Long Sister (thyroid) post

[Batty1]

Hi everyone,

My older sister has been for the past 2 years getting regular checkups with her Endo for a swollen thyroid and nodule and she has been ok until the past 2 months when she started to suffer from random panic attacks (according to her shes fine and BAM panic washes over her) she starts to sweat profusely and elevated heart rate and has a need to escape where ever shes at when this happens. She takes NO THYROID MEDS and has no clue about her thyroid test other than she is in range and she has not been tested for Hashi she has never heard this before “sigh” she believes her panic attacks are because of Covid I say NO its not because if it were you would’ve had them much sooner as everything you do is no different then when the covid first hit (lock down) is on going where she lives . I think its her thyroid disease and not covid panic, many years ago before I knew I had thyroid disease I would have her very same issues with random panic attacks that would come and go.

Do you think this could be a sudden covid panic attacks even though its been on going close to a year now or that her thyroid issues are taking a wrong turn and she needs to be more forceful in getting the appropriate testing and possible treatment.... I regret my choices years ago not sticking up for my health and taking everything the doctors said as being normal and now here Im without a thyroid and she seems to be heading in the same direction.

She also believes everything the doctors say and WILL NOT take vitamins without their permission and she suffers from vitamin D deficiency and mild Anemia and will not treat either because her doctor says shes fine eat more meat and drink dairy (both that she doesn’t do).

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Obviously she needs FULL thyroid testing including thyroid antibodies and vitamin levels

And needs to improve low vitamin D and ferritin

[Batty1 in reply to SlowDragon]

Hi SD, Yes full vitamin and thyroid testing would be ideal and I have tried to get her to understand but she 100% believes everything a doctor says ( and we should) to a certain extent.

[humanbean]

Her problem could be cortisol and adrenaline related i.e. both the stress related hormones.

There is a tight relationship between thyroid and cortisol. When one goes up the other should go down. But sometimes the one that's supposed to go down doesn't. Then someone can end up in a situation where they have, say, high thyroid hormone levels and high cortisol levels. And the combination can end up causing panic attacks, sweating, ...

I had a different version of this same problem...

My thyroid hormone levels were low and my cortisol was high (which is what often happens to cortisol with low thyroid hormone levels). But based on my symptoms I think my cortisol had probably been high for, literally, decades. When I finally started taking thyroid hormones my cortisol didn't drop, so I ended up with sweating, anxiety, depression, internal vibrations, jitters.

It was only when I optimised as many vitamins and minerals as I could, and improved my diet that I was finally able to tolerate sufficient thyroid hormones to make life bearable, although I must admit my health is still a very long way from perfect. This took years.

Edit : I also found a supplement (Holy Basil) which appeared to reduce my cortisol - it certainly got rid of some of the high cortisol symptoms. I did do a saliva cortisol test first before taking it.

[Batty1 in reply to humanbean]

Interesting and I will have her read this but she is so Anti- anything not suggested by her doctor and I know as soon as she heads to the doctor to have these panic attacks addressed it’s going to be chalked up to her being a menopausal female although shes been menopausal for over 15 years (11 yrs age difference between us) and she also mentioned sudden mood swings and normally she is a calm person not easily rattled.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Batty1]

You can only give people the information and links on how/why getting full testing is important. You can’t force

I have two friends who have seen and been astounded at my dramatic improvements after getting full testing, improving low vitamin levels and going strictly gluten free

one eventually got full testing (after 2 years prevarication) ....was astonished to discover (despite impeccable protein-rich home cooked organic diet) she was vitamin D deficient, low folate and B12 and very low Ft3 as direct result.

(Pre-existing autoimmune non- thyroid disease already diagnosed)

After a year improving vitamins and going absolutely strictly gluten free...her results significantly improved and symptoms completely resolved

The other, like your sister, refuses to contemplate testing, (Dr is God) despite clear hypothyroid symptoms including dramatic and almost complete hair loss, (wears a wig) severe anaemia, carpel tunnel, extremely dry skin, terrible joint pain ......continues to have further significant decline.....but too scared to contemplate testing privately...

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Batty1]

Almost certainly GP will want to dole out antidepressants ....possibly without even running thyroid and vitamin blood tests

[Batty1 in reply to SlowDragon]

SD, she also is losing hair I forgot mention that and according to her its a lot (shes a hair dresser).

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Batty1]

Low ferritin/iron obviously extremely common when hypothyroid

[kittyelen]

There must be something more going on, to be under endo 2 years and taking no meds....well I recently found you are only referred to endo if going hyer and most GPS monitor if underactive (unless severe) ..so the fact is there is something severe enough for her to be referred in the first place. So I am surprised if she has never been on meds?

It sounds like she isn't taking care of herself with her diet and sadly no one can force her, it is down to her to be responsible for her own health.

[Batty1 in reply to kittyelen]

Thank you for responding we are located in the US and Gps here tend to not deal with thyroid anything and if you do get a gp to deal with thyroid its rare they usually refer you out to Endo anyway, she has had a goiter for a very long time its only been the past 2 years that she went to the Endo because it had increased in size and then the ultrasound pick up the nodule (according to her has not grown) so now she goes to Endo once a year . Her diet is actually pretty good plant based mostly with a little bit of meat and only occasionally does she eat cheese (no milk) but like me she has a variety of health issues including stomach troubles.

She won’t take anything unless the doctor prescribes it.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Batty1]

So if basically vegetarian likely low B12, ferritin

If no dairy or fish ....even possibly low iodine

She needs to test B12, folate, vitamin D, ferritin, full iron panel test for anaemia

[Batty1 in reply to SlowDragon]

Passing this info on to her maybe coming from someone else maybe she will consider asking.

[McPammy]

My thyroid and cortisol issues started with what Drs said was panic attacks. My attacks didn’t feel like the conventional ones I read about. It’s only now, many years later, I look back at my blood test results and see this is when my first bloods where abnormal even though I wasn’t treated for Hashimotos for several years later. It could very well be related to your sisters thyroid levels starting to fail. If she did agree to a test for thyroid levels she might be surprised and if she got treatment would help her be more level and avoid these awful feelings. Could she see an ENT Dr to get a fine needle aspiration on her nodule. My sister did this as her Endo said she had no thyroid issues, I was convinced she did have. She changed hospital and the ENT Dr found thyroid cancer which was swiftly removed. Maybe she’ll see an ENT Dr??

[Batty1 in reply to McPammy]

I agree with you I too went down this weird panic attack episodes. Im going to send all this info her way and sit back and see what she does with it.

[Batty1]

I told her exactly what you just said that it can’t hurt to know if your thyroid is behind all your issues before you travel down the road being told your emotional and the lockdowns are doing this to everyone and her are some pills.

I believe its her thyroid I had similar issues before my cancer diagnosis and I regret listening to doctors telling me its all in my head “Im high strung” got to learn to relax ... agh!