Women are more likely than men to develop thyroid disease, especially just after pregnancy and after menopause. Graves disease is an anautoimmune disease that can cause hyperthyroidism or overactive thyroid. Thyroid hormones regulate the way your body uses energy and affect almost every organ in your body, including the way your heart beats. When used at the right dose, levothyroxine can be safely taken for the rest of a person’s life. The main antithyroid drug deficiency is that the underlying hyperthyroidism often returns after the drugs have stopped.
Sometimes blood tests are not enough to diagnose and other tests are required, such as a CT scan or thyroid ultrasound. Sometimes your surgeon can remove part of your thyroid and leave the other part so that you can continue to make and release thyroid hormones. This is most likely in situations where you have a lump that causes your thyroid problem. About 75% of people who have only removed one side of the thyroid can make enough thyroid hormone after surgery without hormone replacement therapy. Hyperthyroidism means that your thyroid is too active.
This generally leads to noticeable improvements within a few weeks. Prolonged treatment can generate more energy, lower cholesterol levels and gradually lose weight. Most people with hypothyroidism will have to take thyroid hormones for the rest of their lives. Hyperthyroidism, or too much thyroid hormone in the body, accelerates bodily functions. Common symptoms of hyperthyroidism are a fast heart, nervousness, hand vibrations, anxiety, sleeping problems and an enlarged neck.
If your thyroid gland is not working properly, it can affect your entire body. If your body produces too much thyroid hormone, you can develop a condition called hyperthyroidism. If your body does not make enough thyroid hormone, it is called hypothyroidism. Both conditions are serious and must be treated Autoimmune Thyroid Disease by your healthcare provider. Testing the level of the thyroid stimulating hormone in the blood can help your doctor determine if your thyroid is overactive or inactive. Depending on the results, your doctor may do another blood test to check the levels of one or both thyroid hormones in the blood.
It often results in hypothyroidism, for which you need to take thyroid hormone medications. A blood test can shed light on the cause of your symptoms. In addition, the above mentioned symptoms, if properly diagnosed and treated, can be controlled and in most cases reversed without leaving any lasting effects. Usually, medications are given to help you with your symptoms immediately after surgery. Your body actually still has thyroid hormone that circulates throughout the body even after the thyroid gland has been removed.
However, taking extra iodine in supplements can cause your thyroid to produce too much thyroxine or triiodothyronine. You should monitor your TSH for 6 to 10 weeks after a change in the thyroxine dose. You may need to be tested more often if you are pregnant or taking medications that interfere with your body’s ability to use thyroxine. The purpose of the treatment is to get and keep your TSH within the normal range.