Muscle pain with thyroid condition?

[penny3323]

Hi, I have a very strong family history of hypothyroid, basically every single person in my immediate family is hypothyroid, and my sister has hashimotos.  I have not been diagnosed as hypothyroid because my TSH is always around 3, and I've been told my other labs are normal too.  

But, then there is the fact that I could easily sleep all day and I get a lot of muscle aches and pains in my upper and lower extremities.  I work out my upper body a lot mostly because I am a massage student and you use your arms a lot so I wanted to try to prevent injuryd.  But I am continually getting really sore after being at school and granted I am a small female, but I believe the muscle aches and cramps do not add up to the work I am doing.  

I had a naturopath hear this and suggest taking a thyroid supplement she gave me, however; she did not look at my labs or want to test anything, so I am kind of afraid to start taking it.  She mentioned that often times you can still have hypothyroidism without the lab values showing that.  But I wanted to ask, does this sound normal to anyone, and would you recommend trying the supplements?  

Any advice would be appreciated! thanks!

[penny3323]

thanks for the info.  I believe my antibodies have been checked and they were negative.  Its been over a year though since they were checked, so it might be worth doing again.  thanks!

[flowergal23]

In my 20+ years of dealing with this, muscle pain and fatigue are very common with thyroid problems.  

'Normal' TSH levels and doctors who refuse to test for anything beyond the TSH are also unfortunately another common problem in getting an accurate diagnosis.  A TSH of 3 may or may not be a problem for you, depending on the lab reference ranges and provided where you personally fall in those magical 'ranges'.   Some people may feel OK with a TSH of 3 while I myself would feel miserable.  

I know there are people on this forum who can help you much better than I can, and if you have any of your recent lab test results, please post them with the reference ranges your lab uses and the very knowledgeable people here can give you some insight.  

I don't know what others will recommend about the supplements.  I think your best course of action is to find a good thyroid doctor which can be a frustrating process, but worth the effort in the long run.  

I think you are wise to not ignore your symptoms and seek help since you know your own body better than any doctor.  I know I went for years ignoring my 'check engine soon' light, lol, and that wasn't very smart of me.  I hope you feel better soon.

[Red_Star]

Yes it's very good to know! :)

Serological markers for Hashimoto's thyroiditis:

Thyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPOAb): found in 90 - 95% of cases
Thyroglobulin antibodies (TgAb): found in 55 - 90% of cases

In a small percentage of cases, thyroid antibodies are negative. A fine needle aspiration (FNA) biospy can help to confirm these cases.

Hashimoto's thyroiditis can run in families. The genes seen with Hashi's include HLA-DR3 and HLA-DR5. I also have autoimmune pernicious anaemia which is seen with HLA-DR5 gene. My sister has autoimmune pernicious anaemia and my mother has Hashimoto's thyroiditis. I'm the lucky soul that has both. *rolls eyes*.

[penny3323]

Oh thats good to know!  No I don't know if I have hashimoto's.  How would I find out?  

[Red_Star]

Hashimoto's thyroiditis can cause symptoms without affecting thyroid labs notably. My mother has had Hashi's for 7 years now and her TSH has only just hit 4.2mU/L! She eats brazil nuts (rich in selenium) which has been slowing down the disease process.  

My TSH took 4 years to rise to 6mU/L from Hashimoto's thyroiditis but I've had hypothyroid symptoms for over 25 years due to cellular resistance issues (does not show up on labs at all).

You can suffer a long time with normal thyroid labs! Do you know if you have Hashimoto's thyroiditis?