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Thyroid Disorders Community
This patient support community is for discussions relating to thyroid issues, goiter, Graves disease, Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, Human Growth Hormone (HGH), hyperthyroid, hypothyroid, metabolism, pituitary gland, cancers, thyroiditis, and thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH).
chronic joint & back pain
by motogirl, Jul 20, 2008 09:30AM
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.
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.
Cheryl
You guys are all great! Thanks......so much
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.
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
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!"