This is just my theory, but my guess is when you are hypo the blood ain't circulating the way it should, your electrolytes are off and that creates muscle spasms. When you get that, your muscles pull your spinal nerves out of line and cause pinchy, pinchy nerves through there, making it very hard to get comfortable, especially when lying down. Some folks get it worse on the right, some on the left. Its all really the same thing.
I have a tremendous amount of pain in my right elbow. It started about 3 years ago (before I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism) and my rheumatologist dxed me with arthritis. I didn't start meds but went to phys. therapy and started yoga. Since I had gone so long with favoring my good arm, my right arm was becoming useless. Both phys. therapy and yoga helped tremendously with range of motion and strength, but the pain never went away. Now, after having been diagnosed as hypothyroid for 1.5 years, I realize that my elbow pain could have been caused and or intensified by the hypothyroid condition. Over the past month or so I have started lifting light weights (equally with the left and right arms) to begin to build the muscle in my right arm again. I also continue to practice yoga and do the stretching exercises I learned in physical therapy. I have found that atleast being able to use my right arm b/c of increased strength and range of motion makes the pain and condition more manageable. Good luck!
Oh, I see. You keep better records than I do. When I get up, I'm supposed to do my diabetes blood test before having even my thyroid pill and/or coffee, and
I keep a log for that but don't always write everything down every time. It's hard to get One Touch log books any more. They said they were sending me two.
Guess I'll have to call the number again.
This is just my theory, but my guess is when you are hypo the blood ain't circulating the way it should, your electrolytes are off and that creates muscle spasms. When you get that, your muscles pull your spinal nerves out of line and cause pinchy, pinchy nerves through there, making it very hard to get comfortable, especially when lying down. Some folks get it worse on the right, some on the left. Its all really the same thing.
That's all I got on this one!
Good luck,
~S
Hi softcrush
I was wondering about thyroid disorders and electrolytes...does your doc ever check yours? I've never had those checked.
About the arm pain...have you guys been checked for a herniated disk
in your neck? Just curious I know they can create the same symptoms
(both my mom and sister had herniated disks)
Probably not the case though since so many of you have it.
Pain in the "funny bone" area can be ulnar nerve entrapment. The ulnar nerve is located very close to the skin at the elbow. It travels through a "tunnel" called the cubital tunnel. That's why it's most often refered to as Cubital Tunnel Syndrome (CuTS). It's less common than carpal tunnel but it too can be caused by hypothyroidism. In fact, the ER doctor who diagnosed me as hypo decided to test me for hypo after I told her I have CuTS.
One almost sure fire way to know if it's CuTS is if you answer yes to this question (you would need a nerve conduction study and maybe an EMG to confirm). The question is Does your pinky and the pinky side of your ring finger go numb after bending your elbow more than 90 degrees for a period of time? This happens because when we bend our elbows that much, that makes the tunnel constrict and if it's inflamed, it will cause numbness in that part of the hand that it controls feeling in.
My doctor explained hypo's role in CuTS like this. She said the nerves are fed by our cells. If our cells don't have the hormones that our nerves need to stay healthy, they can't do their job properly. That's why many people report that once they are stabalized on their t4 meds, the nerve problems lessen, even sometimes go away.
I went through many years of suffering with this and it is better now that I'm on Levothyrovine. I still have it though and eventually will have to have surgery for it. If you're having problems like this, don't wait to get a dx. The longer you wait, the worse it can get.
Barb
