Thyroid or Anxiety

The long and short of my story is I'm a healthy male, mid 30s, fit and who never smoked and rarely drank. I never had anxiety that I can remember except for times anyone might be anxious. The only things I know get me a little worked up are the dentist and flying, but apart from that I'm generally a leader and someone who is very social.

Cut to the present. Since about December I have been having issues with abdominal pain (usually upper around the ribs or just below), feeling like I can't get a complete and satisfying deep breathe, dry eyes and sinuses, restlessness, muscle tension or weakness, lump in my throat, hoarseness and other various symptoms.

Before October I had 2 EKGs, a lot of bloodwork, an endoscopy, 2 CT scans, an MRI, a hidiascan, a complete PFT and an ultrasound of my abdominal area. After all of that the dr said it was anxiety. I took lexapro for 16 days and I was a zombie. Add to that I didn't care about anything. I just kind of sat around and waited.

After quitting the lexapro I had read about thyroid issues and asked them to check just to rule it out, since you're supposed to anyway before you prescribe anxiety meds. To my surprise I had 2 blood tests on the same day and the thyroid levels in my blood were just a bit above normal. They then begrudgingly ordered and ultrasound and it came back and said my left lobe was mildly enlarged and the right lobe was about 10% bigger than the left so it was definitely enlarged.

My doctor, to my surprise, again said it was anxiety and did not want to refer me to an endocronoligist. After talking with another dr and 2 family members who have a thyroid issue, I demanded an appointment. My question to you is, did anyone else find these symptoms or find that the anxiety they had was associated with a later finding of thyroid issues? It seems to me with high thyroid levels and an ultrasound confirming my thyroid is enlarged, the symptoms I'm feeling could be related to the thyroid, but my dr seems to have me cast as an anxious person and is unwilling to risk being wrong.

If this is anxiety I'll do whatever I need to do to beat it. That said, if it's my thyroid I will do the same, but I want to treat the cause, not just the symptoms.

My free t4 was 1.9, I believe normal is 1.7 or 1.64
My hormone capacity was 1.4, with that range being between 0.4 and 4.0

My left lobe was 53mm which they said was mildly enlarged and right lobe was 56mm which they said was enlarged.

1.96 range of 0.27 - 4.2

Free t4 was 1.9 with range of .93 - 1.7 as normal.

Yes I did and I was surprised that the fact that they did an ultrasound finding that I do, in fact, have a lump in my throat because my thyroid is enlarged on both sides and have a family history. We also have no family history of anxiety. So not that it's not possible, but seems odd in light of those results they wouldn't refer.

Based on your Free T4 and mild thyroid enlargement enlarged thyroid, you could definitely hyperthyroid. I agree with everyone else. You should probably see an endo. When I was hyperthyroid I had some of the symptoms you described above. Also, hyperthyroidism can make you anxious.

Also, it couldn't hurt to have your antibodies checked (TSI, TPO, and Tg), especially given that others in your family have thyroid problems.

Post Edited (Jenn1202) : 11/17/2014 11:14:00 PM (GMT-7)

My anxiety was severe and sudden, and a few months later I rec'd diagnosis of subclinical hypothyroid. My TSH was 5.87. Thyroid and anxiety issues go hand in hand. Unfortunately for me, I also developed UC symptoms at the same time which remained undiagnosed/untreated for nearly 3 years. I recently switched from Levothyroxine to Armour Thyroid. Still hoping to address the thyroid issues!