# Endo says mood problems are not related to thyroid issues



## nikkij0814 (Jul 13, 2011)

Hi all - My endocrinologist said that my low thyroid was not to blame for my random crying spells. My TSH just came back at 7.7 (HypOthyroid) ... when I have these crying spells, there is nothing wrong and nothing bothering me, only uncontrollable crying for a period of time.

He's been very helpful, and is now changing my prescription to tirosent because I absorb my meds inconsistently. Tirosent is a gelcap, so hopefully I'll absorb it better. I just can't help but think that swaying hormones will cause mood problems, (just 6 weeks ago my TSH was 0.23, hyPERthyroid) but I don't want to have my blinders on with this thyroid problem, thinking there is nothing else wrong if there is ...

All I can say is UGH.


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

nikkij0814 said:


> Hi all - My endocrinologist said that my low thyroid was not to blame for my random crying spells. My TSH just came back at 7.7 (HypOthyroid) ... when I have these crying spells, there is nothing wrong and nothing bothering me, only uncontrollable crying for a period of time.
> 
> He's been very helpful, and is now changing my prescription to tirosent because I absorb my meds inconsistently. Tirosent is a gelcap, so hopefully I'll absorb it better. I just can't help but think that swaying hormones will cause mood problems, (just 6 weeks ago my TSH was 0.23, hyPERthyroid) but I don't want to have my blinders on with this thyroid problem, thinking there is nothing else wrong if there is ...
> 
> All I can say is UGH.


Ugh is not the word.

http://www.mdlinx.com/endocrinology...963/?news_id=811&newsdt=050412&subspec_id=419

Psychiatric Manifestations of Hashimoto's Thyroiditis
http://www.drrichardhall.com/Articles/hashimoto.pdf

Psychiatric Manifestations of Hashimoto's Thyroiditis
http://www.drrichardhall.com/Articles/hashimoto.pdf

bipolar/thyroid disease
http://www.psycheducation.org/thyroid/introduction.htm

Graves', neuropsychiatric
http://www.ngdf.org/cms/modules/files/uploads/7699.PDF

hypo, psychiatric
http://www.biopsychiatry.com/hypothyroidism.htm

Have fun reading and in it's course, allow yourself to be validated. A "thump" on the head to your doctor!!!


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## bigfoot (May 13, 2011)

Your well-meaning doctor might be very friendly and knowledgable, but on this he/she is full of you-know-what. Let me tell you from personal experience, hormone fluctuations _absolutely_ do make a difference. Not just thyroid, but other hormones like testosterone / estrogen, too. And your rapid swing from a TSH of 0.23 to 7.7 should be investigated further. If this is something akin to thyrotoxicosis or perhaps Graves disease, you should get it dealt with ASAP. Try to screw around with balancing medications may actually never work if your thyroid is up one day and down the next.

Various doctors I have seen also don't necessarily "believe" all the things that the thyroid (and other hormones) can seemingly do. Let me give you an example: I had a strange rash on my inner arms for months. Nobody knew what it was, some thought it was an allergic reaction, etc. My TSH was discovered to be 6.94, I was put on levothyroxine, and *poof*, the rash was gone almost immediately. (Not to mention a host of other improvements.) No doctor could explain it, but that doesn't change that fact that it did happen. I saw it with my own two eyes and so did they. There are a lot of things that medical science just cannot explain.

Watch out for the catch-phrase "mood problem". What generally follows next is a prescription for XYZ anti-depressent or anti-anxiety medication. That's absolutely fine if you feel it's needed right now and you would like a little short-term help, but don't let them just throw prescriptions at you and rush you out the door at the end of your 15 minutes. You deserve to be properly monitored and treated. If this doctor isn't interested, I would suggest shopping elsewhere.

Another example: The well-educated doctor who caught my Hashimoto's upped my levothyroxine from 50 mcg to 75 mcg. I felt good for a few days, then started feeling awful. She then bumped it up to 100 mcg (mind you, all within a week or two), and I immediately felt even worse and went hyper. Her explanation? "You just have a mood problem".

Moral of the story: You are your own best advocate and don't believe carte blanche everything that someone with a framed degree tells you.

:anim_32:


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## CA-Lynn (Apr 29, 2010)

Conversely, not all symptoms are the result of thyroid.


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## JPGreco (Mar 2, 2012)

Only thing you can really do is rule things out by stabilizing your hormone levels. It sucks that you'll have to deal with these problems, but once your levels are stable, you'll know for sure.

Though plenty of people here KNOW that hormone fluctuation can cause mood swings.


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## nikkij0814 (Jul 13, 2011)

CA-Lynn said:


> Conversely, not all symptoms are the result of thyroid.


True ... if only I could ever get my thyroid levels stabilized in order to know what's left ...


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## CA-Lynn (Apr 29, 2010)

Have you seen a psychologist? Are you menopausal?


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## I DClaire (Jul 31, 2011)

I try my best to put on a happy face and keep going but I feel like crawling in bed and staying there. On 125 mg Armour, my test results look good but, as some of you already know, the day after receiving that good news I was admitted to the ER with what initially appeared to be heart problems. A multitude of heart tests, including a heart CAT scan, indicated my heart was fine.

Then, a week ago, I started having debilitating nausea and stomach pain. I just got the results of blood tests on Monday - everything is normal. I'm to have a gallbladder ultrasound next Tuesday. Monday the doctor prescribed Cymbalta.

I have been so sick with Cymbalta that I couldn't even get online. My vision was so goofy - I felt like my eyes were dilated, light sensitive and blurry. I could not stop sweating. I was so weak I couldn't get to the bathroom without help.

I REALLY am beginning to suspect something more is going on here than just anxiety/panic attacks, etc. I cannot help believing Armour and/or the surgery or something related to my thyroid is involved. I was looking at my previous thyroid tests and notes this morning - I was taken off Synthroid because of anxiety so bad I'd feel like I couldn't breathe. I went to the ER mid-July because I woke up early one morning and thought I could not breathe. On Synthroid, I was nauseated. On Armour, I'm painfully nauseated. It just seems like there might be some correlation.

I cannot recall anything making me feel any worse than 4 days on Cymbalta. My psychiatrist nearly killed me insisting I stay on Welbutrin even though I thought it was making me much worse.

I'm getting beyond worried - everytime I think things are stabilizing, the bottom falls out. Nikki, for whatever it's worth, you're not the only one having unprovoked spells of crying. I can feel relatively happy, calm and be thinking about something I'm interested in doing one minute and the next minute feel a depth of sadness, futility and depression beyond words...then cry until my eyes hurt. I would give everything I own for answers and some peace and happiness.


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## bigfoot (May 13, 2011)

IDC -- yuck, that does not sound like fun whatsoever. I hope today is a better day for you! Some drugs just aren't a good match for some people. Perhaps Cymbalta is one of those in your case.


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## bigfoot (May 13, 2011)

CA-Lynn said:


> Conversely, not all symptoms are the result of thyroid.


Good point.


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## worriedsick (Aug 17, 2012)

I would agree with your endo to some extent. I believe the problem is when someone is diagnosed with something they end up grouping all their unrelated symptoms into one thing. I have seen people accuse night sweats, headaches, back pain and many other things on their thyroid when in fact those areas have nothing to do with the thyroid.

I agree that mood swings and depression are in fact often caused by something else, I mean in reality when someone has an issue with their thyroid, wont that in itself make them depressed? There are too many external factors that affect mood to just put blame on your thyroid, I see a lot of people with thyroid problems who seem to excuse all lack of will power on their thyroids, you have to help yourselves people! In my research I have seen far too many people thinking that this special little pill is the end all be all to all their life problems.

There are specific scientific symptoms of the effects of low thyroid hormones, some depression can be attributed to it but I feel people are far too easy to blame it on their thyroid, depression is common and I personally feel almost all people will experience bouts of it during their life.

Have you made your best personal effort to find the triggers and deal with them? I find that for whatever reason I am usually anxious in the mornings, I have found that putting happy music on my alarm clock and other variables have greatly helped me overcome these issues. Also as everyone knows, all women can go through raging mood swings because of their hormones, I have had far too many girlfriends that will go off the wall for no reason with perfectly fine thyroids.


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## sjmjuly (Mar 23, 2012)

All I can say is that I felt absolutely wonderful until my thyroid crapped the bed! Everything went to hell and I hate the little bugger now!


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