just diagnosed overactive thyroid

[Helluvabella]

hi everybody I’m new to the forum and wondered if I could have a chat with you all as I have just been told I have an overactive thyroid I have been feeling unwell for a couple of months and finally getting some answers. I’m still waiting on my endocrinologist appointment but gp said she can’t give me a beta blocker due to some mild childhood asthma. The waiting is making me ill mentally and I keep feeling like something is going to happen. Any advice appreciated

[PurpleNails Administrator]

Welcome to forum.

Really important to obtain your test results, see what been tested & track your own results.

First step it to investigate cause.

My GP contacted specialists at time of referral & they gave guidance of what dose of carbimazole - an anti-thyroid to take.    

Sometimes doctors like to repeat the test and test antibodies sometimes they leave further testing to specialist.  

You need TSI & TRab antibodies tested if they suspect Graves.  Graves is the most common cause of * continuous * hyper.  You may have fluctuating levels which is cause by thyroiditis.  (TPO & TGab - antibodies are high with this) & not treated with antithyroid.  Level naturally drop. 

Both are autoimmune. 

Specialist appointment can take a while to arrange.  Are they arranging further blood test to check thyroid level in mean time?

[Helluvabella in reply to PurpleNails]

thank you. Purple nails no I don’t have a copy of my results and I ended up going to a&e yesterday and they checked my thyroid and done blood tests incase it was an infection but they let me home. I just keep getting really anxious and think something is going to happen to me. I already have Crohn’s disease and don’t want to lose anymore weight with the hyperthyroidism. I made a gp appointment for tomorrow morning to see if they will help with some sort of beta blocker that I could maybe take. But no mention of the gp talking to specialist about treatment.

[PurpleNails Administrator in reply to Helluvabella]

You will definitely be monitored further.  Your GP might want to some more blood test first or the may decide to refer you to an endocrinologist.  It depends on what the hospital tested & what information they can show. Sometimes doctors measures something called TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) which is a pituitary hormone and signal thyroid to increase or decrease how hard it works.   The assumption is low TSH = high thyroid hormones. (two a thyroid hormones are measured - these are called free thyroxine & free triiodothyronine or FT4 & FT3 for short) However the TSH can be misleading & FT4 & FT3 need to be tested before any sort of diagnosis or treatment can be considered. Try not to panic which I know it hard when you are unwell and don’t have answers.  

[tattybogle]

Hi Helluvabella ... smart move coming here , good choice

First ...try not to panic . Your high thyroid levels will be making you feel like that anyway without adding to it.

(When reading posts on here , don't get freaked out by the issues discussed , remember that most of the people on forums are the ones who encountered problems with treatment for hyper or hypothyroidism , which not everybody does ).

There is a lot of information we can give you to help you understand what is happening to you ..(and a lot of questions we need to to ask first) and some information you need to get hold of if you don't know already ~ such as the actual results of the blood test that diagnosed you as hyperthyroid .

Take it slowly, as it this can all be a bit of 'information overload' at a time when your body and mind are already going 'too fast' due to your high thyroid hormone levels.

If you feel worse in the meantime before the endocrinologist appointment comes through then go back to A&E for reassurance. they will test how high your thyroid hormone levels are at the time , and will deal with it if they are dangerously high and causing an emergency .

There are several experienced people here who have dealt with hyperthyroidism , and i'm sure they'll be along shortly.. i'll shut up now cos i wasn't hyperthyroid ,and wait for them to pop up ... but in the meantime i just wanted to say 'welcome ' to the forum. we're a nice bunch and very knowledgeable/ experienced .so you are in good safe hands.

[Helluvabella in reply to tattybogle]

thank you so much it’s so hard to put your mind at ease especially just now. And my partner made a good point they wouldn’t have let me go home if they had seen something in my bloods yesterday huh?

[tattybogle in reply to Helluvabella]

What exactly did the say yesterday ?

[Helluvabella in reply to tattybogle]

they said my head rate was up and pulse but I was very anxious too as I was on my own at first. They said no infection showing in my thyroid but they can’t give me anything to help the thyroid

[tattybogle in reply to Helluvabella]

Did they mention anything about "high T4 levels / high thyroid hormone levels "

or "low TSH levels " ?

(These are the blood tests used to diagnose hyperthyroid)

'an infection' isn't usually the issue .. we become hyperthyroid due to our thyroid making too much T4 and T3

( these are the thyroid hormones made by the thyroid gland and when we are hyperthyroid it is because the thyroid has been making too much, and the level of T4 / T3 in our blood go too high, causing the whole body to function 'too fast' )

~this is not usually due to 'an infection'. as such .... there are few causes of 'thyroid making too much T4/T3 ', which will need to be investigated to find out why your thyroid is producing too much T4 /T3.

The TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) is not a thyroid hormone . it is just a message from your brain which asks the thyroid to make more /or less T4 and T3. When the T4/T3 go too high the TSH level falls lower ( to ask the thyroid to slow down it's production of T4/T3)

So in hyperthyroidism you would expect to see a high T4/ high T3 and a very low TSH , and this is probably what they saw in the hospital blood tests yesterday , and why they said your thyroid was overactive ...

the next step is to find out 'why' ~ it can be a thyroid nodule making too much ,, it can be an autoimmune disease 'Graves Disease' asking the thyroid to make too much.. or it can be other causes eg sub-acute thyroiditis/ de-quervains throidiitis (an infection upsets the thyroid) .

It can also be the beginning stage of autoimmune hypOthyroidism ( hashimoto's) which sometimes starts with a transient phase of mild hypErthroidism .

Antibody tests are needed to look for autoimmune disease, and sometimes scans of the thyroid are needed to work out the cause.

See what the GP says tomorrow and go from there.

It will help if you can find out tomorrow what the TSH and fT4/fT3 results from the hospital blood tests were ~ result and [lab range] Hopefully GP will have those results on his computer .

They wil look like this (with numbers );

TSH 0.00 [ 0-0]

fT4 0.00 [0-0]

fT3 0.00 [0-0]

[Homely2]

Beta blockers and asthma are a complicated subject.

The only beta lockers, as I understand it, you can possibly use with asthma are cardio selective beta blockers like bisoporol.

My first asthma consultant had no problem with my being on bisoporol, the second asthma consultant asked me to come off bisoporol as he did not like it being used on asthma sufferers.

Which is correct, it is difficult to tell.

[shaws Administrator in reply to Homely2]

When I was prescribed levothyroxine, in 2007 it gave me severe palpitation- in the middle of the night - and I had many overnight recordings as Cardiologist was trying to puzzle out why this was occurring.

Cardiologist couldn't figure out the reason for the palpitations but I was prescribed bisoprolol tablet to be taken at bedtime and it did resolve the overnight palpitations. I still take bisoprolol and haven't been bothered again with palpitatations, I also feel well.

I am now prescribed T3 (liothyronine) hope you are able to resolve your palpitations soon. and feel well once agan.

[pennyannie]

Hello Helluvabella and welcome to the forum ;

The thyroid is a major gland and responsible for your full body synchronisation including your physical, mental, emotional, psychological and spiritual well being, your inner central heating system and your metabolism.

Therefore the symptoms experienced when the thyroid comes under attack from your own immune system can be diverse, with some considered life threatening whilst others just simply ' odd ' and why we need to know exactly why this is happening and which antibodies were found over range and positive from your first, initial blood test.

For Graves Disease we are looking at either a TR ab - a thyroid receptor blocking or a TSI - a thyroid receptor stimulating antibody reading over range.

For Hashimoto's Disease we are looking at either TPO or TgAB antibodies being over range.

Both these diseases are auto immune and something has triggered your immune system to malfunction and turn and attack your body rather than defend and protect it.

It is also possible to have both Graves and Hashimoto's in which case Graves treatment takes precedence, as seen as the most serious of these two health issues.

Hashimoto's tends to just attack the thyroid and not treated with an Anti Thyroid drug as your T3 and T4 levels do not rise as high and fall back down into range by themselves but as this AI disease progresses your thyroid function becomes reduced and you will experience symptoms og hypothyroidism and required thyroid hormone replacement - initially T4 - Levothyroxine.

Graves is more complex and multi organ but drives the T3 and T4 thyroid hormones higher and higher and to stop this becoming a life threatening situation you need to be prescribed an Anti Thyroid drug to block your own daily thyroid hormone production.

The NHS generally allocate around a 15-18 month window with treatment with an AT drug while we wait for your immune system to calm down, and the hope is your T3 and T4 levels resort to normal function this seen as ' just a blip ' and a one off and you are back to normal and get on with your life.

Whilst waiting for the blood test results and knowing how to treat, a beta blocker is generally prescribed to ease the nervousness, edgeness and any heart implications that may have been triggered to just help make you more comfortable.

Until we know more details you might like to read around on both these AI diseases:

For Graves the most well rounded research I found was that of Elaine Moore Foundation website - elaine-moore.com

For Hashimoto's - thyroidpharmacist.com

Thyroid UK - the charity who supports this forum also has an overview on all thyroid health issues so another website full of interesting articles to dip into - thyroiduk.org .

[SlowDragon Administrator]

As you have Crohns it’s EXTREMELY important to regularly retest vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12

What vitamin supplements are you currently taking

Thyroid often affected by low vitamin levels

Request GP test vitamin levels if not been tested in last few months

Thyroid test results

You are legally entitled to printed copies of your blood test results and ranges.

The best way to get access to current and historic blood test results is to register for online access to your medical record and blood test results

UK GP practices are supposed to offer everyone online access for blood test results. Ring and ask if this is available and apply to do so if possible, if it is you may need "enhanced access" to see blood results.

Link re access

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

In reality many GP surgeries do not have blood test results online yet

Alternatively ring receptionist and request printed copies of results. Allow couple of days and then go and pick up.

Important to see exactly what has been tested and equally important what hasn’t been tested yet

You need TSH, Ft4, Ft3 tested

Plus TSI or Trab antibodies for Graves’ disease - autoimmune HYPERthyroid

And importantly

TPO and TG antibodies for autoimmune HYPOthyroid disease, also called Hashimoto’s

Hashimoto’s frequently starts with temporary hyperthyroid symptoms and results before becoming increasingly hypothyroid