Husband just diagnosed with hyperactive thyroid what can I expect to deal with

[Suey395]

My husband got diagnosed recently after a month of exhaustion mood swings and shortness of breath. The Dr's did the usual antibiotics signed off work etc it took him to almost pass out in the surgery for them to send him to hospital. He is now on 20mg carbimazole. What can I expect and any warning signs to look out for if it goes all funky. Thanks x

[Fruitandnutcase]

Well the big thing to look out for with Carbimazole is - sore throat, mouth ulcers etc. if you read the leaflet he should have been given along with his prescription it will tell you what to look out for and if he does get sore throat etc he will need to get a same day blood test - don't be fobbed off either.

Apart from that has he been checked for antibodies etc. and has he been referred to an endocrinologist?

I started on 20mcg then had another blood test to check out what was happening and my dose was raised to 40mcg until I saw the endocrinologist. It took three months to get my appointment through.

I was like your husband, I puffed like a very old lady (I'm a fairly old lady) I was grouchy and didn't have much patience, I found I lost muscle strength in my thighs - if I got down to ground level I didn't have the strength to get myself up again without having something to hold on to. I was incredibly tired though.

I cut back in everything I did and acted like the invalid I suppose I was. My first post on here was ' will I ever feel normal again?' And the answer was 'you will' and a year and a half on I have finished my B&R treatment ( if you google you can read about it) and feel pretty normal again - I could probably do with a little bit of fine tuning but generally I feel good these days.

Your husband needs to get copies of all his blood tests along with the lab ranges, if he can get his doctor to do it get his ferritin, foliates, B12 and vitaminD checked out too and keep them along with their lab ranges as well. Often the ranges are quite wide and your doctor can say you are fine when you might be barely over the lower limit. If they are low then it is worth supplementing. I was also advised by my pharmacist to take vitamin C when I started my Carbimazole, I do but I'm not sure if others on here do that.

I found I lost loads of weight and looked fitter than I had fir ages and didn't look as ill as I felt. I felt SO ill but I don't think people (supportive husband included) really ever realised how bad I did feel. Graves makes you feel very ill.

Good luck anyway, hopefully he will feel an awful lot better soon.

[Suey395]

I will keep an eye out for any symptoms he has an appointment at the Dr's next week and waiting for his hospital appointment. Myself and the kids are still on edge waiting for him to snap at the slightest thing. He is in the forces so we were worried he had PTSD due to returning from Afghan. The specialist did say it was triggered by exhaustion.

He has lost around 2 stone in a month and has no real appetite, I feel like he is eating child's portions, but give him what he wants to eat.

The change has been dramatic. They haven't yet said he has graves and military Dr's are still patch them up and send them back to work. Hoping that this time they know to listen and give him the time to let it stabilise, as they may have the training but I was the one telling them his throat was swollen around his thyroid maybe I should print off a certificate saying Dr Sue lol x