Are You Going Crazy? Or is it Just Your Darn Thyroid?

[Cort]

Interesting piece from the Thyroid Pharmacist....

Something to think about given the high rates of hypothyroidism (about 1/3rd) reported by Dr. Bateman in ME/CFS

As many thyroid symptoms are very non-specific, they are often disregarded by the medical community in the initial stages. Patients are dismissed with having depression, stress or anxiety. Thyroid patients are prescribed anti-depressants or anti-anxiety medications without consideration of thyroid function.

Medical studies have shown that up to one-third of people who fail antidepressants report feeling better once started on Cytomel® (a T3, thyroid hormone).(1) Some patients have even been hospitalized and misdiagnosed as having bipolar disorder or schizophrenia when in fact they were suffering from thyroid imbalances.

Additionally, people with bipolar disorder as well as depressive and anxiety disorders were found to have a higher prevalence of anti-thyroid antibodies.(1) To further complicate the issue, lithium, a medication used for bipolar disorder can trigger Hashimoto’s. (3)
High titer of TPO antibodies has been associated with distress, obsessive-compulsive symptoms and anxiety (1). This is likely as a result of increased amount of thyroid hormone being rushed into the bloodstream causing a transient hyperthyroidism, anyone who has experienced symptoms of hyperthyroidism can describe how terrible this feels.

People with anxiety, depression or other mood disorder should have their thyroid function checked, especially TSH, TPO Antibodies and Thyroglobulin Antibodies and TSH receptor antibodies. People with lifelong psychiatric diagnoses have been able to recover after receiving proper thyroid care (2).

http://thyroidpharmacist.com/articles/are-you-going-crazy-or-is-it-just-your-thyroid