tailbone injection? I will pray that stopping the NSAIDs gives you major improvement!

Jessica-- I do hope getting off the NSAIDS gives you relief.
As you know, I also have thyroid issues and am having a major problem that I am praying is thyroid related and therefore relatively easily treated.

Years ago when I was first diagnosed and treated for Graves Disease I had MAJOR muscle spasms and cramps to the point where I was sore all over and in tears. My thyroid levels were low and once they were brought up, the muscle problems stopped.

Fast forward to now and I've had very sore hamstrings for a few weeks. No matter what I do exercise/stretching wise, they are very sore (maybe the Bikram Yoga caused it? Or it is helping I don't know....). Saturday we drove to pick up our new puppy (5 hours each way) and shortly into the drive I started experiencing excruciating pain throughout my legs. It was primarily in one leg but it was in both to some extent. I have a high tolerance for pain and I was close to vomiting and blacking out. When we stopped and I walked around (and bough Aleve), it lessened somewhat but it was still horrible and just got worse the longer we drove. I was in tears most of the drive. Not a very fun way to pick up a new puppy! Thank goodness he slept most of the ride home (after waking up to barf a few times). Now my legs are just tremendously sore. I have my appointment tomorrow with the endocrinologist so I pray he has some answers for me. Wish me luck!!

Traveling michele, I would ask your doctor about blood clots...

Jay

That's a scary thought! I will ask though. Thanks for mentioning it.

Michele, I hope your endo has some answers for you! I find it immensely frustrating talking to my doctors about my thyroid problem. My primary care doctor still does not believe that my hypothyroidism was related to the joint pain I was experiencing before getting diagnosed. I think the fact that after starting Cytomel my knee pain disappeared immediately is pretty darn good evidence that my thyroid problem was causing my knee pain.

I also feel like my current problems could be related to not enough T3 the same as I had years ago. My T3 level is just within the normal range though so they don't want to change my meds. I don't understand why we couldn't try giving me enough medication to bring it up to the middle or upper end of the "normal" range instead and see if it helps.

Then again, I totally don't understand how they come up with these dosages anyway. I got diagnosed hypothyroid with a high TSH test (8.0), which is fine. But even at that time my T4 was totally normal, it has only ever been the T3 that was out of range. So why do I take Synthroid at all, instead of only Cytomel? Also, why was my TSH off with my T4 being normal? I thought they were in a feedback relationship. None of the doctors have ever explained any of this to me and if I try to ask about it I mostly get told either "It doesn't matter because the treatment is the same" or "You wouldn't understand because you're not a doctor" (though not in so many words).

Sigh. I just want to be treated as an intelligent human being capable of logical reasoning. I'm reminded of the time in grad school when I took an intro neuroscience class, and during the section with a TA, when I asked why something worked the way it did, I got the answer, "Don't worry about it, it won't be on the test." Forgive me for wanting to actually increase my knowledge!

Okay, enough whining, sorry I keep dumping this on you guys.

Jessica, this is entirely reasonable. It's your body and you have the right to understand proposed treatment before you give your consent to proceed. Surely.

Medics make me very angry when they are so high-handed.

Change your doctor?

TOM. Water weight. Bleah. But I'm in my last 4 days at work, and it's getting harder and harder not to show how relieved I am that I'm leaving.

Just back from the endocrinologist. I am thrilled to find out my thyroid was indeed low and he suspects all of my symptoms are related to the levels-- weight gain, constipation, muscle cramps and spasms, skin problems....

He is switching me to Armour. He wants me to try it and thinks I will be successful on it. I just spent some time reading about it on the internet which is always baffling. Has anyone with thyroid issues used it? I'm eager to get started and see some results!

Michele, I've been on Armour for about 4 years now. It's a low dose, only 120mg. I had some issues with heart flutters for about a week when I started it, but it's been great ever since. I read about the fuss over the filler change - I never noticed a difference with it. The only downside is that with it being the natural alternative, my insurance doesn't cover it. Which sticks me with a $17.99/month bill - grrrr. Given how it's helped me, though ... I'll pay it. I'm due for a followup in another month, and we may knock it back to 60mg. I've been supplementing with iodine for the last 6 months, and my thyroid function has been improving, per labwork. My doc says I might be able to get it to a point where I can stop eventually.

Thanks ICU for the input. I'm on 150 mg a day but he said I may be able to do 120 down the road. Just started it yesterday so no idea if it will work for me. I have a throbbing headache but not sure if that is related. What is the iodine for?

Silver, thanks. I have changed doctors and my current ones are way better than the ones I used to have, but there is still a certain level of "I'm the doctor and I know better than you." Which, to be fair, they ought to know better than me, since they spent years in med school and I didn't. At least it's not as bad as the guy I saw once before who told me that none of my problems could possibly be related to my thyroid, I would probably develop rheumatoid arthritis, and I should take antidepressants since that was my real problem. Or the wrist specialist who told me, "It's not like you have metastatic breast cancer or something. What do you want me to do about it?"

Becky, interesting about the iodine. I just started taking a multivitamin which has iodine in it so maybe it will help. Do you get some time between leaving your current job and starting your new one?

Michele, I hope the Armour works for you! I seem to recall having headaches both when they had me on too much Synthroid and when they had me on not enough.

Weight is still down. Everything else is still not resolved. A week now since the injections and my feet still feel, well, like someone stuck needles in them and wiggled them around. Woke up in the middle of the night last night from an awful nightmare (I dreamed my dad tried to sexually assault me -- talk about disturbing!) with my feet, leg muscles, tailbone, forearms, wrists, and shoulder throbbing/aching and my pinkies numb and couldn't get back to sleep for an hour. At least I know what to do about the pinkies, I probably was just sleeping with my elbows bent too much. I'm going to consult with FIL (who is a doctor) when we see them this weekend and see what he suggests in terms of which of these multiple doctors I should be going back to and what to say to them.

I've been eating pretty well, coming in between 1500-1600 cals most days. Not quite as low as I usually need to lose but weight is still down. Maybe because of lack of exercise? I bought a new bike which I should be getting this weekend so hopefully my feet will at least be okay enough by then to ride a bike and I can get moving again.

I get this every time I lie down on the couch to read and I fall asleep. I wake up with at least three fingers on each hand totally numb! Weird.

Allison, depending which fingers go numb it could be different things. The nerve that goes to your thumb, index, and middle fingers and half of your ring finger goes through the carpal tunnel which is on the palm side of your wrist. The nerve that goes to your pinky and the other half of your ring finger goes through the cubital tunnel in your elbow. So if your elbow is bent too much for too long your pinky can go numb, and if there is too much pressure on the palm side of your wrist the other three can go numb (could be if it's pressing on something or your hand is bent to stretch that area).

Michele, the thyroid can't make thyroid hormones without iodine. Iodine consumption has dropped - people are avoiding salt, plus bromines (increasingly found in processed foods) compete with the iodine receptors. My doctor's doing a lot of research on bromines as a root cause of poor thyroid function (it's his passion). Here's the article he handed to me at my last appointment: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/ar...vironment.aspx


Jessica, no - unfortunately. Friday's the last day, and Monday's the start of the new job. Thank goodness I'll still have 2 wks of vacation for this year. Hope you are able to resolve the aches and pains soon!

Numb fingers - I go see my chiro when my ring and little fingers tingle - for me it's always just one side. He adjusts my C7/T1, which relieves it. I've had full hand numbness too - it's an awful thing to wake up to!

Flubbed up with the plan last night - maybe driven by TOM, but it was still me that filled my face. On track again this morning. I found my weight journal, and a year ago I was NINE pounds lighter. Now I'm seriously determined!

Becky, thanks for the article. I had been wondering about my iodine intake because we never use table salt on anything at home due to DH's high blood pressure. The only thing I add salt to is roasted veggies and I typically use sea salt which I doubt is iodized. The vitamins I picked up at the store though supposedly have 100% of my RDA of iodine so we'll see. I will definitely wash my strawberries more carefully now too!

Speaking of flubbing up plans, I really got what was coming to me last night. Even though I'd eaten really well all day and for once was going to meet my target calories, I was cold and wanted something hot so I made myself hot cocoa. Then I massively burned my tongue trying to drink it. Got exactly what I deserved!