Hi there.
I have an under active thyroid, latest TSH reading was 6.11. I have also been diagnosed with a frozen shoulder. Apparently people with an under active thyroid can be more prone to this. I’m in absolute agony. Anyone else experienced this and have any advice?
Thanks Amy
I have had frozen shoulders on and off for years. The exercises that I have been given do help, to be fair. If the pain is really immense when trying to sleep, I might take two Paramol and I can feel the pain melt away. There’s a YouTube video which is good too, I’ll see if I can find it
Guy on YouTube called motivationaldoc. His videos are really good
Thanks so much for your reply. Painkillers aren’t touching the sides sadly but I’ll def take a look at the video. Hope that your shoulders are ok
Both shoulders have been inpinged. Yes very uncomfortable. It feels like your arm is broken not the shoulder, if you try to lift the arms. They wanted to operate but I thought ‘Not likely!’ I did my exercises and swapped my car to change my position. I got better though I can feel that they could deteriorate if I over exert them. I didnt know about the link with Hypothyroidism. I can believe it as Ive had a lot of muscle wasting as well x
Glad to hear you got better Michelle. It’s very debilitating. X
Amesrichie
I have an under active thyroid, latest TSH reading was 6.11
Has your Levo been increased considering your TSH is way over range. The aim of a treated hypo patient, when on Levo only, generally is for TSH to be 1 or lower with FT4 and FT3 in the upper part of their reference ranges, if that is where you feel well. You need an increase of 25mcg Levo now, retest in 6-8 weeks, further increases every 6-8 weeks if necessary.
Thanks for message. I called my docs to get my TSH result and the receptionist said that all was fine. I asked for my actual reading and told her it absolutely wasn’t fine. Hoping to get a doc appointment this week to get a meds increase. This is so hard to manage because my readings jump around so much.
Amesrichie
"This is so hard to manage because my readings jump around so much"
Are you doing your tests under the same conditions every time ie no later than 9am, after an overnight fast from evening meal/supper the night before, drinking water only before the test, and taking your last dose of Levo 24 hours before the test? If so then your results jumping around might indicate autoimmune thyroid disease aka Hashimoto's. Have you had thyroid antibodies tested?
Yes. I have hashimotos sadly. I’ve tried going gluten free but it didn’t stabilise things. I need to try and get control of my health. TSH to a better level and get frozen shoulder sorted. Hard to do when working full time with young family 😬😬
Michelle mentions impingement which my physio said is not frozen shoulder.An injection cured one shoulder but has only eased the other.
Thanks for your message. Was it a hydrodilation injection you had? I’ve heard positive things about that one but would probs have to wait months to get one on the nhs.
Cortisone, Physio diagnosed impingement syndrome .The GP asked a few questions and gave me the injection after saying it may not work.
Yes, I was diagnosed just before Christmas. I have had a Thyroidectomy and take Levo and Liothyronine. My consultant also mentioned ”hormone disturbances” as a risk factor. Now my other shoulder has begun to be painful too. Sadly, I did not like either of his suggestions to help and am waiting to see if it improves on its own. Apparently it will eventually but it could be months (or years). My blood levels are good with a very suppressed TSH so I cannot really take a higher dose of either hormone.
It’s really awful isn’t it. I’m going to try magnesium, acupuncture and hope that I won’t have to wait too long for a hydrodilation injection. I understand the pain reduces when in frozen state but I’m not sure how long off I am from that. Hope you recover quickly.x
So far I have tried a chiropractor, small circular exercises, seen online, acupuncture, magnesium oil, tiger balm, another Chinese liniment, Chinese patches and finally Reiki. All made no difference and acupuncture and exercises made it worse. For now I am sticking with non-invasive Reiki and will let you know if it helps - only two sessions so far.
I am not sure where I am either. Could be months of misery still!
Yoiks! It sounds like we’re at the same stage. I’d say mine started to get painful in October but December and January have been horrendous. Apparently the freezing stage can take between 6 weeks and 9 months. Hoping it’s sooner rather than later. Keep me posted.xx
Presumably you have had 25mcg dose increase in Levothyroxine
As you have Hashimoto's it's essential to regularly retest vitamin levels too
Bloods should be retested 6-8 weeks after each dose increase
The aim of Levothyroxine is to increase the dose slowly in 25mcg steps upwards until TSH is under 2 (many need TSH significantly under one) and most important is that FT4 is in top third of range and FT3 at least half way through range
NHS guidelines on Levothyroxine including that most patients eventually need somewhere between 100mcg and 200mcg Levothyroxine.
nhs.uk/medicines/levothyrox...
Also what foods to avoid (eg recommended to avoid calcium rich foods at least four hours from taking Levo)
All four vitamins need to be regularly tested and frequently need supplementing to maintain optimal levels
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 if you have autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto's) diagnosed by raised Thyroid antibodies
Ask GP to test vitamin levels if not been done recently
Recommended on here that all thyroid blood tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and before eating or drinking anything other than water .
Last dose of Levothyroxine 24 hours prior to blood 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)
Are you on strictly gluten free diet?
If not recommend getting coeliac blood test first before trying it
Thanks for your message. Yep, I have hashimotos. I’m not celiac but have had low vit d, b12 etc in the past. Supplements helped. Gluten free didn’t help me. Hoping to get an appointment with the doctor this week to address the issues.
Make sure to get FT3 and FT4 tested, not just TSH when you get tested 6-8 weeks after 25mcg increase
With tsh so high you may need more than one increase
I was in agony with frozen shoulders until I started taking magnesium (citrate, but you might prefer a different form) and it was better within a week - miraculous! Some kind soul on this forum suggested the magnesium, I’m really sorry that I can’t remember who it was, but it changed my life.
I’ve just researched the correlation between magnesium deficiency and frozen shoulder. So interesting! I have some at home and starting to take it in earnest and hoping I respond to it like you did 🤞.
Great! I hope it works for you. I'm now about two years beyond my frozen shoulders, but still take magnesium about twice a week (200mg of citrate), especially when I feel my joints and muscles aching - it works every time.
How long did your fs last? I think I’ll cope better when it’s not in freezing stage anymore. Did you take magnesium every day when you had a frozen shoulder?
I'd had first one and then both shoulders frozen for about nine months to a year. Unable to put clothes on, hang washing on line or blowdry hair - all agony. I did exercises (found on YouTube) which involved creeping arms up a wall, which helped a bit, but the Mg was the real breakthrough, for me. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!
Yes, I had 3 frozen shoulders before being diagnosed hypo.
I found acupuncture was good for the pain . I was offered a steroid injection but declined. You can have an OP but I would have declined that too. The first frozen shoulder took longer to go that the next two and it was by far the most painful.
Sorry you’ve had to suffer this 3 times. It’s awful. I’m def looking into acupuncture! Now taking magnesium as well.
I was in absolute agony with a frozen shoulder and was told by my consultant that I would almost certainly need an operation . He gave me a list of exercises to do and an appointment for 3 months later. After researching online I bought myself an infrared lamp from Amazon and after using it regularly along with the exercises I became totally pain free. When I attended the appointment 3months later my consultant was quite shocked, he had been expecting to arrange an operation. It is one of the best things I have ever bought .
Oooooo! Infrared lamp. I’ve not heard about this for FS. Dashes to take a look on Amazon app 🤣🤣. Thanks for the tip. Glad to hear that you’re recovered.x
See my post above. I ordered it straight away. Sounds good, I hope. Keep in touch.
I use it on my Thyroid and my other aches and pains. Takes me about 2 hrs if I do them all lol x
Poor you 😩😩. I miss my good health and youthfulness 🤣
My infrared lamp has arrived and I have just done my first session. May I ask how often you did it, please? Did you go crazy in the beginning and then slow down or work up slowly to several sessions a a day? I am one of those eager people who are inclined to make matters worse by doing too much, so I want to be careful with this. Thanks for any advice you can give.
Hennerton I bought a 300w lamp and did 3 or 4 sessions a day, starting with just 5 minutes each session and eventually increasing up to 10 minutes each. After each session I then did the gentle exercises I had been given. These were much easier to do as the heat had relaxed the muscles and they were much less painful. This was several years ago now and I have had no problems with my shoulder since. My lamp however still gets plenty of use for any aching muscles or even symptoms of a bad cold. It was out on loan so often to both of my grown up children that I bought one for them too! I hope it works as well for you.
What brand/model ifrared lamp do you use?
I use the Beurer 300W
Thanks very much 
I looked into this once before. Ari Whitten ,who has written a book on infrared therapy, claims the optimal wavelengths are 630-680 nm and 800 to 880 nm or a combination of both. (I think he's disclosed he has a business relationship with one of the manufacturers.) The one you're using is one I looked at in the past. Apparently the wavelength is 500-2500 nm, primarily 1250 nm. tbh, I found the whole thing a bit overwhelming (hypo symptom!) and gave up. It's good to know someone has had results with a particular model. Thanks.
Thank you so much for all the information and I will follow your method, although as all the exercises had made things worse before I saw my consultant, he advised me not to do any more. I may start again with gentle ones, once I have done a few more treatments. Did your shoulder recover completely? Thanks again.
Hennerton Yes l have never had a problem with my shoulder since and it was several years ago! I had an open appointment with the consultant for a year but I never needed to go back. When I was doing my research on what to do as I really wanted to avoid an operation I came across a doctor online who had suffered a frozen shoulder himself and he suggested a number of things. He said if you only do one of the things I have mentioned make it the infrared lamp you wont regret it!
Thank you! What an amazing site this is to enable us to share all this information.
Hello Amesrichie good evening as a guy at 32. I have stiffness in my neck and shoulders and arms. It is awful. I have had hypothyroidism for 2 1/2 years now. All my joints click arthritis eeeww not good . I also have hypertension high blood pressure. I use Tiger Balm Red Ointment it makes all my muscles relax and eases pain and gives a cold sensation when applied but feels really good and Progressive muscle relaxation meditation and magnesium when needed. Also do weight lifting with dumbbells to increase muscle from wasting caused by hypothyroidism. Start off with neck muscle exercises and shoulder muscle exercises and then gradually use dumbbell weights according to what you feel is comfortable for you. I also lay on flat floor and use the dumbbells by lifting away from me towards the air and towards the ceiling.
basically called Hyperthyroidism Hypothyroidism Myopathy here is a link that tells you more
mda.org/disease/endocrine-m...
Hope this helps
I'd never heard to that. How were you diagnosed and what were your blood results?
Hello fibrofoggy good afternoon. Was diagnosed by GP and creatine CK serum found in TSH and T4 levels in the blood test which was high which indicated muscle wasting.
Hope this helps
Yes there are a few more posts on this if you use the search. I had it really bad before it was recognised as a symptom. Should improve with treatment and your thyroid results improve but mine was successfully treated by a wonderful osteopath using acupuncture. As she said it was not so much my shoulder as a quarter of a body! That was thirty years ago and not really returned since. It can come back a bit like RSI so I tend not to do prolonged activities that might set it off but generally it’s fine now.
I have inflammation in my shoulder it’s quite painful and I had an ultrasound on it. Not much they could do as they said it was wear & tear!
Sick of hearing that for various painful joints etc in my body. All seem to be linked to thyroid disease. A good Thai massage helps me and eases the pain throughout my body for a good week.
I think it helps release the tension in my muscles which help relax the joints and improve inflammation
Hello MissFG good afternoon here is a link to a interesting article about Hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism myopathy .
I was diagnosed by high creatine CK levels in the serum and TSH and FT4.
mda.org/disease/endocrine-m...
My levels are always normal not very often raised. Plus I had focal myositis so have permanent muscle damage and obviously the ongoing issues that are a knock on effect. I’ve researched and research but there’s limited treatment for me.
With high CK levels you should be under rheumatology
Hello MissFG good afternoon sorry to hear about your muscle damage . It must be horrible and painful to manage and deal with . I know I get muscle spasms muscle cramps and muscle pain and muscle wastage and it's very horrible and painful and I agree with you I agree with you I should be under Rheumatology but just trying to get my doctor to refer me.
I think your doctor has to refer you if you request it. Otherwise I’d ask for a different doctor. In our area we have a new app that lets you book appointments at a hub surgery in the local area. So you can see any doctor available.
I’d definitely see another doctor as a high ck level could mean you have another underlying autoimmune disease that needs treatment
I used to get it frequently, it was agony. Then I went to a woman who sat beside me and rubbed a stone up and down from my shoulder to my back, a zillion times. She said I had to go for 3 consecutive days. Which I did. The pain went and never returned.
Apparently, she took my pain into herself, but a milder version. She didn't charge me a penny and is some sort of healer. But couldn't converse much so no real idea of what happened. I'm just extremely grateful. As nothing shifted that pain.
Shame these intuitive healing arts are less common, unless in a commercialised setting.
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