Hyperthyroid tremor and muscle weakness

Hazel, we are all diffferent and you just have to give it time.  My tremors and weakness weren't permanent but it does take a while to get your strength back.  I suggest you eat a healthy diet.  Cut out asparatme and refined products.  Eat lots of fruit and veg and take a good quality multi vitamin like Cantamega.  I do pilates and even continued when I had a lot of muscle pain and weakness but it didn't make me any worse and I think helped me recover more quickly.  I hope you feel better soon.  You should soon be stabilised and can then consider what to do next.

I agree with everything Sue said.  However, in addition, I read a research paper about the benefits of using L-carnitine supplements in patients with hyperthyroidism so I asked my doctor to test my carnitine levels and I was deficient.  I was also tested for vitamin D and was deficient in that so I added both of these supplements to my treatment.  I believe hyperthyroid patients lose a lot of vitamins and minerals when their disease is active and they are hyperthyroid.  I have also added Magnesium and fish oil for Omega 3 to deal with inflammation.  Currently I am only on a low dose of methimazole (same as Carbimazole in UK) 2.5 mg daily and all my antibodies have normalized as well as all of my thyroid blood tests.  My doctor has given me the option of discontinuing this small dose of meds or staying on them. 

I agree with Sue I struggled till about 5 months ago fixed my diet and know I have muscles again.

For me no diet drinks, nothing processed, no gluten.

So I avoid pasta and bread and beer.

I also used to struggle with my weight but I have dropped about 10 inches around by waist.

Good luck.

Hi Hazel, if u research magnesium deficiency, muscle tremors, anxiety, heart palpitations are three of some of the worst symptoms of lack of this mineral.  I agree with what Linda and Sue both say. Get plenty of sleep and take things as easy as you can.

Thank you all so much for your helpful comments.I will definitely be putting them into action. This feels like such a lonely (and desperate) road but chatting to others who have been there really helps! Unfortunately since posting this query the other day I have suddenly had a flare up that feels like it has taken me back at least 6 - 8 weeks in my recovery and so the tremors and muscle weakness feel like the least of my problems as I have started battling again with a lot more palpitations, anxiety, insomnia, night sweats and chills, crampy muscles and naseau with vomiting again. The sheer horror of this getting worse again has really left me depressed and crying every time I'm on my own. On the up side though, it has also given me determination to take your suggestions and start doing something about them! So a healthy diet it is, with a few more supplements and excercise! Since this all started I have been trying to eat more healthily as I think this was half my problem in the first place. So I have been making green juice every day to try and get those extra vitamins, but haven't been great at avoiding refined foods, aspartame, and gluten. Just not really sure what there is left to eat when you leave all of those out! I will definitely try the L-Carnitine and vit D. I have been wondering if perhaps my Vit B12 levels are also low and that is what has added to the problem with the tremor, because I have heard that this can be a problem with hyperthyroid patients. I do take a vit B complex which did seem to help me get my energy levels back when I was really bad but wondering if it hasn't been a high enough dose of B12. I am taking a high dose of Magnesium daily because I also heard that this should help with the muscle cramps and twitches I was battling with, and I really think it has, as these have lessened considerably, even with this flare up. I was reading just the other day though that without enough calcium, the extra magnesium can't be as effective and so am just starting with that to see if it will help with the additional issues. Thanks so much, everybody!!

Thanks again for the replies. Have started making some changes to my diet and am trying to avoid as many of those trigger foods as possible but it really is taking a huge mindset change! (Makes me feel a bit like when I was breastfeeding my son who got colic from just about anything I ate that wasn't an orange vegetable!) 

Alasdair, you are right about being careful of what multivitamins we take though. I was taking one that had gingseng in it and discovered that it was a major cause for my blood pressure being a lot higher than it should have been, and saw a marked difference when I stopped taking it. 

Reagrding magnesium, i was told by a pharmicist that we absorb magnesium best through our skin and it's better to add magnesium sulphate (epsom salts) to a bath than take tablets.  It certainly helps with muscle aches and is very therapeutic!