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Muscle Cramps related to Hypothyroid?
Hi everyone!
I am new here and just had a quick question. Ofcourse it's one of those questions that doesn't make sense without some background information, so here goes....
I am 29 years old, about 12 years ago, at age 17, I was diagnosed with Grave's Disease (hyperthyroidism). At that time I really didn't realize what that meant and a lot of me just really didn't care. After 12 years of these symptoms I decided to go back to my endocrinologist and do something about it. So in November I went to see Dr. D (my endocrinologist) and after him yelling at me for not coming back sooner and some labwork, sure enough I still had Grave's Disease. Out of the couple of options he gave me to "cure" the condition. I decided with the radioactive iodine therapy.
On 12/4/2008, I took one little pill and my life has been worse ever since. My follow up with him was 6 weeks later. When I saw him in mid January and he asked about my symptoms, Dr. D decided that my thyroid levels probably was not low enough and he wouldn't draw my labs that visit. He said he would wait another six weeks and then maybe draw my labs. About a week later everything hit me like a ton of bricks....I had absolutely no energy, I was constipated and depressed just to name a little. Without realizing it, I had also gained about 15 pounds. So I called up Dr. D. He told the nurse to have me come in for labwork. The following morning I arrived for my labwork and later that afternoon they called me to ask where I would like my Levothyroxine script called into. I started on 100mcg per day, the following day.
About a week later I started having muscle cramps. There really wasn't a trigger at all, I could just be sitting on the couch reading and get a huge cramp in the side of my neck. Or try and prop my leg up and my thigh would immediately cramp up. No area in my body was safe. I just would cramp up without any warning. This went on for a week and I called Dr. D's office. I told the receptionist my symptoms, after speaking with the nurse, she spoke with Dr. D, who said to cut my Levothyroxine in half and only take 50mcg daily for a week and then continue with the whole dose. I took the new dose for a week without really seeing any relief for my muscle cramps. Then started taking the whole dose again.
By this time I was starting to have different symptoms. The best way I can describe the new symptom was racing thoughts. I would wake up in the middle of the night with my brain just racing away with thoughts and I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep. It didn't matter what time I woke up, my head would just be going crazy with thoughts. I couldn't keep my thoughts straight either when I was awake. So I called Dr. D's office again, only for the nurse to tell me that it takes a good month for Levothyroxine to get into your system and that she didn't think the racing thoughts had anything to do with the med. She spoke with Dr. D and he said for me to go to an outpatient lab and have my labwork drawn. The next day I got a call from the nurse who stated that my thyroid levels were just where the doc wanted them and maybe I should see my primary care physician or a psychiatrist for the symptoms I had been having.
Now completely frustrated, I called up a PCP, since I didn't have one to begin with who made me an appointment for later in the week. On 2/20/2009, I went and saw the new PCP. I told her about the muscle cramps and the racing thoughts. She attributed my racing thoughts to my recent trial of Chantix and told me that it was the medication still in my system. (I had taking Chantix back in late november to try and quit smoking, but had broke out into a rash). For the muscle cramps she was certainly perplexed. She decided to draw a whole bunch of labwork on me. That afternoon she called me to let me know my CK level was 1,683. She asked if I was dehydrated and I let her know I drank plenty of water. She told me to watch my NSAID use and she would see me the following week in her office. Last tuesday I went to see her and she stated that she found articles for correlation between muscle cramps and hypothyroidism. I told her I had found the same articles online and they stated that once your thyroid levels came back into range the muscle cramps would stop. Mine hadn't stopped and according to my endocrinologist my thyroid levels were good. She then stated that she thought the muscle cramps were coming from my high CK levels and that once my CK levels came down the muscle cramps would stop.
I guess somewhere in the beginning of all this I should have let you all know that I am a registered nurse, who worked a cardiac unit before changing over to a dialysis clinic awhile ago. I guess I could be incorrect on this one but I was always taught that CK's were enzymes that lived in muscles in your body and are released when that muscle is damaged. So I guess this is where I am getting confused???? How can an enzyme that lives in your muscles until they are damaged or cramped be causing the muscle to cramp????
If the muscle cramps are related to my hypothyroidism and that my levels are too low, why did my endocrinologist decide to LOWER my levothyroxine dose for a week, instead of raising it or drawing my labwork first....
My PCP decided to draw my CK level on my last visit 3/4/2009, she stated she would be happy with when she saw a downward trend. Now on the day I went and had my labs drawn I hadn't had a cramp in 2 days. I could have told the lady that the result would be lower because I knew I hadn't had a cramp in a couple of days. Low and behold when the result came in at 460, my doc called me with the happy news and pretty much said call us if you need anything else......
Errrrrrrr, this is very frustrating.....
My endocrinologist doesn't want to see me until april/may.....I guess I'm just supposed to live with the muscle cramps for the rest of my life. They don't happen everyday, but when they do they are pretty much debilitating for hours. It's annoying....
Anyone been through this situation or have suggestions as to what I should do?? My husband wants me to go to another Endocrinologist and PCP.
I am new here and just had a quick question. Ofcourse it's one of those questions that doesn't make sense without some background information, so here goes....
I am 29 years old, about 12 years ago, at age 17, I was diagnosed with Grave's Disease (hyperthyroidism). At that time I really didn't realize what that meant and a lot of me just really didn't care. After 12 years of these symptoms I decided to go back to my endocrinologist and do something about it. So in November I went to see Dr. D (my endocrinologist) and after him yelling at me for not coming back sooner and some labwork, sure enough I still had Grave's Disease. Out of the couple of options he gave me to "cure" the condition. I decided with the radioactive iodine therapy.
On 12/4/2008, I took one little pill and my life has been worse ever since. My follow up with him was 6 weeks later. When I saw him in mid January and he asked about my symptoms, Dr. D decided that my thyroid levels probably was not low enough and he wouldn't draw my labs that visit. He said he would wait another six weeks and then maybe draw my labs. About a week later everything hit me like a ton of bricks....I had absolutely no energy, I was constipated and depressed just to name a little. Without realizing it, I had also gained about 15 pounds. So I called up Dr. D. He told the nurse to have me come in for labwork. The following morning I arrived for my labwork and later that afternoon they called me to ask where I would like my Levothyroxine script called into. I started on 100mcg per day, the following day.
About a week later I started having muscle cramps. There really wasn't a trigger at all, I could just be sitting on the couch reading and get a huge cramp in the side of my neck. Or try and prop my leg up and my thigh would immediately cramp up. No area in my body was safe. I just would cramp up without any warning. This went on for a week and I called Dr. D's office. I told the receptionist my symptoms, after speaking with the nurse, she spoke with Dr. D, who said to cut my Levothyroxine in half and only take 50mcg daily for a week and then continue with the whole dose. I took the new dose for a week without really seeing any relief for my muscle cramps. Then started taking the whole dose again.
By this time I was starting to have different symptoms. The best way I can describe the new symptom was racing thoughts. I would wake up in the middle of the night with my brain just racing away with thoughts and I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep. It didn't matter what time I woke up, my head would just be going crazy with thoughts. I couldn't keep my thoughts straight either when I was awake. So I called Dr. D's office again, only for the nurse to tell me that it takes a good month for Levothyroxine to get into your system and that she didn't think the racing thoughts had anything to do with the med. She spoke with Dr. D and he said for me to go to an outpatient lab and have my labwork drawn. The next day I got a call from the nurse who stated that my thyroid levels were just where the doc wanted them and maybe I should see my primary care physician or a psychiatrist for the symptoms I had been having.
Now completely frustrated, I called up a PCP, since I didn't have one to begin with who made me an appointment for later in the week. On 2/20/2009, I went and saw the new PCP. I told her about the muscle cramps and the racing thoughts. She attributed my racing thoughts to my recent trial of Chantix and told me that it was the medication still in my system. (I had taking Chantix back in late november to try and quit smoking, but had broke out into a rash). For the muscle cramps she was certainly perplexed. She decided to draw a whole bunch of labwork on me. That afternoon she called me to let me know my CK level was 1,683. She asked if I was dehydrated and I let her know I drank plenty of water. She told me to watch my NSAID use and she would see me the following week in her office. Last tuesday I went to see her and she stated that she found articles for correlation between muscle cramps and hypothyroidism. I told her I had found the same articles online and they stated that once your thyroid levels came back into range the muscle cramps would stop. Mine hadn't stopped and according to my endocrinologist my thyroid levels were good. She then stated that she thought the muscle cramps were coming from my high CK levels and that once my CK levels came down the muscle cramps would stop.
I guess somewhere in the beginning of all this I should have let you all know that I am a registered nurse, who worked a cardiac unit before changing over to a dialysis clinic awhile ago. I guess I could be incorrect on this one but I was always taught that CK's were enzymes that lived in muscles in your body and are released when that muscle is damaged. So I guess this is where I am getting confused???? How can an enzyme that lives in your muscles until they are damaged or cramped be causing the muscle to cramp????
If the muscle cramps are related to my hypothyroidism and that my levels are too low, why did my endocrinologist decide to LOWER my levothyroxine dose for a week, instead of raising it or drawing my labwork first....
My PCP decided to draw my CK level on my last visit 3/4/2009, she stated she would be happy with when she saw a downward trend. Now on the day I went and had my labs drawn I hadn't had a cramp in 2 days. I could have told the lady that the result would be lower because I knew I hadn't had a cramp in a couple of days. Low and behold when the result came in at 460, my doc called me with the happy news and pretty much said call us if you need anything else......
Errrrrrrr, this is very frustrating.....
My endocrinologist doesn't want to see me until april/may.....I guess I'm just supposed to live with the muscle cramps for the rest of my life. They don't happen everyday, but when they do they are pretty much debilitating for hours. It's annoying....
Anyone been through this situation or have suggestions as to what I should do?? My husband wants me to go to another Endocrinologist and PCP.
Are you sure that it was hyperthyroidism instead of hypothyroidism? Either way, have you been tested for your thyroid hormone levels? If so, please post results and their reference ranges. If not, then why not test and see if something needs to be done to help relieve symptoms?
Hey! Wow I am so sorry you are going through this, but I am happy to know that I am not the only one- Today has been a cramp day and yes DEBILITATING is the correct word for it....and no one understands unless they to are going through it. When it first started it scared the s--- out of me! I immediately went to my doctor GP and he didn't seem the least bit concerned even when I was over taken in the exam room with one and screamed my head off. For 6 years I suffered with this, exhausting every thing and every one I knew to find an answer...no one had a clue. I found out on my own that it was due to hyperthyroidism. I was relieved to know why it was happening, but I am still at a loss as to what to do about it- I cry sometimes it hurts so bad, I am afraid to cough, to laugh, to move. If there is anyone out there that can help please do, my only course of action thus far has been to hydrate, and load up on potassium- I don't know if it helps, but it is all I know to do.
a tsh over 3 gives me muscles cramps and aches and pains like a old lady or arthritis but when my synthroid is increased...BAM...NO MORE PAINS....SO it is definitely a hypothyroid symptom of not enough thyroid hormone medicine.....I suffered for over a year, but was accidently over dosed when changing to a different medication and in 3 days all pains vanished...THANKFULLY me and my dr discovered it was due to too little free t4 in my body.........and I have not had them since.......I had them in my neck, arms, elbows, feet, sometimes legs, knees, wrist sometimes, at one point it hurt to pick up a glass of tea or a pot while cooking.....don't be alarmed but don't wait to go to another dr ...I went to a bio identical hormone dr and you may want to just ask if they can increase your synthroid to see if muscle pains leave....it may take 4-6 weeks since I was accidently given double the dosage I needed almost.....
Comes from eating full cream dairy food like yogurt, chocolate, cream, milk etc cut these out for a few days and see what happens! I switched to light milk and cheese NO yogurts, chocolate or cream etc and it all stopped. Doctors will take u in a bit fat circle waste of time when it's that simple.
When I read your story, I couldn't help but wonder if you have ever been tested for Free T3 and Reverse T3 , to make sure all that T4 is being properly converted. Free T3 largely regulates metabolism and many other body functions. Scientific studies have shown that Free T3 correlated best with hypo symptoms, while Free T4 and TSH did not correlate at all.
Many members report that symptom relief for them required that Free T3 was adjusted into the upper part of its range. So usually we recommend testing for Free T3 and Free T4 as the first step. Infrequently we see that a member will have adequate Free T3, but still have hypo symptoms possibly due to the Free T3 effect being partially offset by excess Reverse T3. In those cases we then recommend testing for Reverse T3 as well.
You said that all your symptoms never went away even when the blood work was right. So, in your case, I think you should go ahead and request testing for both Free T3 and Reverse T4 so you will you know if your body is properly converting the T4 to T3, adequate to relieve hypo symptoms.
Many members report that symptom relief for them required that Free T3 was adjusted into the upper part of its range. So usually we recommend testing for Free T3 and Free T4 as the first step. Infrequently we see that a member will have adequate Free T3, but still have hypo symptoms possibly due to the Free T3 effect being partially offset by excess Reverse T3. In those cases we then recommend testing for Reverse T3 as well.
You said that all your symptoms never went away even when the blood work was right. So, in your case, I think you should go ahead and request testing for both Free T3 and Reverse T4 so you will you know if your body is properly converting the T4 to T3, adequate to relieve hypo symptoms.
In my life it went just like the first post on here. To many side affects come with Hypothyroidism to write but it is mental and the cramps and spasms are unbearable. In my case every doctor I seen would never connect my cramps and Hypothyroidism as the cause. Everything I would say to the Doctors just go's in one ear and out the other. I was very upset over this. This all started with me in 2000 i have been on a high dose of Lex 300mg and have to take sometimes up to 6 350mg soma a day just to keep them cramps down. They have never went away even after blood work is right. Now for the first time in years everything was under-control My weight was 140 cramps stay away most days and I felt great till I lost my job and unable to see doctor to get my meds. And guess what it's starts all over again...I cant move without cramping up in pain again and it's only been a month since I have been off my meds. But there is a new symdom now dizzy spells like i am going to pass out. And I gained 20 pounds in a month with no energy. All I can say is stick with it ' it will never go away or stop but at some point it will be manageable it just takes time. It took me 12 years and lots of doctors. But most of all never stop taking your meds .
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