#thyroid storm

I'm not looking for sympathy. I only want to share my knowledge.

My experience started noticeably on Tuesday, July 23rd. I was at work when I became overheated and shaky. I was a bartender and was shaking to the point that I could barely handle a bottle and jigger to make a drink. Now, usually, I don't concern myself with 'little' things like that. I thought it would pass, but the shaking got worse the longer I stood behind the bar. My boss sent me home, a co-worker had to drive me.

I took a few days off, lazed about the house and barely moved from the couch. Mentally, I felt fine, but something deep in my mind said 'no'. I felt fine, but I didn't. The symptoms didn't reappear. 

I went back to work on Saturday, July 27th. Twenty minutes into my bar shift, the shaking started. Again, it began as feeling overheated until the shaking was so bad that my legs began to cramp. My heart started going ridiculously fast. I thought I was having a heart attack. 

I was taken to the hospital and by then, I couldn't walk. My legs had shaken themselves and refused to support my body. The nurses had to bring out a wheelchair for me. As soon as they slapped an ID bracelet around my wrist and took down my stuttered complaints, I was shaking so bad I was afraid I'd bite my tongue off, they whisked me straight into the ER. 

I was immediately hooked up to a tachycardia machine, leads and wires everywhere as I was stripped naked and gowned up. They had to have a nurse lift me onto the bed. Any effort for action on my part had the heart monitor signaling a possible cardiac arrest.

At the same time, I still felt mentally fine, other than being scared and confused. I didn't understand what was happening other then the fact that something was obviously very wrong.

I was admitted into the hospital for the rest of the weekend and most of the week after. My blood pressure was a consistent 190/120, my heart rate at a steady 130 at rest. It took quite a bit of time and medication to get things calmed down. I had to go through multiple tests and scans and even an ultrasound to confirm that it was my thyroid.

The prognosis? Thyroid storm. Thyroid storms are very serious issue and quickly lead to coma, heart failure or death if left untreated.

My doctor actually yelled at me for not coming to the hospital as soon as I started shaking on that Tuesday. 

So, for my followers that are actually reading this, please review the symptoms below and please, if you ever experience anything like what I described, then don't hesitate to consult a doctor/hospital. Bolded are the symptoms I experienced, all in the course of FIVE days:

Graves' Disease:

Anxiety

Irritability

Difficulty sleeping

Fatigue

Rapid or irregular heartbeat

Tremors of your hands or fingers

Increase in perspiration or warm, moist skin

Sensitivity to heat

Weight loss, despite normal eating habits

Enlargement of your thyroid gland (throat)

Change in menstrual cycles

Erectile dysfunction or reduced libido

Frequent bowel movements or diarrhea

Bulging eyes (Graves' ophthalmopathy)

Thick, red skin usually on the shins or tops of the feet

Thyroid Storm:

Irritability or grumpy

High systolic blood pressure, low diastolic blood pressure and fast heartbeat

Nausea, vomiting or diarrhea

High fever

Shock and/or delirium

Feeling confused

Feeling sleepy

Yellow skin or eyes

Symptoms of heart failure, such as breathing problems or feeling very tired