Hashi flare

[Peppermints]

Hey guys.I know everyone is different but what do your thyroid flare ups look like?

Thanks.

[tattybogle]

The theory :

In hashimoto's (especially in the early stages , before the thyroid has been more or less destroyed over time) ..... when the thyroid is attacked by the immune system, sometimes it dumps some of its stock of 'ready made' T4 and T3 into the blood stream all at once ( imagine squeezing a sponge full of water)

When this happens the fT4 and fT3 levels go a bit higher than they were before , and will stay there until the extra T4/T3 is gradually used up/ recycled/ excreted from the blood , and during this period of time we MAY get symptoms that are similar to the symptoms of hyperthyroidism ( ie too much T4/T3),

Sometimes this attack / and high T4/T3 levels can last for a just a few weeks, or sometimes it seems it can keep going for a few months . But when it stops, the thyroid is now a little bit more damaged than it was before . and so the T4/ T3 levels go down again and often go a bit lower than they were before ,

Some of us had periods like this lasting a few months, (before we were eventually diagnosed hypo) when we remember loosing weight without trying and feeling spurts of 'overly energetic' but also generally more tetchy/ irritable/ tired /insomnia etc ,

'Too much' thyroid hormone generally causes symptoms such as faster heart rate , increased frequency of bowel movements , a very fine tremor in the outstretched fingers, irritability , oversensitivity to noise , all sorts.. depending on how high the T4/T3 are ,and for how long .

It is very hard to 'catch this in the act' unless you happened to be getting frequent blood test at the right time , but when it is happening you would expect mildly over range fT4/fT3 levels ,and a low / or supressed TSH.

The fT4 /fT3 would then go back down to previous levels, or lower.....and the TSH would rise again, possibly to higher than before.

[Peppermints in reply to tattybogle]

Thanks. ☺️