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Hypothyroid and myalgia?

Posted , 5 users are following.

Plain_Bill
Plain_Bill

I've been feeling fatigued, weak, sore and stiff for months. I've got a ton of symptoms, but essentially I have terrible body aches, mostly in my arms, but also in my quads at times, I was so stiff for a while I could barely walk and there was a couple of weeks that I could barely get out of bed. I've been to several 'doctors' and had lots of blood tests, but the only thing that showed up was elevated liver enzymes (consistently) and elevated. A.S.M.A.. I was on Statins for a few months, but quit taking these when I could no longer walk. Stopping these (months ago) did not do much for my symptoms. I was working out 7 days a week about a year ago, now I can barely do the treadmill once a week.

I recently had a high TSH test, but I know they have tested it before and not commented. Still waiting for the results of the more detailed thyroid tests. My oral body temp is below 36 in the morning and was even below 36 mid afternoon yesterday. It has also tested low in the past when I thought I had a fever.

I have very bad Arthritis, so the quacks are hung up on that as the cause. But I could swallow the whole bottle of voltaren and not notice a reduction in the stiffness, whereas in the past they would definitely help me.

So I'm wondering if anyone else has had myalgia and stiffness while being hypo?

Symptoms include:

Terrbile itching

Myalgia

Stiffness

Weakness

Nausea

Low ferritin

Fatigue

Loss of eyebrow hair

Tendinitis

Hypertension

Low body temp

Scaly/bleeding skin on knees

Slow heart rate (could be the BP drugs)

 

3 likes, 12 replies

12 Replies

  • brewster121044
    brewster121044 Plain_Bill

    Posted

    All the things you list are classic hypothyroid symptoms,like you for years I was treated for depression(another symptom) arthritis,carpel tunnel,I had every painkiller they make none of which helped with the pain and actually moved house because my knees were so bad I could not get up the stairs.I put on 4 stones in weight in a very short time & asked if it could be my thyroid but was told no for about 9 years.After a check up blood test someone at the Lab who I will forever be grateful to tested my thyroid and found the problem.I was so relieved to finally know there was a problem,I was put on Levothyroxine but it did not suit me so I started reading everything I could find on-line about Thyroid & found other people who were in pain like me .I now take NDT which has helped a lot & have not taken any painkillers since .You also mention statins well high cholesterol is yet another symptom of Thyroid,I know from my husbands experience of them what damage they can do as my husband can barely walk now because of them.My advice would be to not take them as pain in muscles is a side effect.Get your Thyroid checked, learn all you can about it and various treatments.Join a Thyroid group ,there is an excellent one called Thyroid Problems UK ,you have to join as its a closed group but they are all fellow sufferers who help each other ,they can tell you what your blood test results mean & what tests to ask your Dr to do.Remember that your GP is exactly that a general practitioner who knows a little about everything but does not specialise & sadly most dont know much about treating it you need to help yourself.Read Stop The Thyroid Madness,you can get it on Amazon,its written by an American Thyroid sufferer but lots of good advice in it that works here in the UK as well.Good luck
    • Plain_Bill
      Plain_Bill brewster121044

      Posted

      Thanks brewster, my knees have been killing me since April, but it's not the actual joint. My quads are so tight that they are pulling on the tendons that attach to the knee.

      it was actually an Endo who put me on the statins even though my Cholesterol was just over three, but my HDL has always ben low. Surprised that an Endo would not make the Thyroid connection, especially when he saw the skin on my knees and i had black circles under my eys (got them lasered ;-) ). Fortunately the statins were a low dose and only for a few months, so hopefully any damage will go away.

      My last Rheumatologist wanted me to see a shrink; good luck with that. LOL. My GP is as useless as (fill in the desparaging blank), so I have been going to a clinic lately. He's far better at connecting the dots, but not taking new patients.

    • brewster121044
      brewster121044 Plain_Bill

      Posted

      Hi again Bill,I spent years trying to find out what was wrong with me & was taking every painkiller the Dr could prescribe none of which was helping.Finally they put me on high dose morphine patches & when they had no effect I knew I had to help myself.I had knee x-rays in 2003 & again last year,they told me it was arthritis but there was no more damage on the new X-ray than on the first & surely it would have deteriorated in the 10 yrs between.I told the Endo that the Armour had stopped the pain in my knees but she says not,well all I take now is the Armour ,no painkillers at all.Before even in Summer I was awake all night with the pain & had a hot water bottle tied round each knee.I have given up with GP's now & only use mine to get blood tests done then I ask for a printed copy & post it on-line on the Thyroid Problems UK-Patient to Patient Advice & Support group on Facebook.There are people on there who can interpret the results & tell you what the problem probably is,they are all Thyroid sufferers & know how you feel,they are friendly & not at all judgemental ,they will help but you need to look them up now as there is a waiting list to join.I printed a list of symptoms for UAT out & took it to the Dr & still with all the ticks on it he said my thyroid was normal.Take my advice & read all you can ,join the group & go to whichever Dr you wish to see with lots of facts so that he has to listen to you.I was also sent to a shrink but didnt get to the end of the first appointment.

       

  • Giving_up
    Giving_up Plain_Bill

    Posted

    I've just wrote loads and then got disconnected, so I'll make this brief.  I have had most on your list starting in mid teens, at 19 had thyroidectomy, so have been on thyroxin etc for last fifty years.  My temperature has always been low. I have usually take a extra tablet when energy is less than usual.  I have I have lead a tired live, must have burnt out when thyroid was over active, I was really revved up then!  Have had various autoimmune disorders,the latest consensus isSjogrens Syndrome. I am very fatigued, waiting knee op, had one last year. Then hip.still looking for the answer!
    • brewster121044
      brewster121044 Giving_up

      Posted

      Its disgusting that us Thyroid patients are treated so badly but if we keep fighting for ourselves now we have access to the Internet maybe something will get done.Since I have been diagnosed I am amazed how many of us there are who are struggling with this disease & maybe if we keep complaining the medical profession will wake up & realise that something has to be done about it.There are so many people on here all with the same problems & begging for help.The bloke who invented synthetic thyroid made a cheap alternative to the natural thyroid but made thousands of people ill but then Levothyroxine only costs about £4 per month & that I think is why so many of us are ill.I am 69 now & paying for my NDT out of my pension & its a struggle but I refuse to go back to the way I feel when taking Levothyroxine ,it took me 9 years to find an alternative.

       

    • Plain_Bill
      Plain_Bill Giving_up

      Posted

      Thanks, I recently had a bone scan done and everything was glowing, even parts that I did not know were sore (it's all relative). It seems like some kind of systemic tendonitis/bursitis; somehow linked to the arthrits (Spondylitis) I guess.

      On the bright side (NOT) my Free T4 came back at 15 and my Free T3 was a healthy 5.8. I know the TSH was elevated, but I did not get the number.

  • Giving_up
    Giving_up Plain_Bill

    Posted

    Gosh, reading all this makes me think all my present day problems ie joints, fatigue, past diognoisis, have included ANA, antibodyFibromyalgia, Lupus, Sjogrens,. But it's all down to the autoimmune system and treat the symptoms as they come. I am at a loss where to go.  Where do you get the NDT.?  But I think we have to treat it as we go!!
    • Plain_Bill
      Plain_Bill Giving_up

      Posted

      Even treating my symptoms has not been a success lately, let alone finding the root cause. They want me to take immune suppressants, which I have been resisting without knowing more.

      You can buy thyroid supps in many places, but it's not the prescription stuff, although that's possible too.

  • brewster121044
    brewster121044 Plain_Bill

    Posted

    I get my armour from USA. After treating my Thyroid I found nearly all the other symptoms went away so I now think it was down to my Thyroid.You have to know what you are doing with the natural dessicated thyroid so please read up about it before you decide on anything & also join Thyroid Problems UK-patient to Patient help & Support,there are people on there who are much more knowledgeable than me & lots of them have worked their way through problems like yours & come out the other side,Hope this helps

    Emis Moderator comment: I have removed the web addresses to commercial sites as we do not publish these. Please use the Private Messaging service to exchange these if required.

  • sleepo
    sleepo Plain_Bill

    Posted

    Hi bill,all your symptoms are definately sounding like hypothyroidism..I too got to the point of hardly being able walk and was diagnosed with early osteoarthritis, until I could no longer take it anymore and went back to the docs..she did blood tests on everything and a full thyroid test X-ray. She finally told me that I was suffering from hypothyroidism. I now take 75mcg levothyroxine..after a year I hardly noticed the pain anymore although still do get dome of the symptoms when I am stressed...please see your doctor again...good luck
    • Plain_Bill
      Plain_Bill sleepo

      Posted

      Thanks sleepo, had the assrhitis many years, but as long as I'm careful and stay fit I'm good. Recent events have made it impossible to keep active, so it is starting to bug me again. The herpatologist (LOL) that ordered the original TSH ordered more tests, so we'll see what shows up. She's actually empathetic and seems like a good diagnostician.
  • Plain_Bill
    Plain_Bill

    Posted

    Hi, 

    A quick update to the above.

    Getting off the statins made me feel better over time, I was able to get back into the exercise after I got rid of the frozen shoulder. The knee issues got diagnosed as Lichen. But my body temp remained low, HDL still low and still stiff.

    I was checking my temp a couple of weeks ago and it was consistently 96 or less and I can't drop the gut despite the exercise; weights 4 days a week and cardio 4 days a week.

    So I got a friend to get me some T3 (50 mcg) to see what it would do for me. I can't say it did much for my temp in the beginning, but it seemed to drop my blood pressure in a hurry. I've read a little about this, but did not expect results within a few days, so i suspect it's just a coincidence. My BP was 80/50 one night after cardio and yes I felt woozy. It's been pretty consistently low, but not as bad as that night. I reduced the BP drugs a bit today, but it is still low tonight. 

    I have improved my diet a bit (never did eat salt) and the exercise is going well, but this was long before the T3 experiment. Although I think I'm going to start looking like Kale. eek

    Any similar experiences?

    Thanks

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