Stabbing pain

[HashiDaz]

Does anyone get sharp intermittent stabbing pain on their thighs and shoulders? It happens a few times a month and can make me really yelp out loud. 😞 Last night I got it all night on my thigh!

[mark1994]

Hi I'm mark,

haven't been on here for a while but just read read the above and have exactly those symptoms everyday. And Omg is it painful.

I have been on levo 175mg for 12 years and in Nov 15th 2017 I collapsed with so much pain I ended up in hospital. Basically every morning for the past 12 years I wake up at 05:30 take my dose of 175mg levothyroxin (tablet form) and with in 10 minutes I am crippled with pain,cant move, throwing up,dizzy,cant think,splitting headache and stabbing pain everywhere.

It has been this way since the day I started the medication but GP said it's just side effects and always said I need rest and there is nothing they can do.

Back in Nov 2017 things got so bad they booked me in for bowl surgery to see what was going on. however the anastasia chap that's puts you to sleep advised me that I'm over active thyroid and told me to stop the meds completely, and also advised I may never need to take them again or I would just need a top up dose now and again.also I may not need surgery after all and was sent home.

Great I thought. How wrong was he, within 4 months without meds I now have both liver and kidney failure and I'm severely under active so sever, I'm so far off the scale they don't have a reading.

In short as I have always complained to my GP that I think the tablets were the course of my problems,

Reluctantly they have (12 yrs later) put me on liquid form for the past 2 months, still have all the pain at present but no longer have crippling tummy pain when I take the meds nor do I throw up every morning anymore,which is a good thing because I had honestly given up on life at this point.

In short it seems the fillers were the root cause of my problems.

My liver is now recovering and my kidneys are still not good but have now become stable. So far so good. Seeing an endo next month July for the 1st time ever so feeling positive for once, just hope things keep moving in a possitive way now, really couldn't go through it all again. Just so tired and stressed /exhausted to be honest.

I'm sure others must feel this way from time to time.

In short you are not alone and I hope the above offers you some hope and advise maybe,

This is an amazing site and I would have quit life a long time ago had it not been for the all the amazing and wonderful people who helped me on here.

It was this site that I found that the tablets can make you worse because of the fillers and I spent 12 yrs fighting for the liquid, so thank you everyone as you were all correct and now although my symptoms got severe, they are very slowly improving,

I wish you well and if I can help in any way please ask and I will do my best to answer any questions you have.

Wish you well and try to keep positive as stress has a massive impact on the thyroid,

Just like to add that this site saves people's lives, saved mine which I'm truly gratefully for all the people on here who helped and supported me over the years and I hope I can now return the favour and do the same. so a big thank you to everyone involved with this Web site.

Kind regards

Mark

Ps I'm now 45yrs old ,

(was an engineer but now a delivery driver,had to keep changing my career to adapt to the illness)and have had hypothyroidism since 2008, probably had it before then but red bull kept me going upto 2008

[HashiDaz in reply to mark1994]

Hi Mark, wow I feel like my pains are nowhere near as unbearable as yours, I’m 37 and have suffered from exhaustion my whole life. I feel happy to hear your symptoms are finally improving.

I have not been medicated yet but GP offered Levo last month which I refused to take and asked to be referred to an Endo after my TSH rocketed within 9 months.

I have private health so have taken full advantage of looking for a functional Endo and have done all the tests he sent me for - adrenal stress tests, GI effects, full bloods incl for antibodies, ultrasound of thyroid glands, SIBO and PCOS.

Follow up is on Thursday so hoping this Endo will have answers as he looks for the root cause. My preferred medication would be NDT even if I have to pay for it as health is worth every penny and as I know I will struggle to get a NHS prescription for it. I have also in the past 4 years not taken any drugs (by that I mean pharmaceuticals) and have reduced toxicity by making my own lotions and changing deodorants to a fully natural one. Including cleaning products I use. I have also been a vegetarian my whole life and eat nutritiously most of the time. And use supplements like VitC, zinc, selenium, ashwaghanda, sea kelp, b bits and spirulina.

I am a quantity surveyor and worked my ass off for the past 15 years to become financially stable but have recently, past 3 years, reduced my working days to 4 days due to exhaustion and stress.

I am looking for an acupuncturist to help with de stressing and brain fog but hoping this Endo helps a lot. Have you tried acupuncture yet?

I too agree that this site is a life changer and feel these fellow sufferers are so welcoming and understanding unlike friends and family who think I am lazy and need to get out more and don’t understand one bit about having no energy.

I wish you all the best and thank you so much for commenting on my question, it gives me hope.

[Judithdalston]

Yes had stabbing pains in various parts of body...most disabilitating recent in knees/lower legs as limited walking...went thru lots of scans, physio, acupuncture...came off statins, diagnosed with fibromyalgia 2 years ago, but no help. Got vits/ mins tested and levels raised ( in case vit D etc problems), then added T3 to levo. going onto T3 only. Stabbing largely gone. Have tried to add levo.back twice (T3 raises my blood sugar levels), and got more acute pain returned. Also got B12 deficiency type symptoms so getting b12 injections( tho active b12 levels ok). So at mo. stabbing seems to have gone, but whether it was getting rid of levo. difficult to be sure ( could be combo like raising FT3, and vitD/ B12/ ferritin etc); still got all over general pain and weakness that makes me tired but not as bad as pain that takes my breath away, and stops my walking or sleeping.

[HashiDaz in reply to Judithdalston]

Hi Judith seems Levo seems the culprit.

Are there any cures for fibromyalgia ? How did u get on with acupuncture?

Can’t say I feel your pain fully as mine is intermittent, but I’m praying it’s doesn’t become constant.

[Judithdalston in reply to HashiDaz]

Let’s say the NHS offers little more than pain killers for fibromyalgia ( tho it seems to vary nhs trust to trust etc), so no ‘cure’. But some researchers indicate fibromyalgia is under diagnosed/ undertreated hypothyroidism, others that a high proportion of those with fibromyalgia have low B12( plus folate etc). I have had acupuncture for two separate areas with 25 plus year gaps between...oldest re neck/ shoulder pain, 3 years ago re knees...did nothing for me. But I do have private treatment by a chiropractor/ spinal manipulation (trained as McTimoney chiropractor, and less aggressive) every 6-8 weeks ... if I leave it longer then have more acute pain/stiffness...might be worth a try for your shoulder and legs( if spine gets out of line so do hips, and legs can feel it). I had spine problems for nearly 40 years, and this gentle manipulation gives me my life back. Also saw nhs podiatrist who gave me orthotics to stop feet rolling so pulling on knees.

[HashiDaz in reply to Judithdalston]

Thanks Judith. I have been going to an osteopath to help with my other shoulder and shoulder blade pain and have felt a huge difference but the pain in my left thigh and left shoulder feels more like nerve pain.

[Judithdalston in reply to HashiDaz]

Osteopath too rough for me, gentle manipulation can help with nerves that are being trapped/squashed.... If you need thyroid ‘meds’ you do need the replacement hormones ...no way round that. Were any ‘thyroid’ bloods other than TSH done, you may have high autoimmune antibodies (TPO and /or TgAb) ie Hashimoto’s that account for raised TSH levels?

[HashiDaz in reply to Judithdalston]

The private endo sent me for antibiotics and countless other blood tests unlike the GP so will find out results on Thursday.

[Judithdalston in reply to HashiDaz]

Good luck!

[humanbean]

The most common things to affect people who are hypothyroid are, in no particular order :

1) Low nutrients. The commonest low levels are found in vitamin B12, folate, iron/ferritin, vitamin D. We need levels to be optimal not just in range. For example, my own vitamin D was in range, but low in range. Improving my level - I doubled it from 50nmol/L to 100nmol/L - made lots of aches and pains go away.

2) Fillers in pills. Obviously won't be affecting you since you aren't currently treated. If this does affect people then they need to take control of their prescription and get a paper copy from their surgery every time one is issued. This gives you the freedom to get your prescription filled wherever you like, so you can phone up beforehand and ask which brand(s) of Levo they have available to fill your prescription. You can then make sure you try all the different brands and work out which one(s) suit you best. Obviously this is more hassles than getting it done electronically by a single pharmacist but it would be worth it to get rid of symptoms. Once you have worked out which brand works best for you, you can ask your doctor to specify the brand you want on the prescription.

3) Being unmedicated, under-medicated, wrongly medicated, or much more rarely, over-medicated. Being hypothyroid causes a wide-range of symptoms, many of which are dismissed or denied by doctors, and it is implied that the patient is attention-seeking, a hypochondriac, a drug-seeker, or has "something else". The "something else" is usually never diagnosed as anything other than depression or anxiety, and the treatment is anti-depressants. However, get the hypothyroidism treated correctly and symptoms do disappear. Anti-depressants are NOT an effective treatment for hypothyroid symptoms.

4) Adrenal problems. These are usually worth investigating once the things mentioned in 1, 2 and 3 above are dealt with if symptoms are still bothersome or it is impossible to find the correct dose for you. Usually with adrenal problems it is difficult to take enough thyroid hormones to get to optimal without suffering from what feels like being over-medicated, but blood tests suggest under-medication.

[Angelarower]

Hi

I used to get that a lot when I was very ill with hashimoto, until I was put on T3, about 10 years ago. I described it as a knitting needle being pushed up my leg/arm/side. You have my full sympathy as it’s horrible. I do hope you get the right treatment.

My friend saw an endocrinologist last week who told her that NICE may not approve T3 in the uk after this year. I did a complete panic about this, has anyone else been told this? T3 changed my life beyond belief.

[HashiDaz in reply to Angelarower]

Thank you Angela.

[marin5 in reply to HashiDaz]

Angelarover

My Dr. put me on T3 after me haunting him for it for a long time. I know it made a big difference but my Dr kept bothering me to take T4 also at first, so I stopped all thyroid meds for about 2 mths and made myself crazy and sick but I was determined not to take T4 again. but I am only taking 5mgs, split in 3mcg when I gonto bed and 2mcg when awakened! total 25mcg. Can you tell me how your doses are given? I have other autoimmune diseases as well as other diseases! Also what kind of a difference did it make for you?

Thank you marin5

[Angelarower in reply to marin5]

Hi Marin

I’m so sorry to take 3 weeks to reply, I didn’t see your question for some reason.

I take 1x20mg tablet of liothronine 3x a day and 200mg of levothyroxine and I am completely symptom free.

I am aware that this is a high dose but I truly have never felt so well so I don’t want to change.

I have just come through the menopause without too many problems and I’m convinced it’s because my thyroid is so well balanced.

I hope this helps

Take care of yourself

Angela