Hashimotos or Graves??

[canadianjoe2005]

I will try to keep this short. Basically after 3 yrs hiatus due to sports injury, I hit the gym again with ferocious intensity. 2.5 months later I burnt out, obviously needing a break after such a long lay-off. Anxiety, poor immune system, fatigue, classic over-training according to every single piece of sports medicine publication i looked at. Fine, nothing new, went to doctor for palpitations, did cardio work-up, no worries there, palpitations 99% gone now.

They did notice in the bloodwork however 'underactive thyroid activity' due to a low level of.. something, not sure which hormone, and slighltly inflamed thyroid, or thyroiditis. More bloodwork, similar findings. Ok, go to endocrinologist. Feels my neck, takes blood pressure, reviews ultrasound of thyroid, concludes its underactive/Hashimotos and prescribes 125mg Synthroid.

My question:

I notice sometimes a lump in my throat, discomfort swallowing, and now I am experiencing what feels like indigestion, bloatedness, stomach pains at times, general distention and swelling in the abdomen, and sometimes I feel sluggish although normally I feel great. Bowel movements are kinda loose and not great but not having diarrhea. Not solid and consipated either, as is typically the case of hypo. So what am I?? Hyper, Hypo?? I read you can have both! Im currently getting a 2nd opinion, gonna check for both hypo and hyper. Depending, may try some herbals instead. Natural thyroid calmative or stimulant depending on the 2nd opinion, vs. synthetic hormone replacement which can lead to palpitations. Thoughts?

[ohio gal]

i have had hashimotos thyroiditis for 40 years. ihave been on the same dosage of synthroid for over 20 years. only recently did i have the routine blood work done approx. 4 months ago and my dosage was changed from 0.1 - .88 daily. two days ago more blood work and recieved the news today my dosage is being lowered again to .75. what is happening? my pcp sent me to a neurologist 2 months ago . i have had all kinds of the symptoms iv been reading about in these postings. blurry vision, palpitations, tics in my face, legs, arms and hands, memory loss, hair on my face(yuck) weight loss, weight gain ect. they thought i had ms ,but i dont. are these symptoms some how related to my hasimotos? is it possible its reversing to hyper throidism or can you have both diseases? from what im reading it very well sounds like it!          thanks for listening

                                            ohio gal

[seeangel]

well  hello for someone thats just made my day . your post above is fabulous just read it out load to my husband i really couldnt of put it better myself, you have just answered for me what my doctor couldnt today as ive just returned going in as a hyperthyroid graves sufferer and come out a hashimotos suffere .pmsl. like you ive started to learn the signs and symptoms and listening to my body . fourtuantly i have a good doctor thats communicating very well with my consultant . he sends a six wek blood test copy to my consultant and they both check my results. this is due to the fact i nearly died from a thyroid crisis and my husband nearly burnt the doctors pratice down as i went under diagnozed and not treated lolololololo. it all ended happily honest . but thankyou for youre post it has helped immensley seeangelxx

[etsyjetsy]

Hey there!
Ok, so I was diagnosed with graves disease around 5 months ago, and for the last 6 weeks have been suffering from panic attacks and depression-like symptoms, although not too severe! Anyway, my blood tests show that i'm respondin to carbimazole so dosage was lowered, but beta blockers were increased to reduce panicky symptoms.  Anyway, the point is, recently I've noticed some really weird things, like I feel pressure at the bottom of my throat, pretty much constantly for the last week or so. and sometimes randomly my tongue feels swollen and I've been gettin REALLY cold hands and feet....and I'm pretty confused by it all! If my thyroid is "improving" am I just going mad? Sometimes I feel like these symptoms are all in my head....but they feel so real!  I just found out that a blood relative of mine suffers from Hashimoto's and I'm wondering if my symptoms are poss from this as opposed to graves? Or like I say, possibly all in my head and related to the panic attacks!  Although I usually get these weird physical feelings first and then start to feel panicky because I don't know what's wrong with me!  Ok, finished my big rant now - If anyone has any comments I'll b glad to hear them!

[wheeler]

Hi there.  I was diagnosed with Graves Disease at the age of 13, almost 14, (back in 1985).  I had the sweating, shaking, anxiety, etc.that you sometimes have.  Graves and Hashimoto's are sort of different names for the same thing. Graves means you're hyper and Hashimoto's means you're hypo but they are both your immune system attacking your thyroid gland.  My current diagnosis is Hashimoto's, and happily my thyroid seems to have given up the fight for the most part. You actually could go into "remission" (i.e. your gland stops acting up) for awhile and then slip either way (hyper or hypo) again.  
It can be frustrating, but just keep listening to your body and communicating with your Dr.  If your Dr. isn't listening to you, find another one.  
Where in Canada are you?  I just moved to Toronto and will be meeting with my new Endo. there soon (have to get a referral so the insurance will cover it).  I can let you know how it goes if you are in the GTA. I have been battling this annoying disease for 20 years, and the best advice I can give you is to eat well, exercise every day, and demand that your Dr.s listen to you.

[ShannieK]

I'm going to try to answer this question without sounding like I am confused!!!!  You said you have diagnosed with Hashimoto's.  I have Hashimoto's as well.  Basically through this you have hypo and hyper symptoms.  Hashimoto's is an auto immune disease in which your own immune system gradually kills off your own thyroid gland.  I have got the swellings in my throat, the indigestion, bloatedness, sluggishness, you name it, I got it.  The way that it has been described to me is that, my thyroid is under attack, naturally, it's not going to just kick up it's heals and fall down without a fight, (Although I really wish that it would), my system attacks it and it fights back by producing more hormone in defense.  Which is a real pain, which brings on the hyper symptoms, generally during one of my flares, I will get the symptoms you have mentioned along with dizziness, blurred vision, and heart palpitations etc.  Sometimes, I have one flare right after another, sometimes I can go months and feel fine.  Kind of depends on my stress level, how active I am, having a cold, whatever.  Having Hashimoto's means alot of dose changes, because after each attack on itself, my med level changes, you get to where you recoginize the symptoms, and when your body is off.  My personal experience, when I get the swollen throat and stomach problems, my dose is too high, and needs to go back down.  But, with the effects of this diesase, in just a matter of weeks and you might be right back on the same dose again and feel fine, so strange.  This whole thing is a process, but it's a pain, and it's terrible to always not feel well.  Just to keep me regulated from my symptoms I take my synthroid, propranolol for the chest pain, heart palpitations, and blood pressure, Lexapro, for the anxiety panic attacks, I get during flares.  It's a pain, but I've been through one of the Thyroid Storms before without any medication and it almost killed me, I will gladly take my pills.  I really wish someone would take my thyroid.  I'm sure that there are others besides me out there that feel, wouldn't this all be easier if they just took the sucker out!!!!!!!!!