The symptoms of Graves’ disease include all the symptoms associated with hyperthyroidism and additional symptoms that affect the eyes and skin. Symptoms of hyperthyroidism include:

• anxiety
• irritability
• difficulty sleeping
• fatigue
• rapid or irregular heartbeat
• tremor of your hands or fingers
• muscle weakness
• increased perspiration
• heat intolerance
• increased appetite
• unexpected weight loss
• brittle hair
• goiter: enlargement of the thyroid gland
• light menstrual periods
• frequent bowel movements

Graves’ disease may also cause problems with the eyes. When the tissues behind your eyeballs swell, it can cause your eyes to bulge out (exophthalmos). This makes the eyes more prone to drying out and becoming inflamed, and may lead to problems like light sensitivity, blurred or double vision, and excessive tearing. If left untreated it can also cause compromised vision and blindness. 

Graves’ disease can also lead to serious and long term cardiac problems including arrhythmias and congestive heart failure. An uncommon sign of Graves’ is a lumpy reddish thickening of the skin on the front of the shins called pretibial myxedema.

Some cases of Graves may last for two to four months and then spontaneously remit.