So I posted earlier about a scalloped tongue earlier, but this one is something that seems to have only happened since I got ill too. This one is a strange one, I don’t know if it’s Hashimotos or Thyroid related, but just wondered if anyone else gets it.
So I’m fast asleep where I will have a dream/sensation of swallowing a large marble that I know is going to get lodged in my throat and suffocate me. In that moment I know I am going to die. I have been known to leap out of bed, or get on all fours and wretch before I am aware I am fully awake, my heart is racing and then wide awake. When this happens I will not be able to go back to sleep for several hours after as the adrenaline is racing through my body.
This strange symptom, tends to happen regularly at night, and then disappears. Ie i go through fazes, can go without it for months, then it comes back for several nights. It tends to coincide with other nights where I wake up in the morning with pins and needles in my outer fingers and Low energy.
Just wondered if it’s just me? I suspect it’s hashimotos related.. or sneaky gluten....
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Gilbo72
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Yes!!! For me, it’s a dream about swallowing hair grips (yes, weird, I know). And now I come to think about it, it hasn’t happened since I was under medicated. Hmm.
‘Course, there could be other reasons, sleep apnoea being one. But there may well be a connection to being hypo (I’ve long thought sleep apnoea can sometimes be caused by hypothyroidism anyway).
Very interesting. Especially the scalloped tongue link and thiamine deficiency and pins and needle hands link.
I am pretty sure I don’t have sleep apnea, other than the tongue, I don’t have any of the other symptoms. I’m not overweight and I regularly ask my husband of 20 years if I snore or make weird sounds etc!! But all food for thought...
Not as strange as you may think Gilbo72. This is an explanation and I think your experience can be quite scary:-
A 39-year-old female presented to the clinic with dysarthria as the chief symptom. Subsequent questions revealed that other symptoms were confined to the otolaryngeal region, which were episodes of mild dysphonia, dysphagia, sleep apnea, and snoring. Laboratory data revealed marked hypothyroidism and positive tests for antithyroglobulin and antimicrosomal antibodies. After administration of thyroxin, the dysarthria and the other symptoms rapidly disappeared. Dysarthria may be the presenting symptom of hypothyroidism and can be resolved after hormone replacement therapy.
Keywords: Dysarthria Hypothyroidism
Endocrine disorders may complicate, cause or mimic otolaryngologic disorders, some of which may be anatomical, due to an enlargement of the thyroid gland, while others are physiological, resulting from increased or decreased glandular activity.
Again, really interesting reading, again mentioning a scalloped or enlarged tongue. I certainly had hoarseness whilst not on Levothyroxine, and I still have episodes of coughing while eating some foods. Mainly chocolate (!!), sweets and honey bizarrely! I’m still not convinced about sleep apnea being the cause though. X
Yes I guess I should investigate but I really don’t like my GP. I mentioned it to him once and he said ‘oh that sounds like a panic attack...’ !!
Do you sometimes get the pins and needles in hands too?
It sounds as if your thyroid is pressing on your windpipe, and that choking feeling has transferred to your dream. Like dreaming about a fire engine when your alarm clock goes off, or dreaming about food if you are hungry.
Do you have any sense of choking, or difficulty swallowing when you are awake?
If not had vitamin B12, folate, ferritin and vitamin D tested that's next step
Also see GP for referral to sleep clinic for sleep apnea assessment
Are you on strictly gluten free diet as you have Hashimoto's?
What are you most recent results and ranges on TSH, FT4, FT3 plus TPO and TG thyroid antibodies and also very important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12
Private tests are available. Thousands on here forced to do this as NHS often refuses to test FT3 or antibodies or vitamins
Medichecks Thyroid plus ultra vitamin or Blue Horizon Thyroid plus eleven are the most popular choice. DIY finger prick test or option to pay extra for private blood draw. Both companies often have money off offers.
All thyroid tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and fasting. When on Levothyroxine, don't take in the 24 hours prior to test, delay and take straight after test. This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip, GP will be unaware)
Hi SlowDragon, I’m on my hols at the moment but as your suggestion in a previous post I have ordered a load of blue horizon blood tests yesterday for when I get back. Several years ago the GP tested my b12 which I was low on and had a years course of weekly b12 injections. It didn’t do much for the tongue or sleep but did give me much more energy and got rid of some fogginess. I haven’t been tested since.
My GP (I’ll eat my hat if you have a thyroid problem) at the mo is rubbish. I mentioned it to him and he said I was having a panic attack! As per my previous posts I have been labelled neurotic and I have been ‘diagnosed’ with ME.
Yesterday, I did a whole day of full on surfing. ME my a.....!
Just one question though re the tests. I tend to take my Levo at night, you say get tested first thing in morning and leave 24 hours. Should I switch to taking to morning for a few days before stopping for 24 hours? Or is 36 hours ok? Thanks for your help. X
B12 deficiency may well be back and causing the pins and needles. The fact that you had a year’s worth of treatment suggests that your doctor at that time didn’t think it was simply a nutritional deficiency. Why were the jabs stopped?
I too have a swallowing problem, I've even choked on water a while back when I was really hyper, I think it is hashi related, I've had two ultrasounds now that have confirmed several well defined nodules, I was concerned that they were pressing on my windpipe but apparently not!! At times I do get sleep apnea too particularly when I'm on a hashi flare and my thyroid swells up and down.... I get that sensation of someones hands around my throat and neck, Luke not enough air, its horrid, I'm still debating this with Endo!!😕
Oh good luck! Sometimes I feel I have a tight scarf around my neck, quite often when I have a cold or upper respiratory infection. It seems when my glands are up my thyroid gland is too. I did have a scan once. It showed a lightly enlarged thyroid with a couple of nodules a few millimetres across, but my ‘if you have a thyroid problem I’ll eat my hat’ GP said it was nothing...
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