could anyone tell me i sometimes get pains under my left rib cage and my left arm goes numb i have a underactive thyroid is this common

[lambosh67]

[Xenelk]

Don't know how common it is, but I have had the same experience. Have had chest and abdominal ct which didn't show up anything. Now that I am a little less hypo the soreness is improving. I do know my diaphragm is still very weak which causes a lot of discomfort so am doing exercises to help that.hypo seems to affect our bodies in sooooooo many ways.numbness is very common too for a lot of people it seems. Take care

Lynda from Oz xxx

[Jackie]

Hi I would make sure your thyroid is correctly treated, TSH, T4 and Free T3 + ranges ( differ), ask the receptionist at GP`s GP`s levels are not always ours, post them here?. If not had all 3 done you need them. If FT3 is low and T4 high , you may need some T3 or if on armour or some T3 already, it is important not to go over range in T3. This just could be, although unlikely, heart related. When like that, take your pulse, does it swing? ie uneven, is it going very high or low. Do this for a week or 2. If still worried ask for a 24 or better 7 day monitor from GP. It does tiny ECGs all the time on. A normal ECG does not show intermittent problems. It is not too serious but just make sure. pain if stops when taking a deep breath is not expected to be heart related, if continuous it may be, cardio says.

Best wishes,

Jackie

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[vajra]

I'm another L that seems likewise to get occasional but recurring flashes of pain of this sort, although more typically on the RHS. I had a thyroidectomy.

My suspicion is that getting a bit hypo seems to leave a person prone to mild muscle strains and the like - caused by for example not sitting straight when watching TV or working on the computer.

I broke loads of ribs in an accident years ago, and old surgery sites can be a bit sensitive too. The ribs definitely give rise to the odd twinge - but i can't remember where the breaks were to check them out.

There's potentially lots of other causes for arm numbness (mostly unrelated to thyroid), but I had a period of numbness/loss of use back when i was badly hypo and ill with all sorts of related symptoms.

No proper diagnosis was ever made and it cleared up, but it seems possible it was caused by related auto immune disturbances. There's a condition called Parsonage Turner syndrome where the (brachial?) nerve controlling an arm can be attacked by the immune system. It's very painful at first though - gets your attention.

It's hard in general to know what to think about moderate aches and pains. It'd be easy to get worried about the possibility of a recurrence of (in my case) thyroid cancer, but i know from experience that if i present at a doc the chances are he's either going to (a) decide it's not significant and ignore it, or (b) send me for a scan. Heaven forbid that he'd make an information based assessment of the symptoms on his own before making a call.

(b) leaves the system in the clear, but costs money and time, and likely leaves the patient with the radiation dose of another scan which may or not be insignificant. (an abdominal CT is the equivalent this suggests of about 10 years of background radiation radiologyinfo.org/en/safety... Which seems reasonable enough if it's your first or second ever scan - but seems like it could be significant if you've already had several.

There's then the awkward little question of whether or not there's likely to be a worthwhile fix available should a scan actually find something.

That's not to advise against seeing a doctor or getting a scan if something is a cause for concern.

My personal thinking given the above though tends to be to not pay too much attention to mild twinges unless they remain consistently present over a decent period of time, or get steadily worse. More serious pain - especially if there is history or other reason for additional concern - is another matter...

ian

[cec57]

It might be an idea to get your B12 tested as it is low in a lot of us who are hyop and can cause lots of things like numbness, pins and needles,and muscle pain. Its just a blood test and could be done when you get your thyroid one done. Just make sure you let your doctor know if you are taking any supplements as they can skew the results (especially folic acid).

[Hidden]

I had ribcage pain on and off then last year I tested myself for Vit D (doc wouldn't do it but sent me for a chest X-ray instead). Took a few months supplementing and a sunny holiday but joint pain, muscle ache/spasm eased.

As for numb arms - is it down the ulnar line?, underside from elbow, mine was mostly - affecting 4th and little finger - (however I'm a bit odd with c-ribs so mine may be Thoracic outlet syndrome) still get sharp neck pains and top arm goes numb at night, but arms are fine in the daytime now, as long as I don't drive too long.

Have a vit D test and calcium if you can, (and B12, folate and ferritin too) these tend to be low with low thyroid function. J

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

If it's a stitch-line pain under ribs radiating to shoulder (as a friend described to me) you may want to get gall bladder checked out? I usually refrain from suggesting such things as I don't want to worry anyone, but then I'd like to know if it was me.

Hopefully it's just due to low vitamins/minerals J x

[Zabby]

My friend (who doesn't have a thyroid problem) was diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome, which is where nerves and blood vessels get compressed. I don't know if one of those nerves goes down to the ribs or not, but if so then it could explain your symptoms.