Low thyroid = anxiety = aggression
- Thread starter Sara PA
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- aggressive child
Anxiety does start the flight or fight process. If the person feels cornered (feeling - not actually is), he or she can be aggressive.
I know in difficult child's case, we did have thyroid levels checked while trying to figure out what was going on. Levels were good.
When someone doesn't feel well, that could bring on anxiety. So, I don't know if low thyroid would mean anxiety but it could and I do think anxiety can mean aggression but not always. My difficult child is not aggressive but that could be because he may tend to be more in flight instead of fight mode?
I don't know - very interesting theory.
I know in difficult child's case, we did have thyroid levels checked while trying to figure out what was going on. Levels were good.
When someone doesn't feel well, that could bring on anxiety. So, I don't know if low thyroid would mean anxiety but it could and I do think anxiety can mean aggression but not always. My difficult child is not aggressive but that could be because he may tend to be more in flight instead of fight mode?
I don't know - very interesting theory.
Do you have any more information that levels were "good"? I hope you have numbers. We should always have numbers. One reason is the numbers of what is "good" and what should be treated are now thought by some experts to be much lower than they once were. (Keep in mind that low numbers = high thyroid)
I feel best when my thyroid levels border hyperthyroid. Even though I keep them there, I have absolutely no symptoms of hyperthyroidism.
I feel best when my thyroid levels border hyperthyroid. Even though I keep them there, I have absolutely no symptoms of hyperthyroidism.
They told me - I don't remember the actual numbers but am sure I can have a nurse look them up for me. They were well within normal - not close to any border line.
He has a medication check mid Sept and I will ask for more blood tests to see any changes from last year's tests.
I will ask for the numbers again to do more research.
Thanks for the heads up!
He has a medication check mid Sept and I will ask for more blood tests to see any changes from last year's tests.
I will ask for the numbers again to do more research.
Thanks for the heads up!
Calgon_Take_Me_Away
New Member
We did thyroid testing last summer before changing medications ~ I have a friend whose son was diagnosed ADHD but turned out it was thyroid and he had it removed last winter. I don't have the numbers, but the nurse said the results were wonderful.
Somewhere there's a checklist online of what should be looked at before medications .... I'll see if I can find it and post the link. One of them was thyroid.
The same day we did thyroid, we also did food allergies ~ the only thing that came back minutely positive (but not positive enough to call it an allergy) were egg yolks. His environmental allergies are everything year round (he'd do better in a bubble lol).
Somewhere there's a checklist online of what should be looked at before medications .... I'll see if I can find it and post the link. One of them was thyroid.
The same day we did thyroid, we also did food allergies ~ the only thing that came back minutely positive (but not positive enough to call it an allergy) were egg yolks. His environmental allergies are everything year round (he'd do better in a bubble lol).
mom_to_3
Active Member
I too am hypothyroid and am treated with synthroid. I feel best when my lab #'s are close to 1.o or less. One of the first symptoms I notice when my labs are higher than 1.0 is anxiety and then depressive symptoms. I just had my labs done and was at 2.1 (normal range .5 -5.0) and had these symptoms.
My difficult child just turned 16. He was 8 when we first considered medication for BiPolar (BP). Before prescribing medications the psychiatrist ordered a bunch of labs including thyroid. At that time my son's TSH was, I think, around 7-8. Before agreeing to medications we saw a pediatric endocrinologist who said that all she would do was monitor his thyroid but with no treatment at that time. A second opinion yielded the same. I wasnt satisfied; there are so many people on either side of our family with thyroid issues and they are the ones who seem to have issues including anxiety disorders on my husbands side. I sent an e-mail to Papolos who told me there might be some merit to a thyroid connection and told me I might want to contact Peter Whybrow at UCLA who is the expert on the connection between thyroid and BiPolar (BP) (by the way, Whybrow wrote a great book called A Mood Apart that I would recommend). I contacted Dr. Whybrow who agreed that my sons thyroid issue should be treated. But I couldnt find a doctor who would treat it and we had no choice but to try medications. At some point we trialed Lithium which escalated the thyroid issue to the point that the endo did prescribe thyroid medications. Ive always felt that they helped.
About 4.5 years ago my son participated in an MRI study and as part of the study he had a short neurological exam by a pedi neurologist named Martha Herbert who is an autism researcher (my son does not have an Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)). I had an interesting conversation with Dr. Herbert and asked if she would see my son as a patient and she agreed. With the help of Dr. Herbert, and later a doctor she suggested, we lowered my sons medications and added supplements. We have continued to lower medications over the years and he is now psychiatric medication free but takes a bunch of supplements and thyroid medications. He has not had a serious rage in 4 years. He is actually absolutely stable and has been these past 4 years except for several months 3 years ago when the endo lowered thyroid medications against my wishes (coincidence?) because his TSH had gone below 1.0 (but above the .3 which is now considered the lowest normal value). She refused to increase the thyroid medication to prior levels despite my sons deep depression so we shopped for a new endo and found one who treats the thyroid issue aggressively. We have had no behavioral or mood issues since.
Im sure some people reading this will not believe that a truly BiPolar (BP) person can find stability with thyroid medications and supplements alone and will insist that my son was never BiPolar (BP). But when he was younger he was diagnosed BPI by at least 4 psychiatrists. He had classic symptoms of what is now being considered EOBD. He was removed from public school in 3rd grade after injuring a teacher. His rages lasted hours and people would get hurt and precious belongings would be destroyed. Teachers in his new school were also injured. I will be forever grateful to Dr. Herbert and other doctors who have been willing to think outside-the-box for my son. His future looks bright.
About 4.5 years ago my son participated in an MRI study and as part of the study he had a short neurological exam by a pedi neurologist named Martha Herbert who is an autism researcher (my son does not have an Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)). I had an interesting conversation with Dr. Herbert and asked if she would see my son as a patient and she agreed. With the help of Dr. Herbert, and later a doctor she suggested, we lowered my sons medications and added supplements. We have continued to lower medications over the years and he is now psychiatric medication free but takes a bunch of supplements and thyroid medications. He has not had a serious rage in 4 years. He is actually absolutely stable and has been these past 4 years except for several months 3 years ago when the endo lowered thyroid medications against my wishes (coincidence?) because his TSH had gone below 1.0 (but above the .3 which is now considered the lowest normal value). She refused to increase the thyroid medication to prior levels despite my sons deep depression so we shopped for a new endo and found one who treats the thyroid issue aggressively. We have had no behavioral or mood issues since.
Im sure some people reading this will not believe that a truly BiPolar (BP) person can find stability with thyroid medications and supplements alone and will insist that my son was never BiPolar (BP). But when he was younger he was diagnosed BPI by at least 4 psychiatrists. He had classic symptoms of what is now being considered EOBD. He was removed from public school in 3rd grade after injuring a teacher. His rages lasted hours and people would get hurt and precious belongings would be destroyed. Teachers in his new school were also injured. I will be forever grateful to Dr. Herbert and other doctors who have been willing to think outside-the-box for my son. His future looks bright.
I've learned to take my thyroid medication after I have my blood level taken. Doctors really don't get how much better some of us feel when the levels are close to that .3 end of the range. Or maybe I should say how much worse we feel and function when it isn't.
I don't feel "better", I feel normal at .2.
I don't feel "better", I feel normal at .2.
I find that pediatric endos, in particular, are very conservative when it comes to treating borderline hypothyroid in kids. I don't know why that is because of the two I first consulted, neither gave me a good answer to why they wouldn't treat a TSH of 7-8. Our psychiatrist at the time agreed that it should be treated in light of the mood disorder but HE wouldn't prescribe thyroid medications either. The doctor that prescribes my son's thyroid medications now is not an endo at all, more of an integrative medicine guy who happened to write a book on thyroid...
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Thyroid-Balance-Traditional-Alternative-Disorders/dp/1580627773/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1218463952&sr=1-1"]Amazon.com: Thyroid Balance: Traditional and Alternative Methods for Treating Thyroid Disorders: Glenn S. Rothfeld, Deborah S. Romaine: Books[/ame]
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Thyroid-Balance-Traditional-Alternative-Disorders/dp/1580627773/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1218463952&sr=1-1"]Amazon.com: Thyroid Balance: Traditional and Alternative Methods for Treating Thyroid Disorders: Glenn S. Rothfeld, Deborah S. Romaine: Books[/ame]
