Anxiety Physical symptoms, but I don't have anxiety! - Hypothyroidism

[Rachael_Maree]

I'm a 16 year old female and am having physical anxiety symptoms such as; redness/flushing/burning of my face, shaking hands/tremors, pounding heart, shortness of breath, needing to swallow, mild tension headaches, stomach upsets, and in some cases white blotches appear and i feel faint. In the mornings my gag reflexes are also terrible and i get close to vomiting, so brushing my teeth in the morning can be really difficult.

I have been on an acne medication called Accutane and it is commonly known to cause anxiety, depression, etc. I was on Accutane for 10 months and came off it 3 months ago.
My hands are always shaky no matter what, i get stomach upsets a lot and indigestion most of the time after i have eaten. When ever I am made speak in front of a large crowd, or when i'm embarrassed my physical anxiety symptoms worsen. It even comes at family events! or at times when i'm telling a story to a friend or just laughing my face completely burns and my heart races and i get tremors! Before Accutane I was able to speak in front of people without these symptoms and i would just get the odd dry mouth or something. I was able to sit in a room full of people without burning up or shaking and my stomach was perfectly normal!
These symptoms are really affecting my life as i hate speaking in front of people, or going near people/large amount of people that make my face go red and make my body go all nervous. People always stare at my trembling hands and my red face and see my nervousness and ask if i'm okay and it's just really embarrassing! The thing is my mind is completely calm except my body isn't! it's like my mind is completely separate from my body. I've tried natural medications like passion flower or camomile and do meditation and hypnosis regularly. I'm a very spiritual and calm person but its like my body just keep producing all this adrenaline that i don't want!
Sorry it's very hard to explain but i really want it to go away :( So i've been researching causes for these physical anxiety symptoms and came across hypothyroidism. I know that my mum has had this condition but she experienced sleep problems which i don't have. I can sleep perfectly well.  I do have a bit of hairloss, i am always tired, and my muscles are really weak and sore, like when i wake up i find it hard to move my hands because they are so weak.
Anways, my question is: is it possible that i have hypothyroidism? Or am i too young to get it?
Is hypothyroidism a source for my nervousness and these anxiety physical symptoms? and how do i overcome this/can i ever overcome this?
Sorry for all the questions i just don't know what to do

[Barb135]

Anxiety is often a symptom of hypothyroidism.  You should talk to your parents about getting to rule that out or confirm, then you can begin looking at other sources, as well.

The tests you need, to start with, are Free T3, Free T4 and TSH.  It's also a good idea to get antibody tests to determine if you have Hashimoto's, which is the most common cause of hypothyroidism in the developed world.  Those tests are Thyroid Peroxidase Antibdies (TPOab) and Thyroglobulin Antibodies (TgAb).  Make sure you get them both, because they're both markers for Hashimoto's - some of us have one or the other and some have them both.

On a side note... you don't to "feel" anxious to have symptoms of anxiety, so your symptoms really could be anxiety, even though you don't think they are.  I used to have very similar symptoms and I realize now that it was definitely anxiety...

[matter123]

You've been off accutane for 3 months though.. i doubt it's causing all these issues.. especially if things are getting worse.

It just appears to coincide because that was the only thing new you were doing in the last 10 months.

I would try to find an infectious disease doctor and go thru the tests.. Also check for lyme.  I hate to sound like a broken record, but so many people get infected and have no clue. It's not as difficult as it sounds.. anything that can bite you can cause some serious issues.. it's not just Tick related

.

[Red_Star]

Accutane can cause anxiety because it lowers serotonin. You could try a supplement like L-tryptophan or 5-HTP to help increase serotonin levels. There are other ways to help boost serotonin such as exercise and taking a multi vitamin. If you search online for how to boost serotonin there are plenty of articles on the subject.