At 14, I became mentally unwell, paranoid, depressed and withdrawn, my parents didn't do much because they thought I was just going through puberty or they thought I was on drugs, so didn't do anything ( they are, or were very dysfunctional ). I lost the ability to think and still have 'little words in my head' even now. I went to uni, something that not every body gets to do, but I did. I did an extasy once in the first year and then I became psychotic, trapped in a world of demons and angles etc etc. Over the years I got given the diagnosis of Schitzoid personality disorder, , then bipolar, then schitzoaffective disorder, schitzophrenia and then paranoyed schitzophrenia. In between all this, I tried to kill myself, not because I was depressed, but because it seemed logical in my psychosis, train track, electricity, dads car, we're all ways that I did it. But 8 years ago, I jumped off a bridge and ended up in a wheelchair, breaking 3 bones in my back, and damaged the spinal chord, met Jimmy saville, and, yes he did creep up to me. I learnt how to walk again. Then , three years ago got psychotic again, and blinded myself in one eye with a pen, ( on ward) just after a thyroidectomy due to cancer. After three weeks of the operation I was on a psychiatric ward, and........ I felt...... AWSOME for one and a half years like never before,Then I fealt Okish for 6 months, and this 6. Months gone till now I have fealt suicideall, and I have no thoughts, no ideas, no cognition and God. The worse moods.
I am Mr pass the parcel, Dr Gilbert at kings doesn't seem to care, I asked if I may have had hashimotos psychosis she says no, My my mum has lupus. I asked if could try cytomel please ? She said she can't perscribe it and I have trusted her for a year of her putting me off, she doesn't seem to realise the repercussions of what she does/doesn't do. I'm on 300 mg of thyroxine. Previously 350.
My point is that I am chasing the 1 and a half years after my removal of thyroid. Where I fealt AWSOME.
I'd like to know :
1. My thyroid area around my neck is burning up and itchy now. And why is this. And my voice has gone horse even though I have no thyroid.
2. How long may I have had cancer b4 it was removed..... There was a 3.5 cm carcinoma ,overall staging pT2n1b (1/63). And a 12mm lymph node.
3. Could have I of had hashimotos at 14 , and could I have psychosis due to that ?
Also, I'd like to know what I can do to feel AWSOME again, when I complained to anyone b4 they just put up the levothyroxine.
also , what should I be asking for.
If you can help, thank you, michael.
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You've been through a lot and I'm so sorry for that.
I think nobody can give you answers because we can't know if you had Hashimoto's disease back then, we also can't say how long you had cancer. This are questions you need to ask your doctor.
Important is to know what your latest thyroid blood results are? Do you have them? If not please ask a copy of your blood results. Hypo or hyper can make you feel really bad, physically and mentally. I can't say if that's the cause of all your mental health issues because we don't know and of course it could be you have different illnesses.
I don't know if cytomel will help you and I understand your doctor doesn't want to prescribe that. Because you first need to now what your blood results are (cytomel = T3 so they need to measure FT3 for that, not just TSH and FT4).
Has your endo examined your throat and neck to see why you are experiencing itchiness?
If you can get hold of your thyroid results from the time you felt awesome you might be able to see how they compare with recent results. If your dose has been increased substantially since then it's unlikely you'll be able to revert to the previous dose but you might be able to see that you felt better with a higher/lower FT4 or FT3 than you currently have. Always ask for a printout of your thyroid results and lab ranges (figures in brackets).
If you had radioactive iodine ablatement after thyroidectomy and your thyroglobulin and thyroglobulin antibodies are low, it is unlikely you have any thyroid cells or Hashimoto's antibodies left because there is no thyroid activity. There is the possibility of Hashimoto's continuing to attack remnant thyroid cells in the thyroid bed but 300mcg Levothyroxine is a suppressive dose and will usually deter Hashi attacks.
It can take 2-4 years for a tiny nodule to become palpable at 1cm. I don't know what the rate of growth is after, most research just says nodules and thyroid cancers are very slow growing. I complained of a feeling of something stuck in my throat more than 10 years before a lump appeared in my neck and was confirmed as thyroid cancer and I think a nodule may develop and grow for years before it becomes cancerous.
I've been bipolar since my teens. Thyroid dysfunction was ruled out prior to diagnosis and periodically after. It was 35 years later I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's and thyCa. Hashimoto's can take decades to develop before it causes problems. It absolutely wreaked havoc on my stable bipolar disease when diagnosed 4 years ago. Since thyroidectomy I've had no more Hashimoto's and bipolar is in remission again.
Vitamins and minerals are often low/deficient in hypothyroid patients so it is worth asking your GP to test ferritin, vitamin D, B12 and folate. Correcting deficiencies/low levels can significantly improve mood and wellbeing.
You might want to explore gluten and it's effects on the gut and brain. Some functional doctors think that autoimmune disease is triggered in the gut by gliadin in gluten and that leaky gut can lead to gluten crossing the blood/brain barrier causing depression and psychosis. This article discusses gluten and thyroid chriskresser.com/the-gluten...
I am sorry you've been through so much in your life for a young man and your parents would also have gone through it with you.
Clutter and Flower have made good suggestions and I am sure that you have found them helpful.
After you have made sure your vitamins/minerals are optimum maybe ask your Endo if could add some T3 to your T4 on a trial basis, say 3 months at least and the up-to-date research suggests 1 T3 to 3 T4 or equivalent.
I hope you feel better soon and have a good endocrinologist.
Hello micheal,
Welcome to our forum. I am so very sorry to hear of your sad life and continuing health problems.
Thyroid dysfunction is known to cause a variety of neuropsychiatric symptoms, including mood disorders, psychosis, and cognitive dysfunction.
We have a few members who have suffered psychosis as I did earlier in the year.
The measurement of the protein Thyroglobulin (Tg) in blood, is an important test for checking whether a patient still has some thyroid present. TG can only be made by the thyroid gland so when a patient has had their thyroid completely removed, the measurement of Tg can be used to determine the presence of thyroid cells. However Tg results can be skewed when a patient has Hashimotos and Tg antibodies. (TGAb).
Approximately 15 to 20 percent of thyroid cancer patients have antibodies TGAb circulating in their blood. It is possible to still have left over thyroid cells post removal of the thyroid and suffer attacks from these antibodies as their presence will always be in the body, just in varying degrees.
However, as Clutter explained, a large dose of thyroxine which you say you are medicating will suppress any further thyroid cell activity and so deter an attack but Hashimotos could then attack other glands and organs. An aggressive Hashi attack carried over several years may start an autoimmune response against the nervous system. The inflammatory response can activate the brains immune system, leading to inflammation in the brain.
It is very important to keep these antibody levels as low as possible to avoid further inflammation in the body and brain. I follow a gluten free diet and supplement Curcumin in order to dampen the immune responses.
Some members who have uncooperative doctors conduct their own private thyroid hormone blood tests and post results complete with ranges for other members to comment on.
Sorry to hear about your troubles Michael and hope things improve for you soon. There is a strong and proven brain/gut link and (amongst other factors) what people eat can impact greatly on mental health. We were recommended that this site in particular is very helpful for health information if you type what you want to find out about in the search bar. mercola.com It might also be worth having a look at b12d.org as low levels can profoundly affect mood as well as physical health. Good luck with it all and I really hope that you get the support needed as soon as possible.
Sorry u had such a bad time me myself have bi polar and personality disorder ànd have hypo and many other things here. This is the right place to be and I have met some beautiful people who have spoke to me at my darkest hour if u ever need to chat my in box is always open . Hope u find the help ur looking for x
Oh Michael I wish I could off some help but I can't. You have been so courageous though and you have come through terrible times, I hope that soon you find the solution and feel well again.
Hi Michael, sorry you've had a challenging time with your health. I've heard that there's a connection with gluten + Hashimoto's + mental illness. I tried to find something for you on the internet and found this which I thought you might find interesting:nourishedhealth.com/my-stor... it's about gluten-induced schizophrenia and night terrors. It's worth a read.
I pray that God will help you and be persistent in your prayers, just keep asking Him to help you
Hi Michael, sorry you've had a challenging time with your health. I've heard that there's a connection with gluten + Hashimoto's + mental illness. I tried to find something for you on the internet and found this which I thought you might find interesting:nourishedhealth.com/my-stor... it's about gluten-induced schizophrenia and night terrors. It's worth a read.
I pray that God will help you and be persistent in your prayers, just keep asking Him to help you
Best wishes
PS You could ask for: a gluten intolerance test, Hashimoto's test and reverse T3 test, iron, zinc, selenium, B12 and B6 GOOD LUCK
Hi Michael, Do you know if there are others in your family, either this generation or previous generations who suffer from "psychiatric" problems, and/or thyroid problems?
Hello all, i cried a little when I saw all of your kind words,I was overwhelmed . It was like 0 to 60. I feel it's a big leep with ,within 15 min Of no one caring, to having it seems people who want to say they understand, and people leading a way it seems,, to get what we deserve. To feel well or THE BEST WE CAN, and desypher results and symptomns like no one else can.
It had reached a head I guess, its finding out that there are people who do care and help, when I've bean soldiering on, all on my own not feeling that I worrent any care or help, but still having all the symptoms. In the dark. I felt low. But now I have a cause, and goal. Thankyou all.
I will ask Dr Gilbert at kings to test me on as many things as she can on my blood samples and get back to the forum, and ask for your help then ?I have read all of the links you have put up, and the are all really very interesting,
Hello Mike I'm so sorry to read of your struggle and suffering.I'm a retired mental health nurse and a thyroid patient,I have nursed functional illness for over 20years, mainly in old age psychiatry I only wish I'd known about a link between thyroid disease and mental health then.I hope you can access the help you need to help you feel better soon.
Clutter suggested getting B12 levels tested and this might be important as you mention that your mum has another autoimmune disease, Lupus.
Many researchers believe 'leaky gut' is the ground zero of autoimmune disease - four members of our family have thyroid/B12 issues and one has lupus. They are often interlinked and symptoms overlap. Severe B12 deficiency causes neurological and psychiatric symptoms and few doctors recognise the symptoms. This happened to my relative and she made a good recovery.
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