32 male and hyperthyroidism is making me wanna die

[Gareth85]

Hi everyone 4 weeks ago I had ,what u thought at the time was panic attacks. Palpitations ... was given beta blockers felt rough week later sweating crying . Felt like hell . Ended up in ae .. had blood tests thyroid levels high still don't know what level. Just Saint 28.9 but should be within 12.. 20 .. anyway given carbimazole been on them just over a week .. I still feel like hell last 2 days worse so depressed thinking I'm gonna die ... I don't know how I'm gonna cope

[Gareth85]

Said not saint

[Hidden]

Gareth85 presumably your're under an Endo? It would be worth phoning him/her on Monday for advice.

[Gareth85 in reply to Hidden]

Referral was sent but not yet x

[Gareth85 in reply to Hidden]

Not yet referral sent but no appointment yet

[humanbean]

I've just checked and you have no history or old posts.

Based on what you've said the blood test result you got must have been :

Free T4 28.9 (Range = 12 - 20)

A range of 12 - 20 is unusual, I suspect it was more likely to have been 12 - 22, which is the range most often mentioned for Free T4 from the UK.

There are two ways that someone who has never had any thyroid treatment of any kind could have a Free T4 of 28.9 (that I know of).

The first is hyperthyroidism. Your thyroid is, for some reason, pumping out lots more thyroid hormones than you need. There are various reasons for this, including having certain kinds of nodules, or certain kinds of thyroid antibodies, and someone needs to find out what those reasons are.

The second is autoimmune hypothyroidism (Hashimoto's Thyroiditis). In this, the person has high thyroid antibodies which are killing the cells of the thyroid. The dying cells dump all their thyroid hormone into the body/bloodstream and, temporarily, the thyroid hormone levels are very high. But in this scenario the high levels of thyroid hormone are likely to be temporary, because, a) Hashi's has a tendency to flare up and then die down, and b) eventually the destruction of the thyroid is so severe that the patient is permanently hypothyroid.

There is more (very basic) info on thyroid antibodies at this link :

labtestsonline.org.uk/under...

I think being given thyroid-suppressing drugs on the basis of a single Free T4 result is very bad medicine. They should at least have done a full thyroid function test, including antibodies. (They may have done this but just not told you.)

I have no experience of hyperthyroidism, so feeling worse before you start feeling better might be common. Or perhaps your hyperthyroidism is getting rapidly worse, or perhaps your dose of Carbimazole is wrong.

If you have Hashi's, and have just gone through a flare up which has rapidly died down, then the Carbimazole is making you very, very hypothyroid.

You need more information and a proper diagnosis. But in the meantime, if you feel really, really bad I wonder whether another visit to A&E might be in order? Or perhaps you could make an appointment to see the duty doctor at your surgery tomorrow? Have you been given an appointment to see an endocrinologist?

[Gareth85 in reply to humanbean]

Hi thanks for reply. . It is my first post .. 4 weeks ago I started having what I thought was panic attacks. . Ended up worse few days after. . Had bloods done .. I had a virus they think a marker of 52 on the bloods. . Then they said everything else was fine . Just that marker of 52 .. and something with the the thyroid 28.9 . Yeah it was range 12.. 22 .. was in hospital one night .. given antibiotics. . And when I left the gave me carbimazole 20mg ... to add to propranolol 40mg ..

[humanbean in reply to Gareth85]

I have no idea what the marker of 52 would be.

I hope you don't have to wait long for your appointment with an endo because you need a proper diagnosis and a proper treatment plan.

If your heart rate goes bonkers I would go to A&E. Your dose of Carb may be too small.

[Gareth85 in reply to humanbean]

Never had an issues before until 4 weeks ago ... been on the carbimazole 8 days ...

[Gareth85 in reply to humanbean]

I just was crying constant . Sweating anxiety is horrible. My heartbeat has slowed due to beta blockers. . But is now thumping a bit. Harder .. feel tired and generally crap . Light headed

[Hidden in reply to Gareth85]

Gareth85 that sounds miserable. Perhaps phone your surgery and ask to speak urgently with a doctor as you don't feel you can wait til your Endo appointment.

humanbean talks sense, go to A&E if your heart plays up again.

[Gareth85 in reply to Hidden]

Yeah I'm gonna definitely thank you x

[Silver_Fairy]

I have Graves (in remission now) so know exactly how you feel.

It's probably too soon for the Carbimazole to be having much of an effect and testing is best done around every 6-8 weeks or your dose may be raised or lowered without good cause.

Are you using the beta blockers regularly, they will help with your heart?

Do make sure you eat as healthily as possible, get plenty of rest and sleep and try and keep away from stressful situations.

It may be that a virus may have caused the hyperthyroidism, I dont know.

Best thing you can do is start to ask for print out's of any thyroid tests you have done. Hopefully, one of the tests was for antibodies. You need to take control of your health. There are plenty of people here that can help with the results.

I know it's crap, but you will start to feel better.

[Gareth85]

Thanks currently at Ae didn't wanna take the risk .. I appreciate you all and your advice. Yeah on propranolol 40mg just feel so crap. . Dark thoughts a lot x

[shaws Administrator in reply to Gareth85]

I am sorry you've been so unwell and when we don't know what's going on with our body it is scary. I am hypothyroid but believe hyperactive is much worse as your body is flooded with too much hormones and also the awful symptoms which you experience too.

The following is a symptom list and you will some of them and also about hyperthyroid and about hyperthyroid.

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_...

I hope the A&E has been helpful.

[ThyroidJ in reply to Gareth85]

I completely understand and I have graces disease - hyperthyroidism and I’ve had all the sand symptoms as you. I would be interested to hear how you feel now

[Manz123]

Hi,

I have Graves disease and am on Carbimazole for the second time in 5 years. It sounds like you are hyperthyroid, I would strongly recommend signing up to electronic access to your medical records via your gp. That was you can get a bit more info about your results. It can be difficult to remember what it being said when you feel so unwell.

Also, being hyper will make you feel very emotional and anxious, which makes managing the illness more difficult.

Carbimazole will also make you feel worse before you feel better (in my experience).

Cutting out gluten, avoiding stress, taking walks and gentle exercise will help.

I found I started to feel the benefit of the Carbimazole after 2-3 weeks on my heart rate, but it takes a good 6 weeks to really feel proper improvement.

Ask your gp for your results and post to the group and members with experience will be able to give some advice on them.

In March this year my free t4 was 57.7 (10-24.5), by the beginning of May I was at 16.2 after taking 10mg of Carbimazole per day and feeling a lot better.

Good luck!

[Efwellywoman]

Hi Gareth, so sorry you're feeling appalling at the moment. I'm hyperthyroid too (for around six years now) and well remember just how atrocious it felt & how you feel you're going to die before the carbimazole kicks in. Once I was started on it, It took a couple of weeks for me to start feeling more normal (I was also on propranalol & having identical symptoms to you, plus major tremor & confusion as I was in the early stages of thyroid storm before being diagnosed) But it really does get better, you aren't going to be feeling like this for ever. I find it helpful to take the last dose of Carbimazole at night, so that it's at peak effect when you want to get up in the morning (You will want to get up soon, honestly.....) Cutting out gluten has also been useful, plus avoiding coffee & anything else that's prone to make palpitations worse. Wearing cool/light clothes to help with the sweating will help and keeping a bottle of spring water and a flannel in the fridge to wipe your face & neck with can feel good. In the longer term, I've opted to stay on the Carbimazole rather than go for a thyroidectomy as this would entail permanent medication anyway - there are upsides & downsides to both options, but for now just be careful to take the Propranalol & Carbimazole regularly, and you will find that the Carb will kick in in due course.

[Gareth85 in reply to Efwellywoman]

Thanks for your kind words x

[angel15]

Hi Gareth I went through the exact same thing almost 1 year ago now. I was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism. I've now stopped the beta blockers with no palpitations now. And now taking 20 mg of carbimazole which goes up and down depending on what my monthly blood results are. I take vitamin D tablets as my joints were in so much pain. Like I said it's taken about 3 months to feel better once I was put on medications. Only problem is I put on 24 pounds on carbimazole and can't seem to lose any. Mood swings are common but be assured u will feel better soon.

[Gareth85]

Thank you .. I'm on 20mg carbimazole once a day .. I hope so sick of feeling like this x

[Gareth85]

Hiya Just received an appointment with someone from endocrinology . Was gonna be August I asked if possible could it be earlier as feel rotten. . Now July 5th

[angel15]

Thank god u will be fine. I had to ask my goodness. G. P to refer me to endo and I have an appointment in July. I've been waiting since March.

[Gareth85]

I was reading about a girl called emmy Coates .. Bless her .... would thyroid cancer show up in normal bloods . Or am I just scaring myself ?

[Efwellywoman in reply to Gareth85]

It should show up in bloods, or at least the level of the reaction that indicates it should show up.....so, yes you almost certainly are scaring yourself, but I think a lot of hyperthyroid people will have had exactly the same worry/panic/nightmare/anxiety (take your pick according to the time of day.....) I know that I certainly have had, and I was sure that the result was going to be the worst, when I was waiting to find out the result of tests on my mega-collection of thyroid nodules. But the worst scenario is very, very unlikely and hyperthyroid on its own is quite enough to make you feel like the end is nigh.

For the next couple of weeks, just get through each day an hour or two at a time. Allow yourself to sit and read a book / watch a film/ get immersed in some music - anything that can take you away from the physical symptoms is very valuable. It won't be long before you're back to handling the more normal and tedious aspects of life but for the moment just be gentle with yourself, and don't expect too much until the Carb, has had a chance to get your body chemistry back into some kind of stability.

[Gareth85 in reply to Efwellywoman]

I'm so bloody scared . I can't stop thinking . I'm sorry if I seem a pain in the bus . I just don't know what else to do . I just don't know I'm sorry to be asking so many questions reading Google probably is no good for me x

[Efwellywoman in reply to Gareth85]

I know just what that scared feels like - you're not being a pain at all, not even remotely. Most of us on this site have really been through the mill whether hyper or hypo, so you're in good company!

It's certainly good to be informed, but Googling should come with a health warning! The site that Shaws pointed you to is one of the best for factual info. and as for asking questions, the only daft one is the one that doesn't get asked......

As well as all the unknowns that are causing you anxiety, part of it is also actually a symptom of the hyperthyroid problem itself. That inability to stop your mind racing, trying to go over all the possible outcomes. you feel like your head might blow off, but at the same time you can be so exhausted that just getting up the stairs is a major feat. Sometimes I couldn't even remember whether I'd fed the animals or not (got conned by the cat a lot at that stage....) But it really does go, honestly. In a while you'll be getting back to feeling more normal, even though it doesn't feel possible right now, you really will.

[Efwellywoman]

Time to go and lift some spuds for tea - See, I've gone from being a twitching piece of wreckage in A&E to being fit enough to be back on spud duty again.......you will get better!

[Gareth85 in reply to Efwellywoman]

Thank you . X

[Gareth85]

Ended up in hospital urinary tract infection. . Had all bloods done while in there . Endocrinologist phoned me to say . It's gone down from 28.9 to 24 .. Other markers normal. . He said we need to find out why this has happened. And that I'll be on carbimazole for 12 to 18 months

[Gareth85]

Also worried my Crp marker was 51 . Creative protein. .. and andium 6 now saying urinary tract infection . Doctor scared me by saying this is very very unusual in a man of your age

[Rmichelle]

Hi gareth i know this post is old but i am hyper diagnosed the same time as you and yes carbimazole takes weeks to work and see a slight improvement and you feel worse than before. I had all the crappy symptons and 3monrhs later my symptons have reared its ugly head as endo has now titrated dose to mgs as my blood levels are hitting hypo mark- rubbish. I do have hashis aswell. I just wondered how you are getting on now?😊

[Gareth85]

Hiya levels are normal now have been for a while .. turns out it was transient thyroidits

[Rmichelle in reply to Gareth85]

Oh thats great. Lucky you to be normal again!! Fantastic news. Bit jealous. Ha😊😊😊

[Gareth85]

Sorry I wasn't thinking when I wrote that bless you I know for a little while how bad it was ... and it could come back ... how are you ? X