Hashimoto's Disease, Hashi's, Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, Hypothyroid Disease, Hashitoxicosis, Panic Attacks, Panic Disorder, Anxiety Attacks, Social Anxiety, Hyperthyroid, thyroid disease, Graves Disease

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Thyroid Storm:

Ahhh, that wonderful Thyroid Storm.  As many people with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis knows, Thyroid Storm can be a very scary event.

Picture this, your Thyroid is essentially a sponge that soaks up iodine (from iodized table salt mainly) and selenium and Tyrosine (an amino acid).  Inside your Thyroid these ingredients are mixed up to form hormone.  Now I know scientifically it is a lot more complicated than that so I am giving you the abbreviated version.  You can search the net for the actual process at your leisure.  As I was saying, your Thyroid is a fat, mushy lump of cells, similar in appearance to a set of large chicken lungs or liver you would pull out of a chicken while cleaning it and getting it ready to be eaten. 

The Thyroid sits below a man's Adam's Apple and at the base of a woman's neck, right above the center of the collarbone area - almost precisely where a man would wear a bow tie.  In fact, the gland looks kind of  like a bow tie in most people.  Its got 2 main lobes on the right and the left and an isthmus (like a little island) in the middle between the two lobes (where the "bow tie knot" would go).  This mushy Thyroid, when being attacked by antibodies can swell up and feel uncomfortable.  The Thyroid does this in response to the attack, just like if you had a cut on your hand and it got infected.  The problem is that all those Thyroid cells are filled with fresh useful Thyroid hormone standing idle waiting for your body to normally release it as needed. 

Problems arise during these attacks because many of those nice fresh Thyroid cells die at once and in doing so, they release all their hormone at one time.  This sudden surge of hormone all at once can turn you to a Hyperthyroid condition, which is pretty scary.  Symptoms include fast heart rate, sweating, dizziness, insomnia, higher-than-normal blood pressure, weak feeling legs, and a host of others.  These storms usually do not last too long because your body has a fairly limited supply of "extra juice".  Once that reserve of extra hormone has been let go by the cells, your body will need to make more and the antibodies usually seem to go away for a few days after a major attack (don't ask me why).

Thyroid Storm CAN BE LIFE THREATENING and you might need to make a trip to the ER.  If you suspect Thyroid Storm as the culprit and have already been diagnosed with Thyroid Problems, tell the ER docs that it might be Thyroid Storm or else it will take them forever to diagnose you properly.  They will of course, first think you are having a heart attack once they hook you up to the machines.  They will do blood tests to make sure you are not having a heart attack.  MAKE SURE THE ER DOCS DO A MINIMUM OF A TSH, FREE T3, FREE T4 AND THYROID ANTIBODIES PANEL so you know for sure what is going on.

At the ER, they will of course, hook you up to an EKG machine to check your heart and will monitor your blood pressure and hear rate, which will be high if you are experiencing this problem.  During my last "storm" my pulse, which is normally around 82 beats per minute was over 160! and my blood pressure which is otherwise normal 124/82 was 178/118.  This is a very scary situation.  Beta Blockers, like Propranolol will help mellow you out quickly.

Some people also experience Thyroid Storm for a few weeks following Radio Active Iodine treatment to kill your Thyroid.  A lot of doctors do not tell patients that this can happen and it takes them by surprise.  If you are going to get the RAI done, be sure to ask your doc about thyroid storm and maybe get a prescription for some beta blockers just in case.