How can I combat reactive depression caused by overactive thyroid?

Question:

I have hyperthyroid which in turn leads to reacitve depression.
I literally feel like im loosing my mind and do really irrational things that put a strain on my long term relationship
I get very paronoid, and cry alot
what can i do (aside from go to the Gp)?

Answers:
When This Gland Goes Haywire, Watch Out
Julie Amato of Simsbury, Conn., had been a high-energy person. "I ran five to seven miles a day and was always the one to say 'Go, go, go.'"

But things changed after the birth of her first child, and Amato, 35, felt "horrible. My hands and feet were always cold. My periods were much heavier, and I had so little energy that just getting up the stairs was a major effort. I thought I was dying."

Finally she saw a doctor "who took one look at me and said, 'It's your thyroid.'" A blood test confirmed Amato was hypothyroid - her thyroid gland was underactive, producing too little thyroid hormone. With daily treatment her energy level has gradually increased."

Ann Maltz, 37, of Houston was also a new mother. "I was jittery, my hair was falling out, I wasn't sleeping and my heart seemed to be racing," she remembers. Like Amato - and many other women - Maltz blamed the stress of motherhood.

One day, while she was going downstairs, her legs slid out from under her. She was too weak to stand. From the swollen appearance of her neck, Maltz's physician suspected a thyroid problem. Tests confirmed it: Her thyroid was on fast-forward, producing too much hormone. Maltz now feels fine after treatment for hyperthyroidism.

"AFTER diabetes, thyroid disease is the most common glandular disorder," says Dr. Martin Surks, head of endocrinology at New York City's Montefiore Hospital. At least 11 million North Americans - one million of them Canadians - are being treated for thyroid conditions, usually an underactive (hypo-) or overactive (hyper-) gland.

Because some early symptoms are easily ignored or mistaken for signs of anxiety disorders or aging, millions of cases of thyroid disease remain undiagnosed. "Some patients go from doctor to doctor for years complaining of irritability, heart palpitations, difficulty concentrating, even memory problems, before they finally get help," says neuropsychologist Robert Stern, director of neurobehavioural research at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence.

Women are four times as likely as men to develop thyroid problems, probably because they're more prone to the malfunction that underlies the majority of cases. Essentially, their immune systems, failing to recognize the thyroid gland as part of the body, send antibodies to attack it.

The thyroid is a small, butterfly-shaped gland located at the base of the neck over the trachea, or windpipe. Its job is to extract iodine from blood to produce two hormones - thyroxine and triiodothyronine - that regulate the energy use of virtually every cell and organ in the body. When your thyroid becomes underactive or overactive, here's what to watch for - and do.

UNDERACTIVE glands are twice as prevalent as overactive ones. The most common cause of hypothyroidism is an autoimmune disorder called Hashimoto's disease, named for the Japanese physician who first recognized it in 1912.

In addition, five to eight percent of women develop hypothyroidism soon after giving birth. While this pregnancy-related condition is usually temporary and often doesn't require treatment, some new mothers may need to take thyroid hormone indefinitely.

Radiation therapy to the head or neck, pituitary tumours, or certain drugs, such as lithium for psychiatric ailments and the heart drug amiodarone (Cordarone), can also lead to hypothyroidism.

Whatever the cause, an underactive thyroid leaves the body running in slow motion. Changes may include fatigue, feeling cold, diminished concentration and memory, and weight gain.

In time the symptoms become worse: dry skin and brittle nails, constipation, muscle aches or cramps, slow heart rate and, in women, longer menstrual periods with heavier flow. Because the disease brings about irregular ovulation, untreated women may have trouble conceiving and have a higher-than-normal rate of miscarriage and premature delivery.

Depression also results from hypothyroidism. Up to 20 percent of all chronic-depression cases may be associated with low production of thyroid hormones. A University of North Carolina study found that among women with mildly decreased thyroid function, the rate of those who had suffered depression at least once in their lives was almost three times as great (56 percent versus 20 percent) as among those with normal thyroid function. Often, unfortunately, patients who are treated for depression do not first get thyroid tests.

There's no way to cure an underactive thyroid, but treatment can be as simple as a pill-a-day lifetime hormone replacement. Determining the right medication and dose, though, may require experimenting. Too much thyroid hormone increases risk of bone loss, osteoporosis and cardiac arrhythmia; too little can lead to mild high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol levels.

Sometimes treatment for an underactive thyroid may even create the symptoms of hyperthyroidism and vice versa. A San Jose, Calif., woman was told she had Hashimoto's disease, and a synthetic thyroid hormone was prescribed. "One day," she says, "my heart started racing and my head was pounding. I thought I was having a stroke." It turned out that the dose was too high and brought on symptoms of hyperthyroidism. Now that her dosage has been adjusted, she is fine.

"Even a small medication mistake may have consequences, especially if you become hypothyroid at 25 or 30 and aren't checked at least yearly to make sure the dose is right," says endocrinologist Reed Larsen, chief of the thyroid division at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital.

The main cause of an overactive gland is another autoimmune disorder, Graves' disease, named for the 19th-century Irish physician who was one of the first to describe it.

Symptoms are the flip side of hypothyroidism: rapid heartbeat, nervousness and irritability, feeling hot, muscle weakness, softening of the nails, hair loss, more frequent bowel movements, weight loss despite eating as usual, and, for women, shorter menstrual periods with lighter flow. Although some Graves' patients feel supercharged and wired, they may at the same time feel weak and wiped out.

Many people affected by hyperthyroidism also develop eye problems, including redness, irritation, dryness or swelling. For a small percentage of patients, symptoms include increased pressure on the optic nerve or tissue buildup behind the eyes, causing bulging from the sockets. "It's like having size-ten eyes in size-seven sockets," says Nancy Patterson, executive director of the U.S. National Graves' Disease Foundation.

Treating an overactive thyroid can also be tricky. There are three alternatives: radioactive iodine to disable the gland, drugs to turn off excess hormone production, or surgery to remove the thyroid, followed by hormone replacement. Most doctors recommend radioactive iodine. For about 90 percent of patients, this treatment also involves the use of thyroid hormones to bring levels back to normal.

Since Graves' disease can go into remission, a doctor may decide to try other drugs instead. In about five percent of cases, however, the medications cause side effects, including a rash, low-grade fever or joint aches.

Surgery is usually reserved for hyperthyroid patients who have a large, disfiguring goiter (enlargement of the thyroid) that is not likely to shrink with other treatment and, in some cases, for women with the condition who are either pregnant or who plan to become pregnant. Although the operation is generally safe, there's a small risk of injury to the parathyroid glands (four tiny glands adjacent to the thyroid) or vocal cords.

Blood tests can diagnose thyroid disorders. The most sensitive test measures thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), secreted by the pituitary gland. When the thyroid is underactive, TSH levels will be high; low TSH levels signal an overactive thyroid.

A proper thyroid test measures both TSH and the principal thyroid hormone, thyroxine. There are also blood tests for the antibodies found in Hashimoto's and Graves' diseases.

Unless you have a thyroid nodule - a distinct lump on an otherwise normal gland - further testing may not be necessary. Although thyroid cancer is rare (about 1,100 Canadian cases a year), a nodule might be cancerous, and for this reason a scan, sonogram or biopsy is appropriate. A history of radiation exposure, especially to the head or neck, is a primary risk factor for thyroid cancer.

Other Answers:
I think that you have to go to your GP hun. Because your depression is being caused by a physical problem its important to seek professional medical help for this. Are you on any medication for your thyroid problems? If not this may help. Good luck =)

If you know that its being caused by something and that you're not really unhappy, be strong and rise above it. Once you've faced the facts it has no power over you, find something to occupy yourself when you're a bit low and keep telling yourself 'it's okay, its just me thyroid'

Wickedness, injustice, grief, pessimism, trouble, loneliness, fear, stress, frustration, distrust, unscrupulousness, anxiety, rage, jealousy, resentment, drug addiction, immorality, gambling, prostitution, hunger, poverty, social corruption, theft, war, struggle, violence, oppression, fear of death… News about these issues appear in the newspapers and on TV every day. The popular press devotes entire pages to these subjects, while others serialise articles about their psychological and social aspects. However, our acquaintance with these feelings is not limited solely to the press; in daily life, we, too, frequently come across such problems and, more importantly, personally experience them.
People and societies endeavour to liberate themselves from the distressing experiences, disorder and repressive social structures that have prevailed over the world for long periods. We only need to glance at ancient Greece; the Great Roman Empire; Tsarist Russia, or the so-called Age of Enlightenment, and even the 20th century-a century of misery which saw two world wars and world-wide social disasters. No matter upon which century or location you concentrate your research, the picture will not be appreciably different.
If this is the case, why haven't people succeeded in solving these problems, or at least some efforts been made to remove such social diseases from society?
People have encountered these problems in all ages, yet each time they have failed to find any solutions because the methods they employed were inappropriate. They sought various solutions, tried different political systems, laid down impracticable and totalitarian rules, stirred up revolutions or subscribed to perverted ideologies, while many others preferred to adopt an indifferent attitude and merely accepted the status quo.
In our day, people are almost numbed by this way of living. They readily believe these problems to be "facts of life." They picture a society immune to these problems as being nothing short of impossible-a dream utopia. They persistently and openly express their distaste for such a way of living, yet easily embrace it, since they think they have no other alternative.
The resolution of all these problematic issues is possible only by living by the principles of the "true religion." Only when the values of true religion prevail can a pleasant and tranquil scene replace this gloomy and unfavourable picture, which is doomed to continue so long as God's limits are ignored. To put it another way, people are enslaved by these complications as long as they avoid the values of the Qur'an. Put simply, this is the "nightmare of disbelief" and the link below for this wonderful book:

http://harunyahya.net/popup/Download.php?WorkNumber=256&Format=pdf

you will find how the regulation of life by the "norms of morality" introduced by the Qur'an revealed to mankind by God will banish the "nightmare of disbelief," how pessimism, corruption and social restlessness can be eliminated from society, how the individual can surround himself with an ideal environment, what spiritual and material benefits he is likely to attain by adherence to these norms of morality are gone into in detail, and finally, that the unique alternative to all these problems is the morality of the Qur'an.
So far, many books have attempted to deal with the social and psychological problems societies face. Yet, what distinguishes this book from others is its stress on the most realistic solution. It also sincerely warns people against the troublesome future they are likely to face if they fail to resort to this solution.
We expect that every reader of conscience will grasp that peace, mutual trust and an ideal social life is attainable only by embracing the values of the Qur'an and will turn to the true religion, which is Islam.
They will then happily join the ranks of those who never suffer, mentally or physically, from any of the above-mentioned complications. Around them, there will always be an abundance of favours, comfort, love, respect, peace and confidence, and moral virtues will prevail. They will know how to earn God's approval, by observing His limits and the commandments of the Qur'an. They will thus, by having faith in God, attain His mercy and at last enter Paradise.

Useful link:

(A BRIEF ILLUSTRATED GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING ISLAM)

http://www.islam-guide.com/islam-guide.pdf

My ae-mail:
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smiling4ever333@yahoo.com
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How can I combat reactive depression caused by overactive thyroid?

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