Diagnosed Graves Disease. On Methimazole. Having Shaky, Weakness, Anxiousness And Tiredness. Cure?

Posted on Tue, 25 Jun 2013

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Tue, 25 Jun 2013 Answered on

Fri, 12 Jul 2013 Last reviewed on

Question : Hello. I was diagnosed with Graves Disease 6 years ago, went on Methimazole, had a remission, and am now back on Methimazole. My levels are finally in the "normal" range and I feel OK for the most part but on occasion (about once a week) I all of a sudden get hit with something.... I'm guessing it's like a thyroid surge? I get shaky, weak, anxious, tired, and it lasts for a day or two. Is it possible for my thyroid to produce surges or spikes of hormone even while on Methimazole?

Answered by Dr. Shehzad Topiwala (58 minutes later)

It would be most unlikely that this is occurring while on methimazole. To the best of my knowledge, there is no published literature that suggests this could be happening. Methimazole is generally fairly effective in controlling thyroid overproduction. Once the lab tests show steady normal levels of thyroid hormones and TSH, it is assumed that this is a stable condition.

However, there is a condition called pheochromocytoma (typically from a benign tumor of the adrenal glands) in which affected individuals report experiencing spells of heart racing, chest pain, shortness of breath. If you wish to be tested for this, request your doctor to check your blood for 'plasma fractionated metanephrines'. This is a good screening test to begin with.

for more information on Grave's disease, the following links may be useful:

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Shehzad Topiwala (7 minutes later)

Thank you for the information. I don't have chest pain or shortness of breath so I don't suspectpheochromocytoma, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were something wrong with my adrenal glands...... decades of anxiety could probably do that.

The symptoms I'm having are spot on to what I experience when I start going hyper: anxiety, irritability, rapid pulse, diarrhea, fatigue, extreme hunger. I have to wonder if the ingestion of aspartame would create a thyroid spike. I have always had neurological symptoms from aspartame (tics, anxiety) and I had some the other day. Does aspartame affect the thyroid?

Thanks again.

Answered by Dr. Shehzad Topiwala (6 hours later)

To the best of my knowledge, I am not aware of any published medical literature suggesting that aspartame affects the thyroid.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar