I am a life long sufferer of Misophonia though it has worsened over the years - particularly the last two. I was just wondering if this is a condition that is prevalent among people with thyroid issues? Any fellow sufferers about?
Michelle
Misophonia? : I am a life long sufferer of... - Thyroid UK
Misophonia?
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michellebelfast
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Sorry, what is Misophonia I am not familiure with it?
Sounds crazy but it is unbearable.
YES! I have had this for years not sure about any connection with thyroid issues though.
I always more connected it to high anxiety, stress and even autism which we have in our family.
I can not bear to be with people eating and there are various other noises which drive me to the point of madness, it is terrible as people think you are rude or crazy.
There are a few good pages I follow on FB.
in reply to Helenback
Hyper acusis is suffered by a high number of those diagnosed with autism, and I would guess misophonia would ofter overlap with that. One study at the University of Missouri found that a quarter of people with ASD (autistic spectrum disorder) had sensitivities (to sound, and/or touch, and/or taste, and/or bright lights etc) which were closely associated with gut problems and with anxiety.
My guess is that the gut problems - malabsorption? - come first.
Autism is linked in one big study to undiagnosed hypothyroidism in the mother during pregnancy, and also has been linked to nutrient deficits in pregnancy, especially iron and the B vitamins, and to vitamin D deficits in autistic individuals from soon after birth.
Some have suggested that low magnesium might be one of the causes of sound sensitivities.
Does any of this ring a bell with you?
Helenback in reply to
Yes Aspmama I was dx with Hashimoto's after my son was born and he has Asperger's, Tourette's Sensory Processing Disorder and not surprisingly extreme anxiety.
I would love a link to the study you mentioned, women in the UK are not routinely screened for thyroid issues when pregnant.
My poor son had such dreadful jaundice after birth he was a whisker away from a full blood transfusion and severe iron deficiency.
in reply to Helenback
Snap, Helenback. The iron deficiency I think may well be really key to Asperger's. I will message you to see if your son and mine seem similar.
Sounds really awfull to suffer from that!
I wonder if LDN (LowDoseNaltrexone) could help as it has helped in cases with autism and other psykologisk disorders as well. It is an immune regulator, nontoxic and with few and passing sideeffects.
Could be worth a try 😏
Hi,
I too am a life long sufferer. I have noticed that it has become worse over the past few years. I just assumed it was due to my becoming older and more cranky as opposed to my thyroid issues. Interesting thought though.
Kath x
Hi Michelle,
Yes, I have auto-immune hypothyrodism and I hate to hear people eating, particularly with my family, when there is no background noise. I have no idea whether the two are connected. I have had it since I was little, and I'm now 49, but only recently been told also that I have hyperacusis (I like to think of it as superhero hearing). I also suffer from tinnitus, ringing and other strange noises. Whilst I'm writing it this now I'm thinking 'gosh I live with all this every day'. But the reality is I don't have a choice, but I do have a choice about how to deal with it. I have also just discussed it with my husband and I also remembered that at the dinner table last night, I complained that everyone was banging/tapping their plates with their knives and forks, 'why can't they eat silently', I thought, and then I noticed that I was doing it! I had probably been doing it all along!
As an ex smoker, I occasionally have cravings and for a few seconds, the feeling of intense desire is too much, I liken misophonia to this. For a few seconds, it is an intense aversion and then as with wanting to smoke, I don't give it the time of day and move on.... Most of the time!
I hope that you are able to find some tools of distraction and and a sympathetic friends and family!
Best wishes Sandra
This is an interesting post. I had always assumed others felt the same as me over environmental noise triggers. We have noisy neighbours, and they regularly slam doors and windows, hammer, have loud phone conversations, etc... It drives me to distraction. Others seem able to ignore it. So maybe I do have misophonia? MariLiz
Hi Michelle, I have thyroid disease, but my 11 year old daughter Grace suffers terribly with misophonia. It's a very cruel issue to contend with. Just wanted to wish you all the best and let you know that I understand what you are going through. I hope you have a supportive family to help you through this x
That sounds really tough to deal with.
Am not aware of any direct connection to hypothyroidism. However symptoms of an underactive thyroid can make you feel like it's difficult to deal with busy or nosey environments. This goes away with optimal thyroid meds and isn't the same as what you're describing. Am guessing though that if you have Misophonia AND develop a thyroid problem it can be exacerbated until your thyroid meds are sorted. Just a thought.
I'd never heard of this before - the name, that is - but reading about it, it seems very likely to me that it is connected to low thyroid. After all, tinnitus, Tourette's, obsessive-compulsive, etc, are linked to thyroid, so why not this?
And thinking about it, there is one sound that gets me that way, makes me clench my fists, and screw up my eyes, and sets my teeth on edge, and that's chairs scraping on tiled floors. It makes me want to smack the perpetrator! Sometimes I scream 'Don't do that!!!' but as it's usually one of the kids, I try not to.
So, they talk about it being to do with the nervous system - well, thyroid affects the nervous system - but that then makes me go on to Wonder about B12 levels - or even magnesium levels. Have you had your B12 tested? Be interesting to know if there is a connection, because thinking about it, since I've been supplementing with B12, the effect of the scraping chairs is less marked. Just a thought. 
That agitation is connected to thyroid.having one thing that makes you angry is not misaphonia
I didn't actually say I had misaphonia, I was just thiking 'out loud', but never mind...
Good on ya gg! I thought it was an interesting thought, glad you had it "out loud".
I want aiming it at anyone.i just get frustrated sometimes,I have Asthma and I get people saying we all get out of breath,I get the same with my migraines when folk say it's only bad headache grrrrr. Actually I have been holed up in a dark room for 2 days with an horrendous migraine which is probably why iv wrote about item on social media.I may have one on me lol
Well, actually, you were aiming it at me, because you clicked on my response button. So, I get the message that you've replied.
But do you really think that people on here are going to say things like that? Don't you think we've all had the same sort of things said to us? We're the ones that understand. And I wasn't denigrating anyones disease, just speculating on possible causes.
We're all ill on here, we all have our own problems, even if we Don't always talk about them. This is a support forum. Michellebelfast asked a question : could it be thyroid? Thinking it through, I answered : yes, it could. Thyroid can be responsible for anything and everything. It's therefore rather surprising to have someone jump on me and tear my throat out!
I actually didn't mean to write it as a reply to one person,that was accidental. Also to be honest after 3 days of another horrendous migraine I just had one on me.I actually only get opinion aged when I'm PMT as I suffer Badly. And after 2 great years on nature throid I have had to go back to Levothyroxine and one of the ways it effects my thyroid is with irritability and immense anger.
Oh, yes! I know about the irritability and anger on Levo! I once nearly rammed a bus that cut me up on a roundabout! lol
But, why did you have to go back to Levo when you know it doesn't suit you? That's awful! 
I have funded my own for near 2 yrs bup the FDA will not prescribe on NHS and I had to leave my job as with asthma,Hashimoto's, CFS/ME,panic disorder and severe migraines.all of which came within 6 mths of each other except asthma and migraines. So iv gone from 30,000 to ESA?so I can't afford to fund them anymore.even my liothyronine I can't have how I'm supposed to take endocrinologist want's me to take 5mcg twice daily but after having prescription they now won't give it me as he said is illegal in 5mcg in UK which I think is a lie.I know it costs more so I'm presuming it's that.so I have to have a 20 mcg and cut in half. You can't cut it again as it is so chalky when you divide in 2 to make it 10 mcg half of it is lost.I had 3 yrs Of helll on Levo and 2 yrs not great but not terrible on NOT noworking it's back to he'll again.I wouldn't mind but when diagnosed in 2010 I had TSH of 52 and felt bloody fine it's only when they gave me levo.
Oh dear, that sounds awful! But I'm a bit confused... what has the FDA got to do with the NHS?
I very much doubt that 5 mcg T3 is illegal in the UK! What a silly idea! Who said that?
Is 20 mcg too much for you? Because 10 isn't a very high dose, is it.
That's the migraine lol N.I.C.E not FDA. I don't believe it's illegal I think it's just money,as I know 5 are more expensive that 20.20 would be to high as it is equivalent to 100 levo and I already take 100 levo,so with liothyronine it means I'm on 150mcg .I don't see the NHS as helper of health as I wasn't I'll before diagnosis,since they started treating me I have been ill ever since
Even when diagnosed I collapsed the same wk ended up in hospital for 4 days being told I could have had heart attack at 39yrs old, (healthy food don't drink don't smoke (I did) worked out from 19-39 and was not overweight) they then proceeded to dose me straight away with 200 mcg levo instead of working up so you can imagine what that did to me.I now look older than my years am 2 odd st overweight.don't eat much.walk 6 miles a day at least 4 days a weak then the other 3 days I collapse with fatigue so bad I can't move. I'm rambling sorry I still have migraine,so 4 days now and I'm hurting all over from falling over yesterday.
Oh dear, you are in a mess, aren't you.
So, are you sure that 20 is too much? You sound a bit Under-dosed to me.
But what if you took half a 20 - i.e. 10 mcg - in one go, either in the morning or in the evening?
A lot of people find it better to take in in one go rather than splitting it. I take 75 mcg, and I take it all at once before bed. Suits me fine. Might be Worth a try.
That's what I'm doing now,taking 10 mcg at night with my 100 levo.instead of 5 twice a day.my problem is my TSH since being on tablets is fine,but I have low T3 and T4 but you know the doctors don't care about anything but TSH
Yes, I know. So, in other words, you do need an increase. Low T3 is what causes all the symptoms...
That's what I keep telling doc.my TSH was suppressed on NOT which is fine and on Levo it's around 0.003 -0.3 so he just keeps saying you will be hyper I keep explaining I can't be hyper with low T4 and T3 but it's like talking to half wits.
Yup, that's exactly what it's like! Wish I could tell you how to get through to them, but I can't. That's why I ended up self-treating.
I've never heard of this before but reading the symptoms I think I may suffer to a degree too. I can't bear the sound of people eating and other people's music or noise from neighbours and any kind of building noise drives me nuts. I remember years ago when pregnant, getting my husband to break into the flat below to turn off their radio which they had left on quite quietly while out but I just couldn't stand it.
No it has nothing to do with thyroid issues.it starts at around 9-11 and it normally starts because of a parent.mine was a very strict dad.don't eat like that don't breath like that don't sit like that etc etc.mine has gotten worse the older I have got. My son is 23 and I would say he has a mild former f it at the moment ,obviously because of me,and I'm sure his will worsen as he ages.
Also after reading lots of these posts misaphonia is not the disliking of eating or slamming doors etc it is an unbearable feeling you get from any repetitive noise,repetitive action like being poked.someone typing to heavy.tapping ails on deck
Breathing to heavy
The list is exhaustive.it makes you shout,irritable agitated, can make you want to physically punch someone.makes you snap at people on buses eating gum with mouth open.it is people thinking you are a miserable cow,accusing you of being uptight. It's your own loud breathing at night in bed. People act the same if you say you have an anxiety disorder,they say we all get stressed as if it's the same.or if you suffer ME/CFS people say well I get really tired and it also is not comparable to normal tiredness.
Thank you - all of you! Especially those of you who suffer with me! I am glad I wrote about it - good to know I am not alone! I'm adapting all the time and depend on headphones and my favourite music for protection. My most feared triggers include noisy eaters, gum chewing and gum popping, people snoring and breathing noisily, distant music if there's a heavy bass beat. The repetitive nature of certain sounds is a nightmare!
I have always been an anxious person, and my mother was very domineering and scathing critical of everything and everyone. I think I was about 10 years old when the misophonia started to take hold.
I believe myself to be very autistic - although I don't have a formal diagnosis, I score very highly in the online tests. I count endlessly, all day long. Steps, seconds, a certain colour of car on the roads. I also have dyspraxia.
I'm amazed at how certain suggestions keep on coming up on my journey to good thyroid health - gut issues, B12 deficiency, Adrenal Fatigue, stress.........wow, just wow!
We truly are a special bunch for coping with all of this, aren't we?
Lots of love!
Michelle
I feel you Michelle it's horrendous yethe people have no understanding they just think we're miserable or uptight.I was once on holiday and my son ground his teeth I made him such on the corner of a towel to stop it. ( which is awful) but I couldn't bear the noise.and I'm not strict about a lot of stuff.but my son who us now 23 doesn't understand when I tell him to turn the music down that if I could just hear the singing I would be fine but the banging of the beat grrrrr.they the anger I get inside.I have worked by people and eventually iv snapped and said something.and that on top of thyroid;Asthma,CFS/ME and panic disorder and severe migraines sometimes I could go made.I have also done the headphones.ear plugs I have sat at work with fingers in my ears. Mine started at around 10 also.I just feel really bad that I think iv made my son like it.as with everything else I was not strict because my parents were awful and I wanted to be opposite.which I succeeded then 5 yrs ago got thyroid problem and that caused me to be irritable lol
in reply to michellebelfast
Do you think your mother could have been hypoT, Michelle?
michellebelfast in reply to
Well, my mother was diagnosed hypo only a few years ago, in her sixties. I would say that mental illness runs along the maternal side in our family - but has never been diagnosed or treated before my generation. She definitely has OCD, and najor social awkwardness. Interestingly, she was hospitalised in 1969 when pregnant with me because of very low iron levels and needed injections. She didn't want to comply but was told it was a matter of life and death for me. Her morning sickness was pretty acute too, I believe. OMG - another part of the jigsaw puzzle that is my health falls into place.
Thank you for your suggestion!
in reply to michellebelfast
I think low iron levels in pregnancy (which I would think probably would include low serum ferritin, but within range) could be a major factor in some kinds of autism and definitely in ADHD and ADD inattentive - which is a diagnosis available in the US but not the UK, and which overlaps a lot with "autism" - I put in quote marks because an autism diagnosis is really just saying that an individual has problems engaging with other people which can't be attributed to any other condition. It's very general.
Making sure iron is at a good level before conception a very important consideration for our daughters.
If I am low in magnesium which most of the population is and or low in b vitamins and b12.....sound makes me jump,cring and have extreme anxiety.....so I take b complex, b12, and magnesium glynate,d3 ,C,...and everything goes back to normal in a couple months....so now I take daily...I have discovered too that many deficiencies creat havoc over a long period but can get better with supplementation and patience for a couple months
Very interesting post. I had undiagnosed PPT after my first child and I remember being driven mad by the sound of my husband eating in the months following the birth. I'd never had this problem with my husband's eating before . Now many sounds, and also bright light, can irritate me to the point of snapping. I have Hashi and tinnitus.
I have misophonia and Hashi's. The misophonia I've had for as long as I can remember. The hashi's I was diagnosed with 10 years ago but I suspect I had it for a good few years before that. No autism connection here and no-one else in my family has any AID that I know of. I guess I'm just 'special' 
I have this problem, although in my case it seems to have reduced with age. For me the trigger is the sound of music or voices waking me up or when I'm trying to get to sleep. When I was in my teens and 20s I used to go into a crazy, tearful, rage if someone woke me up like that.
My poor husband, who likes falling asleep to the radio and listening to it when he wakes up, either during the night or in the morning, has had to get used to using little ear bud headphones if he wants to listen to it.
Strangely enough the noise of a typical electronic alarm doesn't have the same effect on me at all, and is what I use when I need an alarm to wake up to.
My tolerance has grown over the years but I still wouldn't trust myself to wake up to a radio.
hi my family all have this to varying degrees! Yes it makes you quite irritable. I wear ear plugs to bed always. It is a common thing and I think that the sensory hypersensitivity is linked to autism which is in our family. Not much you can do except earplugs and when I walk or go out shopping I play my ipod which is great. all the best x
Well, I never knew there was a name for this horrible condition. We have our lovely grandchildren with us at the moment, but the chewing with mouth open thing, banging anything about, scraping round the breakfast bowl, husband constantly tapping, cars driving by, and so on, has driven me mad over the years. Now I know why.
I, too, have hashi's, tinnitus, high anxiety amongst other things!! I thought my husband was completely insensitive to noise. Now I know it's the other way round. I couldn't understand how he could tune out to all of this stuff. Seems I'm tuning in!! Thanks very much for that. At least I have a name for it now. Grammyjee
in reply to grammijee
Yes, I haven't got this repetitive noise sensitivity, but on general noise I can't cope with levels normal people see as enjoyable. As a teenager I couldn't understand why my peers liked discos - the noise was painful to me.
Hi, I also have misophonia. I snap at my partner if she licks her lips, or if someone slurps near me in my house, and I can't cope with any noise from people at the cinema, I could go on and on , but I only found out that this is rare in our society at the age of 45. I also have Autism and Alextihymia.
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