Hashimotos and thyroid eye disease
Hi. I'm new here so bear with me if I mention something that is covered already. I am in my 70s and have a lot of problems with my eyes. This has been going on since I was diagnosed with Hashimotos in my 50s. I don't live in the US. My eye specialist says I can't have TED because I don't have Graves' Disease and don't have upper lid retraction. I do have very inflamed eyes all the time made worse by anything at all....wind. pollen, humidity etc, and badly drooping upper lids and puffy lower lids which make me look awful as well as making it hard to concentrate. I now also have cataracts and am terrified of having surgery on painful eyes. I take Levothyroxine and have read that this can cause inflammation in the eyes, but don't know if this is true. I am now hardly able to see and trip over and bump into things which at my age is not good. Any comments would be helpful as I am after all these years at my wits end because I'm otherwise a healthy active older person. Has anyone else had eye symptoms with Hashimotos or know of the possibility. Very depressed at the moment.
Hi
, I hear how difficult things have been for you lately. I'm sorry to hear that your doctor isn't taking your concerns seriously. While it is most common for people with Graves' to develop TED, it is absolutely possible to develop TED with Hashimoto's. You can read more about it here: https://thyroideyedisease.net/living/hashimotos-thyroiditis Best, Sam S. (TED Team). Thank you very much for replying. I'm sorry for the long delay in answering. it's good to know there's somewhere to turn to when the medical profession doesn't always answer your questions.
Hi
. Just want to see how you are doing. Your frustration is certainly understandable. Have you been able to get any further feedback and answers from your doctor. If you still continue to feel unheard do not hesitate to seek another opinion. If you speak to someone about the cataracts they may be able to offer some guidance or even suggestions regarding doctors that they work with. Wishing you the best and please know that this community is here for you. Richard (Team Member)
Thank you Richard for answering. I apologise for the delay in replying. I did manage to get an appointment with the specialist optometrist but they don't seem to take into consideration that I have Hashimotos'. Perhaps it doesn't make any difference to surgery. I don't know. One question you could possibly answer for me or perhaps I could find from the community, is, whether drooping eye-lids and severe eye inflammation are considered part of thyroid eye disease. I believe Hashimotos' and drooping eyelids [ptosis] can go together....but, is this TED ? Kind Regards, Valerie, We can't offer any specific diagnosis (for your safety!) but there are many symptoms to TED! Some of which include eye bulging and issues with your eyelids. I'm not sure if that is what you are experiencing exactly but these articles dig into the symptoms a little more and maybe that will help you determine if it is so you can have that discussion with your doctor: https://thyroideyedisease.net/eyes-impact and https://thyroideyedisease.net/bulging-eyes and https://thyroideyedisease.net/eyelid-retraction Best, Sam S. (TED Team).
