Given in, the joint pain is too much and I am now resolved to a life on painkillers. Anyone else come out the other side and been pain free?

[itwillbebetter]

I have previously posted about how am I struggling with pain despite being under Dr Peatfields regime and already taking NDT. My thyroid levels according to him are not far from where he thinks is ideal. I'm pretty much on optimum dose and energy etc is all good. But my joint, ligament pain is horrific, particularly plantar fasciiitis and achilles tendoninitis. Now all the other ligaments in my ankles are hurting so much I can barely move. I fear I will end up in a wheelchair.

I have checked all vit D, B, folate, iron etc and gone gluten free. I have followed all the advice on stop the thyroid madness. I have been thoroughly checked by a rheumatologist who has found no inflammation or any elevated blood tests.

So now I am starting pregabalin and feel such a failure. I have worked so hard to give myself a chance of recovery and feel that this is a backward step, giving me a life of a zombie and further weight gain. But I don't know what else to do and cannot live in this much pain.

I swim regularly, do pilates twice a week, take huge amounts of supplements and still feel hideous.

Has anyone else given in and resorted to pain killers? Will I ever have a 'life' because I feel I'm living in the shadows at the moment.

[Clutter]

Itwillbebetter, it's not a failure to give in to painkillers to cope and enable you to have a normal life. It was Levothyroxine which caused the fibro pain I suffered. Went away when I stopped T4 and came back when I resumed T4 and then calmed down when I added T3. If you switched from Levothyroxine to NDT it may be worth considering whether thyroxine is responsible for your pain and whether it might clear if you try T3 only for 3 months.

[itwillbebetter in reply to Clutter]

Thanks for the reply . I've only ever been on NDT so can't blame it on thyroxine. This all happened after I had emergency total hysterectomy aged 39. It seemed to throw my body into chaos. Hrt patches have helped a lot but nothing has touched the pain. hashimotos was diagnosed 2 years after the op and it seems my whole system went into shock!

[Hidden in reply to itwillbebetter]

Hi itwillbebetter, this is my experience after hysterectomy too. Just want to send a hug. For years after if there was a wheelchair around I would use it. I could only walk like a pair of scissors, if I sat down I couldn't get up again without help. The exhaustion was like walking through thick porridge all the time.

Is your oestrogen OK?

I do have high inflammation and the last readings were the worst I've had, but no one is picking up on it. I'm taking cod liver oil again to see if this helps my joint pain. My doctor will no longer let me take any anti inflammatory because of the risk of stroke. I've read sugar makes your inflammation higher so i've cut that right down.

I'm now taking hydrocortisone because my cortisol is very low, it has helped my pain a little. Have you had an adrenal stress test?

I do believe hysterectomy affects the whole endocrine system, and can effect your HPA axis, I've read the ovaries "talk" to other glands in the system. I have my ovaries but a few days after the op I was inconsolable, the surgeon told me this happens because of loss of hormones. Doesn't that prove it really messes up your system?!

[Mystory4u]

Hi itwillbebetter,

I didn't lose the painful joints until I did the auto-immune paleo diet (AIP) which is gluten, grain, sugar and diary free. The sugar and diary were culprits and the grains needed to go at least for a while because you can actually cross react with them wen you have an autoimmune disease. Dr K. mentions this. There's a great facebook group, which is well moderated, called Hashimoto's 411 and it's all about doing the AIP diet/lifestyle. This group has helped me. One other thing to consider is acupuncture, which has really helped me with pain in th past. Another suggestion is to see a functional or integrative doctor. My husband and I both see one and he's really turned our health around. He has tested for a range of things I would never have thought of and come up with some real answers to undiagnosed problems (for instance, my husband now takes NAC because he has a biological problem that results in high homocysteine levels.) I have halved my C-reactive protein CRP due to the diet, supplements and hydrotherapy exercise that I've been able to do. He also correctly increased my thyroid medications. These are good avenues to follow. Also an integrative doctor will have a totally different idea of what optimal levels are in your blood test results. My conventional doctor had left me anaemic and with B12 deficiency and iodine deficiency that my integrative doctor was rather horrified about - they were reading the same results (at least for the ferritin and B12). Good luck and let us know if any of these suggestions have helped you.

[itwillbebetter in reply to Mystory4u]

Hi Mystory,

Thanks I've just looked at the facebook page, lots of good info there. I have been gluten free for almost a year and noticed how missing out bread helped change my tummy issues almost instantly. I followed the anti candida diet and also cut out nightshades for about 3 months last year but again no difference.

I see a really good integrative doctor who has tested me for lots! I have no issues with leaky gut or candida, test results showed its all in great shape. CRP ESR etc has never been raised. Ferritin is a high end of normal but not sure why this is?

I have never tried cutting out dairy so this may be my next step - thank you x

[greygoose]

Hi IWBB, in your huge amounts of suppléments, do you include zinc and magnesium? My pain cleared and I came off the pain killers when I added zinc.

And for the inflammation, are you taking antioxidents, such as astaxanthin or curcumin? Worth a try.

But please Don't think you're a failure because you have to take pain killers! It's not you that's the failure, it's your doctors, for not getting to the bottom of it!

[itwillbebetter in reply to greygoose]

Hi Greygoose,

I supplement with magnesium, zinc, astaxanthin, ginger, turmeric, selenium. b12 and all other b's, vit c, fish oils, d3, dim for oestrogen imbalance. Adrenomax and rhodiola for adrenals. I rattle!

I just cannot see what else I can do!

[greygoose in reply to itwillbebetter]

Have you been tested for Lyme?

[itwillbebetter in reply to greygoose]

I've just asked my Gp about this and he refused. He said I would've noticed at the rash or the tick?

[greygoose in reply to itwillbebetter]

He's an idiot. Not everybody gets the rash. And a tick can latch on and drop off without anybody noticing. Dépends where it was! Any excuse for not testing!!!

[marmaris in reply to itwillbebetter]

Hello itwilbebetter could you tell me where you get your rhodiola from please for adrenals? I tried at Holland and Barratt but to no avail.

[itwillbebetter]

Ok, I will see another gp and push for this - thanks

[asmile4u]

Hi it will be better,

I feel the same and feel like a failure for having to resort to pain meds. I was hoping after everything was straightened out it would just go away. Unfortunately, the only pain meds I don't react to Diluadid and tylenol 3 with codeine. They both leave me feeling drugged for days after having taken them and I can't drive or work. A friend of mine told me about Low Dose Naldextrone and after doing research, it seems like it would be a good solution. I plan on talking to my doctor at my appointment in two weeks. Have you heard of LDN?