Can all my symptoms be thyroid related?

[KD57]

I have been unwell for over 2 years with a multitude of mainly gastro & neuro symptoms - e.g. very low bp, gastro problems, burning pain in veins, nausea, headaches, back pain, muscle twitching, insomnia, palpitations, frequent loo visits (like my body goes into 'overdrive'). I began having neck pain & aching earlier this year and I was sent for US & I have a multi nodular goitre. My bloods always come back normal. My latest TSH was 1.00 (range .3-5) & free T4 was 14 (8-19). Thyroid antibody was negative. I am iron, B12 & Vit D deficient and take each currently. I experience frequent bouts of feeling very unwell where I'm cold, shivery, have nausea, headache, constantly going to the loo, exhausted, - is it possible all this could be related to my thyroid? I have recently had a CT and am awaiting those results. I have a family history of goitres. Other than a TT I haven't been offered any treatment for my thyroid and I'm getting pretty desperate and am unsure what to do for the best - I am considering if I should seek the opinion of a thyroid Dr privately. Any help/guidance would be very much appreciated.

[shaws Administrator]

Someone told me a few weeks ago that hyperparathyroidism can give digestive problems and palpitations.

Sometimes we can get a cross-over of symptoms between thyroid etc. Today I have been reading about the parathyroid gland and if you have low Vitamin D I always thought it was a simple remedy to fix, i.e. supplement.

Just to make sure all the below are o.k. ask your GP to check them:-

This is for hypoparathyroidism:-

Low levels of parathyroid hormone (PTH) in the blood affect other levels and will cause:

low levels of calcium

low levels of calcitriol (active vitamin D)

high levels of phosphate

It also means that these levels cannot be regulated automatically by the parathyroid glands, as happens normally.

hpth.org.uk/hpth.php?id=26

Calcium is vital to life and affects every cell in the body. Most people know about teeth and nails in connection with calcium but in fact its effects are on the whole body. Calcium works with phosphorous to produce energy within the body. It helps blood to clot and is important in the correct functioning of nerves and muscles as well as the kidneys, eyes, bones and heart. Calcium is crucial to us which is why the body has special mechanisms in place to keep calcium levels constant.

For hyperpara - calcium levels are high.

For hypopara - calcium levels are low.

[bantam12 in reply to shaws]

Hyperparathyroidism is a very complicated diagnosis, I'm on the long journey now.

[shaws Administrator in reply to bantam12]

Although this is in the USA, it has lots of good information.

parathyroid.com/

[KD57 in reply to shaws]

Thank you.

[KD57]

Thanks for the responses - thats very interesting information. I have looked on my recent blood results and my serum calcium is 2.31 (2.20-2.60), corrected serum calcium level 2.26 (2.2-2.6) & alk phos 52 (30-130). I'm not sure if these are the correct ones that you mentioned.

[bantam12]

If you are thinking parathyroid issues you need calcium, corrected calcium, pth, phosphate, liver and kidney profile, Vit D, a dexa scan and a kidney scan and you would need something wrong with most of those before they will even think about para disease and even then it is not a straight forward diagnosis.

Your results above, on their own, wouldn't indicate para disease.

[KD57 in reply to bantam12]

That's very useful info, thank you.

[Hidden]

Tempted to say yes as the Thyroid affects every cell in the body, but...

looking from a vitamin/mineral perspective and my own experience (only).

Although Thyroid trouble has lots of symptoms you may find a lot of them stem from your deficiencies (iron, B12 and Vit D) - do you have those results? correcting these will likely take a while, and probably on-going, but they are important as the building blocks to health (and also ones we can sort ourselves!)

Don't know about 'burning pain in veins' - that must be awful, or frequent loo visits (GPs always check for diabetes?)

I've been told headaches are hormonal, but which one? apparently adrenals are the back up source of these, until they run out! again I'm just a learner (adrenals next on my list!).

Muscle twitching could be low calcium (well, vit D sorted mine & pain) and VitD helps absorb it in the gut (can't find the link sorry) Some find magnesium helps with insomnia (another probable low/deficiency). Things work together.

B12 is often the culprit for 'neuro' symptoms - I've had a truckload of tests for 'trapped nerves' causing numbness and 'wobblyness': nerve conduction, poking/prodding, MRIs etc. wondering if it was B12 all along? taking B complex now. (look up gut problems & B12 too).

The fatigue problem is a tricky one, could be irons, B12, Vit D contributing too - I'm not on any Thyroid hormone, are you?

It's such a jigsaw, I'm going piece by piece, but without the whole picture it's hard to get anywhere.

Hope you get some answers and feel better soon. Here's the main site (hypo symptom page) J

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_...

[KD57 in reply to Hidden]

Hi Spareribs, thanks for the response & information. My Vit D is now 56.4 (I take a high strength Vit D daily), my Hb is 131 (115-165), my ferritin months ago was 9 (v low I know) but I don't have a recent result but I am on galfer syrup for this, my B12 is 1173 (200-900) & I have 8 weekly injections for this. I had my magnesium done a few months ago (it was in range but I don't have the figures to hand). I'm not on any thyroid hormones, no. I am on fludro steroids for my bp (it was so low I couldn't walk around my house!). I get waves of nausea (feels like an inappropriate adrenalin rush) where my body just goes into overdrive & I have hot flushing & then the frequent loo visits in quick succession (TMI I know!)

[Hidden]

sorry - re-read and saw no you're not on Thyroid meds just offered a TT - I had a PartialT. Won't they consider any meds to perhaps reduce the goiter? I'm of the opinion it grows to compensate (but there's differing opinions of course) I'd have tried it rather than having an op, but not offered and I didn't know anyrhing then. (besides mine was a dodgy single nodule so had no choice really). J x

PS If no joy, you can email Louise for a list of Endos/private doctors [e-mail]

[KD57 in reply to Hidden]

They haven't mentioned any meds to reduce it (I've been having iodised salt though). It's a shame you didn't have more choice before your op.

Thanks for your help. X

[nightingale-56]

A few months after my sub-total thyroidectomy for Graves I started getting a burning pain in my veins and mouth a few times a day. This resolved when I started on Thyroxine - 16 years later! Since 2007 when I had a course of Trimethoprim It had started again, although not reached my arms and legs yet. Thought I was improving earlier this year, but since early summer have been going downhill again. Hope you manage to get some treatment soon. Janet.

[KD57 in reply to nightingale-56]

Hi Janet, thanks for responding. What a lengthy wait for treatment you had!! I literally woke one day with burning in my veins down the back of my legs & as the day progressed I got more & more symptoms & unwell. & haven't been ok since - this was in 2011. Thank you. I hope you get sorted out to.

[kummitati]

The place I have finally found help to get diagnosis of original/root causes of various symptoms like yours and then dealing with them is a private clinic Breakspear in Hemel Hempstead, Dr Jean Monro. For example the urgency to go to loo is often explained away as IBS, whereas in my case it was caused by parasites, leaky gut, bacterial imbalances and allergy to baker's yeast. By eradicating the paracites (7 day course of antibiotics) and changing diet by avoiding yeast and sugar has made a difference. At the background of many health problems there often are undiagnosed infections - bacteria, virus, funghi, parasites etc which once identified and treated help to restore better health.

[Moggie]

Following on from shaws thought on parathyroid issues, have a look at this link. It is very iformative and explains exactly what the symptoms for HYPOparathyroidism are, what is happening in the body and what blood results will show.

stopthethyroidmadness.com/p...

Moggie x

[KD57 in reply to Moggie]

Thank you. x