Difficulty sleeping - Overactive Thyroid?
Posted , 3 users are following.
I am reaching out here today on behalf of my boyfriend in a desperate attempt to get some answers.
We have both been to countless doctor appointments and tests to no avail and I often feel its not being taken seriously enough.
I am no doctor, but I believe the sleep problems, I am about to go into are a symptom of a condition we don't yet know about.
To provide some background, my boyfriend is a very happy and affectionate person and we have a very close relationship, fun and laughter. However, he has these 'episodes' where i can see his persona change, sometimes, right before my very eyes. He goes from 'my' boyfriend to someone quite different, almost opposite - arms crossed, untalkative, unaffectionate, short, ill tempered and this can happen so quickly for what seems to be no apparent reason.
The symptoms are not only personality changes but physical too. When he is in this moment, his pupils are often dilated, there is an intense look on this face, hes hot, clammy, dry mouth and the most difficult change is that he is unable to settle, he almost becomes obsessive with things he would never normally bother with, i.e cleaning or a computer game and will not sleep. He can lie in bed for hours and wont be able to drop off (he's normally a very good sleeper, falling asleep as soon as his head touches the pillow!) It gets to about 6/7am and he'll finally come to bed and sleep right through to the next morning where he is magically back to normal! We both find it very hard to deal with, he always says he doesn't notice any difference in himself and remembers everything during the 'episode'. We have been tracking this now for atleast a year (although it has happened on and off for as long as i have known him for the past 5 years). At is worst, this would happen twice a week, which ended up with him losing his job.
We recently moved house into a more rural area (previous living in city centre) and we had no issues for about 3 months and it has just started to happen again recently, and it makes me so anxious that i now cant sleep at night with worry that he wont sleep all night and lose another job!
We have both tried explaining the symptoms to doctors but it never feels like its taken seriously, blood tests have been taken and all came back normal, hes had physical checks and it was noted that around his neck is slightly swollen. I've done countless google searches and wondered if this could all be a sign of an overactive thyroid, although this has been discounted by doctors. Is there anything that can be done to stop this. Hes been given sleeping tablets previously to help with that and they did not work!
I appreciate this is a long post and anyone who is read this and thinks they can relate or provide some kind of insight, it would be really nice to hear.
0 likes, 3 replies
barney34567 faye09422
Posted
The best way to tackle most problems is to eliminate what he is NOT suffering from. I suggest seeing a sleep doctor who will run a sleep study, it may be a day or a night study.
Tell the sleep expert how your BF's sleep is affected and everything else that may be relevant.
The study will show if there is or there isn't a sleeping disorder.
That will give you confidence to look deeper into the sleeping issues or to look elsewhere for an answer.
And by "elsewhere" I suggest an endocrinologist who is an expert in organs like thyroid.
barney34567 faye09422
Posted
Alternatively, you could start by seeing the endocrinologist. If that doesn't answer your BF's problem, then see the sleep doctor.
michelle70460 faye09422
Posted
Hi there. I was diagnosed with an overactive thyroid 12yrs ago & one of the symptoms i had was difficulty sleeping, weight loss (which i didnt complain about) , tremors, rapid heartbeat & very severe anxiety but i never experienced what your boyfriend is experiencing. I know that people's symptoms are different but whilst i'm not a doctor this doesn't sound like a thyroid issue to me. I would suggest you keep pursueing it with your doctor until you get the answers you are looking for. Depression can be a symptom of thyroid problems but your boyfriends problem sounds somewhat different to a standard thyroid problem. Good luck.