While doing some research for my book, I stumbled upon an interesting news story regarding thyroid disease. The article was about a murder trial and the defendant’s attorneys argued that a “mismanaged thyroid disease” led to her actions on that fateful day.
Intrigued, I sought after the court transcripts for this once high profile case. A thyroid expert, a psychiatrist traveled from Florida to a small little town in Indiana to testify. His credentials were a mile long.
I was awestruck by this man. His knowledge of thyroid disease was quite impressive. Even though I’m married, the temptation to purchase a plane ticket, go track this man down, fall on one knee and ask for his hand in marriage, was so immense. It is such a rarity to hear from someone with so much knowledge about the thyroid.
Here are some of the terms he used to describe thyroid symptoms that were unfamiliar to me, but his descriptions where oh so familiar:
Hyperthyroid Psychosis – Affects approximately five to ten percent of the U.S. population each year. Changes in a person’s mood occurs prior to psychosis, they feel nervous, jittery, shaky. They feel wound tight, dysphoric. They have a sense of dread, little things set them off and they become increasingly paranoid. The psychosis state varies from person to person. It depends on what is going on with them at the time and how well their nervous system is functioning. Primarily the presentation of hyperthyroid psychosis is either an agitated, manic or schizophrenic-like state. Thoughts are hard to control and reality is somewhat distorted.
Task Performance Impairment – A decreased attention span for those who are hypo or hyper-thyroid. They are easily distractible. They don’t always think clearly, they have trouble planning ahead. Complex tasks get compromised. Things that require sequential thinking is difficult.
Pronounced Stare-Because of the stimulation of the nervous system and changes in the way the eyelids come up, people have a very intense stare that almost looks like they’re boring a hole through you. In some cases, there’s tissue that accumulates behind the eye which causes the eyes to bug out of the head a little bit.
It is amazing to come across an MD who truly understands the intricacies of thyroid diseases. It also amazes me how thyroid disease can affect a person neurologically, yet, some health care professionals understand this and some do not. Every time I go to my Endo, I try to ask as many questions as I can (knowing I’m probably going to get a non-answer)…it is almost like a game, really.
One day I saw my Endo’s physician assistant, so I decided to ask her (thinking I may get a better answer from her), “Why do you think thyroid disease causes neurological dysfunction in some people?” She looked at me as if I had two heads. She had no idea what I was talking about. After a long pause, she answered my question by singling me out, as if I was the only one she had heard of with this issue. When I explained to her that I am not the only one struggling with cognitive deficiencies due to my thyroid disease, that there are in fact thousands of people frustrated because they are being treated for their thyroid disorders and yet they still don’t feel well both mentally and physically. She responded by saying, “Well the research just isn’t there.”
Hmmm, so it looks like I have to wait for a scientific study-plan to be formulated, tests to be done on animals, then the protocol to find humans to participate in case studies, schedule tests/procedures, years of scientific data collected, tabulated, presented and accepted. Ok, so I have to wait for that… and ya just can’t take my (the patient’s) word for it now?…That makes sense.
Crazy Thyroid Lady
Don't forget to get your copy of my thyroid book Wow Your Mom Really is Crazy
Amazing I can see so many symptoms I get in that post its unreal. The Shakey, jittery, 30sec flashes of losing it. Well done for finding this. My Endo is also useless! Still we live in hope!
ReplyDeleteGreat reporting Thyroid Lady. And to 'Just Me' - I know how you feel about endos being useless. This info would just give all my doctors an excuse to shoo me away to a psychiatrist and not bother them with my silly symptoms. Maybe we can all hire a bus and go down there to FL and get fixed with a group discount. Yeah!
ReplyDeleteKat
I knew I had a problem when I drove right past my street going home from work and it didn't even phase me lol...
ReplyDelete@mzizgayle LOL I've done the same thing more than once lol have you ever gotten into the car, started driving and completely forgot where you were headed? LOL Scary thing is when I went hypo (recently) I started driving through stop signs because I forgot they were there..i've been driving the same streets for umpteen million years and I fly right through a stop sign and freak everyone in the car out..gotta love that thyroid..geez!
ReplyDelete"She looked at me as if I had two heads." I would love to have two heads, then maybe one of them would actually work
ReplyDeleteWow, this was a great article. It's good to know that there is an explanation for my symptoms...i am basically everything in task performance impairment and it makes me depressed :( and yes my endo is completely useless it's frustrating. I think i know the answer but is there any way of getting back my memory and just my ability to think clearly like a normal person?? or will it just continue to decline? I really hope not.
ReplyDeleteThis is totally me at times think I'm losing my mind and just lost my partner due to my random behaviour
ReplyDeleteRe symptoms: we have a disease it causes symptoms, i wish the Graves collective would realize this and get on with it rather than the endless Endo bashing and GP bashing. Its the harsh reality isn't it that we have this disease and theres only so much the medical community can do for us. What exactly is it we expect during a 10 minute office visit for the host of transient physical and neuropsychiatric symptoms we may/maynot experience everyday? Take another pill? Not me, i just accept the fact i have an illness and try to live well. There are several quality of life surveys on Graves that one can access online. They represent the longterm truth about what Graves can do to ones quality of life as they age. Its a harsh reality to read that a percentage of people complain of a long term loss of vitality amongst other things. “Why do you think thyroid disease causes neurological dysfunction in some people?”, isn't the answer in the fact that hormones and chemicals are part of the normal functioning of the brain? The brain is rife with t4 receptors, we have a problem in regulation. I still like the blog.
ReplyDeleteHello Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading and liking my blog. It is nice to hear from a fellow thyroid brother or sister. If I did not know any better…I suspect Mr. or Ms. Anonymous …that you’ve taken a sneak peek into my book. It is about empowering thyroid patients to take control of their own health and not continually rely on MD’s because they don’t have all the answers. In my opinion, I think the collective realizes and knows very intimately that our disease causes a myriad of symptoms. We are merely frustrated that MD’s cannot answer some basic questions about thyroid disease. Just like the answer you just gave me above. You would think a medical professional with many years of experience would know the answer to that question. I was once told by an ER doctor a symptom of thyroid disease is NOT memory loss. COME ON MAN…How can a doctor say this with confidence to a patient and be serious? I am sorry, but bashing should and will continue if doctors continue with these ignorant statements. I would much rather hear them say, I don’t know, I have no clue, we did not delve into the thyroid that much in medical school, etc., …than the condescension.
Your suspicions are wrong, i've never heard of your book. It goes without saying that MD's or specialists don't have all the answers, nobody does. Who really thinks they do? I can't speak for a physicians bedside manner, they're people, and like some people they're less than perfect, some are like all of us, and all are like some of us. They have bad days and good, lives of their own, problems of their own, disappointments of their own, medical conditions of their own. I can't for the life of me understand how a grown adult can live as many years as they do and expect something greater than the human condition from somebody just because they're in the medical profession. They're just people. I suspect the times i got less of what i wanted from a doctor or nurse it was because i just didn't know when to shut up. lol. You'll understand what i mean if you have Graves.
ReplyDeleteI was kidding, my book is not out yet. It is going to the publisher this week.
ReplyDeleteGiving erroneous medical information is definitely not a classification of poor beside manner. It means, that healthcare practitioner should choose another profession or seek additional CME’s in that specialty.
No one has all the answers to anything. But in each profession, one should know the basics, whether one is having a good or a bad day. If I don’t know the fundamentals of my job, I will either lose it or get “bashed”
Yes I have graves, it sucks…LOL
Oh you were kidding your book isn't out yet...thanks -Crazy Thyroid Lady-.
ReplyDelete