Systemic Tendonitis

tigerlily6200 · April 12, 2013

I developed tendonitis in my left foot in 1995 I was 17. I developed hypothyroidism in 1996 @ 18. Ive had tendon issues in my left foot since and at some point also in my right. I have had plantar faciitis in both feet for over a year. In January muacles were really sore and tenderness in hands. In March I tested positive with blood work for celiac. My vit d, vit b, and iron were very low while sed rate waa low but crp was high.

Now my ortho says my fingers have trigger fingers in both hands aka tendonitis. Has anyone else experienced system wide inflammation and had it go away off of gluten? Ive only been off gluten for 27 days.

What else could be going on or is this normal?

nvsmom · April 13, 2013

There are MANY around here who have pain from gluten and who have found relief with the gluten-free diet. I started getting arthritic like pain in my early 20's which became more and more frequent as time went on. I am now pain free... I'm not entirely sure that eating gluten-free caused the pain to go, as it often cycled out after a few months, but I'm hopeful that the gluten-free diet made it go away after I had been gluten-free for 6 months.

Pain seems to be one of the last symptoms to go - some people seem to require a year or so. You may need to give it a LOT of time to see improvements in this area. To be honest, I was at the point where I assumed my pain must not have been linked to celiaC; I had already and accepted it and moved on.... and then the pain left! LOL Patience is definitely needed, so hang in there.

mushroom · April 13, 2013

My CRP was sky high for a couple of years while my rheumatoid symptoms and psoriasis did not seem to be diet responsibe at all. Almost overnight the diet seems to be have the desired effect. CRP is at times normal, no meds for several months Hoping I don't get another flare.

pricklypear1971 · April 13, 2013

For me the type of pain you describe is a combo of celiac and thyroid.

I was gluten-free for apx 6 months before some of the hand shaking went away. The hand pain was there til I started a workout routine at 1 year. Now, I will get joint pain/tendon pain when I have a Hashimotos/thyroid flare.

Working out helped - but you must go incredibly slow. I am hypermobile-and found out the hard way. AI diseases can damage your tissue -ligaments, tendons. Stay off the weights and stick with gentle cardio and isometrics at first. Also, your thyroid treatment may not be optimized-allowing inflammation to continue, along with hormone and adrenal insufficiency which continues the soft tossue damage cycle.

If you have both celiac and thyroid it can be difficult to differentiate the symptoms sometimes. For me, gluten had some very direct effects (rash) and many subtle ones. Overall, it's an exacerbator. Once I was clean of gluten I found what I was left with were thyroid and adrenal issues. They require a thorough tweaking of meds - adding adrenal cortex, dhea, and now t3 to my existing t3/t4 meds. I am rt3 resistant. All of those supplaments are in conjunction with the iron, d3, and multivitamin for the deficiencies from celiac. My doc also tossed in chromium for blood sugar control (adrenals again) and now I'm under orders to eat Brazil nuts to selenium to boost my levels (already take it in multi but she wants me to eat it too).

So, I guess my point is that you're really fighting two tendon battles here. You may have a strong positive reaction to going gluten-free; however, don't discount the importance of readressing your thyroid, especially if you are Hashimotos.

tigerlily6200 · April 13, 2013

Thank you so much for the replies. Sometimes I feel as if the world thinks I'm crazy. I go to a chiropractor and when I asked him why etc., it's always well it could an AI and I'm like duh you know I was just diagnosed with celiac and I have hypothyroid disease. Mentally, emotionally, and "inside" I feel better than I have in years in just 28 days; but the tendon issues are just there. My husband, who has been great, travels a lot for work and they've let him stay home to help some but I know that won't last too much longer. It just seems like the list goes on and on. Plantar fasciitis, knee issues, an injury that lead to trigger finger... I'm really trying to continue to be positive but with summer coming and 3 kids 5 and under - I just want to be completely whole again. It's nice to know that others had successful outcomes with their issues no matter how long it took.

pricklypear1971 · April 14, 2013

Thank you so much for the replies. Sometimes I feel as if the world thinks I'm crazy. I go to a chiropractor and when I asked him why etc., it's always well it could an AI and I'm like duh you know I was just diagnosed with celiac and I have hypothyroid disease. Mentally, emotionally, and "inside" I feel better than I have in years in just 28 days; but the tendon issues are just there. My husband, who has been great, travels a lot for work and they've let him stay home to help some but I know that won't last too much longer. It just seems like the list goes on and on. Plantar fasciitis, knee issues, an injury that lead to trigger finger... I'm really trying to continue to be positive but with summer coming and 3 kids 5 and under - I just want to be completely whole again. It's nice to know that others had successful outcomes with their issues no matter how long it took.

You've got to get your brain around healing damage body-wide. That was difficult for me - to accept that these things with my intestines and thyroid (sounds isolated, right) had torn up so many other systems. I also had to accept that I needed more than "gentle" supplemental nudging. I did much better once on adrenal cortex and dhea - after fighting the suggestion for months. The vitamin/mineral deficiencies are nothing to sneeze at. Take as much as you can without making yourself ill - you're only absorbing a portion with a damaged gi tract.

It can be a long road. I found progress was felt periodically. I would wake up and one thing would just be gone. It wasn't gradual.

And exercise. Healing accelerated on exercise. Go slowly. Very slowly. Swimming?

tigerlily6200 · April 14, 2013

You're right. I guess I keep wanting the quick response. I try to remind myself that it took me "x" number of years to get to this place and it will take some time to get better. Today is a particalurly bad day, my feet haven't hurt like this in a long time and my fingers were swollen (I couldn't get my rings on for church). I had some rice crackers yesterday and some very salty spinach, I'm wondering if salt could play a part into it. I need to focus on this will be a long journey not a short one. I just get discouraged when I'm at an appt and a practioner tells me "I don't know why your symptoms haven't cleared after 28 days." Today is one of those days (right before my period) that I would kill for a hamburger or cake... this elimination diet doesn't contain either of those

pricklypear1971 · April 14, 2013

Oh, pms is a beetch. I swell, too.

Good news is you're likely to see changes (what, who knows) after you get on the right track.

And I don't know what you're eliminating but there are some pretty creative sweets out there using bean flours, stevia, etc.

tigerlily6200 · April 14, 2013

I've been doing the functional medicine elimination diet no soy, corn, wheat, gluten, diary, sugar, caffeine for 29 days now. I am definitely getting ready to start my period and just grumpy. It's almost my body is like an old car, when one thing broke, everything did. Has anyone tried acupuncture before? I honestly don't know what to do - I've been to the chiropractor for a month now and although my range of motion is better, I can't tell if and when it's suppose to help? I feel like it's a big puzzle, luckily I'll get to see my doctor in the next couple of weeks. Has anyone had leaky gut? I have a feeling that's the next thing I will have to deal with.

pricklypear1971 · April 14, 2013

We all have or have had leaky guts to a degree. It's what happens when gluten destroys your intestine (or what happens first....chicken/egg argument).

I've tried acupuncture and while it wasn't unpleasant, and I did notice some relief, I didn't continue. So, give it a whirl.

I have tried orthopedic massage and found it by far the most beneficial when dealing with my hyper mobility/loose ligaments/tight tendons.

I think I'd be shoving some sort of naughty food down my throat - potato chips??? A girl has to have a crutch.

tigerlily6200 · April 14, 2013

Duh I'm so new to this disease that I forget you guys actually know what I'm talking about. Lol I ate those rice crackers yesterday like a crutch lol I'll take the small things... so what is chiro massage? Right now I go to his office they hook me into some machine that sends electrical pulses into my back, then it rolls my back. Then he either massages my feet and stretches that muscle or pulls my right hand so that it's stretching the tendons (I guess). I just want someone to take me by the hand and say - this is what is going on, this is why and we're going to do this. I thought my chiro was that person - he talked about my feet causing my knees, seemed to think whatever the treatment plan he has laid out for me would work but then his comment on Friday made me want to scream. I asked, "why did I get trigger finger or whatever in my other hand, what is going on" I don't know maybe it's an autoimmune or maybe it's not... and I was like ummm what is thyroid disease or celiac? Didn't you tell me 3 weeks ago that the inflammation was systemic caused by my leaky gut etc. I left my original doctor because after I went to her with feet pain she ran an arthritis panel which everything came back fine except my ANA which was slightly elevated according to the doctors at Wake Forest and the Rheumys wouldn't even see me unless I came back with other symptoms than joint pain and foot pain. Then I found Dr, Susan (functional medicine) whom I love just because she listened to me and had the forethought to test me for celiac or I would have just been going around in circles.

It's just hard because I want to be better, feel better all the time. Nothing aching, nothing swollen.

Oh and a big piece of cake gluten free of course

pricklypear1971 · April 14, 2013

Here is some info about orthopedic massage. They also have a practitioner directory.

Open Original Shared Link

frieze · April 17, 2013

B6 def will aggravate premenstrual swelling....

SoThisIs40 · April 18, 2013

I developed tendonitis in my left foot in 1995 I was 17. I developed hypothyroidism in 1996 @ 18. Ive had tendon issues in my left foot since and at some point also in my right. I have had plantar faciitis in both feet for over a year. In January muacles were really sore and tenderness in hands. In March I tested positive with blood work for celiac. My vit d, vit b, and iron were very low while sed rate waa low but crp was high.
Now my ortho says my fingers have trigger fingers in both hands aka tendonitis. Has anyone else experienced system wide inflammation and had it go away off of gluten? Ive only been off gluten for 27 days.
What else could be going on or is this normal?

I haven't tried a gluten-free diet yet, but I've had system-wide tendinitis for at least 23 years. I can't even use a computer keyboard

– voice recognition for everything.

ButtercupSarah · May 13, 2013

I am also dealing with the combination of hypothyroid and Gluten intolerance. I did not realize it would take so long for my joint pain/tendonitis/carpal to improve. This website is such a lifesaver. I am going to check out orthopedic massage for sure!

DPP · May 31, 2015

I have only just been diagnosed with Celiac (30 years earlier would have been good) and I have had chronic, systemic tenosinovitus much of my adult life -- hands, feet, especially wrists and fingers. Recently it spread to my arms and knees.

I find use of steroids makes it worse -- whether prednisone for sinus inflammation or topical steroids, such as Clobex, applied lightly, for skin issues, any use brings out more tendon pain.