Graves Disease
Graves’ disease is an immune system condition that affects the thyroid gland. It causes the body to make too much thyroid hormone. That condition is called hyperthyroidism.
Thyroid hormones affect many organs in the body. So Graves’ disease symptoms also can affect those organs. Anyone can get Graves’ disease. But it’s more common in women and in people older than 30.
Treatment for Graves’ disease helps lower the amount of thyroid hormone that the body makes and eases symptoms.
Symptoms
Common symptoms of Graves’ disease include:
- Feeling nervous and irritable.
- Having a slight tremor of the hands or fingers.
- Being sensitive to heat with an increase in sweating or warm, moist skin.
- Losing weight, despite wanting to eat more.
- Having an enlarged thyroid gland, also called goiter.
- Having changes in menstrual cycles.
- Not being able to get or keep an erection, called erectile dysfunction, or having less desire for sex.
- Having bowel movements often.
- Having bulging eyes — a condition called thyroid eye disease or Graves’ ophthalmopathy.
- Being tired.
- Having thick, discolored skin mostly on the shins or tops of the feet, called Graves’ dermopathy.
- Having fast or irregular heartbeat, called palpitations.
- Not sleeping well.