Anxeity please help

I am on sertraline for my anxiety, it got really bad. Anxiety is a part of graves that I wish I never had because it's debilitating. I hope you find a solution to your anxiety before you're little bundle of joy comes, congrats!

Hi Jon,

I'm no expert and there are some great ladies here who will be able to answer you better but my first thought was, why would the doc have you stop anti-thyroid meds completely? The dose should've been lowered until your levels go back up to the normal range. Stopping entirely is probably what's causing you to have anxiety because your levels are high again. 30mgs seems very high dose so I'm not surprised you went hypo. I started with 10mgs and slowly went down to 2.5. Hope this helps.

Hi Jon .....   try to stay focused ... and I know that's not easy as Graves' disease ...  makes most sufferers  very anxious and distressed at times 

When I saw my Endocrinologist  he asked how I felt ?

I said  I feel like I'm going downhill in my car at 100 miles an hour with no brakes ... and all I am doing is desperately trying to work out how to stop.

I was screaming inside with anxiety ..

I personally ,  and I know others on this site  for sure , have talked about Motherwort Bugleweed and Lemon Balm ...

they work so very well together   for calming your system 

Please google them ...  and see if you'd like to try them 

I have never had any adverse reactions to any of them  ..  I take them as tinctures ..together .

I was very ill a year ago and was astonished when I was told it was my Immune system attacking my thyroid ..ie Graves Disease ... to make a long story very short ...  I was put on Carbimazole at 20mg a day  then down to 10mg ... stayed on that for a few months  ... then 5mg and In a short time after that I was told I was Euthroid .. ie ... normal ..

Carbimazole was fine for me , worked very well...  but to wean myself  off it , so as not to go cold turkey I 

took  L Carnitine ..  

you need to Google it and find out the best way to take it for you if you decide that ...  some folk take 3,000mg  a day

I filled my body with supplements to relax and calm down my aggressive immune system...  as that was the culprit .... Not my thyroid !

I take .....

B1

b12  must be sublingual as it goes into the bloodstream not the gut first

B complex        ...

All these B vits   are for strength    as you will surely deplete  yourself of that with an over active mind and body.

D3                      look up D3 deficiency as see if you recognise Yourself 

Selenium            for immune system

Magnesium         wonderful for calming 

Potassium           to help joint and muscle pain

Copper  and Zinc

Acidophilus    ....    

I take 20 billion strength Acidophilus daily ... or more ..

this is to get to work in your gut ...  incidently where about 80% of your 

immune system is situated ...   

If you research all of these things .. you will be so much wiser and will make decisions to regain control .

get yiur bloods rested again and ask for a paper copy of the results ... then come back one here with the figures and people will give you better advice as t

what to do next ...

The best of Luck to you now and especially before your little baby arrives 

m x🌹

Last blood test was 10.4 saw my endo yesterday Dr Asa Kahn, he says anxeity and suicidal thoughts were down to graves but docs have said its anxeity disorder just so confused with different opinons i thouht i would ask other graves sufferes as you folks know first hand what it feels like. its a relief to know it is Graves and im not going mad.. my sister has thyroid roblems my brother has hashimoto and their symptoms are all different to mine. Thanks for the info so far i will definately consider the herbal options and get back to my gp and endo. thankyou all so much

Hi Jon,

There is a lot you can do to help yourself heal and the most important thing is to learn about your disease and become an empowered patient.  So I agree with advice given so far, always get a copy of your medical lab tests and reports and keep your own file on them.  Learn what the tests mean.  I have been on this Board for quite a while and I have seen patients given your dose of meds and while it helps block the excessive thyroid hormone being produced, it did not stop the disease or immune response.  So what I would want to know from my doc if I were you is "Do I have Graves disease alone or Graves disease AND Hashimoto's?".  I say that because some people swing from hyper to hypo because they have Hashimoto's which is way more sensitive to Carbimazole than patients who have purely Graves disease.  Your doc can do that by testing the Hashimoto's antibodies, TGAb and the level of inflammation with an anti-TPO test.  Usually Hashi patients have high anti-TPO.  Graves patients can also have high anti-TPO.  It is the TGAb result that will confirm this or rule it out.  And it helps when you post to this Board if you can also post your lab test results.  I agree that abruptly stopping the meds, especially at that high a dose can cause a rebound reaction of your hyper disease.  Your doc had to stop the med if you were hypo. He/she had no choice.  With this disease, especially at the beginning, you will require frequent lab tests and adjustments of your meds dose.  I found for myself that I had to lower my dosages gradually or I got a rebound effect.  I was on 10 mg and started to have improvement in my labs and my doc dropped the dose to 5 mg and after two weeks, I got symptoms again so after discussion with her, it was raised to 7.5 mg. and then decreased gradually from there in small amounts.  I am currently on 2.5 mg three times a week.  Although my doc said I could stop it altogether because my antibodies were not detectable, I am reluctant to do so from my past experience so I just reduced it from 4 days a week to 3.  Also because stress triggered by Graves in the first place and I am still in a stressful work situation.  As well, as mentioned by others, I found out I was deficient in certain amino acids, vitamins and minerals and added supplements to my treatment plan which helped.  As far as the anxiety, I once had panic attacks and what stopped them quickly was an old antidepressant called "imipramine" or brand name "Tofranil", 50 mg.  It has sedating effects.  I will email you privately some links so you can learn more about the disease.

I also have the anxiety...Mine comes and goes...seems to mostly hit me at night..along with the pounding heart beat......I'm going to try lemon balm tea....

I'm hyperthyroid/graves...