This week, I was e-mailed by a lady who has hypothyroidism and she is struggling with severe anxiety from the disease that is causing her low-functioning thyroid. She wrote, asking my opinion about thyroid removal, also called thyroidectomy and if I felt this was an option for a patient with severe, unresolved anxiety symptoms from hypothyroidism. She also asked about thyroid transplantation (a good question) and if this had been researched by the medical community. Below, I'm posting my response to her on these questions, plus I provided her some links to medical research that confirms anxiety as a symptom in hypothyroid patients and that you do not have to have an overactive thyroid to experience severe anxiety but that thyroid hormone imbalance of any type can potentially cause it.

MY RESPONSE:

Yes, even thyroid disease that causes hypothyroidism can cause anxiety and anxiety disorders. There are research articles out there that plainly state this but many Doctors don't know about these and will tell their patients that their anxiety symptoms are not related to their thyroid disease. The fact is, the "autoimmune" type of hypothyroidism, called "Hashimoto's thyroiditis" and the most common cause of hypothyroidism, can cause anxiety problems. Some patients with Hashimoto's go through spells of hyperthyroidism and the medical term for this is "Hashitoxicosis" however, some patients do not have this intermittent hyperthyroid condition going on and their Hashimoto's still causes them anxiety symptoms. Even patients with "sub-clinical" hypothyroidism, experience severe anxiety states because many Doctors will not treat them at this stage of the disease and they will experience severe anxiety from the fluctuating hormones, as you described in your e-mail.

Here are just a few article-links, with my short description of what they state, that confirm anxiety problems with autoimmune hypothyroidism.

This link to an article entitles "Anxiety and Endocrine Disease", is by Richard C. W. Hall, M.D. Clinical Professor of Psychiatry University of Florida and he states in this article that in patients studied in medical research, which he has done for John Hopkins Medical University, among others, that patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis, exhibited anxiety as the initial and most prominent symptom upon diagnosis.

Here's that link, look at the 8th paragraph under the heading "Anxiety and hypothyroidism".

Click here>> www.drrichardhall.com/anxiety.htm

This next article link entitled ""A case control study on psychiatric disorders in Hashimoto disease and euthyroid goitre: not only depressive but also anxiety disorders are associated with thyroid autoimmunity", states that Hashimoto's thyroiditis or the type of thyroid autoimmunity that causes hypothyroidism, has the potential to cause "anxiety disorders" in addition to depression.

Click here>> http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1308833

These are only a couple out of many others, in fact one other I would mention, is a medical research study done by the Endocrine Society in Japan, where they conclude in their study that even sub-clinical hypothyroidism can potentially cause severe anxiety symptoms. This one is entitled "Assessment of Anxiety in Sub-clinical Thyroid Disorders".

click here>> http://sciencelinks.jp/j-east/article/200415/000020041504A0523037.php

Now, in regard to having a thyroidectomy (removal), they do opt for this surgery in hypothyroid patients but only as a last resort and only if they cannot get them to remain level on their thyroid hormone replacement medication. An important thing to be assured of, is that your Doctor is adequately treating your hypothyroidism. One way to make sure, when you are having ongoing symptom problems, is to get a second opinion. You do this by getting an appointment with a qualified Endocrinologist or Thyroid Specialist, and provide him with your blood lab results history, which will include the levels your thyroid hormones have been treated to on your medication. If the second Doctor feels you're a rare patient who cannot be adequately treated to keep your thyroid hormones level, he would then discuss with you the thyroid removal possibility. They don't have thyroid transplantation right now but could be a possibility some day.

I hope this info helps!

Sincerely,