Understanding Graves' Disease - Symptoms

What Are the Symptoms?

The symptoms of Graves' disease include:

• Weight loss despite increased appetite.
• Faster heart rate, higher blood pressure, and increased nervousness.
• Excessive perspiration.
• Increased sensitivity to heat.
• More frequent bowel movements.
• Muscle weakness, trembling hands.
• Development of a goiter (enlargement of the thyroid gland, causing a swelling at the base of the neck).
• Bulging eyes.
• Reddish, thickened, and lumpy skin in front of the shins.
• In women, change in frequency or total cessation of menstrual periods.

Call Your Doctor If:

You are feverish, agitated, or delirious, and have a rapid pulse. You could be having a thyrotoxic crisis, in which the effects of too much thyroid hormone suddenly become life-threatening.