autoimmune (thyroid) disorders and emotional stress?

Hi, something odd happened so I'm throwing this out there just in case anyone knows.

My blood samples are inconclusive so far, but it looks like I'm latently hypothyroid, i.e. probably will develop hypothyroidism at some point. For the time being I'm keeping an eye on relevant symptoms, and hoping it takes its time.

Yesterday I was at a family gathering, and got into a stressful emotional situation. I won't go into details, but someone joked about things in my life that I'm very sensitive about. Part thoughtlessness, part ignorance, but anyway, the upshot was that I was extremely upset, but had to keep it bottled up. But as soon as I was away from the group I literally could not stop crying, all evening.

I know I can be quite easily upset, but I usually bounce back quite fast. The odd thing is that I feel terrible today. Emotionally ok, but not physically. Puffy eyes of course, but the inside of my whole head feels swollen, and basically I feel exhausted, as if I have the flu, sore skin, a little achy.

Can this be related to an autoimmune response? I could of course actually be coming down with the flu. Have any of you thyroid ladies experienced something similar?

I was going to go to a ski class tonight, but at the moment all I want to do is go be a hedgehog somewhere.

Could your tired and achy feeling be due to dehydration from the previous evening's excessive crying?

When I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism I had had several months worth of little energy. I felt wiped out most of the time and had to force myself to do anything.

I think (not backed up by research) you can have an autoimmune reaction to stress. I have these types of reactions to mostly physical (i.e. hard, hard workouts) stress and sometimes emotional. I used to always think I was getting some big illness, but now, I deal with it by upping my yoga, drinking green tea, and making sure I'm babying myself in other ways. I have always been like this, but the severity of the reaction varies over time.

I would agree, I also don't have links handy, but I'm pretty sure it's well established that the immune system is closely tied to stress hormones. I've had more asthma attacks in response to emotional stress than I have to environmental triggers.

Autoimmune disorders of any kind are certainly impacted by stress (which raises cortisol) levels, for sure. This is a problem for people without autoimmune diseases or things like asthma as well, but it is certainly harder on those who do. Here is some information from Science Daily. There is certainly more information out there that addresses the same thing. As I once had advanced Graves Disease (thyroid was removed almost 30 years ago), I've personal experience with this.

It is also good to remember that a thyroid-related autoimmune disease isn't really about the thyroid - it is really about the underlying disordered autoimmune system itself that manifested by attacking your thyroid. This never made real sense to me until after my thyroid was removed (it was no longer controllable), and 30+ years later I still have problems with autoimmune disorders. So far nothing as serious as the Graves though, for which I am deeply thankful.

Thanks for the responses, and for the link. Taking it easy tonight with tea and chocolate and cat therapy :-) I hope this is not going to be a regular reaction to stress, it's quite debilitating. Good to hear I'm not alone, though.

From my own experience, I have found that I'm more likely to cry about something when I am coming down with an illness. But also that getting upset at the onset of an asthma attack will make the attack worse. Either way, I think taking it easy is the way to go. I hope you feel better soon.

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Originally Posted by lph

Thanks for the responses, and for the link. Taking it easy tonight with tea and chocolate and cat therapy :-) I hope this is not going to be a regular reaction to stress, it's quite debilitating. Good to hear I'm not alone, though.

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Sounds like perfect recovery therapy to me :-)

I wish you well.

cat purring therapy is always good. Even with ten cats, its never an overdose. I like to relax with sweetened chai tea.

take care

Quick update: in this case - I was actually coming down with the flu. It's a week later and I'm still holed up in bed with a fever, laryngitis, my new best friend cough syrup with morphine and a very pleased cat.

That will do it! Rest up. The flu sucks.

Yuck! That will wipe you right out. Hope you get better soon!

Sending you a bowl of virtual chicken soup. Homemade of course. Feel better!

Ugh. Adding a few droppers full of virtual black elderberry extract. Feel better soon!

Glad you figured it out, though sorry you have the flu. Take care!