chronic joint & back pain

[motogirl]

I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis about 9 years ago.  I had to see 4 endocrinologists before the 4th one was shocked that I was not being treated with synthroid.  (I had many symptoms...very irregular periods, hair falling out, weight gain, horrible joint pain) and yet despite all of those and more, all the previous endo. just told me, we are going to wait until your thyroid "burns out" and then we will treat you.  They all said exactly the same thing!  So, without being treated for about 4 years I proceeded to gain a tremendous amount of weight.
Anyway...it''s years and years later and I am a mess.  I believe the synthroid has never helped me at all...I still have irregular periods, its' sad, I have gained almost 60 lbs!!!, and the joint pain I experience every day is debilitating.(I take a narcotic pain killer for that, if I did not I would not be able to work or do much of anything)  I am getting scared, because it is getting worse.  I have seen a rheumatologist and he gave me extensive blood work to see if I was suffering from another auto-immune disorder....everything came back negative. I can deal with the hair falling out, the irregular periods, but I feel so discouraged and sad that this is it....the chronic pain (i have had epidural shots for those also, it works for about 2 months)  has changed me. I keep waiting for the "old" me to come back, and every morning (that is when the pain is the worst) I wake up feeling crippled...I am only 45 years old and this has been going on (the bad pain) since my late 30's.  
I have told my endocrinologist....she is of no help.  has NO answers for me.  I have a little girl and I try to hide what I am going thru but I MUST be affecting her...she knows mommy's in pain most of the time.  It's a horrible existence.  I read a lot about tiredness, depression  (i've have that too, but I don't think as bad as others) but I don't see many (or any) people writing about severe joint pain.  I have been tested for fibromyalgia, and those "trigger points" are not something I have.  most of my pain is in my back and all the lower joints.
One more thing, interestingly enough, it was JOINT PAIN that got me to the doctor all those years ago, and that is when they discovered the high level of thyroid anti-bodies and was then diagnosed with Hashimoto's.  My sister also has Hashi, but she has no joint pain, but has all the other symptoms I have plus she has the swollen neck and quite a few nodules (not sure what they are called)  I don't have that...my neck never got swollen and I have 1 or 2 very tiny nodules.
I would so appreciate any advice, or if someone out there also gets the terrible joint pain and what they do about it....I am going (for the first time) to an accupuncturist next week.  I pray that it provides some relief.  Also, my whole life I was so thin and I had excellent cholesterol and tryglyceride levels.  NOW.....oh my god, awful!!!!  MY tryglycerides are sky high....this disease is destroying me.  I am so sad.  I'm thankful for this website,,,,I think it will give me some support.  thank you to all who took the time to read my story.

[fievel1]

Thank you, I thought I was crazy. I have all these pains also with my Hashimoto's. I thought I was just a big baby about it all, but here on this site I can see where other's are suffering as much as I am. I try not to say anything to my husband about it because I don't like to complain or ask for help, but lately it's becoming too much. I'm trying to find a new doctor to help me with all this. I wish you luck.

[EAS4179]

I'm getting very frustrated with everything I keep reading! I just read your initial posting and thought I was looking at my medical history. I'm 47 and have had many of these issues since I was 32! I just had a knee replaced and I'm always at the doctor's office. I recently started getting upper GI's every 2 months because they now find I have Barret's. My doctor just keeps telling me I'm symptomatic of many different things and seems to be treating each symptom with a different pill. None of which are helping (not even the pain medication...which I'm always made to feel like I'm an addict)!

I don't know if reading these posting will help but if nothing else I think it might help me continue to push my doctor's in the right direction. He just recently sounded as if he was giving up and said "I really don't know what to tell you, we are testing for everything and we don't know what else to do!"

[motogirl]

Stella,

thank you sooooooooooooooo much. i really appreciate your input and advice.  I will let you know how it all goes....I am in so much pain and if this helps you are my angel.  sorry to sound so sappy and dramatic, but at 45 I have been feeling that the best years of my life were over a long time ago.  this gives me hope.

thanks
diane

[stella5349]

You are classically VERY hypothyroid and your doctors are NOT assisting you at all.

You need T3 meds to rid those symptoms.

You will progressively get worse and possibly have bigger thyroid issues IF you do not get this under control

Synthroid/Levo is not enough for you.

My opinion - Get your Free T3 labs done and get on either Cytomel or switch entirely to Armour.

Get on some magnesium citrate to reduce inflammation right away.

[motogirl]

Thank you so very much for your advice and obvious kindness and concern about my terrible joint pain...I have to find my latest blood work...that is interesting to know about low T3 levels causing joint pain. (I have also become much more disorganized due to this disease and the pain) But I will find my numbers and post them...I think I probably have a problem converting the t4 to t3 because they have run extensive testing on me again and again and nothing comes up out of whack.  I have been wanting to try the Armour for years but not one doctor I saw wanted to prescribe it to me. (one was concerned that it can make you a little hyper and i get panic/anxiety attacks) But this joint pain is debilitating.  Thanks for all your responses and your "Welcome"....I will get my lab results and put them out there.
You guys are all great!  Thanks......so much

[pep88]

Have you ever been on anything other than Synthroid?  I started Synthoid only after being on Levothyroxine and Cytomel post TT.  I started with the most horrendious hip joint pain as well as the worsening of few other pre-existing joint and arthritis issues.  I switched to Levoxyl and I have gotten a bit better.  I have since gotten back onto some T3 (Cytomel) in addition to the Levoxyl, hoping that all the joint (or most) will go away.  Do post your test scores and people will be better able to help you.  I wish you luck.

[ChitChatNine]

WELCOME the COMMUNITY!

Cheryl

[laura1967]

You need to post your last set of thyroid tests with the reference ranges.....did they run a Free T4 and Free T3 with your TSH? Low T3 levels will cause extreme joint pain....i just start armour because i have a conversion problem. My joint pain is almost completely gone for the first time. You need to proper bloodwork done to get a complete picture of what is going on. If you cannot get an endo to do it....find a good internal medicine doc who will. Adding Cytomel to your synthroid may or may not be the answer....but it is worth a shot to see. Ask your doctor to give you a trial of it for a few weeks.