Hypo thyroid and neuropathy

[FrankieD123]

I'm not a diabetic but I am hypothyroid and I have been for 15 years I also have neuropathy in my hands and my feet but have never been told when I ask if you could be caused from being hypo thyroid

[greygoose]

It could be caused by low thyroid hormone, but more likely to be caused by low vit B12. Have you had that tested?

[FrankieD123 in reply to greygoose]

Yes I've been tested for everything and I take Synthroid they just checked my thyroid again and Im told its within normal range it's very frustrating

[FrankieD123 in reply to greygoose]

Yes they've tested me for everything and I've been on thyroid medicine for years the neuropathy is getting worse

[greygoose in reply to FrankieD123]

OK, so have you got the results? If so, post them on here, with the ranges, and we might be able to see something the doctors have missed. If not, ask for a print-out. If you live in the UK, it's your legal right to have one.

[FrankieD123 in reply to greygoose]

I do not have the results in front of me but I can get them that's not a problem and no I don't live in the UK I live in Florida in the United States I will get them this week and post results

[Clutter in reply to FrankieD123]

FrankieD123,

Post your results with the ranges in a new question as updates get over looked. Include your most recent ferritin, vitamin D, B12 and folate results and ranges too.

Hypothyroidism is an uncommon cause of peripheral neuropathy. Diabetes and B12 deficiency are more common causes.

mayoclinic.org/diseases-con...

[shaws Administrator]

Welcome to our forum. You haven't given much information on your Profile.

This is a link which may be helpful.

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Have you had your B12 checked as anything below 500 can cause problems and he advice is to have it around 1,000 to prevent neurological problems, i.e. dementia/alzeiers.

A deficiency can also cause neuropathy. Maybe you need some T3 added to levo. Although they will no longer presribe T3 to patients, which I think is a wicked thing to do as many of us need it added to T3 and recent research also states that too.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Have you tried taking vitamin B complex?

Are you taking vitamin D supplements?

I had bad neuropathy about a month after starting vitamin D. Reading this article below, I added vitamin B complex & then also needed B12 for month or so. I still take B complex daily.

drgominak.com/vitamin-d-hor...

[Silver_Fairy in reply to SlowDragon]

Good article, learned a few things.

[FrankieD123 in reply to SlowDragon]

I do take vitamin D I have to I have osteoporosis and I can't take the medicine for it so I have to take the vitamin D but I've had to neuropathy for many years now and I have only started taking the vitamin D about a year ago so it can't be from that

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to FrankieD123]

This article suggests the peripheral neuropathy may be due to any of the B vitamins being deficient, but especially B5 or B12.

The article suggests this deficiency may only become apparent due to an increased demand for B vitamins after starting vitamin D, but presumably may also be present due to Hashimoto's, or other disease. I certainly had terrible pins & needles when under medicated early in my Hashimoto's treatment.

I understand from lots of posts on here that all the vitamin B's are water soluble, so if you take B complex and don't need it, we just pee out the excess. So when I started getting peripheral neuropathy I thought it worth trying.

I had never had low vitamin B12 in any test, in fact the reverse it was always above range, which I found weird as I had never taken any B12 supplements and Hashimoto's is often linked to low B12. But I read somewhere, that all the B vitamins have to work together. If one or some are deficient then the others struggle to be used.

A few days after I started vitamin B supplements I got extreme pins & needles, so added B12 supplement as well and took that for about 2-3 months, until pins & needles faded. I remain on B complex

A recent experiment in reducing my Levo just 12.5 mcg produced the same pins & needles, as well as intense pain in adrenals. So I won't doing that again. I have again added B12 supplements, pins & needles slowly fading

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to FrankieD123]

Have you had recent tests of B12, folate & ferritin

Also has your vitamin D level been checked since you started supplementing?

My vitamin D level fell quite dramatically on standard maintenance dose. I have to take about 5000iu to remain level.