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Hi! I am a 41 year old female who has been struggling with anxiety since 1999. My first ever panic attack happened when I was alone in my car one afternoon. My hands were sweaty and trembling, my top lip was paralyzed, I felt like I couldn't see to drive and had to pull over and call 911. Off the ER I went. My mom could look at me and see my top lip was paralyzed, but that was all that was different. At the ER they gave me typical neurological exams in the hallway of the ER..(It was the weekend of July 4th) and sent me on my way to follow up with my family doctor. Since my mom had a history of migraines, he said I may be having auras and sent me to a neurologist. The neurologist did bloodwork and scheduled me for a MRI. The MRI showed nothing, but the bloodwork showed hyperthyroidism. I was sent for more testing and was finally diagnosed with Graves Disease and had radioactive iodine treatment and began the long road of titration for the correct level of thyroid medication. During all this time I drove normally sometimes and other times I was scared to death. I was scared that it would happen again. I wasn't scared of going to the ER, it all boils down to having the panic attack and feeling like I am going to pass out and there is no one there to help...the fear of not being able to control what is going on. Then began social anxiety, generalized anxiety, anxiety over every different thing going on with my body...and the thyroid can cause many different issues! Over the years I have gotten better and I have back slid. I have finally gotten to the point that I can drive 17 miles each way to work, but not without effort. Over the past few weeks, things have gotten much worse. I do have a lot going on in my life. I am planning a wedding, I am having problems at work, my thyroid gets out of whack, life happens....but it has happened before. I went through some of the toughest things in my life and handled them way better than I could have ever imagined. I feel my anxiety taking over again and know that I need to fight it with all that I am, but most days it wins. I am hoping that by joining this community, you guys can give me advice on how to keep up the fight. What helps you? What medicine works best with the least amount of side effects? I am on Celexa and I will admit that I had missed some doses. I also take Klonopin and rely on that daily. I have been so exhausted, anxious, dizzy, all of the normal things that go along with anxiety and I am looking for any ideas that I or my doctors haven't thought about. I'm ready to take my life back! I have an appointment with my therapist and my psychiatrist week after next! Thanks for letting me take this time to vent and I welcome any and all suggestions while I peruse the past posts!

Hi All, On Monday I had my annual physical with blood work. 5 years ago I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism and was started on levothyroxine I took it for awhile, and my TSH levels became normal, but I did not like the way the medication made me feel (heart palpitations, couldn't sit still, etc.) so I stopped taking it. Fast forward to last March I had another physical done and my TSH levels were ~10, with normal T3 and T4. I was prescribed levothyroxine, which I once again took for a month or so, but stopped it again. This most recent blood work showed my TSH at 3.8 and normal T3 and T4. I am baffled how I have been diagnosed with hypothyroidism multiple times over the past 5 years, but all of a sudden all my levels are in normal range without medication. My concern is that there is something seriously wrong with me. Why would my TSH and all other levels be normal if I have not taken any medication for 6+ months? I have read and been told that stress could affect TSH. I went through a very bad HA experience for roughly 3 weeks in late December and early January during a rectal bleed scare. My stress level went down after my colonoscopy on 1/9, but I do believe I was still somewhat stressed waiting for the results of the biopsy (which I received last Friday). Anyways, I haven't been experiencing any hypo symptoms, and actually feel good. Anyways, for those who have thyroid issues or understand TSH, could my previous stressful episode still have altered my TSH levels even though the blood test was taken weeks later after the most stressful period? I did lose weight during my HA episode, and am wondering if that may be due to my body metabolizing at a faster rate which would indicate more hyperthyroidism symptoms. Anyways, I look forward to your responses! Thanks! -Jim

Hello My name is Jeannie. I'm a new member. I'm looking for advice and hopefully meet others willing to share experiences with hyperthyroidism and radioactive iodine treatment. I've been hypothyroid for years, stopped taking armour thyroid last year as my TSH was low. (in suppression which my endo wanted but PCP didn't like) End result, I'm now hyperthyroid. Contacting an endo but meantime PCP wants radioactive uptake test to diagnose reason for overactive thyroid. (I have nodules which seem to be shrinking). I will most likely need antithyroid meds or radioactive iodine ablation or surgery to correct this. Needless to say, I'm not happy about the side effects of any and hope someone can offer insight. Thank you :-) Jeannie