Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Step1
Study your eyes. Exophthalmos (bulging eyes). Patients have a stare and lid lag.
Step2
Tremors (of the hands), heat intolerance and increased sweating is often seen.
Step3
Neck swelling also called goiter (due to enlarged thyroid gland) may be seen in some patients.
Step4
Hyper pigmentation of skin can occur in severe cases.
Step5
Onycholysis (loosening of the nails from the nail bed) and softening of the nails may occur.
Step6
Hair may become thin.
Step7
Weight loss can occur despite normal or increased eating.
Step8
Common gut symptoms include: diarrhea, malabsorption, increased appetite (loss of appetite may be present in elderly) vomiting, abdominal pain and difficulty swallowing due to goiter.
Step9
Graves' Disease or Hyperthyroidism can be diagnosed at its earliest stages by a blood test called TSH. If the test is positive other tests are warranted to confirm the diagnosis.
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Comments
oxbug said
on 2/23/2008 I was diagnosed with Graves in 2002 and had my thyroid ablated with radioactive iodine. I unfortunately had to be hospitalized because I went into thyroid storm due to being misdiagnosed several times. My main complaint at the time, aside from a heart rate of 152, was that my skin itched so intensely that I would scratch until I either would bleed or bruise. It was an indescribable itch that was deep and could never be satiated! I tremor just remembering that time of my life. What is so funny is that I saw 5 doctors who all diagnosed something other than Graves, and I have a strong family history of it. My father, grandmother and great-father had it. We also think that my great-great grandmother had it and succumbed due to her symptoms at the time of her death. My doctor told me that the thyroid is a gland that interacts with every organ in your body and that people often forget