Air hunger : Hi knowledgeable people! I had a... - Thyroid UK

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Air hunger

Littledancingtiger profile image

Hi knowledgeable people!

I had a job interview 2 weeks ago now which is normally very anxiety inducing anyway so I was anxious the whole day. However I did it, it went as well as it could go and I calmed down as soon as it was out the way. However as the days went on and on and I didn’t hear back I started to get anxious about it. It was an internal position and usually my place of work give you the heads up quite quickly before they kick off with the formal process.

The not hearing back started to really get to me. This culminated in my getting extremely anxious. I later heard that no one had heard back yet which made me feel a bit better about things.

However I now kind of feel like I’m stuck in fight or flight mode with the adrenaline pumping even though mentally I’ve actually calmed down about the whole thing now.

I’ve now got this feeling of air hunger and I feel quite restless and have muscle aches.

This kind of reminds me of the very few times I’ve been over medicated on my meds however my labs have not long been done and they were great and I felt well at the time. I had been stable for quite a while. Is it possible the anxiety of the job interview and then the not hearing back has kicked off a “hashimotos flare” I’ve not had what I would call a bad flare in quite some years now as I have been quite stable on the whole but I remember getting these similar sort of feelings the last time. It feels very “thyroidy” to me now.

Just wondered if anyone had any input or personal experiences :)

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Littledancingtiger
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16 Replies
greygoose profile image
greygoose

It depends what you mean by a 'hashimoto's flare'. It means different things to different people. :)

Littledancingtiger profile image
Littledancingtiger in reply to greygoose

I suppose there’s two kinds!

A flare up of hypothyroid symptoms or an antibody attack/thyroid hormone “dump” with this feeling like the latter

greygoose profile image
greygoose in reply to Littledancingtiger

So, you're saying you feel 'hyper'? But air-hunger is more likely to be a hypo symptom. But, of course, the only way to tell for sure is to get labs done.

Littledancingtiger profile image
Littledancingtiger in reply to greygoose

I know it’s strange but yes the few times I’ve experienced it it’s sat with more “hyper” symptoms rather than hypo. Of course sometimes I’ve had overlap of symptoms either way so it can get confusing. Just part of the fun of this condition. I will have to see how it goes with the rest of the week seeing as I’ve not long run labs.

greygoose profile image
greygoose in reply to Littledancingtiger

Yes, an awful lot of symptoms can be both hypo and hyper. Pity doctors don't realise that! Not that they take much notice of symptoms, anyway, unless there's a drug they can prescribe for them!

Littledancingtiger profile image
Littledancingtiger in reply to greygoose

Ah yes they do like prescribing you more and more drugs to “fix” things then you end up with more and more issues and more and more drugs!

greygoose profile image
greygoose in reply to Littledancingtiger

Yup. And that's just the way Big Pharma likes it. That's how they make their fortunes. No wonder they don't want us to get well!

SlowDragon profile image
SlowDragonAdministrator

Time to retest thyroid levels perhaps

Littledancingtiger profile image
Littledancingtiger in reply to SlowDragon

I would have agreed but I only did them on the 16th and everything was ok then.

SlowDragon profile image
SlowDragonAdministrator in reply to Littledancingtiger

What were results

Adrenaline can mess levels up

Try some gentle walking, or yoga etc

Littledancingtiger profile image
Littledancingtiger in reply to SlowDragon

They were pretty “normal” for me at the moment.

FT4 18 range 12 - 22

FT3 6 range 3.1 - 6.8

I did not however have my antibodies run this time around.

My TSH is suppressed as I take some T3.

I will try that thank you I do need to take more time to relax. I’ve also been very busy and under pressure as we are a few staff members down at work at the moment.

Jodypody profile image
Jodypody

I’ve had this symptom too and have no idea why it’s been happening. Like you I suffer from anxiety and as nothing else is happening I’ve just done my best to ignore it

Littledancingtiger profile image
Littledancingtiger in reply to Jodypody

Really sorry you get it too. I’ve just been trying my best not to pay attention to it as well.

sunshineisbetter profile image
sunshineisbetter

I think when you have thyroid issues, a stressful event can leave you feeling extra run down a few days later after the event. Make sure you rest and take some time for some self care to restore yourself x

Littledancingtiger profile image
Littledancingtiger in reply to sunshineisbetter

Sometimes I do feel like my body is very sensitive due to this condition and it takes me a lot longer to get over things.I can be very hard on myself trying to keep up and don’t always take the appropriate time to rest. So yes own worst enemy sometimes! I will certainly make sure I get some time to myself this week and see if that does the trick. X

humanbean profile image
humanbean

It sounds like you've been hyperventilating, and this causes air hunger. You can check out my hyperventilation suggestion by buying or borrowing a Pulse Oximeter and checking how high your O2 saturation is. Pulse Oximeters are those things that doctors stick on your finger which is completely non-invasive.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulse...

In hyperventilation your O2 level is likely to be at the very top of the normal range which is 95% - 99%.

What makes you feel as if you are suffering from air hunger in hyperventilation is low carbon dioxide, not low oxygen.

However if your O2 level is low in range or under the range your problem is unlikely to be hyperventilation.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyper...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyper...

The reason I know this stuff is that I went through a difficult time with hyperventilating about 12 - 15 years ago and had to be taught breathing exercises by a respiratory nurse. It did the trick, but I've discovered that once the problem was triggered it can start up again whenever I'm stressed. When that happens to me I just do my breathing exercises for a few days to bring it under control again.

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