My fingers and toes are hurting so bad. My finger joints are just aching and feel stiff and my toes are aching with pain and feel tight. My questions is can this be a thyroid symptom or can it be Fibromylagia related. Also does anyone know what I can do or take for this? If anyone can advise it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks and God Bless.
I have both thyroid disease and Fibromyalgia and I know if my thyroid is low I feel much worse, aching joints, my fingers swell. I talked to my Doc about it and he says the two are not related, but I know how I feel. So I guess we are in the same boat maybe someone here can be of more assistance. I have a question though do you sleep well?
I had a sleeping disorder and was given Elavil. But I am finding that lately that even when I take the Elavil I am still having a hard time sleeping. I seem to sleep then wake up over and over again. I have been through the thyroid thing with my doctor and he says it is all "normal". My last blood work did show that my Free T4 was at the low end of the range, it was 9.2 (range 9.1-23.8) so I am not sure if this means something or not. But my fingers and toes were really sore and painful lastnight. They are alittle better today but still sore. Any advice anyone has is very helpful and I really appreciate all the help I get from this board. Thanks and God Bless
I just wanted to say that with your t4 being low like that you will definitely have those pains. Most women feel better when the ft3 and ft4 are in the upper 1/3 of the range.
I know when mine was low like that I did have symptoms.
Just wanted to add my two cents okay?
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** RAI ablation for Graves disease 2004**
Fibromyalgia is not properly a disorder or disease in and of itself. Fibromyalgia literally means fiber pain o rtissue pain. It is a SYMPTOM. Hypothyroidism is a common cause of fibromyalgia, though there are other causes. My bet is that the problem lies in your low Free T4. You are under-treated, and still hypothyroid, despite what your TSH might indicate. Get your Free T4 up and you will progressively feel better.
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Danny
I am not a doctor, nor have I ever played one on TV...
Please get the book The Thyroid Solution and read about the 'link' between fibro and hypo. I picked it up at the library and now am going to buy it for my library. I was dx with fibro also and it can be the reason for your pain. Only by getting your meds optimized will you be able to tell if there is a connection.
Kloet, I'm not sure how you react, but I know that medications make my Fibro flare up. It took me years to figure out that vicious circle. I was taking hypnotics to help me sleep, only for the pills to make me worse. Now I take melatonin instead. Hopefully adding Synthroid to my Armour will help me in the sleep department.
Dr. Lowe's book is a good starting point. I wish I had known I had hypothyroidism back when I first got Fibro, it would have made this journey much easier.
Last edited by moderator2; 11-26-2004 at 06:19 PM.
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I want to go to my doctor and tell him that I have learned that my FRee T4 is in the lower range. If I do what medication would someone with a low Free T4 be perscribed. This is so I can go in alittle armed cause he does not seem to know a whole lot. Any information would be greatly apprecited. Thanks and God Bless.
sorry to interupt but i have similar symptoms, can thyroid make you really tired? i feel really heavy, my arms and legs like someones pushing me down? thanks, april. also is tingling a symptom? this is my biggest one
sorry to interupt but i have similar symptoms, can thyroid make you really tired? i feel really heavy, my arms and legs like someones pushing me down? thanks, april. also is tingling a symptom? this is my biggest one
Feel free to chime in anywhere! :-) Being tired all the time and just plain fatigued was the number one symptoms that I had when I was diagnosed, and the one I most wanted to get rid of.
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Danny
I am not a doctor, nor have I ever played one on TV...
Bumping in hope that someone will have an answer to my Free T4 guestion so that I can take that information to my doctor. Please any information greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Bumping in hope that someone will have an answer to my Free T4 guestion so that I can take that information to my doctor. Please any information greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Tell me more. What is your Free T4 and what is the range (sorry if you have posted this elsewhere, but I don't remember it). Also, what is your TSH? Your doc is obviously more worried about TSH than T4, so we need to work with that. As an example:
Lets say that your TSH is 2. You can approach your doctor and say "Of course, I know that is 'normal', but so is 1, and a small dose increase might raise my T4. Can we try a trial at a slightly higher dose to see if that helps alleviate some of my symptoms?"
The point is that there is often a great deal of room to play around with doses and still keep your labs "normal" so your doc doesn't freak out.
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Danny
I am not a doctor, nor have I ever played one on TV...
Meep, You are right my doctor was more concerned about my TSH. My Free T4 was 9.2 (range 9.1-23.8) and my TSH was 0.67 (range 0.3-5.0). The only reason I am feeling this out is because my bit toe sometimes is in excrutiating pain and my other toes feel numb at times. My fingers are very sensative to the cold. They really hurt and achy when exposed to cold or cooler air. That is why I am guestioning whether this is thyroid related or fibro. But you commented earlier that fibro is also just another symptom of hypothyroid. I have also been trying to lose weight as in my earlier posts and have been doing weight watchers point system at home with excersing when I can and cannot seem to lose weight. So if you can help me figure out if this is all related to my low Free T4 than maybe I can get my doctor to see it my way. So therefore your help is very much appreciated and I thank you for taking the time to help me. Thanks and God Bless.
Meep, You are right my doctor was more concerned about my TSH. My Free T4 was 9.2 (range 9.1-23.8) and my TSH was 0.67 (range 0.3-5.0). The only reason I am feeling this out is because my bit toe sometimes is in excrutiating pain and my other toes feel numb at times. My fingers are very sensative to the cold. They really hurt and achy when exposed to cold or cooler air. That is why I am guestioning whether this is thyroid related or fibro. But you commented earlier that fibro is also just another symptom of hypothyroid. I have also been trying to lose weight as in my earlier posts and have been doing weight watchers point system at home with excersing when I can and cannot seem to lose weight. So if you can help me figure out if this is all related to my low Free T4 than maybe I can get my doctor to see it my way. So therefore your help is very much appreciated and I thank you for taking the time to help me. Thanks and God Bless.
That doctor is not likely to budge from a dose that has your TSH at .67. However your TSH shoudl be highest in the morning, and you may be able to get him to work with you if that were higher.
Low-carb dieting will lower your TSH as well, as it tries to slow your metabolism. I haven't read the weight watcher's plan, so I am not sure if that woudl apply here. Still going too low-calorie can be detrimental to your metabolism, too.
It might be in yoru best interest to go doc shopping. Look for support groups and ask around.
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Danny
I am not a doctor, nor have I ever played one on TV...
You didn't give any clue as to whether you're old enough to have circulation problems. I sometimes get diabetic ulcerated foot calluses due to narrowed arteries, poor circulation, and a med called Platel helps quite a bit. I'd be afraid to take statins, I have such muscle problems from every little thing, mostly from never having taken any T3, maybe not converting enough from my T4 meds.
I see the endocrinologist in 3 wks, to explain latest labs, so right now I don't know much. Except that I've had extreme muscle pain, he agrees is probably fibromyalgia, for a couple years, starting with left arm, so I stopped playing orchestra violin, then even worse in my right arm. The left one got enough better that I can at least sleep on that side, but I wake up every couple of hours. It's hard to get my coat or jacket on or off, having to move arms even that much to the back painful in both.
Quinalone antibiotics also caused me a lot of muscle pain, and if anyone's had problems and wants to do a search, there's an article about a doctor and his wife who took, I think, Levaquin, and he feels he has maybe permanent damage. The statins for cholesterol also do it to some people, I hear. Undertreated thyroid for sure.
kloet,
Have you been tested for Raynaud's disease? The pain and coldness you describe sound very much like the main symptoms for that.
Raynaud's is an autoimmune disease. You may already know that autoimmune diseases frequently appear in clusters. If your hypoT is autoimmune, you are at greater risk for having another AI disease.
Here's some information about Raynaud's. See if you fit the description ~
http://www.niams.nih.gov/hi/topics/raynaud/ar125fs.htm
I am not presently being treated for hypothyroidism. The only prescription medicine I am on is Wellbutrin and Elavil at night for sleeping. I believe that hypo is alot of my problems combined maybe with fibromylagia. Today for instance my left foot the big toe and the bunyon part are extremely sore and I am also starting to have sore shins (and I do not run). I have also been battling a very bad headache for about 1 week now. My husband seems to becoming concerned about that. I just do not know what is going on and I do not know where or what to do. Should I just suffer and see what happens or do I push my doctor who already believes that it is not thyroid related. So any advice or information you guys can give me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks and God Bless.
Frankly, I'd try another doctor, who knows all the proper tests to find out for sure if you're in need of thyroid meds, and give YOU a copy, so you could post your lab results as lots of forum people do when they have a question they forgot to ask the doctor.
Sometimes you have to specifically ask for a detailed breakdown, not just TSH, but free T4 and T3, antibodies, ferritin, and I'm sure others can add a lot to the list, A1C if you might be an undiagnosed diabetic.
Not sure if Thyroid or Fibromylagia related? 
Re: Not sure if Thyroid or Fibromylagia related? 
