Racing heart, fevered brow, and worried mind? Your condition could be more serious than anxiety, and it could be time to get your thyroid checked.
The thyroid gland, a butterfly-shaped organ in the front of your neck, produces hormones that regulate vital functions.
And when it’s out of whack, a lot of the symptoms are identical to if you were simply suffering from generalized anxiety disorder.
“The thyroid gland is part of your endocrine system, producing hormones that regulate your metabolism and affect how your body uses energy,” Dr. Kepal Patel, co-director of NYU Langone Health’s Thyroid Program and chief of the Division of Endocrine Surgery, previously told The Post.
“These hormones influence nearly every organ, impacting heart rate, body temperature, and digestion. When your thyroid isn’t working correctly, it can impact your entire body.”
Two of the most common types of thyroid disfunction are hypothyroidism — when not enough thyroid hormone is produce — and hyperthyroidism, when too much of it is.
Symptoms of hyperthyroidism, an endocrine disorder characterized by excess thyroid hormone production, include:
- Anxiety
- Irritability
- Heart palpitations
- Increased heart rate
- Tremors
- Increased sweating
- Difficulty sleeping
- Heat sensitivity
- Hot, clammy skin
- Fine, brittle hair
- Muscle weakness
- Mild to moderate weight loss without loss of appetite
- Enlarged thyroid
Because of symptom overlap, hyperthyroidism is commonly misdiagnosed as general anxiety disorder.
Recognizing and assessing thyroid function on time is critical, particularly when anxiety symptoms prove resistant to treatment.
In addition to psychological evaluation, it is recommended that patients suffering from anxiety symptoms also undergo a complete physical examination and appropriate laboratory tests to rule out thyroid issues.
Hyperthyroidism is diagnosed via thyroid blood test, Doppler ultrasound, and a thyroid uptake and scan.
The prognosis with treatment — given early detection — is excellent.
“Hyperthyroidism is often linked to Graves’ disease, another autoimmune condition that overstimulates the thyroid. Thyroid nodules, which are abnormal lumps in the thyroid, and excessive iodine can lead the thyroid to produce more hormones than necessary,” explained Patel.
Graves’ disease is the most common cause of hyperthyroidism; 60-70% of hyperthyroidism cases are due to the autoimmune condition. It affects 2% to 3% of the global population and usually appears before age 30.
Women, those with a family history of thyroid conditions, smokers, and those with other immune system conditions, such as Type 1 diabetes or rheumatoid arthritis, are at higher risk of developing Graves’ disease.
Typically, the immune system is activated when a virus or bacteria enters the body; however, for those with Graves’ disease, those threats activate the thyroid, causing the gland to overproduce thyroid hormone.
Treatment options for hyperthyroid are three-fold: Surgery to remove all or parts of the gland, anti-thyroid prescription drugs, and radioactive iodine, which the patient ingests in a capsule designed to treat the thyroid with radioactive chemicals.
A rare but life-threatening complication of hyperthyroidism is a thyroid storm, also known as accelerated hyperthyroidism or thyrotoxic crisis.
A thyroid storm is caused by a sudden and severe spike in thyroid hormones that results in fever, sweating, delirium, weakness, tremors, irregular heartbeat, severe low blood pressure, and coma.
In addition to medical intervention, hyperthyroidism can be managed by limiting stress responses and adhering to a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Dairy products and shellfish, meanwhile, are known to exacerbate symptoms.
