(No subject)

[Guest guest]

> I find all this info about anxiety and panic attacks very

interesting. I was

> always a high strung nervous type, even as a child... I actually

got myself sick

> over worry and still do... I am now 48, when I was in my 30s I had

my self such a mess. I had

> terrible anxiety and panic attacks. The attacks came mostly in

public places so I stayed home for two years I only went out if I

had to...I have had my thyroid checked 3 times over the past 6 years

and all the tests results showed no problems. It is only a bit over

a month ago that I tested positive for GD. I am wondering if our bad

nerves can cause our thyroids to go out of whack?

> Laurie

Dear Laurie,

We have so much in common! I wonder if we had a nervous condition

before Graves' or if it has been Graves' all along, just not

detectable until later in the disease? I am wondering! Doesn't look

like we'll ever know for sure. As for me, I had my first panic attack

at about age 4. I don't remember any others until one in 7th grade or

so. I remember high anxiety in social situations from the earliest

memories, hiding behind my mother's skirts. Perhaps they never

checked our hormones and/or maybe the tests aren't sensitive enough

to see a difference that a child might feel, children being much more

sensitive than adults. Probably for both of us, no one looked for or

expected a disease from these symptoms of anxiety. Rather a

personality trait, or defect.