Personality/Behavioral problems

[candace777]

I am really not sure where to start. I have what I believe to be stress induced hyperthyroidism. I know I have the hyperthyroid but I am just stating that I believe it to be caused by the last couple of years in my life. I mention this only because I am wondering if the behavioral problems I am now experiencing are going to go away after the stress goes away.. or if my brain is always going to be like this from now on. It started during BCT while in the military. I started having hot flashes, heart palpitations, rapid heart beating in the middle of the night and so on. Well it also turned out that I was pregnant. So I just thought it was pregnancy related. That was in 2006. After the pregnancy I had a period of time where my joints just went nuts with pain.. i was tested for rheumatoid arthritis and had a positive RA factor but was told that this did not necessarily mean i had it. the symptoms continued over the next several years in and out but with no real terribleness to them. In 2008 my home was flooded, we had no insurance.. i got a divorce.. found myself in a new .. violent relationship.. and after that period of devestation was finally over I found myself not eating for literally like 20 days. I drank water because I was scared I was dying, but I did not go to the doctor because i could not even walk around my house, I had no energy. I just crawled to the bathroom when i needed to go. I lost my job of course. I just couldn't do anything. Finally after a few months I was able to start going in public again. I got another job. But i didn't put back on the weight I lost and I never got my appetite back. Then the insomnia started and the head aches increased. That is basically where I have been since this all took place however I am now beginning to see behavioral problems.
I have seen a doctor. He diagnosed me and sent me to a specialist... who happens to be of no real value to anyone in the world but himself. I have taken myself into the ER several times from anxiety attacks. They give me a couple pills and tell me to see my doctor. Like i said my doctor has been of no value (the endo). He changes his mind everytime I see him. One minute he's saying my t3 and t4 are leveling out and so we should wait another month and then the next time he sees me he says i don't have a thyroid problem. So apparently the thyroid problem is not extremely bad but just bad enough that it is causing the tests to come up a little off. So the endo does not think it is serious enough to take his time and help me. I have gone for three days without sleep. I have the worst and most bizarre thoughts going through my head.. more of an ocd thing really. Just repetitiously going over events and agonizing over why i did things over and over. I can't make my brain shut down.  I have been clearly out of control within the last six months, way out of my normal boundaries.. i am way more sexual than i ever was.. i find myself saying things to men that i would never think of before.. i am constantly in a sexually aggressive state.. i know that sounds weird but its just not normal for me and im losing a lot of respect from ppl that no me and being unable to form new friendships because of the other extremes. Im just aggressive in every way. Im easily annoyed, if i think you are doing something you shouldnt and i don't know you im just very ok with telling you all about it. And sometimes im just way off anyhow about whats going on.. i think its actually becoming a paranoid thing. so ... my doctors are not helping me. I have asked for a transfer and they said the one i will see is in another town, apparently my endo is the only one here in the city i live. I can't afford to go to that other place, and i think im going crazy.  So all i want to know is.. if this was all stress induced and I am now having thyroid problems.. lets say the thyroid goes back to normal as the stress in my life does. Because there is no way to tell how much of this is actual thyroid and how much is just natural reaction to the stuff that has been happening. But im SURE that its very exaggerated because of the thyroid issues.. so lets say the thyroid goes away by itself.. will the behavioral problems go away?? I really think Im going crazy. I can't afford to do that because I have children to raise. The sleep is really causing it to be worse.. i can't sleep at night. for some reason thats when my heart starts beating really fast. Now it doesn't beat hard every night but im in a wakened state that i cant get out of every single night. I sleep when i can during the day, but i know this is unhealthy.

Anyhow. just needed to find out if anyone else is experiencing anything like this.

thanks in advance.

Candace-

[debbie0413]

I will continue to pray for you.  The people on this forum usually answer back a lot more quickly, but this is a holiday weekend and I think they are away from their computers.

All I know is that when my daughter was in a hyper state, she was told that even though she was only 17 and had a healthy heart that she COULD have a heart attack if she exercised any more than taking a walk!  Any optional surgeries are also something to avoid as it could bring the same result.  

I am hopeful that the doc I learned about on this forum will be able to get my daughter back from this psychiatric nightmare she's been in for the last 6 months.  Also, I hope and pray that she will NOT take the electroconsulsive shock therapy.  If the new endo doc she sees tomorrow pans out like I hope she will, then she will warn my daughter that the procedure could kill her (because of all of the thyroid imbalance and possible andrenal and pituatary involvement).

Please wait for one or more of the people on this forum to answer you back with specifics about what you can do when you see a (hopefully) better doc in Denton.  They will give you really specific questions to ask so you can get an accurate diagnosis and proper treatment.  Many of the folks on this forum have gone through horrendous life threatening episodes as well as endured psychiatric labels and treatment before they researched and got themselves into knowledgable docs who often SAVED THEIR LIVES.

Oh, the people on this forum may also be able to give you hints on some mineral, vitamin, or dietary changes that might relieve your symptoms a little bit before you see the new doc.  Please keep us informed.  And, you might want to avoid your cage fighting or other exercise until you get an OK from a your new doc...

Take care, and hope you can grap a little sleep this weekend.  

[debbie0413]

My daughter was diagnosed with Grave's disease when she was 17, and I am wondering if you have the same condition.  Grave's can be diagnosed by a test (TSI, I think) that shows that you have the autoimmune condition that causes the thyroid to overproduce thyroid hormone (making your body feel like a Ferrari engine in golf cart!).

I would suggest that you at least report on this forum what city in the U.S. you are near.  Someone on this forum may be able to privately e-mail you with a suggestion of a decent endocrinologist in your area.

One thing: be very careful NOT to exercise for the time being.  If your thyroid IS still hyper (whether it is caused by Grave's or not), exercise could overtax your heart and cause a life threatening situation.

I have been on other thyroid forums, but I am learning more here than I ever have learned before.  Our situation is that our middle daughter who was diagnosed with Grave's at 17 has gone through 2 psychiatric hospitalizations in the last 6 weeks.  I was able to find out about a thyroid specialty doc in my area and she has an appt. for Tuesday morning.  We are strongly suspecting that when our daughter was treated for Grave's by having her thyroid ablated with radioiodine, her body may have developed an inability to convert the T4 Synthroid supplement into usable free T3 for the body.  We should find out about that when my daughter goes to the appt.  It may be that she cannot metabolize the usual Synthroid but that a T3 med  would work for her.  We sure hope so, because the psych. docs have her interested in electroconvulsive shock therapy.  People on this forum tell me that our daughter may not only have an imbalance in her thyroid but also adrenal fatigue, causing cortisol (the fight or flight hormone) to fluctuate wildly in her system.  Maybe something like that is happening to you as well.

I have read in a book about thyroid disorders that thyroid imbalance can sometimes contribute to people being much more overtly sexual than they normally would.  There is also something called Grave's rage, which is a sudden explosion of anger over sometimes trivial things.  It sounds like both of these things have affected you, as well as the extreme sleep deprivation.  I hope you are able to get some help from people on this forum.  You'll be in my prayers!

[kipland]

Do you have your latest lab results?  It would help to post them and the reference ranges.  Are you on thyroid meds or no?  
I do believe that stress can definitely change the way you feel as far as thyroid.  I've seen it myself both when I had my thyroid and now that's it's been removed.
My first thought is that you need to switch doctors.  It sounds like you have anxiety, but then again - thyroid levels that are out of whack can aggrevate that.