I was diagnosed after my fourth child.

[halifaxlass]

Hi,

I had a really nasty dose of flu which I never seemed to recover from, the constant exhaustion eventually drove me to the docs and after about 9 months was diagnosed underactive. All the blood tets prior to that showed borderline so no treatment. I do think the flu had something to do with it but more concerned about being medicated correctly now.

Take care

Cath xx

[jaxnbreeze]

My symptoms slowly appeared after glandular fever about 12 years ago. I have been checked several times and I don't have anti-bodies.

[beaton]

I had a flu like illness 33 years ago. I developed psoriasis on my legs and in my scalp.Slowly going downhill for the next 30 years until I was diagnosed with Poriatic arthritis and an under-active thyroid,with all the symptoms.No family history od thyroid or psoriasis but my sister had glandular fever and was later diagnosed with ME. We seem to have a tendency to auto-immune illnesses in my family.x

[slimecity]

Mine developed after prolonged stress stressing the adrenals and I think causing hashimotos. I developed severe food allergies and cut out gluten. A lack of B12 would have exacerbated this.

[Kitten1978]

After really bad sinusitis. There is a theory that hypo is related to various viruses e.g. EB virus.