Confused About Symptoms!

[oceania]

I've been diagnosed with hypothyroidism for over 20 years. For the last few years I started getting body pains and aches (arm tendonitis, hips, back, neck, sesamoid in left foot) but attributed it to tight muscles being overworked during exercise or something because I used to do high intensity workout but no longer have the energy.

However, recently I started getting really bad pain, aches and numbness in my right arm and wrist. I thought it was because of thyroid issues or perhaps even my thyroid medication so I stopped in on Friday. 2 days later the pain subsided in my wrist. I've also have a sore and stiff neck - it almost feels as if I have swollen lymph nodes (but I don't) - the pain subsided quite a bit around the same time as the wrist pain decreased.

I should also mention that I have been gluten-free for about 2 weeks and this past weekend I think I may have had some gluten (I'm still trying to figure what's gluten free and what's not) - and today my hand/wrist is hurting again. How long after you eat gluten does one start feeling the symptoms?.

BTW I was tested for celiac a few years back but it came back negative however, I have so many of the symptoms of gluten intolerance. But at the same time, gluten-intolerance and hypothyroidism symptoms are very similar (problems losing weight, extreme fatigue, depression, moodiness, anxiety, etc). I'm so confused as to what the cause for all my muscle, aches, pains and weakness are.

I have started taking iron supplements as per my doctor's recommendation as my iron is low. My TSH levels are high and I've decided to switch over to desiccated thyroid instead because Synthyroid has failed to resolve many of my symptoms. I've been tested for rheumatoid arthritis which came back negative.

Any ideas what's going on with me? My doctor is completely useless in helping me resolve my issues.

[KendraAnn]

I also have muscle and joint pain, especially my sesamoid bone in my right foot for years....I haven't read of anyone else with that exact same pain, so that's interesting to me. I have had symptoms for over 10 years and just this year had a positive Celiac biopsy, but my blood work was negative. I'm sick of stupid doctors as well, so I went gluten free about 20 days ago to see what happens. I've been having withdrawal symptoms of headaches and my neck won't seem to stay aligned. I had burning on the left side of my neck, shoulder, down my arm and to my wrist due to a pinched nerve. After seeing my chiropractor a few weeks in a row, I am doing better and I think my body is getting used to no gluten. I don't believe that I have been "glutened" yet, so unfortunately I can't tell you what symptoms of that would be, but I've read that everyone is different. Stick with the gluten free and see what happens. When you've struggled with these symptoms for so many years, it can take months or years of being gluten free before you finally feel great for once, which is a dream that all of us want, to feel healthy for a day! Good luck!

[beachbirdie]

I've been diagnosed with hypothyroidism for over 20 years. For the last few years I started getting body pains and aches (arm tendonitis, hips, back, neck, sesamoid in left foot) but attributed it to tight muscles being overworked during exercise or something because I used to do high intensity workout but no longer have the energy.

However, recently I started getting really bad pain, aches and numbness in my right arm and wrist. I thought it was because of thyroid issues or perhaps even my thyroid medication so I stopped in on Friday. 2 days later the pain subsided in my wrist. I've also have a sore and stiff neck - it almost feels as if I have swollen lymph nodes (but I don't) - the pain subsided quite a bit around the same time as the wrist pain decreased.

I should also mention that I have been gluten-free for about 2 weeks and this past weekend I think I may have had some gluten (I'm still trying to figure what's gluten free and what's not) - and today my hand/wrist is hurting again. How long after you eat gluten does one start feeling the symptoms?.

BTW I was tested for celiac a few years back but it came back negative however, I have so many of the symptoms of gluten intolerance. But at the same time, gluten-intolerance and hypothyroidism symptoms are very similar (problems losing weight, extreme fatigue, depression, moodiness, anxiety, etc). I'm so confused as to what the cause for all my muscle, aches, pains and weakness are.

I have started taking iron supplements as per my doctor's recommendation as my iron is low. My TSH levels are high and I've decided to switch over to desiccated thyroid instead because Synthyroid has failed to resolve many of my symptoms. I've been tested for rheumatoid arthritis which came back negative.

Any ideas what's going on with me? My doctor is completely useless in helping me resolve my issues.

I can't answer your question about the timing of symptoms after glutening because I'm not that kind of sensitive.

I can speak to your joint pain. When my thyroid levels are out of whack, my joints hurt! And that's bad because I'm a pianist, and in the past my fingers sometimes hurt so bad I could not play. My shoulders and knees hurt too. I thought I was getting rheumatoid arthritis, but it wasn't that, it was always just my thyroid.

Have you been tested for autoimmune thyroid? If you have a lot of thyroid antibodies, that will inflame you. You also might not every have gotten your thyroid levels to a place that is right for your body. Hopefully your doc will be open to testing out different thyroid meds for you, but be careful if you go to the desiccated.

Desiccated thyroid will very quickly suppress your TSH. If your doctor is not aware of this or comfortable with it, you will have trouble! They will think you are hyperthyroid when you are not. They MUST test your Free T3 and Free T4 when you are on the naturals. Another tip, your T3 will spike very quickly, in a matter of hours. A lot of people on natural thyroid do not take their meds on the day of a test, because the spike is transient and passes quickly...the half-life of T3 is very short. You don't want to catch that spike in your labs.

Also, if you are going to experiment with different thyroid meds, give it the full 6 weeks between changes. It takes that long for levels to stabilize.

[GF Lover]

Hi there. I have a thought for you. I also have hypothyroidism. I hope you have started taking your thyroid med again. Anyway, I was also having arm wrist and finger weakness. Partial numbness in some fingers and along the side of my hand. I started dropping dishes.

Well, Wednesday I had an EMG test done by my neurologist and wham, carpel tunnel. Was a shocker as I don't work, I have been on disability for years. So I looked it up. Another shocker. Do you know you can develops carpel tunnel because of hypothyroidism? It was another aha moment of connecting dots.

Autoimmune disease can cause alot of inflammation and therefore pain in joints. I take 1500 mg of Relefen (just a super I ibuprofen) daily.

Good luck connecting your dots. Be well