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Thyroid related Neuropathy?
Im a 35 yo male and I've had nerve pain in my feet (burning, tingling, numbness) that has recently spread to my arms and I'm trying to figure out the cause. I've read that some carpal tunnel and tarsal tunnel syndrome is actually caused by an undiagnosed thyroid problem, but I've havent seen any forum posts of people that said they developed neuropathy from their hypothyroidism. Has anyone experienced nerve pain in arms, legs, feet, and hands because of hypo?
I just had my TSH, FT3, and FT4 checked and my FT4 actually flagged low while TSH and FT3 were all on low side of normal. My results are:
TSH: 0.76 Range: 0.34 - 4.82 uIU/mL
Free T4: 0.75 Range: 0.76 - 1.80 ng/dL **Flagged Low
Free T3: 2.76 Range: 2.3 - 4.2 pg/mL
I have read my results suggest possible secondary hypo due to pituitary gland problem. If this is so would hormone replacement be helpful?
Other symptoms include unusual high cholesterol (I eat healthy and slender), trouble sleeping, anxiety, constantly tired, some dizziness at times.
My B12 is 385 Range: 211 - 911 pg/mL, which is looks to be normal.
I guess I'm mainly wondering if my spreading nerve pain can be a result of my thyroid and the low FT4 result. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
I just had my TSH, FT3, and FT4 checked and my FT4 actually flagged low while TSH and FT3 were all on low side of normal. My results are:
TSH: 0.76 Range: 0.34 - 4.82 uIU/mL
Free T4: 0.75 Range: 0.76 - 1.80 ng/dL **Flagged Low
Free T3: 2.76 Range: 2.3 - 4.2 pg/mL
I have read my results suggest possible secondary hypo due to pituitary gland problem. If this is so would hormone replacement be helpful?
Other symptoms include unusual high cholesterol (I eat healthy and slender), trouble sleeping, anxiety, constantly tired, some dizziness at times.
My B12 is 385 Range: 211 - 911 pg/mL, which is looks to be normal.
I guess I'm mainly wondering if my spreading nerve pain can be a result of my thyroid and the low FT4 result. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
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Would really appreciate a good doctor recommendation in my area. I'm in Sacramento, California.
Thank you very much
Thank you very much
Yes, your Vitamin D is way too low, as is your B12. Also, of course your Free T3 and Free T4 are too low.
Even if you get a referral to an Endo, that doesn't guarantee a good thyroid doctor. Many of them specialize in diabetes, not thyroid. Also, many of them have the "Immaculate TSH Belief" and only diagnose and treat based on TSH, which does not work for the patient. Also many of them use "Reference Range Endocrinology", by which they try to make us believe that a thyroid test that falls anywhere within the extremely broad range is adequate. That also is wrong.
So your best bet may be just to look for any doctor that would classify as a good thyroid doctor as described previously. If you will tell us your location perhaps we can recommend someone for you and save you a lot of time, money, and frustration from trying to locate a doctor yourself.
Even if you get a referral to an Endo, that doesn't guarantee a good thyroid doctor. Many of them specialize in diabetes, not thyroid. Also, many of them have the "Immaculate TSH Belief" and only diagnose and treat based on TSH, which does not work for the patient. Also many of them use "Reference Range Endocrinology", by which they try to make us believe that a thyroid test that falls anywhere within the extremely broad range is adequate. That also is wrong.
So your best bet may be just to look for any doctor that would classify as a good thyroid doctor as described previously. If you will tell us your location perhaps we can recommend someone for you and save you a lot of time, money, and frustration from trying to locate a doctor yourself.
So my Vitamin D is very low.
Vitamin D: 17 Range: Range: 30 - 100 ng/mL
Saw Primary doc today and he brushed me off when I presented a thyroid problem to him. Just said my FT4 is barely out of range and TSH and FT3 are normal, so probably not that. Denied my request to see an Endo.
Do you think there is a way to have a Thyroid doctor see my numbers (and agree that I should see a Thyroid doctor because of it), and post a recommendation to see one? I feel like that would be enough supporting evidence to state my case when I try again with my Primary Doc.
I dunno...frustrating to say the least. Thanks again for all the insight.
Vitamin D: 17 Range: Range: 30 - 100 ng/mL
Saw Primary doc today and he brushed me off when I presented a thyroid problem to him. Just said my FT4 is barely out of range and TSH and FT3 are normal, so probably not that. Denied my request to see an Endo.
Do you think there is a way to have a Thyroid doctor see my numbers (and agree that I should see a Thyroid doctor because of it), and post a recommendation to see one? I feel like that would be enough supporting evidence to state my case when I try again with my Primary Doc.
I dunno...frustrating to say the least. Thanks again for all the insight.
I've had neurological symptoms from vitamin B12 malabsorption (and permanent nerve damage started to show up decades before I my B12 serum dropped below the range), hypothyroidism (cellular - about 25 years and hashimoto's - about 5 years), hyperthyroidism, insulin resistance/pre diabetes (permanent nerve damage as well), magnesium deficiency, calcium deficiency.
My neurological symptoms of hypothyroidism include...
* pain when applying pressure to the soles of my feet
* burning feet (can be temporarily relieved with water)
* ptosis (one eyelid in my case)
* gastroparesis (stomach paralysis)
* absent knee reflexes
* cerebellar ataxia
* internal tremors
* carpal tunnel syndrome
* paresthesias (tingling/numbness in fingers/toes)
* muscle cramps
* muscle weakness
* memory/cognitive issues
* severe bradypnea (6 breaths p/m with severe shortness of breath)
My neurological symptoms of hypothyroidism include...
* pain when applying pressure to the soles of my feet
* burning feet (can be temporarily relieved with water)
* ptosis (one eyelid in my case)
* gastroparesis (stomach paralysis)
* absent knee reflexes
* cerebellar ataxia
* internal tremors
* carpal tunnel syndrome
* paresthesias (tingling/numbness in fingers/toes)
* muscle cramps
* muscle weakness
* memory/cognitive issues
* severe bradypnea (6 breaths p/m with severe shortness of breath)
Yes, treatment is still done with thyroid med. You should discuss with your doctor that it appears to be central hypothyroidism and ask for your pituitary function to be evaluated.
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Numbness and Tingling:
Legs
Feet
Arms
Hands
Back
Face
In addition, low B12 can contribute to those as well. B12 needs to be in the upper end of its range for best effect. Interestingly, in Europe and Japan, I am told, the lower limit for the range for B12 is 500.
You also have other symptoms that are frequently related to being hypothyroid, plus your lab test results also point in that direction. Just being within range is frequently inadequate, because the ranges are far too broad to be functional, plus every person is different and may have different optimal levels of Free T3 and Free T4.
In the words of a good thyroid doctor, "The free T3 is not as helpful in untreated persons as the free T4 because in the light of a rather low FT4 the body will convert more T4 to T3 to maintain thyroid effect as well as is possible. So the person with a rather low FT4 and high-in-range FT3 may still be hypothyroid. However, if the FT4 is below 1.3 and the FT3 is also rather low, say below 3.4 (range 2 to 4.4 at LabCorp) then its likely that hypothyroidism is the cause of a person's symptoms."
Clearly, by those criteria, you are hypothyroid. And your results do indicate the likelihood of central hypothyroidism which is a hypothalamus/pituitary issue. I should also mention somewhere here that hypo patients are frequently too low in the ranges for Vitamin D and ferritin. So you should have those tested as well. D needs to be around 55 - 60, and ferritin for women needs to be around 80 minimum.
What you are going to need most is a good thyroid doctor. By that I mean one tht will test and adjust Free T3 and Free T4 as necessary to relieve symptoms, without being constrained by resultant TSH levls. Symptom relief is all important, not just test results, and especially not just TSH results. You can get lots of good info from this link.
http://www.hormonerestoration.com/Thyroid.html
So I think you need to discuss all this with your doctor and find out if he is willing to treat clinically, as described. If not, then you will need to find a good thyroid doctor that will do so.