Newly diagnosed hyperthyroidism

[frazzleju]

I was recently diagnosed after months of feeling tired and ill plus being permanently too hot. I started losing weight and had rapid heartrate and tremor which another doctor at my surgery put down to a virus :[ . My doctor just telephoned me to come get a prescription for carbimazole and upped my dose of propanol because it wears off really quickly - I'm at the terrified and end of my tether stage and am just hoping the tablets help, hospital appointment on May 3rd. Ju.

[Hennerton]

Hi Frazzleju, I have been there too. It took six months of my constant presence in the GP surgery and being asked if I was depressed and sent to a rheumatologist etc before one of the docs eventually realized what was wrong with me. I was put on carbimazole and beta blockers, just like you. Carbimazole worked really quickly and I came off the beta blocker two weeks later. I stayed on carbimazole for nine months and then had a thyroidectomy. Some people stay on it for years. I just found it difficult to balance and also had thyroid eye disesase, luckily quite mild, but was terrified of that getting worse. Am sure you will soon be feeling better on the carbimazole. Good luck and let us know how you get on.

[chocolate49]

Hi..I remember those feelings well, being so scared because I knew something wasnt right with my body. Doctors put mine down to a virus, but eventually was diagnosed with the same as you. Once on the right tablets it took a little while to improve-however sometimes you then go on to have an underactive thyroid. Obviously it then takes time to get the right levels.

You will feel better although it feels like forever which everyone on this site understands.

This site is brilliant for support and I dont think I could have got through the first few months of both conditions.

Take care and look after yourself

[Hidden]

Good luck with the hospital appointment have been there myself too ! It took me a long time but have got there now xxxx

[frazzleju]

thanks all - have a feeling this site will go a long way to calming me down xxx

[saz_2011]

Hi,

I've been there too. It only took 2 visits to my doctor luckily before he sent me for tests. I was so shocked when he told me I was hyperthyroid. I remember having no idea what it was and being quite worried after reading about it on the Internet. One thing that I have found useful 2 years later is to have all my test results with the ranges so I can monitor where I am at. So I would recommend asking your GP for the actual amounts for TSH, Free T4 and the ranges. TSH is the hormone that tells the thyroid to release Free T4, which is the actual Thyroid hormone that you have too much of. The ranges for the tests indicate the values for TSH and Free T4 that the laboratory that did the tests consider to be 'normal'. So my recent result was TSH 0.6 (0.3-5.6), indicating that the lab thinks that a result between 0.3 and 5.6 is 'normal'.

What happens when you are hyperthyroid is that your Free T4 goes up, for various reasons that they will try to work out when you go to hospital. Consequently your TSH goes down because it registers that your system has too much Free T4 floating around your blood stream and so your body stops producing so much TSH.

The other thing that it took me ages to realise is the extent to which the thyroid affects so much of your body. So for me my hair fell out (not so it was noticeable luckily, but so it clogged up the plughole), my nails became weak and tore easily, my legs and arms became very weak, I started having achey shoulders and hips, I was short of breath, my brain felt cloudy the whole time as though I couldn't focus and I had strange semi-tingling sensations in various parts of my body, oh yes and my muscles would twitch, the tremor, going from feeling cold a lot of the time to being too hot and so on... Because of the feeling of anxiety that accompanies the condition – your heart beats too fast, you feel as though you have butterflies in your tummy all the time I found it helpful to write the symptoms down and tell myself why I had them and that I didn't actually need to worry: I would clock them and 'move on!'.

You should find that the carbimazole sorts out the symptoms quite quickly as everyone else has said. So good luck. The journey that I have had has taught me that I have to try and reduce the amount of stress in my life and in that sense has been a positive experience!

Susannah

[frazzleju in reply to saz_2011]

I will ask the doc for the actual results -I'm afaid when he told me I just sat there gulping like a goldfish, had been half-convinced he'd say it was all in my head!

The worst thing has been the heartbeat - I lie in bed listening to it for hours, getting more and more scared and then when I finally fall asleep it's so deeply I could almost be unconcious - last night I fell asleep quickly and slept all night though not sure its thats due to the meds or the reassurance! Either way it's great :]

I'm a mature student at uni in my first year - today is last day of term so I'm looking forward both to the rest and to less stress for a couple of months. Ju xxx

[Tory]

I too have been there. The anxiety you are feeling is all part of it. I remember crying all the time and felt so ill. It does take a few weeks for any improvement. The positives are that they have diagnosed what the problem is and you are now on the correct treatment. Good luck and remember there are many of us here who can support each other. X

[frazzleju in reply to Tory]

Thank you - yes, can see this is a very supportive enviroment, I also seem to be lucky in that I have been diagnosed fairly quickly by some of the stories I can see! So I am trying to see the positives xxx

[greenginger in reply to frazzleju]

Hi it took 5 years for me to be diagnosed.

Do right all your symptoms down in a diary and your blood results and appointments and GPs comments.

Just don't expect to "recover". You may feel much improved over time but you will never feel like you once did nor will you "get better".

Hyperthyroidism is either caused by Graves, Hashimotos (before turning hypo) or because of nodules on your thyroid. Most common is Graves which is an autoimmune disease and is pretty much for life.

Do read up on the condition and all the best.

[frazzleju in reply to greenginger]

I am nervous about what could be causing it, at least I'll know fairly soon and keeping a diary is a great idea, I'll definitely start doing so, thank you xx

[greenginger in reply to frazzleju]

You are welcome, good luck. Keep us posted on how you are doing. There are not enough hypers posting on here. thanks in advance Bev

[kashka]

I have gone through it and am out the other end stage of hyperthyroid.There is light at the end of the tunnel.And all those horrible symptoms you have described were me 2 years ago.I feel very well now after treatment.It's such a scary place to be with the rapid heartbeats etc but it will pass.Proranalol will sort that out and Carbimazole will help too.You are not alone.Good luck with the treatment.

[frazzleju in reply to kashka]

thank you - so good to hear that xx

[greenginger in reply to kashka]

Kashka

How have you come through it? i.e surgery, RAI or other?

I am interested because of a question raised on another debate about hyperthyroidism and getting better. Hope you can hlep thanks.

[kashka in reply to greenginger]

Hi Greenginger.I am in remission.I finished treatment in October 2011 and my endo said to give it 2 years without treatment to see how i am and i have been fine.I was on 60 mg of Carbimazol and 20mcg of thyroxine a day.A block and replace treatment.I never had surgery or RAI...fingers crossed i hope i never will.Hope this is helpful.And just to add i will not have to go on any treatment if my thyroid remains normal.Am having bloodtests every october just to check to see all is well.