Comments on: When Anxiety isn't Anxiety

By: When Anxiety Isn't Anxiety - SoberRecovery : Alcoholism Drug Addiction Help and Information

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 17:42:24 +0000

[...] Generation Lost to the Self-Esteem Myth. His website is: Home – psychology4people Article source: When Anxiety isn't Anxiety | Anxiety and OCD Exposed .. .. __________________ NOTE: All BB quotes are from the 1st Edition of the Big Book [...]

By: drchuckelliott

drchuckelliott — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 21:42:49 +0000

@Angela,
Just saw your post, sorry. Anyway, thyroid can mess with anxiety in many complex ways. I can’t comment on any individual cases nor am I an endocrinologist. However, you are right in consulting with one! Get a second opinion if things don’t seem right to you.

By: Angela

Angela — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 20:25:55 +0000

Hello,

I have been suffering with terrible anxiety that seemed to hit me out of the blue recently. One day at work I felt really panicky, upset stomach, rapid heartbeat, shaky hands (which had been going on for at least a week or so), and just jumpy scared feeling. These anxiety symptoms went away for a few days and then I was hit with more intense anxiety, in the form of OCD/obsessional thinking anxiety. I’m still struggling with that right now – obsessively worrying about something ridiculous and irrational.

Anyway, I have been taking levothyroxine for a sudden hypothyroid diagnosis with TSH of 5.8 at the end of September. I was taking 50 mcs of the drug once a day. I got my TSH tested again in November and it was 1.-something. Then the anxiety started a week before Christmas. I had my TSH tested again and it was .77 (which is still in “normal” range). I saw an internist (not my endocrinologist) who suspected my symptoms were from too high a dose of the levothyroxine causing hyperthyroid symptoms. Oh, I forgot to add I was also noticing losing more hair than normal during this time too. So, the internist told me to either go down to 25 mcgs or go completely off the levothyroxine. I decided to just stop the medication. I’ve been off it for about two weeks now. My shaky hands are better and have gone back to normal but I’m still having high anxiety – esp these OCD thoughts. Yesterday I went back to a different internist who prescribed an anti-anxiety medication to try temporarily -Buspirone. Today is the 2nd day I’ve taken that. I think it’s helping but I just want to go back to normal without relying on anxiety meds.

Does any of this make sense? Is it possible to get this extreme anxiety and OCD obsessional thinking from being overmedicated by the levothyroxine? And, even if my TSH is .77 and “normal”??

I really hate all of this, it’s been making my life miserable. I have seen an endocrinologist for the last 2.5 years due to a benign cyst on the right side of my thyroid. Since that was discovered in 2008, my thyroid labs have always come back normal until this past Sept when it was slightly elevated. Maybe I shouldn’t have gone on the levothyroxine in the first place? Can this stuff cause my body/brain to freak out like this? Any help would be appreciated. I have a call in to my endocrinologist today to see if I can get in for an appt.

Thanks,
angela

By: Medical Conditions and Medications that Cause Anxiety | MoodSavvy.com

Medical Conditions and Medications that Cause Anxiety | MoodSavvy.com — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 12:51:48 +0000

[...] Elliott. C.H. (2009) When Anxiety Isn’t Anxiety. Psychcentral.com. Retrieved 02/01/2010 from: http://blogs.psychcentral.com/anxiety/2009/05/when-anxiety-isnt-anxiety/ [...]

By: Charles H. Elliott, Ph.D.

Charles H. Elliott, Ph.D. — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 21:57:44 +0000

@EF: Good point.

By: EF

EF — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 21:13:26 +0000

Also, psychostimulants, used to treat ADHD (Adderall, Ritalin,etc) also have the common side effect of anxiety and panic attacks. Although anxiety often goes along with having ADHD.

By: Charles H. Elliott, Ph.D.

Charles H. Elliott, Ph.D. — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:55:11 +0000

@Lannie: Keeping a diary/record of symptoms is a great way to figure out what’s going on with anxiety and panic. Sometimes people discover a certain day of the week causes problems due to certain work tasks is problematic. Other times, self monitoring reveals physical causes, medications, etc. that trigger anxiety. Thanks.

By: Lainie

Lainie — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 00:16:03 +0000

Though i know you mentioned hormonal fluxes…there is a key element: ovulation. All you need to do is try a websearch for Panic and Ovulation and you will come up with scores of commentary. I started having out of the blue panic attacks, having my first one last June. It took me keeping a symptoms diary to note that it was happening not only every four to four and a half weeks but during the time I should be ovulating. I have made a lot of dietary changes, added exercise, and cut out caffeine. It has not totally eliminated them, but they are much more manageable and predictable.

By: Charles H. Elliott, Ph.D.

Charles H. Elliott, Ph.D. — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:40:33 +0000

@Madiha mk: Ask your doctor to what extent mvp may be causing your symptoms. Your issues likely have both psychological and medical underpinnings. Check also with a therapist who has experience with anxiety and panic attacks and who is willing to stay in close touch with your doctor.

By: Madiha mk

Madiha mk — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 08:56:06 +0000

I have mild mitral valve prolapse. Then i had a series of panic attacks months later after diagnosis last december . All the while hbving had shortness of breath (air hunger) for the last two years and arithmeya last december.

Could i be experiencing mvp syndrome? Is all this possible from mild mvp? I also have intrusive thoughts, maybe ocd, with anxiety for no reason.
Any thoughts? Please help..