Panicky feelings and anxiety and the thyroid

[satu55555]

Hi,

I'm not on medication for the thyroid. I have this very uncomfortable issue that more resurfaced after trial with a thyroid medicine. When I get under lots of lights, my eyes get very sensitive to bright lights, my eyes dry, I get super dizzy and in some cases so dizzy that I feel I could collapse and faint any moment. Also my legs feel pretty weak. Quite naturally this all happens within seconds of coming in contact with either lots of light or heat - heat needs to be accompanied with humidity. Naturally I get distressed about this all and start having anxiety about it, which only makes things worse. My brain reacts to wrong kind of stimulus or psychological stimulus (stress) within seconds by getting me all anxious and panicky.

This had got already a noticeably better, but has now got worse after a trial with Nature Throid, which went badly with lots of overstimulation and days in bed after 3 days of 1/4 wafer per day. Then I had a bit stressful week with studies last week. I had then two better days, slept one night really badly and was super tired yesterday. Slept very well last night and started having the above described issue today at the shops. I've studied psychology in the past, especially the psychological side of panic, anxiety and this type of issues and my knowledge doesn't support this kind of issues at all. In a healthy person panic takes a lot of repeated fearful thoughts and it doesn't happen within seconds.

I had low cortisol during the last year, but in February my cortisol was back to normal. I have a functional doctor who is specialized in these issues, but she's on a holiday at the moment. This should not be a cortisol or adrenal issue. Has someone had this strong panic and quickly because of thyroid issues?

I do have lots of nerves system symptoms, especially on the neck and head and I think these have something to do with it because all these problems started after me taking vitamin B12 and getting a strong reaction to it.

[startagaingirl]

Hi - your earlier post shows hashimotos but euthyroid (normal thyroid). as naturethroid contains t3, you were probably over-stimulated since your own ft3 levels weren't low. Anxiety is a common side effect of over-medication with t3 and that is probably what you were. Also nutrient deficiencies can make it almost impossible to absorb t3 and it will then float around in your blood causing even more issues, apparently out of proportion with the amount you are taking. And of course thyroid and adrenals work together, so changes in one will affect the other - the exact effect depending on a lot of individual factors.

Could you maybe start by trying to identify any food intolerances that are causing malabsorption, addressing the nutrient deficiencies and then trying some t4 rather than ndt. Reason for that is that ndt can actually increase immune attacks in some hashis people rather than countering them.

Good luck

Gillian

[satu55555 in reply to startagaingirl]

Thank you.

I had the issues with anxiety last year as well, but they got a bit better and now then again. Last year it wasn't after taking medication though. It just started after I took some methylcobalamine (mentioned about this in the other post), got overmethylation or overstimulation from this and spent 4 days in the hospital and neurologists didn't have a clue of what was going on. The problem was that the issue didn't go away, got a bit better but did not go away.

I'm not sure what kind of food tolerances I would look for. I have issues with dairy, but I am on a dairy free and gluten free diet. My tummy does get sometimes swollen, but no pain and no other symptoms at all. The only thing I've thought that goes together with this is me getting stressed. What would be the best way to do this. Is there a test I could take? I think the tests I know cover mainly allergies.

I was thinking about trying T4 after making sure I get nutrients. I actually asked my doctor about this, but as our contact before her summer holiday was via email, she said to go with no meds for now and get in contact in August.

Thanks for the warning about NDT and the immune attacks. I wasn't aware of this. And thank you for the advice.

[startagaingirl in reply to satu55555]

Hi - allergy tests are not very good. The usual way to find what they are is an exclusion diet, but for that you need to either have an idea of what the might be, or be prepared to cut out several and re-introduce them one at a time. If you are interested in this check out the auto-immune protocol diet. Another possible is to keep a detailed food diary and note when you get the swollen stomach and see if you can see a pattern. It isn't easy I know - I have found I am gluten, dairy and soy intolerant - shopping trips are not a breeze!

I don't know about the b12 and how that might happen, but another possible cause of anxiety is a high thyroid anti-body count. That on its own can cause symptoms.

Dizziness, faintness and sensitivity to light are all things I had myself - now gone with thyroid and nutrients sorted. Sorry I'm not sure which in particular is associated with what and again there could be multiple factors. I think you may just have to cover all the angles and hope that you hit a sweet spot somewhere. As with everything thyroid related that will demand patience but you should be able to make definite improvements.

Gillian

[satu55555 in reply to startagaingirl]

Thank you very much. I think I'll look into the auto-immune protocol diet and start to keep a diary of what I eat exactly and mark it down when I have tummy issues. Thank you.