Fibromyalgia

[jlo211]

Hi everyone, I hope you are all as well as can be! I have had hashimotos for a year now (probably a lot longer) but recently, like the last 3 weeks I have some new symptoms. I can't sleep, I have restless legs at night, I am so tired all the time, my wrists, shoulders and ankles feel like they are burning. I ache everywhere and it hurt just to lean on the car today! I saw occupational health at work yesterday and when he asked me what I am going through right now he said it sounds like Fibromyalgia, not Hashimotos symptoms. Are the two connected in any way? Should I be asking my GP about it? Any advice would be much appreciated!

[shaws Administrator]

Hi jlo211

Do you have your most recent blood test results, with the ranges. Are your on levothyroxine? When were you diagnosed with hashi's?

Pain is common with dysfunctions of the thyroid gland, either due to not not yet being on sufficient medication, or like you - having hashimotos - which means that sometimes you have too much hormones and at others not enough. Your antibodies will gradually attack your thyroid gland and you will become hypo. This is an explanation re fibromyalgia.

web.archive.org/web/2010103...

[jlo211 in reply to shaws]

Hi. Don't have most recent bloods on me but TSH was below normal range and T4 was very low end of range. GP refuses to test T3 as the lab won't do it anyway. I'm on Levi 100mcg/125mcg alternate days. Just had blood test for ferritin folate and B12 but the results aren't back yet. I am so fed up of it all. Fed up of being tired but can't sllep and fed up of the pain.

[shaws Administrator in reply to jlo211]

I know exactly how you feel. As soon as you get your results, post them on a new question for comments.

Did you leave approx 24 hours between taking levo and the blood test and did you have the earliest one?

[Clutter]

Jlo211, You should see your GP, 3 weeks is more than enough time for symptoms to improve if it is a virus and it doesn't sound like a Hashi flare.

Do you take Levothyroxine on an empty stomach an hour before or 2 hours after food and drink and away from other medication and supplements? I'm wondering whether you haven't been absorbing Levothyroxine and have become undermedicated which commonly causes fibro-type pain but the burning sounds like B12 deficiency.

I'd advise a thyroid blood test if you haven't had one recently and ferritin, vitamin D, B12 and folate and perhaps rheumatoid arthritis. Low/deficient ferritin and vitD can cause considerable musculoskeletal pain, fatigue and low mood. If low thyroid and low vits/mins are ruled out ask your GP to refer you to a rheumatologist. There is a connection with hypothyroidism and fibromyalgia which isn't always due to undermedication.

Post your results with the lab ref ranges in a new question and members will advise whether you are optimally medicated on Levothyroxine and if you need to supplement.

[gabkad]

jlo, just asking: on the off chance have you travelled anywhere warm and sunny recently? I know, it's a shot in the dark, but anyway....

[Rosy_Holly]

Jlo211. Please don't suggest fibromyalgia to your doctor. If you are given this diagnosis practically everything can be pinned on it and there is no known cure. Please keep asking for help with the symptoms you are experiencing. Don't give up. I nearly did then I found this site which has given me so much support and help for which I am very grateful. Hope you find the support you need and feel better soon.

[greygoose]

jlo, you've had some very intelligent answers here, but I would just like to add : your occupational health person is talking out of the back of his hat!

What, exactly, are Hashi's symptoms??? They can be anything Under the sun. Quite apart from the antibodies, Hashi's makes you hypo - low thyroid hormone - given that thyroid hormone is needed by every cell in the body, and that there are over 300 hypo symptoms, no-one can ever say it 'doesn't sound like Hashi's', because Hashi's can be anything.

But so can Fibro. It's so easy to lump every single ache and pain Under a label that has no means of being tested, no treatment and no cure. It's a dustbin diagnosis. You could say anything and everything is fibro, and it probably is, but that doesn't matter, because fibro isn't a disease, it's a syndrome. A syndrome is a bunch of symptoms that are caused by something - could be hypo, could be adrenal, could be nutritional deficiencies, could be something entirely else - but that something has to be found. And, as you already have Hashi's, isn't it more than likely that that - either directly or indirectly - is causing your symptoms?

So, my advice, ignore anyone who starts bandying around the word Fibro, because they have no idea what they're talking about! lol

Hugs, Grey

[rosetrees]

Doctors love to diagnose you with random "diseases" for which there is no known test or treatment. For example fibromyalgia, POTS. Why? No tests + no treatment = cheap.

None of them are diseases in their own right, anymore than a headache is. They are all symptoms of an underlying condition(s). Once a doctor admits that, it means they have to spend time, thought and money finding the cause. They choose not to do that.

[Glynisrose]

Fibromyalgia is just poorly treated UAT. Its a syndrome that a doctor can choose whether to treat or not as they please. I am not denigrating the pain merely pointing out the connection. Its like being diagnosed with arthritis, 'sorry there is no usable treatment as yet' seems to be the 'diagnosis' that most doctors come up with.

[BeansMummy]

I will just echo what other posters have already written - don't get lumbered with the fibromyalgia diagnosis. Some doctors seem to think that this means they can then ignore all the symptoms you have, and will pat you on the head and send you on your merry way.

One GP casually dropped the word "fibromyalgia" into our conversation once, which is when I realised that it had been written in my notes. Thankfully, I saw another GP, who has taken my symptoms (similar to yours) more seriously and either prescribed supplements (vitamins B12 and D) or referred me to a specialist.

[Marz]

I was diagnosed by a Rheumatologist with fibro some 15 years ago. Yes the pain was exhausting and I was finding work so difficult and sleeping my life away. 11 years ago I retired to Crete and was diagnosed with Hashimotos in 2005. Once I started on T4 I felt relief and I have progressed even more now that I am T3 only as I was not converting T4. My anti-bodies are still raised but symptoms are hardly worth mentioning - in comparison with how things were and I feel hugely improved. VitD and B12 have also proved a revelation.....

[MariLiz]

If you look on the Thyroid UK website, Low B12 and Fibromyalgia are shown as associated conditions. There are many who believe Fibro symptoms show that the thyroid is inadequately treated. Suggest you get a B12, ferritin and folate test done as others have commented. It is known that low thyroid function trashes lots of other vitamins and minerals. I've been told I have all three conditions! Best wishes MariLiz

[Hidden]

Around 15 per cent of those with Restless Legs Syndrome (not twitches, feelings within the legs so you have to move them) have low iron, low serum ferritin. Ask for a check for that.