thyroid and fibromyalgia

[anniet]

Hi everyone
I'm new to all of this so bear with me. In the beginning of June my labs showed  a TSH of 10.71 and antibodies at 2900.They told  me to come back in 6 weeks to be re-tested. Feeling pretty sick and not wanting to wait, I went to an Endo who listened to how abrubtly my symtoms came on and diagnosed me with a type of subacute thyroiditis.  My labs at that time came back with TSH 6.01 and antibodies of 2000. Everything else was in range, Free T4 etc. Also had an ultra sound that came up negative.  She then prescribed prednisone, betablockers and klonopin. A couple weeks later I felt no better if not worse,(sensitivity to hot and cold, weakness, tiredness etc) had another lab drawn showing up with a TSH of 4.85. She changed her mind to a diagnosis of Hashimoto's and put me on 50mcg of synthroid.  I'm confused.  Can your lab results drop that significantly in Hashimoto's with out the aid of synthroid.  And as far as the synthroid is concerned, I can't sleep!  I've been on it for almost 3 weeks now and have insomnia beyond belief.  In the last week its been so bad, I've been on all sorts of tranquilizers and sleeping pills which in themselves make all symptoms worse.  I told the doctor I have no other signs of having too much synthyroid in my body (increased heart, jitters etc.), so she thinks I'm on the right dose.  Is my body going to adjust to this low dose.  I'm scared because I know I'm going to need it to live!  I also have had fibromyalgia for years and along with that comes a sensitivity to a lot of meds. Does anyone have any info on this.  Help Please!

[tjane]

A related discussion, Diet help was started.

[ShannieK]

Hi, I have hypothyroidism, caused by hashimoto's and also taking 100mcg of Synthroid.  Up until this last week when I saw my endo for the first time, I was still battling with blurred vision, light headedness, weight gain and severe fatigue, and muscle pain.  All of these are related to thyroid of course, so I learned to live with it.  My endo put me on a special diet, and after the first day, all of those symptoms went away, I could not believe it.  I've been told that your diet really can influence how you feel with this disease, but I never made the change, but now I did, and I feel great.  All of my joints and muscles no longer hurt, my doctor kept me on the same dose and all the same pills i've been on and didn't change anything except for what I ate, It hasn't even been a week yet, and I'm close to losing 10 pounds.  I have done nothing but gain for 1 yr.  My endo told me that you have to eat a certain combination of foods to feel better, and she was right.  Hope this helps.

[MissApy]

I take that back.. I take 100 MCG synthroid.

[MissApy]

I have had hypothyroidism since I was 5 and along the way I have had many medical problems. Another week and Ill be 19 but when I was 16 I started having symptoms of fatigue, muscle aches and pains, etc.  I was tested for MS and I ended up having fibromyalgia and polimyalgia.  Both are related to thyroid problems I found out. It sucks sometimes because anything and everything seems to be wrong with your body at times.  I've learned to deal.  I take .100 mg synthroid. But, if anyone has advice to give me..please do.

[anniet]

Thanks for telling me your situation...It helps me to know there's others out there that are in the same boat. I do hope you'll be back on track again real soon!
Annie

[anniet]

Thanks so much for responding to me.  Just curious, how long has it been since you've been diagnosed and how long did it take for you to feel better.  Was it weeks or months?  What did your labs start off being and how did they end up? After taking synthroid for a while, do the antibodies decrease or do they stay high until the thyroid fails?  If you don't mind me asking, you said your symptoms came on abuptly as did mine, what were they exactly? Did you have an enlarged thyroid as well?  Sorry for all the questions, but I really feel all alone in all of this.

[ShannieK]

Hi, No I don't mind you asking, it is what we are all here for.  I was diagnosed in October of last year with Hashimoto's.  At this time I was probably in my best shape ever, was exercising every day, dieting, and had lost alot of weight, and I was one of those people that never went to the doctor.  Out of the blue, no joke, I started having really bad headaches, and than I started having real severe diarrea, and felt sick to my stomach all day.  By the end of that same day, I started having a real sore throat, felt like it was blocked, very hard to swallow and it even caused me shortness of breath.  My hair was falling out, I started having all over hot flashes, fever I don't know, but out of the blue, I would just start sweating and shaking for no reason.  This is still within 3 days of my first symptoms.  Stupid me, never contacted a dr. kept doing what I was doing, even kept walking and exercising, until the chest pain started, I than got severe dizziness and lightheadedness, I went out to my car towards the end of this whole ordeal, and could not remember how to get the headlights on and off, so I stopped driving.  I would sit there in the evening, just watching tv and everything was fine, all of a sudden would jump up in a complete panic for no reason, could not control it, full blown panick attacks.  On the 3rd day, I started in with the heart palpitations and that was it, I called the dr, and I must have done it just in time because by the time I made it in, my heart was racing, my chest was aching, and the right side of my body went numb.  Very scary experience.  Dr's did every test they could think of cause no one of course knew what was wrong with me.  I had chest x rays,blood, urine and stool tests and everything came back fine.  I was given propranolol for my chest pain and heart racings, I was given lasix to get rid of my severe water retention, cause I forgot to add, that I gained like 30 pounds in a matter of days.  They put me on an anti-depressant, for my anxiety and sent me home, I was back the next day, because I was alittle better, but was getting new symptoms now, fatigue, muscle and joint aches etc.  It was than that they tested thyroid.  My tsh came back normal at 3.9, I'm glad they thought ahead and did the antibody test cause that came back at 650.  range being 0-35.  They put me on 50 mcg of synthroid, I was on that 2 weeks and they bumped me to 75, I was probably on that for a month and was bumped to 100mcg,  felt real good for a long time, am feeling bad again, but am waiting for my last results, just taken on Thursday to see if they need to change my meds again.  I knew my dose wasn't high enough, because when you feel that terrible, and the symptoms aren't going away, than chances are it isn't high enough.  They had to bounce me up a few times, just to get a little relief from my symptoms.  You honestly will be able to judge when you are off on your dose, you will feel it.  I know i'm low, when i'm so sluggish that I can't get out of bed, and I know i'm too high when my chest starts hurting again and those heart palpitations come back.  I hope this helps.  We are all here for you.

[ShannieK]

Hi, not sure how helpful, I will be but will try, I know that feeling this way is terrible and have been through it myself, hang in there.  TSH fluctuations are very prominant in Hashimoto's.  With Hashimoto's it's very common to fluctuate from one end to the other, meaning gettting both hyper and hyo signs.  Your antibodies are pretty high, this means your definatley starting the process.  Since you now have auto immune, your system is gradually going to attack at the thyroid until you become hypo, which with your high test levels, it looks like you are there.  Starting medication at first can be a pain, you feel terrible from your syptoms at first, you start meds, and than sometimes you might not feel any better for awhile.  My symptoms came on suddenly, just like you are talking.  In fact completley out of the blue.  I too, started on 50mcg, and quickly went up to 100mcg, to get any relief of your symptoms, finding that right dose that makes you feel better, takes alittle bit of time.  DR's often say they don't like to change your dose until you have been on it for 6 weeks, because sometimes it just takes that long to work optimally.  I know it is a trying time, hang in there, relief of your symptoms is not too far off, Keep a log of your symptoms now, which may be alot, mine were, and each dose record which ones have gotten better or have gone away.  This will help the dr. judge your progress along with your blood work.  Just be prepared, though, like I mentioned  your TSH may fluctuate alot for awhile you may need to try a number of different med doses until you feel your best.  Most people will agree on here, that when you have a TSH at about 1.0, that is generally when people feel at their best, but everyone is different.  good luck.