Hyperactive Thyroid

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ClickMini

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Does anyone out here have to deal with overactive thyroid (hyperactive thyroid)? Wondering what you have had to do to treat this, what lifestyle changes you have had to make? Looking to get some real-life information from others with this diagnosis, and what your journey to wellness has been like.

Thanks for any feedback.
 
My daughter has hyperactive thyroid. They have her on medication for it. You know when she misses a dose of meds. She is 6yrs old weights 32 pounds.
 
I have hypo thyroid and have been on medication for a few years now. From what I understand I will have to take it the rest of my life.
 
I have hyperthyroidism and so does my mother and grandmother. My mom and I both are at the point where eating well and monitoring along with blood tests every 6 weeks are all we have to do. Of course your doctor is the one you need to talk to-he/she will know what kind of testing you need done, how frequently and whether or not you need to take medication or have your thyroid removed. Staying away from some foods like raw broccoli and celery for example are some of the things that I have had to do. other than that, there isn't much unless you take meds or get surgery. Hyperthyroidism can be very serious so monitoring it is the biggest thing.

I am 5' 9", eat approximately 5000 calories a day and I weigh 135 lbs. I get the shakes often, I shed my hair like crazy, I am constantly hungry, have anxiety and adult ADHD, and sometimes if I sit too long I feel like I need to jump up and do a hundred jumping jacks. All of those things my doctor believes are due to my thyroid. I am on no medication, but instead I opt for good ol therapy to help with my anxiety and ADHD (which I didn't develop until college).
 
My husband had hyperthyroidism. He lost a lot of weight and muscle tone, and his legs would give out on him at any time without warning. It took several trips to the doctor before they finally thought to check his thyroid!
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And then, it was a locum that thought of it and had him tested for it. They out him on meds for it, but could not get him regulated with them, so they ended up sending him for an "iodine drink" to kill of some of the thyroid, but in doing so, killed off too much, and now he is hypothyroid. At least this is easier to keep maintained. He does have to get his blood tested every 6 months still, and has had to adjust dosages up and down at times, but overall, not too bad. Just a pill a day. I too am hypothyroid...never was hyperthyroid though. I need mine checked only once a year, as mine has been easily regulated and I have not had to change prescription strengths for years.
 
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Amy

I had not been feeling well for quite some time and finally went to my Primary Care Physician in March of 2011 and was diagnosed with a hyper thyroid. He scheduled me with an appointment with and endo doctor who could not see me for a month. Too make a long story short the following week I got very sick went back to him and he got the appointment moved up a week. Got sicker. Husband finally had to call 911 and was rushed to the hospital with a diagnosis of thyroid storm.I spent a week in the hosp that time to get it regulated along with some of the other problems that it had caused. In June they did a radiation iodine treatment which kills out the thyroid which makes it go hypo thyroid and now is treatable with medication. However that is not the end of story. The untreated hyperthyroid has caused me some other issues that they have to deal with now and are working on. I lost a whole years work (had to cancel all my judging jobs send training horses home) and still have a couple of procedures that have to be done due to this. They have had to wait till the thyroid was back on track as drs feel that this thyroid issue has caused these other problems. I had a total of 3 hospital stays and am still under drs care. So far it has been 8 months. Defiiately a roller coaster ride and I would not just let it go. Hyperthyroidism can be treated with meds but I believe they is a big chance it will return. I was diagnosed as having Graves Disease. There are several different ways to deal with this and it is a long ride but hopefully I will get it all taken care of before end of this year so that I can be on track again in 2012. Please do not just let this ride as it can become very serious. The Drs at the hospital told my husband that it was a good thing he called 911 as I may not have lasted much longer. I was very sick.

Arlene
 
Thanks all, for sharing your stories. I have been in and out of the doctor for a variety of seemingly unrelated wierd things, been diagnosed with all kinds of isolated things, and for some reason no one ever seemed to think to test me for this. It has been going on for more than 20 years. The doctor that actually figured it out is a rheumatologist! Going out to web sites after hearing the diagnosis I can see that I have been having the symptoms FOREVER. I am not underweight by any means, for probably a variety of reasons including the fact that I had a complete hysterectomy 20 years ago. One of the reasons they decided that needed to happen was I was having abdominal pain and I had always had very light or missing periods. They diagnosed me with endometriosis. But now I see these are two major symptoms of the hyperthyroid, so maybe even that was unnecessary. I was only 31 years old.

I am hopeful that if I get this regulated I will start to feel better, my primary care physician does seem to think so. My appt. with the endocrinologist is a week from tomorrow.

Arlene, I am so glad you got that diagnosed and treated! How scary! I read about the thyroid storm and it is awful. I can't tell you how many doctors I have seen for a variety of reasons, and how many different things that I have been (unsuccessfully) treated for. I am now completely, utterly, amazed that no one ever thought to look into this!
 
It is one of those most commonly misdiagnosed diseases to have, but doctors are now much more familiar with it so are more likely to check now than say 10-20 years ago. My grandmother was never diagnosed until my mother was which was 5 or so years ago. She now has hypothyroidism as usually when you have hyper it eventually turns to hypo as you age. Anyway, she had a multitude of problems too and weighed 115 lbs at her heaviest and that was right before she gave birth to her third child. All of us have anemia too which goes along with hyperthyroidism and is what usually causes me malaise. Taking iron pills really really helps. I feel great, I just have strange symptoms
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watch for heart fluttering as that is the most severe symptom. Hyperthyroidism can reallly give a beating to your heart if your case is more serious or progressed. There isn't really a cure other than removal and removal results in hypothyroidism and more medication. Medicine treats, it doesn't cure it so you still have to be monitored closely in case it gets worse.

I hope your meeting with endocronologist goes well! Hyperthyroidism isn't fun to have, but understanding it and treating sure does help
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Yes it does play havoc with your heart. At my worst my heart rate was almost 200 and I was in afib. I am still being treated for heart issues and also some lung heart issues. Drs really feel this was all thyroid related. My primary care doctor did have the numbers right in that I was hyper however he did not feel that the fact that I could hold no food or liquid down was thyroid related and wasn't overly concerned with that and I became dehydrated thus causing all these other issues. I sure didn't realize either that this small little gland could cause so much havoc. Good Luck with getting this treated.
 
Yep! I have Graves Disease too. Probably had since my son was 5years old, or 15 years ago. I went to the dr because I had all the signs of thyroid disease. I think I was low first and then went high. The dr told me when I went in," all fat people think it is their thyroid" and wouldn't test for it.... hmmmm okay. Didnt have it caught until about 5 more years then It was effecting my heard and lungs. Had it killed off with the radiation about 7 years ago. And just recently got my levels balanced. I can feel when it is off, because I have anxiety attacks. But do feel much better now. I just still don't handle stressful things very well and I can't stand hot weather either... seems to bother me more than they used to.
 
What kind of numbers in your blood tests?

I have normal t3 and t4 with low tsh but all of the physical symptoms of hypo even tho the docs say hyper. Very frustrating!
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