Muscle Pain and Weakness.

[ErinC]

I was diangosed in 2006 with Graves Disease. I had the RAI treatment and have since struggled up and down with my TSH.
I had been fine, but in the last few weeks/months I have been dealing with pretty severe muscle pain. I have had numerous doctors appointments and they've tested for anything possible in blood work and found nothing. All of my numbers look great, all normal.
I KNOW this muscle pain in not normal and I refuse to do as the doctors suggest and just "wait it out".
Is it possible for something to be wrong and have it not caught on blood work?

[AR-10]

Thanks for the link.

It makes me wonder about the connection between Fibromyalgia and your muscle problems, as well. Auto-immune disease anti-bodies seem to cross boundries and cause problems in more than one organ or system in the body. That must be why people with one disorder sometimes "collect" others.

[chigirl29]

AR,

I had hight antibody counts and ran a 101 fever for almost a year.  My doctor explained that the immune system being in such high gear with the fevers and all created the muscle pain and weakness--sort of like having a cold or the flu.

I could look it up to be sure though.

The autoimmune nature of lupus is what gives lupus patients the tiredness and muscle pain.  I've also been tested for it--negative though.

[ErinC]

Yeah I had heard that before about developing other autoimmune diseases. When I went to the ER, they tested me for musclular autoimmune diseases, all tests came back normal.

[AR-10]

Since you were diagnosed with Grave's in 2006, you were tested for anti-bodies at that time, and at least one type of antibody was found in high enough numbers to pronounce you as having Grave's disease.

The antibodies are not addressed in treatment of the thyroid, because there is no real treatment for antibodies. The count should go down after RAI or surgery, but eliminating the antibodies is not really possible.

Once you have an auto-immune condition, you are open to developing other auto-immune conditions, although it is not a definite case of you WILL do so. It just raises the potential of that happening.

[AR-10]

Thyroid antibodies come in half a dozen flavors and can indicate an auto-immune disorder.

Many people have them. The antibody count is usefull in making a diagnosis of a particular thyroid disease, as there are many forms of thyroid disease.

They do not directly affect TSH, T4, and T3, but they can cause damage to the gland, which then changes the TSh, etc.

[AR-10]

Could you post a link I could read that deals with antibodies and muscle pain?

I have never read of such a connection, and would be interested in learning more about it.

[ErinC]

Ok can you explain thyroid antibodies? Is that something other than the TSH, T3, T4 stuff?? And if antibodies were off would it not affect the other tests?

[chigirl29]

Also, I was first diagnosed with Grave's disease.  I have antibodies for both, and I also went up and down in TSH--now I'm usually hypo unless my medication (as it is) makes me hyper.

[chigirl29]

I'm the same age and can relate.  Are they checking your thyroid antibody level counts?
The autoimmune nature of our problems is what causes the muscle pains--similar to Lupus.

Hope you get to feeling better soon.

[ErinC]

Yeah I'm going to call them on Monday and get another appointment. But it figures, I go out of town from the 12th-25th......... so they will probably make me wait.
I don't believe I was hyper at all. Of course I can't tell unless I have a blood test. But for a while I was feeling "hyper" but when they took my blood , my TSH was 3.01, docs think the lab messed up though because by less than two weeks later I was 1.8.
Who knows........ but this is ridiculous. I am in so much pain its horrible. And I have a 3 and 5 year old that I stay home with. I am 29 years old and I feel like I'm 80!

[AR-10]

You make the machine. I'll buy one!

Actually, some people in Australia are working on one, but it sounds like it's a few years down the road.

If you were hyper a few months ago, you may still have residual symptoms. Your TSH the last six weeks is at a level that should not be bringing on the complaint that you have.

Is the muscle pain a recent symptom, or has it been hanging on for a while? Is it possible it is a "leftover" from a hyper phase recently?

Adrenal problems can cause a lot of the same symptoms as thyroid problems, but I don't know if muscle pain is one of them.

I wouldn't "wait it out" either. Bug your doctor to run more tests.

[ErinC]

I've decided they need to make those little machines like they have to diabetics for blood sugar, for Thyroid people for TSH counts and such.
Maybe that'll be my million dollar invention.

[ErinC]

It was 1.5 and then about 3 weeks before that it was 1.8

[AR-10]

What was your last TSH result?