[SHERISWEENEY]

#1060762

Hi-
I am newly diagnosed (about 1 month) not on any treatment yet, as my T4 is within normal range. However, I have been symptomatic for about the last year. Specifically, I have gained over 20 lbs. horrible fatigue, depression and anxiety and am always cold. My hair is constantly falling out also. Has anyone else been diagnosed w/ Grave’s but suffered hypo symptoms? My main concern is the weight gain… I am not hungry and am not eating a lot but I continue to gain weight. I should say that last summer when my initial TSH and T4 were hyper- I was constantly exercising 5-6 days per week- 1 hour at a time. Now I have no energy to work out and I realize that this may be why the weight is piling on. I am just so scared to be medicated to gain more weight but I can’t go on being this tired and depressed. I have no doubt that I have Graves.. antibodies are positive etc… Has anyone else had this experience ???

[Kimberly]

#1184621

Hello and welcome – Weight issues with Graves’ are very individual. Some patients do have weight gain instead of weight loss prior to diagnosis, and it’s not well understood why.

Having below normal TSH but normal T3/T4 is referred to as “subclinical hyperthyroidism”. Doctors will usually just “watch and wait” to see if T3 & T4 eventually start increasing to the point where they are outside of the normal range. However, treatment is recommended if you are having hypER symptoms (rapid heart rate, tremors, insomnia, etc.) or if you are at high risk of heart issues or osteoporosis.

I’ve heard of a few cases where patients had both Graves’ and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, which can cause levels to swing between hypo/hyper.

[SHERISWEENEY]

#1184622

Thanks for your input Kimberly! I have concluded that I am in “subclinical hyper” from all of my readings on Graves. I initially was on levothyroxine 2 years ago for being hypo, but after about a year my TSH was <0.01 and T4 was 1.97. Looking back now, I definitely was in hypER , and had even been seeing an opthamologist who could not figure out why my eyes were red and irritated for about 6 mos. I finally had an ultrasound and radioiodine uptake which showed Graves. My antibody perox ab is 288 so I'm assuming that means Graves as well, but the endo said that was consistent w/ Hashimoto's! I am so confused! I have a second opinion scheduled for September. I am hoping to get some better answers at that time. Although my symptoms and most recent blood results (TSH 0.46 and T-4 0.81) are consistent w/being subclinical.. I am scared to death of going into another hypER episode where I could not get out of bed to even get kids to school and myself to a new job. The depression and irritability were what lead me to ask my PC Dr. for a referral to an endocrinologist. Thanks for your support

[Author]

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