Insomnia and allodynia

[martinspencer_1967]

Hello all, I've been awake all night every night for the past week and its killing me being unable to sleep. I also have the most horrendous skin pain (allodynia) which I've had for the past few months but it's worse when I don't sleep, the pain is unbearable. I've not been diagnosed with hypothyroidism yet but I firmly believe I've got this as I've also got a really long list of symptoms that match the diagnosis for this. Does anyone else suffer from insomnia and this horrible skin pain which most doctors call fibromyalgia? I've tried Epsom salt baths, meditation, camomile tea but to no avail. I'm now taking Ashwagandha recommended by my endocrinologist but I've only been on this for a few days. Any tips appreciated.

[Silver_Fairy]

Sorry not much time to answer but have you had your B12 tested?

[greygoose in reply to Silver_Fairy]

Totally agree with Silver_Fairy, get your B12 tested as quickly as possible.

[martinspencer_1967 in reply to Silver_Fairy]

Ok will do. I take a multivitamin which includes B12 (methyl cobalamin) but my body may not be able to make use of it.

[Marz]

You had some helpful replies 8 days ago. Have you been able to follow any of the advice given ? 😊

[martinspencer_1967 in reply to Marz]

I've not had chance to look into the replies in detail as I've had no internet recently but I'll have a good luck 😉

[shond2015]

My advice: Get to you GP immediately and insist on further tests. Tell them exactly what you have said in your post, that you have many of the clinical symptoms of low thyroid. Good luck.

[Janhoppo]

I get both insomnia and allodynia, but not always at the same time. The insomnia comes and goes, I can almost predict the nights it's going to happen - I also get polyuria (needing to pee a lot) on these occasions. I am also on blood pressure medication so suspect the insomnia and polyuria are possibly caused by that. I do have fibromyalgia though and occasionally allodynia. My remedy for this is not one you may wish to take. I use Voltarol ointment on the affected area. I also use more than recommended (short-term it's OK, bearing in mind in Germany you can buy Voltarol at a 4% strength). This is probably not a long term fix but gives me sufficient pain relief to allow me to get comfortable in bed or at times when my clothing causes pain on my skin. Voltarol also do pain patches but you might find them too painful to stick on.

As recommended on other posts, I think it's a return trip to your GP. There are unfortunately many elements that contribute to thyroid problems and it's a frustrating search for answers. Have you considered going gluten free? It seems that you are definitely hyper sensitive right now and it could be your body is very inflamed and reacting to whatever you are sensitive to. There are so many possibilities from adrenal fatigue, allergy to leaky gut syndrome. I think you may have Hashimotos because your symptoms sound like mine before I was diagnosed. A thyroid antibody test may help too. What might be happening at the moment is your thyroid is slowly being attacked by your own immune system due to the things I listed earlier. It took years for someone to finally nail what was wrong with me I'm sorry to say and even now I'm not 100%. I'm just trying going gluten free.

Good luck.

[martinspencer_1967 in reply to Janhoppo]

Thanks for the info.

[Stefcon]

I have had insomnia for two years since being diagnosed hyperthyroid/hypothyroid. This week I started taking my levoxathyrine at night instead of the morning and my betablockers and blood thinners in the morning instead of last thing at night. I have slept like a log. I have also gone on a fat free, gluten free, dairy free diet. It's the best I have felt in two years.

Worth a try.

[humanbean in reply to Stefcon]

Being fat-free isn't healthy. The body and brain need fat. Your brain is made up of at least 60% fat. And without fat your body can't absorb fat-soluble vitamins. Humans evolved eating fat.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Good article on how insomnia can be due to low vitamin D and this then leads to change in gut biome causing low vitamin B

drgominak.com/sleep/vitamin...

[martinspencer_1967]

I had my B12 tested a few weeks ago and it was about 800. However, this was a measurement of serum levels rather than at a cellular level. I have MTHFR mutations which means that my body has a reduced ability to use B vitamins.

[Katherine123 in reply to martinspencer_1967]

Same here martinspencer you might need to self treat.

[Katherine123]

Ditto Silverfairy and Greygoose I would suspect B12 and get blood test and printout anything under 700 I would treat, although doctors will only treat anything under 200 I believe. There are even some published articles on low B12 and pain. I keep mine high 1000 to 1500 I have enlarged red blood cells and hypothyroid.

[martinspencer_1967 in reply to Katherine123]

I suppose I will need to wait to see my endocrinologist next week. I notice in her letter that she is testing me for Vit D but not B12. I'm off to the doctors later so I'm going to ask for B12 to be done.

In the meantime I've booked to see a functional doctor in December as I want to get treated holistically. It's £1000 for the full treatment package but I'm desperate to get better. The NHS is too fragmented to deal with chronic illness as I've spent almost 2 years looking to get better.

[Silver_Fairy in reply to martinspencer_1967]

You need Folate testing and a full iron panel.

[martinspencer_1967]

This looks like the test I need.

b12deficiency.info/b12-test...

[Marz in reply to martinspencer_1967]

Yes that was the advice I gave you 8 days ago 😊😊

[martinspencer_1967]

Thanks Marz sorry I've not replied to your posts earlier but my head has been elsewhere this past week. I've been struggling so much that I've only just managed to get back on here.

[Gr8Nica]

Whenever my TSH was 3 and above I would suffer from insomnia. The higher the TSH gets the worst insomnia I get. And I had it for 2 years before I was actually diagnosed.

Beside sleeping pills (I don't advise that in a long term, very addictive) you could try yoga or accuputure. In most cases it will put you into a nice sleep. Can't promise you'll stay asleep though. Those 3 were the only ones which worked to some extent for me.