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Thyroid and depression - Anxiety and Depression Symptoms in Thyroid Disease

By: Jan & Jim Lowrance
www.jimlowsaudios.com

In the year 2002, when my husband Jim (I call him by his middle name, "Mark") was experiencing the onset of hypothyroidism from Hashimoto's Disease, some of the more concerning symptoms he had were the emotional ones. Once he was diagnosed and began treatment, this symptom eventually improved dramatically but as all of this was happening; we began to research intensely, finding out all we could about every aspect of thyroid disease and the symptoms, plus co-existing disorders that can also manifest in persons with thyroid diseases. I would like to share some of those things we learned.

According to many reputable, quality medical resources we studied on, about thyroid disease and its symptoms, we learned that in many people, the emotional symptoms are the first ones that are experienced. Many times subtle symptoms of depression and anxiety begin to be experienced and over time, these will worsen if the patient doesn't receive treatment.

Doctors will often first think a patient is experiencing emotional problems and will prescribe patients, antidepressants. Of course the person with thyroid disease is experiencing emotional problems but the root cause is thyroid disease and so treatment is needed before the emotional symptoms will have any significant improvement. There is nothing wrong with patients needing antidepressant medications but in the case of a thyroid patient, an antidepressant alone will not resolve the root-problem. On the other hand, some thyroid patients take antidepressants and other medications to help with emotional symptoms, while also being treated for their thyroid disease and there is nothing wrong with this either, since the medical condition is getting the attention that is needed.

Many of the research articles we have read, also state that the emotional symptoms of autoimmune thyroid diseases (the most common type), are not only the result of the abnormal thyroid hormone levels but also from the actual autoimmune disease process itself. Anti-Thyroid antibodies such as the TPO (anti-thyroid-peroxidase) and TG (anti-thyroglobulin) ones, when elevated, can cause anxiety and depression symptoms, even before thyroid hormone levels become abnormal. Many of these research articles, stating this, we found concluded in their studies that patients with TPO, TG and other antithyroid antibodies, will experience symptoms, such as the emotional ones we are discussing in this article, plus they may also experience joint pain and fibromyalgia type symptoms, etc... from the elevated antibody levels.

As Jim began developing hypothyroidism from autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto's), he began having serious anxiety attacks and panic attacks. Many patients experience these, just as the thyroid gland begins to fail and become hypothyroid. With Grave's Disease patients (Autoimmune-Hyperthyroidism), they too will have the anxiety symptoms but many times are continuous, until they can begin treatment to slow down the overproduction of their thyroid glands.

Jim's anxiety was intermittent and would alternate with spells of depression. Researchers describe the anxiety symptoms from autoimmune hypothyroidism, as being caused by the gland's attempts to "sputter back to life" as it begins to fail and in attempt to fight off the autoimmune attack. The actual medical term for this is "Hashitoxicosis" and patients will have it to varying degrees but usually it is a milder form, yet still causes significant anxiety symptoms.

What are these anxiety symptoms? Well, here are some of the more common symptoms of anxiety; sudden intense feelings of fear, rapid heart rate, elevated blood pressure, rapid breathing (hyperventilation), sweating, trembling, muscle tension with pain (including chest area). There can also be anxiety that is more of a constant type keyed-up feeling, called "free floating anxiety", that causes a continuous nervous feeling and being on-edge, that thyroid patients will experience. This also brings on feelings of constant, chronic worry, that they actually call "Generalized Anxiety Disorder". The more intense episodes I described would come under the heading of "anxiety attacks" and "panic attacks". These obviously are very unpleasant and there were times Jim would experience these, during the night, causing him to awaken in a cold sweat, while also experiencing the other described symptoms.

Now lets list some of the symptoms of depression, also common to thyroid disease patients. The more common ones are; feeling slowed down, inability to enjoy things, sadness, irritability, anger, feelings of hopelessness (including suicidal thoughts), feeling tired and lethargic. These symptoms of depression can commonly co-exist with anxiety or sometimes they will alternate to where a thyroid patient experiences anxiety part of the time and depression the other part of the time.

Jim was one of these patients who was suspected of having emotional problems, not being caused by an underlying medical problem. He ended up requesting his own thyroid blood tests because he suspected thyroid, even saying so, to that very first Doctor he went to. The combination of antidepressant, anti-anxiety medication and beta-blocker, that the Doctor prescribed in spite of Jim's suggestion, did not help him, in fact he became worse, until his thyroid disease was diagnosed and treated. Doctors are human and capable of mistakes like everyone else but it is situations like these, that point out the need for more education by the general public on thyroid diseases and in Doctors also being updated as well.

It is mistakenly believed by many, including some Doctors, that only hyperthyroid patients experience the anxiety symptoms, while depression is experienced by patients with hypothyroidism. While it may be true that anxiety may be more common in hyperthyroid patients, it is also commonly experienced in those with hypothyroidism.

Jim has consulted with and corresponded with many Doctors, while researching these past several years and they state having found hypothyroid patients experiencing anxiety symptoms, commonly. One of these Doctors is a Board Certified Endocrinologist and he also confirmed seeing anxiety as a common manifestation of autoimmune hypothyroidism. It is also true that hyperthyroid patients commonly experience depression.

Many times anxiety and/or depression does not have a medical cause but if a patient has other physical symptoms indicating thyroid disease, they should have blood testing to determine if that is the cause, or to rule it out because treating the symptoms alone, without treating the medical condition that is causing them, will only do so much good or possibly no good at all. In a worse case scenario, medications for anxiety and depression alone, while leaving thyroid disease untreated may actually cause the patient to become worse. Thyroid testing is not that expensive, so should be done, so that if a thyroid disorder does exist, it can be treated and the resulting effect will be improvement of the symptoms, including the emotional ones. If a patient needs addition of medications to help with emotional symptoms, this can also be considered between the Doctor and patient, at the appropriate time during the treatment process.

Remember, thyroid diseases are a major cause and possibly the most common "medical cause" of emotional symptoms!
Jan & Jim Lowrance

Please note: James approached Thyroid Talk recently to offer his knowledge and material on the subject. He has given Thyroid Talk permission to use these articles as a resource for visitors. He has also given permission to anyone who would like to contact him via email at jmjthree@sbcglobal.net

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