MUST READ! MAJOR questions about hyperthyroidism that need answering!

Hormones
1

(6ft 19 yr old m. 60 kgs) Ok guys, just done blood test for hyper, have many of the symptoms (weight loss, anxiety, sore eyes, heart beats way to fast etc...) finally feel that I've found the reason for feeling so off the last few months, results won't be in for a week but i'm 99% sure I've got it as is my gp. I've some big questions about the condition that I'd realy apprecitate answering from people who have recieved treatment I've read alot online but it's left me quite confused. 

1. I've always been quite thin but lately looking sickly, after I get meds can i expect to gain some much needed weight gain? I'm fed up of looking at my peers who are a healthy weight and shape! Although I eat well and excerise I look pale and skinny. Can I expect to hit the 75 kg mark. Barely hitting 60kg for my age and height is really not ideal, my self confidence is fairly low!

2. I know muscle tone is depleted, it explains why I've so little tone, can i expect more muscle tone or at least start to reap some rewards of a weight programme. Also is testorone set to increase once i've set for recovery?

3. After treatment can i expect to sleep less? Although I get restless during the night, once I fall alseep I could be conked out for over 10 or 11 hours! It's really effecting more college work and if treatment aids a healthier sleep routine it would be great!

4. Alcohol tolerence; This is an interesting one, I've read a little about the relation to alcohol tolerence and hyper' and it really applies to me, sometimes I could find myself throwing up after a few beers and its really awkward and embarassing I'm missing out on getting drunk like everyone else in college cos beer makes me so sick!

5: Stamina: I really feel I am so unfit for my level of excerise lately i'll be gasping for breath after indoor soccer where as I used to be the front runner in training. Will treatment help rectify this problem/

6: Mood: After treatment can i expect to feel less anxious and more relaxed feeling really crap lately.

So thats it i know I've rambled on but I'd love to hear some responses from people on life AFTER hyper' has been treated. Is the future brighter, and if so by how much? 

2

Johnsmith that's a lot of questions and some of them are difficult to answer because though we might all have hyperthyroidism, there are also differences among us, i.e. I was overweight and menopausal at diagnosis and I did not lose any weight either before or after treatment.  I did feel better when antithyroid meds were started and it quickly normalized 2 out of 3 of my thyroid tests (my Free T3 and my Free T4) but my Thyroid Stimulating Hormone test (TSH) was very abnormal at less than 0.001 for 2 years until I started adding supplements to my treatment (vitamin D 1,000 units, L-Carnitine 3,000 mg (later changed to Acetyl-L-carnitine 1,000 mg).  It was the addition of the Acetyl-L-Carnitine especially that quickly normalized all my values and in fact lowered by thyroid antibodies.  You could have hyperthyroidism due to an autoimmune disease like me who has Graves disease or you could have it due to thyroiditis.  There is also another autoimmune disease called Hashimoto's which also can present as either hyper or hypo.  As a new patient I would recommend that you learn all you can about your disease, always ask for a copy of your lab tests, keep your own file and learn what the values mean. 

3

Regular L-carnitine or Acetyl-L-Carnitine should help the muscle weakness.  Hyperthyroid patients lose carnitine from their muscles and vitamins and mineals from their bodies which need to be replaced.

4

HI JOHN, I KNOW IT TOOK A LONG TIME FOR ME TO RESPOND

IT'S BECAUSE I HAVE BEEN OFF THIS SITE FOR SO LONG

I THINK ONCE I DISCOVERED HOW TO MANAGE MY DISEASE

AND ONCE THE MEDS HAD TIME IN GET IN MY SYSTEM, MY BODY

STARTED TO COME BACK, MY MUSCLE TONE, MY WGT, STAMIA

WHEN THIS FIRST HAPPEN TO ME, I WAS DEVASTATED, MODIFIED

AT MY APPERANCE, EVERYONE WAS STARING AT ME, AND WONDERING

"WHAT THE HELL" IT STARTS OUT WITH ALL THE SYMPTONS THAT YOU DESCRIBE, AND THE WEBSITE DESCRIBES. IT WILL BE A LONG ROAD, BUT STAY WITH IT, ASK PLENTY QUESTIONS, GO TO THE WEBSITES AND LEARN AS MUCH AS YOU CAN, BECAUSE YOUR DOC WILL NOT TELL YOU EVERYTHING,SHE OR HE WILL BE SO BUSY TRYING TO FIND THE RIGHT PASSAGE OF TREATMENT....I GOT THE "RAI" RADIO ACTIVE IDONE" IT IS A PILL, I ONLY GOT THIS AFTER OTHER TREATMENTS WERE GIVEN, SUCH AS MEDS TO SLOW DOWN MY HEART PALPATATIONS, EX-RAYS ETC..... I WAS SO HYPER, MY DOC HAD NO CHOICE NUT TO GIVE ME THE RAI, IT'S BASCIALLY RADIATIONS, BUT NOT THE RADIATIONS THAT IS GIVEN TO CANCER PATIENTS, IT'S NOT THAT STRONG, SO IF THAT IS OFFERED, DON'T BE SCARED, I WAS AT FIRST, BUT I READ ABOUT IT ALOT, THE WEBSITES ABOUT HYPERTHYROID WILL INLIGHTED YOU ABOUT ANYTHING YOU DON'T KNOW OR UNDERSTAND.....RELAX ONCE YOU GET YOUR MEDS, YOU SHOULD BFE FINE, I MEAN EVERYBODY DIFFERENT, ALSO ONCE YOU ARE ON LIKE SYNROID, IT WILL MAKE YOU "HYPO" SO U WILL START GAINING PLENTY WGT, SO YOU WILL HAVE TO EXCERSISE, AND EAT HEALTHY. YOUR MEDS WILL CONTINUE TO CHANGE AS FAR AS THE DOSAGE, YOU MAY HAVE TO TAKE IT FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE, AT LEAST I DO, YOUR CASE MAY BE DIFFERENT...WELL JOHN I HOPES THIS HELPS, LET ME KNOW HOW YOU ARE DOING OH AND LEARN HOW TO READ THE BLOOD TESTS....OK TALK TO YOU LATER

CATHY

5

I have to say that I've been thin all my life even when I didn't have a thyroid issue and hypo or Hyper I don't really change much so far and I'm 50 years old! I'm sure some day it will hit me but I'm very active in the gym and eat pretty healthy ! I do cheat some though, bike a lot and other cardio exercises! My heart rate will go up and that's my cue to slow down!

I'm trying new meds now and feel pretty good right now beside the heart rate, that's scary sometimes ! Hopefully with your meds you will start feeling better!

Keep us posted !

6

You should gradually put on weight but depends on your appetite. Hopefully you will get a diagnosis soon and be on your way to feeling better. As far as drinking is concerned, you may not be allowed to on medication. I am not sure about carbimazole but if you take propylthiouracil you can't drink at all as it can cause liver damage. You don't need to get drunk to be the life and soul of uni parties.

7

I know how you are feeling John and empathise. Yes when you get the meds and are stabilised it will all get back to normal but it does take time. Take it easier on yourself while you are feeling rough and one day you will wake up and forget you have it.

8

Thanks for the replies everyone really appreciate it, will hopefully post detailed blood results when i get them back. I really don't want to end up with hypo from treatment or end up taking pills my whole life I just want to be more like a normal 19 y.o I guess. And yeah I know getting drunk isn't the be all and end all its just another thing that makes me feel left out. Has anyone got any specifics on how much weight they gained over a certain time period, I know everyones different, but it would make it more real to me.

9

We are all different so the weight increase will vary. There are worse things than having to take tablets for the rest of your life. Get better first....and you will.