Thyroiditis causing possible hyperthyroidism symptoms.

[sobs1962]

Just wondering if Hashimotos thyroiditis can cause transient thyrotoxicosis or become hyperthyroidism. Have just been at doctors, my heart rate is high, feeling nervous and have shaking of hands on and off. Also get pain in neck which travels up to my jaw and ear. Stopped taking propranolol a few weeks ago having come off it very very very slowly over a period of 14 months. I just want to know if this has happened to anyone else as they are worried about my heart rate and have put me on aspirin as had an episode last week when I temporarily lost the sight in my right eye which went away after 20 minutes but sending me to the TIA team to rule out that. Sorry for long post, but most of the time, still having hypo symptoms.

[greygoose]

Yes. That's how Hashi's works.

The immune system attacks the thyroid, mistaking it for the enemy, and the dying cells release all their stock of hormone into the blood, causing levels of T4 and T3 to rise sharply, and the TSH therefore drops to zero.

But, I really don't think the levels go high enough to be classed as thyrotoxicosis. Hyper, yes, but it's not true hyperthyroidism because it's not the thyroid over-producing hormone. And, the levels will drop again, as the hormone is used up/excreted, and you will become hypo again, eventually.

And, obviously, those high levels of T3 will cause hyper-like symptoms for a while.

[sobs1962 in reply to greygoose]

Well my last blood test showed TSH at 0.12(0.35-5.50) and ft4 at 15.8 (10.0-20.0) and surprise surprise ft3 NOT tested. Honestly unless they test ft3 they cannot get a true picture of what's going on, after all t4 is inactive and t3 is active at tissue level but they hate the fact that we the patients are more knowledgeable about our condition than they are. They hate not being complete know-it-alls.Hopefully it'll all work out for the best.

[greygoose in reply to sobs1962]

What that blood test shows is that you're under-medicated - and a long way off thyrotoxicosis!

[sobs1962 in reply to greygoose]

The reliance of doctors on the TSH as the gold standard for treating hypothyroidism is beyond a joke, us poor thyroid patients are having infinitely more harm than good done to our health, so I think the only solution is for doctors to get better educated, so they can treat their patients properly. So much for the hippocratic oath. He asked me why I was taking a magnesium supplement as clearly doesn't understand how the body synthesises nutrients either. God help us all!!!

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Propranolol slowed uptake and conversion of levothyroxine

You might need lower dose levothyroxine

Or might have low vitamin levels

You need to get FULL thyroid and vitamin testing done if not tested since stopping propranolol

For full Thyroid evaluation you need TSH, FT4 and FT3 plus both TPO and TG thyroid antibodies tested.

Also EXTREMELY important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12

What vitamin supplements are you currently taking

Low vitamin levels are extremely common, especially with autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto’s or Ord’s thyroiditis)

Recommended on here that all thyroid blood tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and before eating or drinking anything other than water .

Last dose of Levothyroxine 24 hours prior to blood test. (taking delayed dose immediately after blood draw).

This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip)

Is this how you do your tests?

Private tests are available as NHS currently rarely tests Ft3 or all relevant vitamins

List of private testing options

thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...

If you can get GP to test vitamins and antibodies then cheapest option for just TSH, FT4 and FT3

£29 (via NHS private service ) and 10% off down to £26.10 if go on thyroid uk for code

thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...

monitormyhealth.org.uk/

NHS easy postal kit vitamin D test £29 via

vitamindtest.org.uk

Medichecks Thyroid plus antibodies and vitamins

medichecks.com/products/adv...

Blue Horizon Thyroid Premium Gold includes antibodies, cortisol and vitamins by DIY fingerprick test

bluehorizonbloodtests.co.uk...

Thriva Thyroid plus antibodies and vitamins By DIY fingerpick test

thriva.co/tests/thyroid-test

Thriva also offer just vitamin testing

[sobs1962 in reply to SlowDragon]

Doctor has sent off some bloods and he said full blood count is one of them but as I haven't taken my vit b complex for over 3 weeks, this may be contributing to my increased heartrate so should start taking them again and just inform anyone who wants to take blood that I am taking a supplement with biotin in it and hope for the best.

[Mrsmcl]

Hi I had Hashimoto’s thyroiditis diagnosed in 2007 in 2017 I became unwell thyroid enlarged and bloods off ( not sure results ) seen endocrine and my Levothyroxine was reduced to 50mcg from 125mvg given a scan which showed some nodules thyroid enlarged but nothing concerning was discharged from endo in 2019 after 6 monthly checks .

July 2020 started losing weight felt anxious heart rate fast and tremor attended gp for bloods which showed I was going hyper was sent to endo who stopped my thyroxine 6 weeks later bloods hadn’t improved so was commenced on carbimazole. Thyroid scan confirmed diagnosis of Graves’ disease. Not offered RAI due to thyroid eye disease had total thyroidectomy 10 days ago . So I think it is possible you can switch from hypo to hyper with not being over medicated . You may have the antibodies for Graves and hashimotos.

Once my bloods came back my GP was very quick to get endocrine opinion so if you feel your GP is not sure how to treat ask for a referral .

I’m new to the forum so I hope my answer can help you in some way and wish you well

[Timbutdim]

Hi I'm Hashis and and also have lost vision in right eye, pain in neck that radiates in jaw. Also now have small goitre never had one before, scan of neck discovered thyroiditis only??? Not sure what that means or whether that's the cause of the goitre. Ring has go really tight on finger. And recent feeling of reduced consciences whilst riding bike, kind of mini black out nearly ran onto kerb. Feelings of out of body experience.

[sobs1962 in reply to Timbutdim]

Wow, poor you, I've spoken to the TIA team at local hospital and they said they think it's retinal migraine, so don't need to carry on taking aspirin and going for an ecg next week as heart rate is high. Have come off propranolol as they stop my thyroid converting t4 to t3 ( not that they test t3 anyway) so they wouldn't know without testing it. Suggest you contact your doctor regarding mini black out as this could be serious, not worth risking it or ignoring it. Best wishes, take care.

[eachpeach]

It definitely can happen. I also had a diagnosis of Hashimoto's and then was diagnosed with Graves' disease afterwards (which is still active). You need a TRAb or TSI test to check if it definitely is Graves'. I had very low TSH and both T4 and T3 were above range though, which you may not have, so yours may not be Graves'.

[MichelleHarris]

I felt very unwell and had pain in chest and neck radiating up behind ear. Turned out was a Sjogrens flare which I didnt know I had as was ANA negative but damage to parotids could be seen on U/S scan x

[Cavapoochonowner]

Hello, I have graves disease and am currently on carbimazole and levothyroxine.I have had migraines since I was 14 and at the moment they are increasing in frequency. I have had to have my levothyroxine reduced as my t4 has increased despite being stable before.I have increased heart rate, sweating , going to the toilet more and she'll need.This was diagnosed when I felt ill with yet another migraine and had a heart rate of 106.I have episodes of migraine aura and for me it is partial blindness and sparkly lights for about 30 mins.I also had a migraine in November last year when my daughter had to call 999 as I had a migraine aura and also was confused and couldn't speak or get my words out.She thought I was having a stroke.They took me in and did an mri scan and a scan of my neck and concluded it was a migraine.I have never had loss of speech before but it can be a symptomI have helped my dose of levothyroxine 5 weeks ago but still have racing heart , shakiness headaches and frequent toilet.I have also lost my appetite.My GP has put me on proprananol to try and ease the symptoms and as a migraine prevention.I do feel alot calmer after only 2 days treatment.He thinks the increased headaches are due to my thyroid levels being a bit out of control.To be honest I don't really know what's going on.I am due a blood test next week so I might find out a bit more.If the proprananol helps my headaches I think I can stay on it permanently. Hope this helps in some way.What a pain everything is.

[johnnyxs]

Cavapoochonowner have you recently had an overnight fasting blood glucose level test done ? some of your symptoms are very similar to mine before I was diagnosed Type 2 Diabetic. T2 Diabetes or metabolic syndrome is simply put Carbohydrate intolerance leading to Insulin resistance and high blood sugar levels.

As the body strives to reduce our high blood glucose levels we pee a lot more than usual and this quickly leads to dehydration . When my blood sugar levels rise due to eating too much carbohydrate my pee frequency increases and I quickly become dehydrated no matter how much fluids I then consume to compensate.

When this happens I get pain in my neck and across my scalp , Migraines that last 2-3 days , sweats of the head and neck, and the skin on my fingers and palms shrink dramatically like I've been in water for a long time. I find that a cold wet flannel on my temples help reduce the pain of the migraine quite a bit possibly because it sends the blood away from the surface of the area and reduces the blood pressure ? it helps me sleep anyway.

We can also lose essential Sodium and Potassium salts in our pee which leads to very painful night cramps in my thighs, calves and big toes....taking Dyoralyte rehydration salts can reverse the cramps and spasms within an hour or less.

Sudden constipation and head and neck ache is a sure sign of impending dehydration.