Hypothyroid or Fibromyalgia?

[gmav]

14 years ago I went to the doctor complaining hurting all over and being tired all the time.  Because there was a history of autoimmune disease in my family, RH and Diabetes, I was tested for them, my ANA came back positive and was referred to a Rheumatologist. I was told, after may tests, that I have “Mixed Connective Tissue Disease” & “Fibromyalgia” I was taking Anti-depressants, Anti-inflammatory, muscle relaxers, & Sleeping pills.  I have since stopped taking the Anti-depressants.

6 years ago, I was tired all the time and couldn’t stay awake, they ran more tests and found my TSH was very high and that I was on the verge of going into a coma, I don’t know what my levels were.  My doctor put me on Synthroid 100 mcg; and has not run any more tests other than my yearly blood workup.  I’m still always tired and hurting all the time.  

I read that being Hypo has the same symptoms as Fibromyalgia, including sensitive to cold, & deep ridges in my fingernails, I’m wondering if maybe I’ve been treating the symptoms instead of the disease.  I will be going to a new doctor in January, what should I have this doctor check?  Do I really need to keep going to the Rheumatologist, if all she is treating is the Fibro?

[Mark Lupo, M.D.]

The fibromyalgia (FM) treatment is separate (but not entirely) from thyroid so I would not stop seeing the rheumatologist.  FM pts often need more aggressive thyroid treatment - get the TSH to around 0.5 with synthroid (t4)-- some people feel better with T4 and T3 (eg cytomel) combo even though the research has not shown a clear benefit with recent trials (?design problem vs no benefit?).  I presume you have positive thyroid antibodies given the other autoimmune history.

[Chocobabe]

Hi. Your post REALLY caught my attention!! I was once diagnosed with Fibromyalgia as well! I was crushed. I ALREADY was having to deal with being hypothyroid. But guess what? I moved, changed docs, and was put on Armour, and ALL my symptoms stopped. It wasn't fibromyalgia at all!! My doc explained to me that Synthroid and T4-only meds are leaving most everyone with symptoms that they have no idea are due to an inferiour med. I've since joined thyroid groups on Yahoo, and discovered this has been the scenario of LOTS of other folks--being given diagnoses which were REALLY due to either being hypothyroid, or not being on a med that WORKED!! I was shocked at the difference between being on Levothyroxine (which is the same as Synthroid) and being on Armour, which I see is called natural thyroid hormones. You might really benefit doing some research on this.

[mshypo]

Evidently Fibromyalgia appeared as a diagnosis after the TSH test appeared (much like Chronic Fatigue Syndrome)...and many say that is because the TSH did not pick up people who were hypothyroid...and thus having muscle pain from it.  Remember the TSH started out with a upper limit of 10 and is now down to 3...so one has to wonder how many people received a Fibro diagnosis when they just needed some thyroid hormone to relieve symptoms.  I also think that those people who have both a hypo and fibro diagnosis might just be undermedicated for their hypo - although there are articles written that say the fibro can be hard to get rid of if a person was untreated/undertreated for a lengthy period of time.
Dr. Lowe has done some excellent work with Fibro patients by treating them with high doses of thyroid hormone.  Search his name + fibro and I think that may be helpful to you.
Just so you know, I experienced severe joint and muscle pain - almost debilitating - when hypothyroid - and with enough thyroid hormone in my body, I do not have any more Fibro type problems.

[gmav]

UPDATE...
I brought up this subject during a visit with my rheumatologist yesterday, and she flat denied that there were any connections between my FM and Hypothyroid and that I should stop believing everything I read on the internet.  She said that my last labs showed a normal TSH, I asked her what it was and she couldn't find anything in my resent records.

Needless to say, I made an appointment with a new doctor. I want to start fresh with a list of all my symptoms and have new blood work done without referring to my past medical records.  Anybody have idea's on what questions I should ask this new doctor?  I know that he will have to refer me to specialists if he feels the need to do so.