Achilles problem

[Print1972]

Hi. Not long after a started taking Levo, I started having some pain in my knees, calf's, achilles and feet. After 5 months I'm up to 100mg and my Achilles in both legs is pretty bad. Had anyone else had the same issue. Does NDT help?

[Nanaedake]

Have you had your vitamin levels checked? People who are diagnosed with hypothyroidism have often become deficient in vitamins. Check B12, folate, ferritin, Vitamin D. You could also try taking some magnesium citrate at night or use magnesium salts in the bath.

[Print1972 in reply to Nanaedake]

Hi. I'm due a general health check. I'll ask for some tests. Thanks.

[humanbean]

Do you take any other meds e.g. statins?

[Saggyuk in reply to humanbean]

Yes, I've known statins cause this specific problem in achilles in many people. I also get random aches and pain when hypo or hyper, more ankle in hyper so always worth a retest of thyroid too as well as vit levels as suggested. Gluten free eased most of my leg pains if the above don't help.

[Print1972 in reply to humanbean]

No. Levo had done me a lot of good. Lost a stone in 3 months, feel healthier, even some of my hair has grown back, but the one downside is the leg muscles pain.

[Saggyuk in reply to Print1972]

Glad it's helping. Well worth posting your thyroid results as docs often don't medicate optimally so you might still have tweaks that can help further

[Hidden]

Hi I have hashimotos hypothyroidism and Pernicious Aneamia. I had severe Achilles pain. My doctor sent me to a specialist who diagnosed me with tendonitis and sent me for physiotherapy that was very painful. It Never worked. My doctor put me on anti inflammatory pills. Nothing worked. So I started self injecting extra B12 every other day until symptoms subsided. The Achilles inflammation pain completely went. Never a problem since.

[Hidden]

I was not on any medication before the removal of my thyroid in October 2015 . I was then put on Levo.

I always walked, swam and did my Yoga prior to taking this levo I never had any problems aches or pains etc. Within 4 months I was in agony and couldn't even get up from the floor by myself.

I then joined this site, read a lot of interesting things and changed myself to NDT

I have been on NDT for just one year now and have no aches or pains I am walking and exercising again.

[TSH110]

I was a keen cyclist and runner but I developed Achilles tendinitis which was chronic after two years requiring decompression on my left tendon to enable me to walk without a severe limp and I have had episodes of plantar fasciitis. This was all before being diagnosed as overtly hypothyroid and I think they were early symptoms of the hypothyroidism. On levothyroxine I continued to get tendon, bone and joint problems, breaking ribs in minor falls and developing a bakers cyst (at back of knee) I switched to NDT and generally felt much better mentally and physically than on levothyroxine. My bakers cyst stopped hurting on NDT but has not reduced in size.

It would be worth trying NDT to see if the Achilles problems improve. Bone, tendon and joint problems are all more common in those with hypothyroidism. Might be worth posting your last blood results and and other bloods to see if there is anything obvious others can spot that is not optimal or if they indicate you are still undermedicated on Levothyroxine.

I hope you get some resolution because I know how debilitating it can be ☘️🍀☘️

Your suspicion that it is related to the hypothyroidism will probably be dismissed by the medical profession but they are wrong more evidence to support the association is coming to light - the medical profession has not evaluated the connection so obviously they won't find what they don't even look for!

See this article from 2013:

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

[Print1972 in reply to TSH110]

Thanks. I never had any problems with muscle pains until I started on lebo

[CSmithLadd]

You mean 100 mcg.

Very common with hypothyroidism. As without adequate thyroid hormone, the body can be negatively affected on any level.

"Hypothyroidism can result in a variety of muscle and joint-related symptoms. Most commonly, these symptoms are fluid retention, which results in the swelling of muscles, or swollen muscles that are pressing on your nerves. ... general muscular weakness and pain, including cramps and muscle stiffness." May 10, 2017

verywell.com/muscle-and-joi...

thyroid-info.com/articles/m...

"Mechanism of neuropathy in hypothyroidism is not very clear. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) in hypothyroidism may be attributed to the deposition of mucinous material or mucopolysaccharides on the median nerve. In uncontrolled hypothyroidism it may also be caused by swelling of the synovial membrane around the tendons in carpal tunnel [12]." Feb 1, 2016

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

I've also nearly had Achilles tendon ruptures due to antibiotic use. This was unheard of at the time, but became a well-known problem: webmd.com/osteoarthritis/ne...

For me, it could be a coincidence but I've found that low potassium can be an issue that exacerbates such problems (and, of course, even more importantly -- ample active thyroid hormone). So there's no doubt that NDT would be a good choice as it provides both T4 and T3 (the active thyroid hormone converted from T4/Thyroxine). Worth a try, along with making sure all your nutrients vital to hormone conversion are optimal (among all others as well).

Do you only use good sea salt? Look into good sea salt and the need for potassium. Most of the time we don't get enough potassium from our foods as we need sea salt to metabolize it. For me, a lifelong issue of restless legs and pain in calves, knees, feet, and tendons all subsided as I would sprinkle a bit of sea salt (good sea salt with all its nutrients intact - unrefined) in my orange juice. Potassium issues and low sodium also subsided.

chriskresser.com/shaking-up...

Wish I had known all this before carpal tunnel surgery. But I had no idea I was severely hypothyroid at the time.

Knowledge is power.

Hope this helps!

[LAHs]

I was diagnosed with arthritis and sent to an "arthropod" shortly after I started Levo - who gave me some tablets to take - I didn't take them. I pointed out that you don't feel really fit and healthy one week and the next week suddenly be crippled with arthritis - it comes on you slowly. He didn't have a good answer and that raised my suspicions. So at that point I had begun to read around this subject and study it meticulously. I increased my Levo dose and found that the arthritis mostly disappeared! This was the first red flag that told me that my health was in the hands of people who didn't know their subject very well and that was very scary. As time went on I realized that my Endo was also quite ignorant and said that because my TSH was below 1.0 that I should reduce my Levo dose. Stupidly I obeyed, (I couldn't believe she knew less than I did at that time, I just assumed that I was working on "a little knowledge"), and she nearly killed me. I read that NDT had all of the right hormones in it (T3, T4, calcite and T2 and T1) in a reasonable proportion and I couldn't understand why this wouldn't be prescribed when there is such a problem with this years long balancing act if you only take T4.

Well, long story short, I eventually got my NDT. The first morning I took it (I went cold turkey) I was awfully scared. I swallowed the pill and lay there for a few minutes expecting to die. Instead of that, I felt a cloud lifting from me and I had no more aches and pains.

So my answer to your question is, "Yes, NDT helps", change to NDT as fast as you can. If Levo hasn't fixed your problems yet, it never will. Stop messing around, get on the good stuff and stop suffering.

[Print1972 in reply to LAHs]

Hi. Can you tell me which NDT you switched to please.

[LAHs in reply to Print1972]

I take Armour Thyroid made by Activis. My dose is 1.5 grains, I started on 1.25 grains, then increased it a bit (to 1.5).