Anyone have anxiety that turned out to be hyperthyroid?

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JJananii
JJananii Posts: 30 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've been having severe problems with anxiety attacks. I'm starting to believe there's something else going on, and after browsing google I saw that I do seem to have most of the symptoms for hyperthyroid. So I'm just wondering if anyone has found out their anxiety actually came from a medical condition whether hyperthyroid or even something else?

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  • JJananii
    JJananii Posts: 30 Member
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    bump?
  • caveninit
    caveninit Posts: 153 Member
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    I started having extreme anxiety in Nov. Decided to go to the doctor because I really thought I was having a heart attack or something. My blood work showed low vitamin B12 and vitamin D. I also was diagnosed with high BP. My thyroid was normal. I realized that my anxiety was triggered by acid reflux, which would make my heart rate go up and freak me out,making me more anxious. I started taking B12 and vitamin D, and started eating clean. I lowered my sodium intake to under 1600mg daily and I lowered my carb intake because I noticed that processed foods was triggering my acid reflux, which I never even realized I had. All of these changes has really helped and I haven't had an anxiety attack since. I would suggest going for blood work and talking to your doctor. I know how dibillitating anxiety can be. It's scary!
    Another thing that helps...I see a grief a therapist because I lost my teenage son 2 1/2 years ago. She taught me how to breathe deeply from my belly..she said that there has been many tests done on people with anxiety and it has been proven that many people before having a full blown attack start breathing very shallow. Try some deep breathing exercises before you feel an attack coming on. I practice the breathing many times throughout the day. Very deep belly breaths in through the nose..hold a few seconds, and exhale it all out through the mouth,
  • JJananii
    JJananii Posts: 30 Member
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    I started having extreme anxiety in Nov. Decided to go to the doctor because I really thought I was having a heart attack or something. My blood work showed low vitamin B12 and vitamin D. I also was diagnosed with high BP. My thyroid was normal. I realized that my anxiety was triggered by acid reflux, which would make my heart rate go up and freak me out,making me more anxious. I started taking B12 and vitamin D, and started eating clean. I lowered my sodium intake to under 1600mg daily and I lowered my carb intake because I noticed that processed foods was triggering my acid reflux, which I never even realized I had. All of these changes has really helped and I haven't had an anxiety attack since. I would suggest going for blood work and talking to your doctor. I know how dibillitating anxiety can be. It's scary!
    Another thing that helps...I see a grief a therapist because I lost my teenage son 2 1/2 years ago. She taught me how to breathe deeply from my belly..she said that there has been many tests done on people with anxiety and it has been proven that many people before having a full blown attack start breathing very shallow. Try some deep breathing exercises before you feel an attack coming on. I practice the breathing many times throughout the day. Very deep belly breaths in through the nose..hold a few seconds, and exhale it all out through the mouth,

    I'm so sorry about your son. I'm glad you found things to help and hope you continue to be anxiety free!

    I don't have insurance so I usually avoid doctors, but I'm getting pretty worried. I went to a clinic today just to get a thyroid panel blood test and see what that says.
  • caveninit
    caveninit Posts: 153 Member
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    Thanks for your kind words. I hope you can get to the bottom of what is causing your anxiety. Did they check your blood pressure at the clinic?
  • FatFreeFrolicking
    FatFreeFrolicking Posts: 4,252 Member
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    Anxiety can make us believe we have something medically wrong with us when we usually don't.

    I was diagnosed with severe generalized anxiety disorder and panic disorder four years ago. Having hypoglycemia exacerbates my anxiety.

    Do you live a stressful lifestyle? Have you always had problems with anxiety or is this new? When was the last time you had blood work done?
  • apearson07
    apearson07 Posts: 4 Member
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    It could be an iron deficincy? I am anemic and if I go off my iron supplement for a bit, I find that I am not feeling my normal self and anxiety, depression sets in.
  • littleburgy
    littleburgy Posts: 570 Member
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    Anxiety can be a medical condition in itself. But yeah, thyroid conditions can trigger anxiety and depression, too. The worst depression I ever experienced, my thyroid had basically died.

    In addition to a history of vitamin deficiencies like anemia, I struggle with anxiety and hypothyroidism, I'm not sure how much the two have been related in my case but the heart palpitations I'd get sometimes DIDN'T help my anxiety, that's for sure.
  • omma_to_3
    omma_to_3 Posts: 3,265 Member
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    It's worth checking. I have Hashimoto's and my thyroid can swing from hypo to hyper. Last year I had my first hyper episode and my main symptom was anxiety. I had chalked it up to extreme life stress (death of a friend and insane work) but once they adjusted my thyroid meds it went away.
  • MJ_Watson
    MJ_Watson Posts: 180 Member
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    It is possible for it to be thyroid related, yeah. I have thyroid issues, and when my anxiety got really bad, that was one of the first things my psychiatrist wanted me to check. (My levels were fine, consequently. I have BPII, and it turned out that the anxiety was a symptom of my hypomania.) But yeah, it's totally possible. It could be a lot of things, though, as evidenced by the answers on this thread. And sometimes anxiety is just that, and there is no other cause.

    I would get the thyroid levels tested, then go from there. Getting a doctor to help you figure it all out can be very helpful, by the way. My GP was useless, so maybe a psychiatrist would be better, if you can find a good one.

    Good luck to you! I know how much this all sucks. Wishing you the best!!
  • Sunbrooke
    Sunbrooke Posts: 632 Member
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    I never had any anxiety until I went on birth control. I felt like I'd just woken up from a nightmare all of the time. I actually increased my B vitamins (bc it was worth a shot). It seemed to help some, maybe because I needed energy. After about three months it went away.
  • margannmks
    margannmks Posts: 424 Member
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    My bouts with anxiety were always hormone related. B12 and magnesium are both good for nervous system. What helped me the most was i read the average anxiety attack last less than 10 min. So i would always look at the clock so id know when it might be over and for some reason id come out of on before i could remeber to check clock again. Kinda weird but worked i think it just subconsiously let me know itd be ok.
  • MellonShell
    MellonShell Posts: 20
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    December 2012 I had a few anxiety attacks but thought it was due to finals week. My blood pressure would shoot up to like 170/150 and my resting heart rate was like 90 to 120 bpm plus I had heart palpitations which really freaked me out. It was so scary. When I finally went to the doctor my thyroid was extremely high and I was diagnosed with grave's disease. Luckily, I have responded well to my meds and finally seem to have gotten some stability. But the first thing the docs did was put me on bp and anxiety meds. It's amazing how much havoc that little gland can cause!
  • VelveteenArabian
    VelveteenArabian Posts: 758 Member
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    I have anxiety issues, but it's actually tied to an abnormally high level of cortisol in my system. I'm waiting for my referral to an endocrinologist but signs are pointing that I'm hypothyroid. I thought it was generalized anxiety/depression and went on Zoloft for a while. Zoloft actually gave me panic attacks!
  • FatFreeFrolicking
    FatFreeFrolicking Posts: 4,252 Member
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    I have anxiety issues, but it's actually tied to an abnormally high level of cortisol in my system. I'm waiting for my referral to an endocrinologist but signs are pointing that I'm hypothyroid. I thought it was generalized anxiety/depression and went on Zoloft for a while. Zoloft actually gave me panic attacks!

    High levels of cortisol usually means you have something going on with your adrenal or pituitary gland.
  • VelveteenArabian
    VelveteenArabian Posts: 758 Member
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    I have anxiety issues, but it's actually tied to an abnormally high level of cortisol in my system. I'm waiting for my referral to an endocrinologist but signs are pointing that I'm hypothyroid. I thought it was generalized anxiety/depression and went on Zoloft for a while. Zoloft actually gave me panic attacks!

    High levels of cortisol usually means you have something going on with your adrenal or pituitary gland.

    ....and also sometimes comes hand in hand with hypothyroidism, though can exist on its own as adrenal fatigue and other things.

    I'm not officially diagnosed with anything yet, but I do have a mighty impressive list of symptoms.
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
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    Yes, my anxiety turned out to be a hyperthyroid episode of Hashimoto's (autoimmune thyroid disease). Other symptoms were a hand tremor, heat intolerance, drastic weight loss, severe vitamin D deficiency & blood pressure irregularities. When I became hypothyroid, I was freezing all the time & gained weight rapidly. But the anxiety remained. I took Synthroid for a year before it went away.

    I was diagnosed w/ blood tests & an ultrasound.
  • ashleyisgreat
    ashleyisgreat Posts: 586 Member
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    I'm bumping this so I can read it later. I developed panic disorder about three years ago and I recently went to a doc and had a huge list of blood tests done, and my thyroid checked out alright. I suspected it might be thyroid related but it wasn't. Luckily I have far fewer panic attacks than I did three years ago, so I can control it without meds. I was kind of hoping it would be related to something physical, though, so that I could take care of it once and for all, but luckily (?) my blood work was pretty good---except for the high blood pressure and cholesterol! But I'm working on those. :smile:
  • JJananii
    JJananii Posts: 30 Member
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    Thanks for all the replies. I really want to figure out what is going on. I have attacks that last all night and into the next day, and that's why I was wondering if something else is causing it. They are usually shorter, but happen often. The really long ones happen less often but they are starting to get more frequent. I woke up friday night after a couple hours of sleep and have been out of whack ever since. I've barely eaten anything and the scale has gone down over two pounds. This is not the way I want to lose weight.

    I don't think my lifestyle is anymore stressful than most peoples. I have three kids under 5 and that can be stressful, but I love it at the same time. My oldest was just tested by his school for autism and they said he did fit the criteria for it. That hit me hard for some reason, even though I was kind of expecting it. If it's not from some underlying issue maybe I'm just not good at managing stress, but I do try not to let things bother me and to stay positive. I don't know what else to do, stress is a part of life. I will be going to a doctor this week and probably charging a ridiculous amount of money on a credit card to try and make sure my health isn't the cause. That's going to be very stressful lol..

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