Foot soreness

[beanyjeany]

Does anyone get ankle/foot soreness with Hashimotos, and if so suggestions for alleviating it please. TIA

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Plantar fasciitis is extremely common. Often low vitamin D and/or low FT3

For full Thyroid evaluation you need TSH, FT4 and FT3 plus both TPO and TG thyroid antibodies tested. Also extremely important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12

Low vitamin levels are extremely common, especially with Hashimoto's

What supplements do you currently take?

If taking any supplements that contain biotin remember to stop these a week before all blood tests

endo.confex.com/endo/2016en...

endocrinenews.endocrine.org...

Recommended on here that all thyroid blood tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and fasting. Last Levothyroxine dose should be 24 hours prior to test, (taking delayed dose immediately after blood draw). This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip, best not mentioned to GP or phlebotomist)

Is this how you do your tests?

Private tests are available. Thousands on here forced to do this as NHS often refuses to test FT3 or antibodies or all 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 special offers, Medichecks usually have offers on Thursdays, Blue Horizon its more random

Add any recent blood test results and ranges if you have them

[helvella Administrator]

One of the issues for which I visited the GP before diagnosis was foot pain.

I was referred to an orthopaedic unit. The person I saw there prescribed exercises - which I tried to do. Standing with forefoot on bottom step, and allowing my heels to go down, then rise again. It hurt - a lot. And made my pain worse.

I saw a so-called foot specialist who prescribed orthopaedic inserts. There were hard plastic made specifically for me. He also told me to use a wedge when doing the washing up - to stretch my tendons. The wedge was not quite as bad as the standing on the stairs - but only very slightly. The insoles were so bad that using them for about 20 minutes took over a week to resolve.

I then decided that no-one else was going to help so bought some soft diabetic insoles. They helped hugely. But it was getting diagnosed hypothyroid and starting levothyroxine that really started to heal my heels.

Yes - the term plantar fasciitis was applied but I suspect it is not the classic version, but the form caused by hypothyroidism. Maybe "they" don't even realise there are two versions!

[Babette in reply to helvella]

I had the hard (dark blue) insoles too, and slightly softer (light blue) ones. Both made the pain worse in the bad foot and started it in the good foot. I now use a heel wedge. It might not be helping but at least it's not making things worse.

[helvella Administrator in reply to Babette]

I started to improve with the supersoft diabetic insoles - and also used thin heel wedges. I find that the heel wedges are not really necessary now, but it can depend on which shoes I am wearing.

[JAmanda]

My feet are bad after any walking - sore, throbbing, cramps - the works. Got shoe inserts which do nothing. Doc said would improve over time on levo but they haven’t. Sorry got no answers!

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to JAmanda]

Getting thyroid levels optimal is essential

Full Thyroid and vitamin testing is first step

[Treepie]

I have seen reflexology recommended

[silverfox7]

I came to this conclusion with one of my feet only yesterday. For ages I thought I had stood on something that had damaged the skin. Searching further I found that it can be thyroid related and happens if flat feet or high arches! Struggling to get my head around that but I do have high arches. So thank you for posting as I now know I need to get some help!

[helvella Administrator in reply to silverfox7]

Ha! Forgot to put in my earlier responses that I have extremely high arches. Which might be relevant.

[silverfox7 in reply to helvella]

This night date me but when high heels with a T strap were popular I couldn't always fasten the strap over my high instep! Now I daren't even wear high heels!!!

[Fruitandnutcase]

Sore feet - thats a difficult one. I’m in remission from Graves’ disease but I’m convinced I’m gradually becoming hypo - still within range though - and sore feet / muscles etc are among the symptoms that make me think that..

I’ve gone from having a tsh around 1 to this -

TSH 3.24 mIU/L (0.27-4.2)

Free T3 4.18 pmol/L (3.1-6.8)

Free Thyroxine 4 13.400 pmol/L (Range: 12 - 22). no antibodies now to speak of and vitamins etc all good although my ferritin very high.

Anyway, I have had plantar fasciitis twice in the past couple of years, it is extremely painful - a shooting pain from foot to brain - agony and not like my normal sore achy feet, I get tendinitis too which is agony and my feet frequently hurt when I walk and sometimes my ankles feel very weak - as if someone has pulled my feet off and then stuck them back on the wrong way right round.

Like Helvella I have to be really careful what exercise I do - too much or too enthusiastically and it makes things much worse.

I was lucky and got rid of the plantar fasciitis by rolling my foot over a small bottle of ice, also did some of Helvella’s dangling off the stairs, that was ok for me, my physiotherapist suggested dipping my foot into alternate hot and cold water baths and she also recommended rest as I think she felt I was doing too much. I too have orthotics that sometime help and sometimes don’t. Also like Helvella I have a wedge thing that I stand on when I get out of bed - it stretches my calves.

I think the thing that helped most was buying a really comfortable pair of ASICS trainers. Also don’t tie your laces too tight, I’ve found that helps too. When my feet are really painful I cut back on walking and keep off them. It’s really very difficult.

Oh and I bought some plantar fasciitis socks from Amazon which feel great to wear and make a big difference. I don’t use them all the time - just when things get really bad.

[silverfox7 in reply to Fruitandnutcase]

The socks sound interesting. Will look into that, thank you.

[Fruitandnutcase in reply to silverfox7]

Cant find the exact ones I’ve got but these are the sort of thing I have - sorry about the awful link!

amazon.co.uk/Bionix-Black-P...

[silverfox7 in reply to Fruitandnutcase]

Thank you for that.

[fortunata]

The soles of my feet used to kill me before I was optimally medicated with T3. I could barely walk across the floor. Now, they’re fine.

[humanbean]

I used to have heel and foot problems, which I later identified as being plantar fasciitis. I had sore feet for decades. I would go to my office job wearing trainers, would switch into shoes with heels once I got there. After a couple of hours I would swap again and put on flat shoes or sandals. Then after lunch I would take my shoes off altogether.

When I got up in the morning, pressure on my heels was excruciating when I first put my feet on the ground. And getting downstairs was very painful indeed because my ankles wouldn't bend first thing in the morning. The heel problem and the ankle bending would loosen up after about an hour, but the general issue of painful feet would last all day.

It got cured when I started treating my own thyroid.

[wellness1]

I was plagued by plantar fasciitis for years. IIRC, this website is a good clearinghouse for information. heelspurs.com/index.html I tried everything and got the best pain relief from acupuncture and stretching. (I wouldn't go to just anyone for acupuncture on the feet, as it can be painful. Best to find someone experienced.) I wonder what role hypothyroidism played in it being so difficult to heal. Ironically, becoming much more sedentary probably played a role in overcoming it.

As you have Hashimoto's, you may be familiar with the work of Dr. Alessio Fasano, whose research indicates that intestinal permeability ('leaky gut') is one of three preconditions for autoimmune disease. NSAIDs* can damage the intestinal lining and I took a lot of them to help with the pain of plantar fasciitis and to be able to function. (never more than recommended dosage, but over a long period.) I wonder if that helped set me up for an autoimmune thyroid condition. If you're taking them, you may wish to bear this in mind. I hope you feel better soon.

*NSAIDs are non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, in case you aren't familiar with the term. Examples include Motrin, Advil, Celebrex.