Heavy Legs like I just ran a marathon

[crawleycockney]

Hi, I am new to this site and relatively new to having Hypothyroidism. I have been on meds now for 8 months, the dose is low still due to a heart defect. should I be feeling like my legs are like lead?

[humanbean]

Is your heart defect something you've had for life or for many years? Or is it fairly recent?

The reason I ask is that low T3 (an effect of untreated, under-treated or wrongly treated hypothyroidism) can cause heart problems and chest pain. I had almost constant chest pain that was improved enormously by taking T3-only - I couldn't tolerate taking anything containing T4, natural or artificial. Now, I only get chest pain occasionally and it is minor compared to how it used to be.

Ask your doctor to test your free T3 levels. It may be difficult though. Many doctors won't ask for the test, and even if they do, many labs won't actually do the test. Getting referred to an endocrinologist might get you a Free T3 test, but the only sure way of getting one is to pay for it yourself.

[Hidden in reply to humanbean]

I agree human bean. When I was going downhill after years of just T4, I had terrible chest pains, tightness and a feeling as it my heart was in a wrench. It improved with the addition of T3.

TSH110, I would want to know exactly what hormones were doing what, to the chamber of my heart, so that I could make the correct compensatory adjustments if any were required, or disregard it if more appropriate. I can't speak about your heart rate increase specifically but improved thyroid function leads to improved metabolism, might that be the cause?

[TSH110]

I had some really bad heart pains in my late 30's that stopped as mysteriously and abruptly as they started. I had another more persistent bout in my late 40's and sought medical advice this time. I was told after exercise exhaustion tests and scans that hormones were causing problems in one chamber of the heart and it was something women got and was nothing to worry about. If they got worse to go back to the doctor.

My hypothyroidism was diagnosed about 4 years later and the heart pains had persisted and got worse so I was kept on very low doses of levo and suffered terribly as over 9 months it was gradually increased. Eventually, I felt good but they said I was over medicated and reduced the dose and I have not been feeling great since. The heart pains come and go for no apparent reason and no matter what dosage of levo I have been on. My heart rate is 20 beats faster than before I took levo but I have no idea why and no one has explained it - I have found a very few posts on line from people with hypo who have had this so it must be pretty rare.

I felt I'd rather have some quality of life and drop dead of a heart attack than feel half alive all the time but stuck with the reduced dose. I take a little NDT now with reduced levo and feel much better, the heart pains are reduced but have not gone away completely. I had a vit D deficiency that is being treated I am not sure if that could be relevant.

I hope you are put on a dose that suits you better and the heart problem is not compromised. Sorry to hear what you are going through it is really tough.

[TSH110]

Oh yeah I forgot...my legs often feel like lead weights and really ache. Sometimes they feel really weak and I have to shuffle rather than walk properly. I also used to feel like they belonged to someone else - very bizarre - but once the levo is above a certain dose this particularly weird feeling stops.

[foreversummer]

I go through spells when my legs feel like this. I also notice that when I sit, even for just a short while, they seem really stiff when I get up and move again.

[Busdy123]

Hi there

I had this for several months.

My gp suggested we check my vit d3 which was very low.

I had a loading dose of 50000mg per day for a week then 50000mg each week for a month and I don't get that anymore. It was exactly what you are describing though felt like my legs were so heavy and. Wernt really mine.

[Peacefullbliss]

When I had heavy legs which got progressively worse it was my adrenals. It was like walking through quicksand. Please try and get your cortisol levels checked.