Hashimoto's Toxicosis and going hypo and hyper

[terri thyroid]

This is kind of a survey/question to those of you diagnosed hypothyroid Hashimotos but who feel or actually are cycling into a hyper (not hypo) state. Do you seem to have symptoms of hyper like red in the face, hi b.p., shakiness, depression, hot all the time not hot flashes, hot tempered, double vision or poor vision etc etc but yet you feel run down, tired, fuzzy mentally, slow gastro processes so you go to the doctor and he/she says you are right in target range for tsh below 3.0 or thereabouts and great free t4 free t3 levels and all else looks good so maybe they raise your thyroid med dose thinking you're still a little hypo (not hyper) or have you lower dose in case you are actually hyper and for a short while you feel better or feel worse right away so now you don't know if you're up or down ? Yes, that is a run on sentence but hopefully I'm clear - here is my theory - maybe you have gone so hyper your body is shutting down or slowing down to protect itself or it's just breaking  down altogether - Has anyone had this experience and if so what do you do about it or what does your doctor do or say to help you? And if our thyroid gland worked normally would pituitary and other supporting systems output consistently same amounts ? I know this is a good question for Dr. Lupo as he actually believes there is a phenomena as Hashitoxicosis unlike my past 3 endos. I'm curious what you folks think about this and what your experiences have been.

[terri thyroid]

did you say you were'nt on thyroid meds? It really sounds like you should be if you were diagnosed with Hashimotos. Don't let all of our problems scare you off - many people take thyroid meds with no side effects and they feel great. We just happen to be the exceptions to the rule.

[sonya73]

Hello, yes I have hashimotos, it was found out 3 years ago, I have family history of thyroid conditions, my grandmother my mother and my sister, my sister was found to have hashis to, 3 years ago I had 4 months of feeling rotten, feeling sick, tired, really run down, i have come down sick again its been about 4 weeks now it is the same thing, my thyroid levels are normal, i have the goiter and enlarged thyroid with nodels, I can feel it in the left side of my neck it chokes me, it takes me ages to eat a meal, my hair is dry, my throut feels dry, when i burp my thyroid hurts on the left side, my weight has gone up, i have reflux, I am not on thyroid medicine but my sister and mother are, and my grandmother was to, my head feels foggy and i have really bad headaches, my hands and feet are cold and sweat alot, i have heart flutters about twice a week, other times more flutters. I wake up in the middle of the night with coughing fits, muscle sore throut, i carry a water bottle with me everywhere in case i have a coughing fit. well i think thats everything, my thoughts r with u all.

[terri thyroid]

Hi there, just wanted to say by all means have your doc check for anything else you or he/she thinks could be wrong (especially if your insurance will pick it up) On the other hand it does sound like you could have gone hyper - which happens to many of us so always err on the cautious side and ask doc if you could try lesser dose to see how you feel - hyper doesn't always mean energy or weight loss - this often has the same effects as hypo but far harder on your body. Be careful especially with Armour - it's way more potent due to having t3 component. I just found a new doc who will test all my hormone levels besides thyroid so I did blood work and now am waiting to do saliva test for other levels and cortisol, adrenal etc. Also, this doc treats only w/ bioidentical hormones not chemical or pregant mare's urine, ie. Premarin, Depo, etc. Do get your hormone levels checked, also, I quit eating wheat 9/23/08 and this solved alot of gastro problems - also, I exercise and eat no hydrogenated oils and eat organic, no hormone foods. All these things do a world of good for folks w/ immune system problems like Hashimoto's. Also, started accupuncture w/ a doc at a teaching hospital and taking chinese herbs. This has helped me feel fabulous, down side is it is expensive for accupuncture. Went to an endo at same hospital and he couldn't get over how small my thyroid is - it used to be huge, now I swallow handfuls of vitamins no problem. Do all you can to help yourself. I wish I could be of more help. I went off all thyroid hormone 3 months ago and feel great because I eventually go hyper even on only 15mcg a day. I know my tsh has gone down 10 points since accupuncture and herbs so right now I will see what happens with other hormones which are low (estrogen & testosterone) and will then think about dealing with taking thyroid hormone again. Wish I had some insight for you but I always used to ask doc to lower dose to see if I felt better because the hypo/hyper thing gets so confusing it is sometimes hard to tell what you are so worst thing is to go too high as you don't want to go hyper.***Be sure to get vitamin D checked - this is often low in thyroid patients and can cause depression if too low.By all means take vitamins if you need to. Best wishes.

[terri thyroid]

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[MrsG1032]

I don't know if I'm bipolar or if I'm swinging back and forth between hypo and hyper with Hashimoto's Toxicosis.

I've struggled with Hashimoto's for decades.  I've had all kinds of horrible problems with it...tired, cold, body aches, foggy brained, falling asleep all the time, chronic sinus infections, dry skin (especially dry cracked heels), hair falling out and the hair that didn't fall turned gray/white within a matter of months (Was only in my 30's when this happened!  Way too young for gray/white hair.), rapid large amount of weight gain within a matter of months (especially around my middle), elevated blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, GERD, glaucoma, bowel problems (alternate between constipation and diarrhea), "female problems" (irregular periods, then no periods at all, then developed ovarian cysts, then developed large fibroids and had hysterectomy), moon face and neck swollen, facial hair growth, strange hump at the back of my neck, weird looking purple marks on my stomach, breasts, hips, thighs, night sweats, heart alternates between skipping beats and rapid beating and the list of symptoms goes on and on.  On another message board it was suggested I might also be suffering from PCOS and/or Cushing's Syndrome besides Hashimoto's.  Will see my doc again in a couple of weeks and will discuss this with him.
  
I'm on Armour Thyroid.  Doc worked me up to 3 grains (180 mg) and I still had low thyroid symptoms so he upped my dosage to 4 grains (240 mg) which I understand is a very high dose.

Now I bounce between feeling hyper and hypo.  My last lab said my TSH was 0.02 which is extremely low, but doc says I'm OK and not to worry about low TSH.  Hmmm...don't know about that.
  
Anyway, the worst of it all for me is the swings between hypo and hyper and the mood swings.  I go from being very manic to being very depressive.  Love the highs, hate the lows.
  
When I'm low I'm difficult to be around.  My husband has to walk on egg shells around me when I'm at my worst.  Friends and relatives stay away from me when I'm like that.  The depression is so bad that there are days I don't want to get out of bed.  Went to doc and complained about depression and doc prescribed antidepressants.  I went online and read about the antidepressant he prescribed and I didn't like the list of possible side effects so I have not taken the antidepressant.
  
When I am experiencing my lows, I don't want to get out of bed.  Everything from my head to my toes aches.   I move very slow and talk very slow and sluggish and have a difficult time thinking clearly.  I have trouble finding the words I want to say and forming sentences.   I can't remember from one minute to the next.  My short term memory is shot when I'm in a depressive state.  In my depressive state I think very negative thoughts and I cry a lot.

When I experience the highs, I feel euphoria.  I'm so up I want to do cartwheels around the house!  I talk constantly and fast, I am antsy and can't sit still.  Can't sleep.  Can't even concentrate on TV or a book and all I want to do is get out of the house and go go go.

Does anyone else have these extreme mood swings?  I'm wondering if my very high highs and very low lows are from Hashimoto's Toxicosis or if I'm actually bipolar.

[AnastasiaG]

I know what you mean about feeling blue today.  I do too and it's not normal for me. I am always the smiling happy funny person and no one knows how to react to me these days.  

I was thinking that might be the case with the Endo dr.  but I wasn't sure. My daughter had Graves and took the Radioactive Iodine and is now full blown Hypo and she always saw an Endo and he didn't do any more than our family dr.  I think you're right - I just need to actually talk to the doctor about it instead of the nurse and just sitting idly by while they mess around with my health.  It's just so new to me and honestly, when they told me I had this, I thought it would just go away after a few months on medicine.  No one told me anything.  What little I know is from researching the internet and until I got on this site, I had no idea how horrible this disease is - I thought "no big deal, take some pills for awhile and you'll be ok."  hmm.....guess I was wrong huh!! LOL