The short explanation
Treat this as an emergency and call 112 or take her to the nearest emergency department now. In someone with an overactive thyroid, especially after stopping treatment, high fever with a very fast heartbeat and vomiting can be signs of a severe flare called thyroid storm. It is uncommon but serious, and it needs hospital treatment quickly. Do not wait for a routine appointment or try to restart her medicines at home and watch. Emergency teams can check her heart, thyroid levels and fluids and start treatment.
What depends on your situation
The parts of this that change from woman to woman. Uncertainty is stated, not hidden.
- Thyroid storm can be triggered by stopping medicine, an infection, surgery, childbirth or a severe illness. Warning signs include fever, a very fast or irregular heartbeat, sweating, vomiting or diarrhoea, agitation, confusion and breathlessness.
- Take her medicine strips, prescriptions and any recent reports with you. Tell the doctors she has Graves disease and when she stopped treatment.
- Government hospitals and medical colleges have emergency departments that can manage this, and 112 can arrange an ambulance.
What this answer cannot determine
The boundary of online education. These need a clinician who can see you.
- This answer cannot tell you whether this is thyroid storm or another illness such as an infection. Only an emergency assessment can decide that, so do not delay.
Questions for your clinician
Take these with you. You can add any of them to an appointment card.
- Is this a thyroid storm, or could an infection be causing it?
- How will her thyroid be controlled after this?
- Why is it risky to stop her medicine suddenly?
- What follow-up does she need after leaving hospital?
When to seek help
Clinician-approved guidance for this topic. When in doubt, being seen is never the wrong choice.
Emergency — call 112 now
- Call 112 now or go to the nearest emergency department for high fever with a pounding heart in someone with known overactive thyroid, especially with vomiting, confusion, chest pain or breathlessness.
Get help the same day
- If she seems to improve on the way, still have her seen the same day in an emergency department.
Sources
The evidence this explanation is built on.
- Hyperthyroidism MedlinePlus (NIH)
- Overactive thyroid (hyperthyroidism) NHS
- Thyroid diseases MedlinePlus (NIH)
Who wrote and reviewed this
Every AskHer answer names its author. A clinically reviewed answer also names the clinician who signed it off — if no clinician is named below, it has not been clinically reviewed.
- Author
- AskHer Editorial (AI-assisted draft) AskHer's editorial team — not an individual clinician Works in English, தமிழ், हिन्दी
- Clinical reviewer
- Nobody yet No clinician has signed this answer off, and no person on the editorial team has read it yet. That is what the “Written with AI assistance” label means. It is queued for an editor to read, and then for a clinician who works in this area. The sources it was drafted against are listed above.
- Review status
- Written with AI assistance — not yet reviewed by a person
- Last reviewed
- Not yet reviewed by a person
- Version
- 1
Correction history
Substantive changes are listed, not quietly edited away.
No corrections have been made since this answer was first published.
Did this answer your question?
Whatever you choose is filed against this version of the answer, never against you, and it is never shown as a count.
“Explain more simply” asks you which part was hard to follow, so the author knows what to rewrite. “My question is different” opens a private follow-up with this answer attached.
Saving, following up and reporting are all private. Nothing you do on this page is visible to other readers or to the doctor who wrote it, unless you ask a question.