how do i stop the sleepyness

[tired995]

i have hyperthyiordism im only 18 and am on meds can yall help me im always tired in class.

[pennyannie]

Hello Tired 995 and welcome to the forum :

It is perfectly normal to feel tired when hyperthyroid - your metabolism is running faster than normal and all your body processes at a heightened state and there can be a brain/body mismatch of expectations.

Your brain may be telling you to run a marathon while your body is too tired to get out of the bed, though you may not be sleeping and suffering with insomnia with your body exhausted.

You may be losing weight though eating substantially more than usual.

The symptoms can affect you both physically, mentally, emotionally and psychologically.

Many people need to stay at home and rest and wait until they feel a bit better before resuming work or school activities.

When were you diagnosed hyperthyroid - can you share your blood test results at diagnosis - a TSH -T3 and T4 reading and range - and do you also have the antibody reading /range probably written as a TPO or a TRab - or a TSH - Thyroid Receptor antibody.

What medicine has been prescribed - this will likely be an Anti Thyroid drug and should alleviate the worst of the symptoms - all this drug does is semi-block your new own daily production of thyroid hormones and slowly your over range T3 and T4 readings should fall back down into the ranges and your symptoms reduce.

How long have you been on the AT drug, are you being regularly monitored with new blood tests and adjustments made to the AT drug - and what treatment, longer term, has been advised by your endocrinologist.

The cause is likely an Auto Immune Disease - and something has triggered your immune system to turn and attack your body rather than defend it and the AT drug simply buys you time while we wait for immune system to calm back down again from whatever triggered this upset in your body.

[tired995 in reply to pennyannie]

how do you make it better while a student in high school i just started my meds like maybe 4 days ago i cant have energy drink thats fs and my parents are mad becuse im not passing a few classes

[pennyannie in reply to tired995]

Thyroid hormones tend to go a bit crazy at milestones in life, like puberty and menopause with stress and anxiety being common triggers - so it seems to me - you are likely dealing with a faster than normal metabolism - at a very stressful time !!

What have you been diagnosed with and what medication are you taking ?

If with Graves Disease there is not much you can but rest up and take away the stress and anxiety - wait for the Anti Thyroid medicine to kick in - and It may make sense to stop the stress and anxiety by delaying your exams a year - as there is no quick fix.

It may not be ideal but your parents would prefer you well and happy than ill with an exam mark that probaly will not be a true reflection of anything anyway.

[tired995 in reply to pennyannie]

i take Mebendazole 10mg and i should get my results back tomarrow to see if i have graves im adopted so my family histroy is unknown

[pennyannie in reply to tired995]

Ok - let us know the results tomorrow - and usually if with Graves the antibody looks like a TSH _ Thyroid Receptor antibody and / or reading as a TR ab - along with a number and marker and the medication should be an Anti Thyroid drug -

I'm not sure but this medicine doesn't look like it is an AT drug ?

Some Graves can be because of a genetic predisposition but for others Graves seems yo happen simply ' out of the blue ' though stress and anxiety seem common co-factors to understanding how this poorly understood AI disease develops.

[tired995 in reply to pennyannie]

i hope i dont have it hopfully its just an inlarged thyroid if its not ill have to get a ct scan

[pennyannie in reply to tired995]

Well you might need a scan even if it is Graves - let's just go one step at a time and see what the results and diagnosis are tomorrow:

Try not to worry and stop overthinking everything - I know it's easier said than done - but try and get some sleep and be kind to yourself :

[tired995 in reply to pennyannie]

i agree im just so young haha

[pennyannie in reply to tired995]

Ok - I know - I 'm almost 4 times your age - and now need my PM nap !!

Ha Ha - and Hey Ho !!

[tired995 in reply to pennyannie]

hahhaha

[tired995 in reply to pennyannie]

all of my symptoms - iv been having bad headaches for atleast 3 months i threw up once becuse the headache was so bad. shaky hands. im hot. iv lost 10 pounds. idk if this is one but i wake up early during the weekends. and i fall asleep during class (iv never done that)

[pennyannie in reply to tired995]

Well you are not well - and hopefully we will get some answers tomorrow that will stop all this worry and we will get some medicine prescribed that alleviates these symptoms so you can focus better on what you are trying to do.

[tired995 in reply to pennyannie]

isnt graves a life long disorder and not many people get better?

[pennyannie in reply to tired995]

Graves is an Auto Immune disease for which there is no cure and getting better from an AI immune disease is more about understanding and listening to your body - as it is an immune system malfunction - and yes it is a life long disorder but not everybody has life long symptoms and its more about managing how to live your life, if with Graves :

Some people just have ' one blip ' and after a course of Anti Thyroid drugs their thyroid reverts to normal function and they get on with their lives symptom free.

Some people keep some AT drugs in the medicine chest for if and when ' life stressors ' upset them and they sense their thyroid levels going a bit crazy and they just monitor and manage themselves for a brief period.

In the western world treatment with an AT drug is suggested for around 15-18 months and if this does not give enough time for the immune system to calm down and the thyroid reset itself without the need for any medication - definitive treatment - either RAI thyroid ablation or a thyroidectomy is encouraged -and for some people this simply exacerbates the situation further.

It's all a question of degree - and fully accept that for some people - a thyroidectomy is the only option - as you can live without a thyroid - but will need medication every day for the rest of your life which may or may not fully replace all that the thyroid supports you with on a daily basis within the body -

The thyroid is much like your body's gear box and responsible for your full body synchronisation from your mental, physical, emotional, and psychological well being through to your inner central heating system and your metabolism.

Below is the most recent research suggesting that the longer the patient stays on the AT drugs the better the longer term outlook for the patient :

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/338...

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/306...

As someone who has Graves and had RAI thyroid ablation in 2005 and became very unwell some years later - I would not recommend RAI as a treatment option in what we consider a health care setting - but I knew nothing back in 2005 and simply followed the medical mainstream advice.

All things Graves Disease and AI - elaine-moore.com

and now I need my 10 minute nap !!

[Buddy195 Administrator]

Welcome to the forum tired995,

We are a helpful & supportive group; you’ve come to the right place!

As    pennyannie has outlined, so we can offer better advice, can you tell us more about your thyroid condition, eg when you were diagnosed, ongoing symptoms(other than sleepiness), current medication & dosage, plus blood test results (with ranges in brackets) for:

TSH

FT3

FT4

Plus key vitamin tests (ferritin, folate, vitamins D and B12). These essential vitamins support thyroid health.

Correct Antibody tests are essential for diagnosis. I say this because I was originally misdiagnosed as hyperthyroid with Graves, yet later antibodies showed hypothyroid with Hashimotos!

 Graves Disease (hyperthyroidism) needs to be confirmed via positive TRab or TSI:

TRab

TSH receptor antibodies

TSI

Thyroid-Stimulating Immunoglobulin

TPO & TG antibodies may be Graves or Hashimotos.

 TPOab

Thyroid Peroxidase antibodies

TGab

Thyroglobulin antibodies

Sending you best wishes. Keep posting; we are here to help! 🦋

[Fruitandnutcase]

I second what Pennieannie has said. When I was hyper - off the scale hyper - I was absolutely exhausted. I had Graves’ disease which is an autoimmune condition. I started antithyroid meds (carbimazole) in November and didn’t see a consultant until March when the consultant added levothyroxine ( my hospital treats with block and replace) and it was only after I started that that I started to better. My treatment took exactly the year I was told it would take.

I wouldn’t have believed it was possible to feel so utterly exhausted so get as much rest as you can. Be selfish too and only do the things you want to do - don’t feel you ought to do anything just to keep others happy.

You are re#lay quite ill although you might not look it on the outside, I lost so much weight I looked terrific, so get lots of rest and in my case I went to bed really early. Not what an 18 year old wants to hear I’m sure but the tiredness will stop when your thyroid goes back to normal .

Good luck read as much as you can about your condition, always ask for your test results etc, be a partner in your treatment too - don’t just let doctors tell you what they want to do ask questions about why they are doing it and ask lots of questions on here, this is a really good supportive group and I’m not sure I would have survived without it

[tired995 in reply to Fruitandnutcase]

is graves a life long disorder i heard that very few people get better when they stop the meds

[Fruitandnutcase in reply to tired995]

No, I stopped the meds in exactly the timescale they gave. That was back in 2012 and I’m fine now 🤞so you definitely can get better.

I was offered RAI should I relapse but I spoke to my GP and was told that the hospital couldn’t force me to have it or refuse to treat me. I wanted to stay on block and replace because I felt very well taking it.

At that time you only stayed on antithyroid drugs for a year but since then I understand it is possibly better to stay on it for longer periods of time. There is a paper on that which I’m sure someone will be able to give you a link to.

A lot of people have recovered and no longer take medication, I’ve heard of people on here who take antithyroid drugs long term - which is what I intended doing should I relapse.

I suppose a lot depends on how you feel and how you respond to your treatment as to what happens next. Also you are young, I don’t know if that makes a difference I was in my 60s when I developed it but I got the impression I was pretty old to get it.

Make sure you have everything tested including vitamins and minerals you want your vitamins D, B12, ferritin and folates well up in their ranges to help your thyroid. I also took 1000 mg slow release vitamin C back then.

Just give yourself time you do not need to rush (or be pushed ) into making any major decisions. If you type Graves’ disease into the box you will find a lot of information about other people who have or have had Graves.

It’s also worth joining Thyroid U.K. you will find a massive amount of information there thyroiduk.org.uk

Hope you find out everything you want to know tomorrow. Do you know why you started on methimazole?

Also before you go to see your consultant jot down any questions you have - I kept a notebook for all that sort of thing so that I didn’t just say ‘fine’ when I was asked how I was. Just use bullet points or you will ‘lose’ your consultant. I kept notes in there of anything interesting I found about Graves - such as people taking carbimazole for extended lengths of time and any research

At one point when I was being treated there was mention about a vaccine against Graves I figured out I was far too old to think about it but you are young .

I haven’t seen much about it lately but I do know there were clinical trials done and I found this prnewswire.com/news-release...

I also kept a sort of online diary of how I felt each day - just quick notes, that was very useful as I could actually see when I needed an increase in my levo - that’s only if you are being treated with block and replace. It was also useful because I could read it and see that I was getting better even if sometimes it didn’t feel like that.

Good luck tomorrow.

[tired995 in reply to Fruitandnutcase]

thank you i wont be seeing anyone ill just get a call saying if the blood test was postive or negtive for graves

[tired995]

this is the meds im on methimazole 10mg

[pennyannie in reply to tired995]

Yes that is an AT drug : probably @ 10 mcg :

It might take a week or two to work -

Do you have any blood tests there - TSH - Free T3 and Free T4 - results and ranges - at diagnosis?

All the AT drug does is put you in a holding position, much like a plane in the air waiting for a landing slot - and this just buys you time - while we wait for your immune system to calm down and your T3 and T4 fall back down into the ranges.

The AT drug needs adjusting as your T3 and T4 start falling as otherwise you risk falling too far through the T3 and T4 ranges and then experience the equally if not worse symptoms of hypothyroidism.

With metabolism running too fast as in hyper - or too slow as in hypo - the body struggles to extract key nutrients through food no matter how well you eat - and non optimal levels of the core strength vitamins and minerals of ferritin, folate, B12 and vitamin D will compromise your ill health further than necessary.

So please ask to get these run and we can advise where optimal levels are -

generally you should be looking at a good 50% through any range - though some ranges are too wide to even be sensible.

How are your eyes - dry, gritty, watering, light sensitive - just ensure any eye drops are Preservative Free -

It may not be Graves - it might be Hashimoto's - we need to see the antibody readings :

[tired995 in reply to pennyannie]

yes i agree hopefully we know by tomarrow

[pennyannie in reply to tired995]

OK then - my nap disappeared so no worries and we will both try and sleep tonight and see some results, ranges and hopefully answers tomorrow.

[pennyannie in reply to tired995]

Good afternoon -

If you are planning on sharing any details with this forum - please start a new post with the information you hope to receive today -

This post is now considered ' actioned ' and as far as we were able to help you yesterday :

Any new information deserves a new post/question from yourself and new posts tend to get priority and read by many more forum members.

[tired995 in reply to pennyannie]

havent heard yet hopfully soon ill know

[pennyannie in reply to tired995]

OK - no worries:

[tired995 in reply to pennyannie]

i just got my blood work back but one of the Ts is lower then the other and one is in the 20s-30s i havent heard anything from the docter if i have graves or not just the blood tests

[tired995 in reply to tired995]

i dont know what it means

[pennyannie in reply to tired995]

Can you start a new post with all the results and ranges and anything else that is printed - I think you can do 1 photo - but start again and make a new question - so a 2nd post on the forum.

It's normal that 1 result will be higher than the other - do not worry - just share everything that has been sent to you this afternoon in a new question -

[tired995 in reply to pennyannie]

ok i did it!