Underactive thyroid and jaw pain

[RUBYROSSIE]

Hi i have underactive thyroid and had a thyroidectomy had jaw pain for over 20yrs does anyone else have it and do you think its connected.

[shaws Administrator]

You certainly have had your pain for a long time so it may be time you had it reassessed.

In the meantime I don't know if the following will be helpful:

verywellhealth.com/thyroid-...

Others who have had a thyroidectomy will respond if they can.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Grinding or clenching jaw seems common hypothyroid problem. Known as Bruxism

ehealthme.com/cs/hypothyroi...

chriskresser.com/jaw-pain-3...

Getting a mouth guard made to fit your teeth at the dentist is surprisingly effective. Costs about £100

Personally I found it improved a lot with addition of small regular split dose of T3

Perhaps you are not on adequate level of thyroid hormones.

[MaisieGray]

There is a condition called temporomandibular disorder (TMD) some symptoms of which are pain around your jaw, ear and temple. You might want to look into that.

[Nanaedake]

I don't know how old you are or what the reasons for thyroidectomy were, however, did you lose parathyroid glands? Are you female and menopausal or post menopausal? Have you had bone density, parathyroid hormone and calcium levels checked? Jaw bones can be affected by osteoporosis so you could ask your doctor to check bone health in addition to ruling out TMJ disorder. Also, check vitamin D levels.

[RUBYROSSIE in reply to Nanaedake]

Hi I had my thyroid out due to nodules on it .don't know if they took the glands out you referred to .in am 68 yrs old now but was about 10 Yrs previous I had my thyroid out .

[RUBYROSSIE in reply to Nanaedake]

I had a mri scan done they said there was no arthritis in there and couldn't see anything wrong with my blood vessels along my jaw .my dentist says nothing wrong with my teeth .specialist said I have neuropathy pain .but all they give me is antidepressants and gaberpentin.

[Nanaedake in reply to RUBYROSSIE]

Get a copy of blood test results and check your calcium and vitamin D levels. Find out if they've checked parathyroid hormone and, if you want to, ask for a Bone Density Scan on the basis that you've lost your thyroid and it's a risk factor.

I had jaw pain for quite a few years before discovering I had osteoporosis. I'm not suggesting that's your problem but it's something to rule out due to your age and (presumably) being female with a thyroid condition. As you've had the pain for over 20 years and only had thyroidectomy 10 years ago, the jaw pain may not be connected to loss of thyroid.

If you were grinding teeth at night for 20 years there would be visible wear and tear on your teeth and the dentist would be able to tell you.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

For full Thyroid evaluation you need TSH, FT4, FT3 and also very important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12

Low vitamin levels are extremely common on Levothyroxine

Private tests are available. Thousands on here forced to do this as NHS often refuses to test FT3 or vitamins

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...

Medichecks Thyroid plus ultra vitamin or Blue Horizon Thyroid plus eleven are the most popular choice. DIY finger prick test or option to pay extra for private blood draw. Both companies often have money off offers.

All thyroid tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and fasting. When on Levothyroxine, take last dose 24 hours prior to test, and take next dose straight after test. This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip, GP will be unaware)

Dr Toft, past president of the British Thyroid Association and leading endocrinologist, states in Pulse Magazine,

"The appropriate dose of levothyroxine is that which restores euthyroidism and serum TSH to the lower part of the reference range - 0.2-0.5mU/l.

In this case, free thyroxine is likely to be in the upper part of its reference range or even slightly elevated – 18-22pmol/l.

Most patients will feel well in that circumstance. But some need a higher dose of levothyroxine to suppress serum TSH and then the serum-free T4 concentration will be elevated at around 24-28pmol/l.

This 'exogenous subclinical hyperthyroidism' is not dangerous as long as serum T3 is unequivocally normal – that is, serum total around T3 1.7nmol/l (reference range 1.0-2.2nmol/l)."

You can obtain a copy of the articles from Thyroid UK email print it and highlight question 6 to show your doctor

 please email Dionne at

[e-mail]

Professor Toft recent article saying, T3 may be necessary for many otherwise we need high FT4 and suppressed TSH in order to have high enough FT3

Note his comments on current inadequate treatment following thyroidectomy

rcpe.ac.uk/sites/default/fi...