# Looking for some others who can relate



## sjmjuly (Mar 23, 2012)

Well what used to freak me out and send me to the ER, I am now convinced they are bouts of the wonderful swings between hyper & hypo. I have hashi's and have these now and then. They usually wake me up in the middle of the night, but I just had one at work. What a joyhugs4
They usually begin with an uneasy feeling and then the heart palps start. Pound, pound, pound and rapid. I get hot and kind of off balanced. At home I get a cold wash cloth and put it on my thyroid and lay down. Having an "episode" at work is a whole other experience. I usually have to take an Ativan (have a prescription for a VERY small dose for these "just in case" moments) And I sit back and "let r' ride"! 
Mine usually last anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour. Afterwards I am totally exhausted and wiped out. These come days apart and usually after I have had a string of really good days. 
Anyone else? Tell me about your attacks. I want to know I am not alone!hugs6


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## chopper (Mar 4, 2007)

I've dealt with the same exact thing for nearly 11 years now. When they first started, I didn't know what it was and thought I was seriously going to die. My heart would get up to like 170 beats per minute and I would get real shaky. After several years of them, I am used to it now and know how to ride them out without losing my mind.

Did you read my story? http://www.thyroidboards.com/hashitoxicosis

Same thing you have going on.


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## sjmjuly (Mar 23, 2012)

nasdaqphil said:


> I've dealt with the same exact thing for nearly 11 years now. When they first started, I didn't know what it was and thought I was seriously going to die. My heart would get up to like 170 beats per minute and I would get real shaky. After several years of them, I am used to it now and know how to ride them out without losing my mind.
> 
> Did you read my story? http://www.thyroidboards.com/hashitoxicosis
> 
> Same thing you have going on.


I did read your story. I could have wrote it myself! Didn't you finally get your thyroid removed? 
They are scary, but at least I know what's happening. Not that it makes it any better, but I am not running to the ER anymore. 
My mom was diagnosed with hypo at age 28 (she's now 77) by TSH test only. For years she has suffered with these episodes just like mine and I am convinced she has hashi's and doesn't know it. Stupid doctors never ran an antibody test. They even put in a pace maker for God's sake!
I am ordering a complete thyroid panel test for her and getting it done ourselves. Her doctor won't do even a Free T4! Moron. I am curious to see if she has hashi's too. My bet is that she does.


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## chopper (Mar 4, 2007)

Your mom's thyroid is probably totally dead by now after years of antibody attacks. I never did get the surgery, no. I got divorced and lost my insurance, among other dumb excuses.


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## sjmjuly (Mar 23, 2012)

Too bad that you couldn't lose the spouse and keep the insurance! :tongue0013:
I have a feeling my thyroid won't give up easy either. Being gluten free helps as the attacks are less frequent, further apart and I don't throw up like I used to. 
If I had a choice, I think I would rather have hemroids.


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## chopper (Mar 4, 2007)

Either way, they are both a pain in the neck.


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## jenny v (May 6, 2012)

I know how you feel, sjmjuly! I have those same "attacks", too, and I can never predict when they will hit, I just have to carry around my beta blockers all the time. Sometimes it will last a few hours and sometimes a few days, but I'm always left drained and exhausted. I haven't had one in a few weeks now, so I'm enjoying just being hypo and tired instead of hypo and hyper at the same time!


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

sjmjuly said:


> Too bad that you couldn't lose the spouse and keep the insurance! :tongue0013:
> I have a feeling my thyroid won't give up easy either. Being gluten free helps as the attacks are less frequent, further apart and I don't throw up like I used to.
> If I had a choice, I think I would rather have hemroids.


ROLF!!! Too funny and too true!


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## bigfoot (May 13, 2011)

Yep, looking back on things, I am starting to wonder if I was unknowingly suffering with thyroid or other endocrine issues for years. Random bouts of nervousness, almost too much energy at times, fatigue, poor exercise tolerance, anxiety / depression, night sweats, stomach constantly in upheaval, having to visit the restroom after eating, etc. -- all marked by stretches of feeling good in-between. (And I would imagine drinking a pot of coffee each morning didn't help!)

hugs6


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## Lovlkn (Dec 20, 2009)

My sister has panic attacks where her heart rate goes above what the monitor can register - she takes benzo's like candy and I believe an anti depressant.

I've been telling her for years to get the proper thyroid tests run but you just can't help some people.

Her doctor tells her her thyroid is "fine" but my sister never sees the actual labs.

I was lucky and just experienced the hyper episodes - If you can call that lucky. My surgeon diagnosed me with Hashitoxicosis based on the condition of my thyroid (completely beat up) and likely my high antibody history.


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## I DClaire (Jul 31, 2011)

I just got out of the hospital last Wednesday after what is probably going to prove to be the mother of all anxiety attacks - and I don't even have a thyroid!! For months on end I have nearly driven myself crazy trying to figure out or capture some illusive stable dose of thyroid hormone replacement to the point where I'm now somewhat of the opinion that thinking I was having a heart attack may prove to be the the best thing that could have happened to me, _in a weird sort of way!!_

Monday morning I thought I was having a heart attack - by the end of the day I was settled down, convinced by multiple tests that I wasn't.

Tuesday morning I did it again - still in the hospital. NOTHING *NOTHING *I could do on my own could so much as slow the progression of the suffocating pain I was feeling...all while hooked-up to a heart monitor. Anxiety, I'm convinced, feeds off itself - the harder I tried to reason with myself and calm myself down, the more anxious I got...then one Xanax stopped the pain in 10 minutes and I slept like a baby for hours!

My quest this week is to try my best to gain a greater understanding of whether my thyroid medication triggers the anxiety OR my personality triggers the anxiety?

When I feel like my heart is just about to beat me to death but my blood pressure and heart rate are all but perfect, what is driving that sensation? Is it medication or me?

This morning I discussed the new nasal spray Vitamin B-12 I used for the first time last Friday. The pharmacy had had to order me a bottle so I wondered was it so wildly popular that they couldn't keep it OR was I the only customer using it? I'm the only customer using it!! I believe it is dramatically improving my ordinarily dismal mood! At the best I usually feel depressed - at the worst I can barely function. The past two days I've felt wonderfully calm, focused, I haven't bitten anyone's head off, and I'm sleeping all night.

I also drug myself to Curves this morning and am going to give that a try next week. Old droopy me, always feeling like I'm carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders, noticed the kind receptionist at Curves had a noticeable thyroid scar so I asked when she'd had surgery? She had her thyroid removed 25 years ago when her daughter was an infant. She has since had surgery for Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (?) and breast cancer and still has a port buried in her chest for chemotherapy...but there she was beaming with joy, obviously happy, encouraging me and talking about returning soon to her second job as a school teacher. Needless to say I left with a lot more to think about than exercising!!

SO...that brings me back to my earlier observation that maybe the fateful trip to the ER with 200+/100 BP and a pulse so fast I couldn't breathe may prove to be one of the best things that's ever happened to me!


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## sjmjuly (Mar 23, 2012)

I DClaire said:


> I just got out of the hospital last Wednesday after what is probably going to prove to be the mother of all anxiety attacks - and I don't even have a thyroid!! For months on end I have nearly driven myself crazy trying to figure out or capture some illusive stable dose of thyroid hormone replacement to the point where I'm now somewhat of the opinion that thinking I was having a heart attack may prove to be the the best thing that could have happened to me, _in a weird sort of way!!_
> 
> Monday morning I thought I was having a heart attack - by the end of the day I was settled down, convinced by multiple tests that I wasn't.
> 
> ...


Wow. I hope you are feeling better now.
I found that if I don't take my medication (made that mistake ONCE) I get anxiety. I also find that when I am having a thyroid attack, it causes the heart palps, hot sweats and a feeling that I am out of my own body. Thank God for Ativan and cold wash cloths. I pop an Ativan, put the wash cloth on my neck and let the attack take its course. They usually last for 15 minutes to an hour. 
I really hate the way this disease makes your heart feel. I come from a long line of "heart hypochondriacs" and don't need another reason to think I am having a heart attack. :tongue0013: My Grandmother (who lived to be 90 and didn't die of a heart attack) was always thinking she was having one. Who knows? maybe she had a thyroid issue and never knew it!explode


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## chopper (Mar 4, 2007)

Maybe this advice is useless but out of all the shrink visits for anxiety before realizing I had thyroid problems, the one piece of info that ever helped me was as follows....

When you feel the anxiety coming on, think hard about what is really happening. Not what could be happening but what is REALLY happening. OMG, Im going to die, my heart is exploding. No! You are REALLY sitting in a chair, watching television. Nothing more. Have you ever died sitting in front of television? Stay in the REAL moment, not the moment you are allowing your brain to imagine. Say it out loud if you need to as the attacks come on.

WHAT IS *REALLY* HAPPENING NOW? WHAT AM I *REALLY *DOING NOW?

Most likely the answer does not include having a heart attack but will include something much less damaging and a lot more comforting - Hell, Im just watching TV. I am just standing in line at the grocery store and now I am reaching into my pocket to pull out my wallet. I am thumbing through my wallet to find a $20 bill to pay for my food.

Out of all the crazy **** I've been through with shrinks and doctors, this little tidbit above was one of the only things that ever worked for me from a shrink who specialized in anxiety disorders. Try it out as the next PA comes along and you'll be surprised how easy it is to snap yourself out of panic mode once you make your brain think about what is really going on.....and then you know you are safe.

Now, I still believe your thyroid meds play a big role in the anxiety problem to begin with but I also believe you can "talk yourself out of them" with some practice. Remember, STAY IN THE MOMENT AND ASK YOURSELF, WHAT IS REALLY ACTUALLY HAPPENING RIGHT THIS SECOND?


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## sjmjuly (Mar 23, 2012)

Good advice nasdaqphil. Sometimes it's hard though.
I know for me anyway, now that I KNOW what the hell is causing it (before I knew it was my thyroid I thought I WAS dying,,,) I just talk my self down and do whatever makes me comfortable til' it passes.


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## SickofMyThyroid (Mar 29, 2012)

I'm so glad there are other people that feel the way I do - not glad you feel that way, just glad you can relate.

I've always been a healthy,other than being tired all the time, person until January 2011 and then it's when it all changed. After finally getting a family doctor which I'd only been to twice in my life, I was diagnosed witha goiter and within days had my first of three trips to the ER in a year. The first time they told me I was having a panic attack and I thought I was going to come unglued. I've always been the strong type and could never understand people having these types of problems. My anxiety over the last year or so has been horrible, and I really do not share it with anyone.

Fast forward to June, which I finally had my thyroid removed and I was just hoping everything would go away. I'm still having anxiety - I've had the heart issues, but many times I all of sudden just feel like I'm doing to fall over, pass out, and never wake up again - it's scary, and usually I'm home alone or out somewhere with 5 little kids and it really scares me. I have no idea why it all of sudden comes on. I try to rationalize it, but at the time I can't. Then I will have days when I feel completely normal, followed by more bouts of craziness...which I like to call it. I'm getting to the point that I even hate to be in places that I'm not totally familiar with, that's when I seem to have my most trouble. I hate to even go anywhere that isn't close to a hospital...sounds crazy, I know.

Last year after I complained to my doctor about the dizziness I was having she gave me a prescription of Hydroxyzine and told me to take it whenever I started to feel the dizziness come on. I filled the prescription and right on the bottle it says to take for anxiety..hmmm...she said it's an old school drug and it's not addictive like other benzos...I've never once taken one..I'm too scared too...lol..I'm afraid that will cause me to feel worse. The anxiety I believe is also causing me to have tremors and lots of internal shakiness..or I hope that's what's causing it. Nonetheless, I'm tired of feeling like a crazy person. I've never felt so out of control in my life. I'm always the strong one taking care of everyone else, and now I feel like I can't even take care of myself.

It sucks to put it bluntly. I'm hoping that when my medicine is stablized and I'm in the ranges of where I should be, I will quit having these episodes.

It's been two days and have felt great so far...I won't get my hopes up.


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## chopper (Mar 4, 2007)

You are still only a few weeks post op, right?

It's possible you had some thyroid dumping during surgery. It happens sometimes since the doctors are literally squeezing and manipulating the gland to remove it, all the while thyroid cells and hormone can enter your system.

I'll bet those bouts are related to your levels. What are your numbers like?

Whatever you do, don't let yourself become full blown agoraphobic (afraid to go out). It's common with severe panic attacks. You learn to avoid places that trigger attacks and before you know it, your world is limited to your home. I was right there for about 3 years. I'm better now but it was brutal back then and it all started with a series of either thyroid storms or panic attacks. My free t3 was high at that time, but just slightly. As my thyroid died off over the years so have the panic attacks. I still get jittery every now and then and still get heart palps all the time but the PAs are gone.


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## CorralesNM (Nov 6, 2011)

I haven't been on these boards in a loooonnnngg time. I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's in November and the moronic doc I had told me that my thyroid could not be causing the problems I was having, and I needed to see a holistic psychiatrist. (Mind you, I see a therapist once a week, my husband's psychiatrist (he has a form of schizophrenia and needs my help sometimes) every few weeks, and my husband's psychiatrist, my therapist and my husband's therapist once a month. I'm pretty well covered on the psychological front.)
I'm not on meds for the thyroid problem (originally hypo) but a supplement, and I was overdue for labs, so I requested that my new doc run blood work for TSH and Vitamin D (mine was at 11 in January).
My TSH now is something like 0.00135 (could have that number wrong), but at any rate, I am now hyper.
Some incredibly smart contributor on this board told me back in November or December that she wasn't sure I was completely hypo and might be hyper, as well.
Turns out she was right.
The very good news of finding out I'm hyper is now knowing why my heart races at night. Normally, my heart rate is between 66 and 72. At night, even when I'm resting, it shoots up to 103. The hyper problem also explains why I sweat at night, even with the A/C on and a fan blowing right at me. Different thing in the day--I'm cold all the time.
I've always been a "think-my-way-through-it" kind of woman, and I'm discovering I can't think my way through this one. Bummer.


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