Hyperthyroidism

The thyroid is a glad located at the bottom of your neck, and controls pretty much your entire body. Well, that might be an over exaggeration, but your thyroid runs your metabolism, from your heart rate to how fast you burn calories. Essentially everything is affected by your thyroid.

Not to be confused with Hypothyroidism (when the thyroid produces less of the needed hormone), Hyperthyroidism is where the thyroid gland goes crazy and secretes too much hormone. Signs include:

• Sudden weight loss, even when your appetite and food intake remain normal or increase
• Rapid heartbeat (tachycardia) — commonly more than 100 beats a minute — irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia) or pounding of your heart (palpitations)
• Nervousness, anxiety or anxiety attacks, irritability
• Tremor — usually a fine trembling in your hands and fingers
• Sweating
• Changes in menstrual patterns
• Increased sensitivity to heat
• Changes in bowel patterns, especially more frequent bowel movements
• An enlarged thyroid gland (goiter), which may appear as a swelling at the base of your neck
• Fatigue, muscle weakness
• Difficulty sleeping

Some causes are Graves disease, an auto-immune disorder in which your body attacks your thyroid; thyroid nodules that sometimes cause the thyroid to get bigger; or your thyroid can become inflamed.

One way that you can be diagnosed is getting some blood drawn so the amount of the thyroid hormone can get tested, if your blood work comes back with your thyroid secretion increased, there are ways to find out why. One way is to get an ultrasound of your thyroid. This could show a variety of different things, including nodules or an inflamed thyroid. You could take a dose of iodine, and then tested to see how much iodine is taken up by your thyroid, too much absorbed usually indicates hypothyroidism, not enough absorbed usually indicates hyperthyroidism.

Treatment is available in many different forms, from medication to surgery. Radioactive iodine can shrink the size of the thyroid gland; anti-thyroid medications eventually prevent your thyroid from secreting more hormone than necessary; beta blockers, though they are usually used for high blood pressure, they are very helpful in controlling heart problems; and of course, surgery is an option, removing part of your thyroid.

Thyroid problems are more often found in women than men. If you are experiencing many symptoms, you may want to think about getting tested, it could considerably ease what you're going through.

Sources...if you care
mayo clinic
endocrineweb
netdoctor