Hello, a question for those able to do sport/exercise (with hashimotos)
I have struggled a little (like most people) in getting my Hashimoto's in control but I think I am now in the best state I have ever been in since being diagnosed. All my blood tests are in the ranges that GP and various posts on this forum suggest they should be in so I am happy ( I have read alot online on this forum) and my GP has been very supportive.
I have always been quite sporty (before diagnosis) and so for me it was important to get back to feeling well and try to get back to some normality with exercise. Whilst in the process of being diagnosed and sorting out medication I wasn't able to do much/any exercise but thankfully I have managed to get back into some exercise. It has been a huge struggle though.
My query is this. All my blood tests are OK and I am able to do exercise like running (5 miles), yoga and gym work however on many occasions I am fine doing the exercise but after I feel very tired and exhausted and it takes me time to recover which I never used to have to worry about (pre-hashimoto days). I also often suffer with leg muscle and joint pains after. I never suffered with this before but do now and very much in bed at night. It wakes me up. Is this to be expected with hashimotos. Does this mean I should just listen to my body and not overdo it or the fact that I get leg bone and muscle pain and knee joint stiffness might mean that I am not on the correct dosage of levothyroxine. Is it likely that if I increase levothyroxine my levels will not be correct but it may resolve the pain and stiffness? If I do no exercise I get no pains.
Your views and thoughts would be welcome.
Written by
MAR31
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You will eventually get to a dose in which you can do exercises without getting symptoms. You will soon understand how much you can do and if becoming symptomatic increase Levothyroxine slightly. Levo being the inactive hormone which has to convert to T3 in order for us to function normally. T3 is needed in our millions of T3 receptor cells and heart and brain have the most.
As we are hypo - when we exercise (I don't mean gentle exercise) the body uses T3 to do so.
T4 is the inactive hormone and converts to T3 which is the Active Thyroid Hormone and it is T3 which enables our body to function as normal.
I am not medically qualified but I think after a few weeks you might well understand your symptoms, i.e. if and when you need a little bit more hormones.
You can increase dose every six weeks by 1/4 tablet and stay on that for few weeks before increasing dose again. If, at any time, you feel you're on too much, reduce to the previous dose and hopefully that will be your optimum dose. I think our bodies have to get used to a particular dose - one that we feel stable upon. If we do exercise before we've reached an 'optimum dose' I believe symptoms will return so increase by 1/4 dose again.
I think once you get into a routine you will be aware of how much to increase until you're symptom-free. You could start off with an initial increase in dose, wait a couple of weeks taking note of your symptoms and increase again etc etc until you can exercise without increasing your dose and you feel symptom-free. If at any time your feel 'hyper' go back to previous dose.
(I think I'd refer to T3 as the 'engine' and it is this which drives our whole metabolism.)
Extract from following link:
"Hypothyroidism, metabolism and obesity
Because the thyroid hormones T3 and T4 control cellular metabolism throughout the body, when there is not enough of them for any reason, this metabolic function slows and becomes impaired. The most common causes of hypothyroidism are autoimmune failure (Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis) and surgical removal or destruction of the gland. These latter treatments are usually done for thyroid cancer to treat hyperthyoidism or goiter (an enlargement of the thyroid gland). Outside of the United States, hypothyroidism is often caused by iodine deficiency. When there is not enough iodine to make thyroid hormones, the body cannot produce them. Iodine is added to salt in the US, which has eliminated almost all iodine deficiency.
Since thyroid hormone are important to all the cells of the body, symptoms can appear very general and may often be seen as vague in mild cases.
Signs and symptoms of hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) include:
I use magnesium oil spray and powder, and take a range of supplements to support my body and energy levels, these all help. i do walking running steady state cardio and weight training- i find i do have energy dips but tend to split my. ndt across the day to support this ( don’t think this can be done with thyroxine but i’ve never taken it).
i find hiit or too heavy on the weights wipes me out which i hate because i love both, but have had to accept
glad to hear you are feeling better and as long as you support your body’s nutritional and water needs then you should be okay! good luck
Sorry I can’t help much with answers but wanted to say i have the same issue! Taking me much longer to recover and the other day had to nap after half the exercise I normally do! Very annoying! So have cut down the last few weeks.
Only just prescribed levo so hoping once stable exercise will be ok. I take magnesium which I think helps. And also have the odd massage and float session - not for everyone though!
Would be interested to know what supplements people take for exercise.
Magnesium gel is really good. I don't do high impact stuff though - never really got on with that. But I like to walk up hills (steep) with my dog and garden a lot. On hotter days I take an electrolyte drink with me and make it up myself using celtic salt, Dr Dean's ionised magnesium (read Magnesium Miracle), d ribose plus a bit of vitamin c with it, plus a banana or dried fruit if I'm out for longer.
The Magnesium is the key to recovery in my opinion, but Dr Dean's stuff is pricey. If you are very active though it gets to the cells quickly which most supplements fail to do as well.
The gels work in a similar way - so I use them all year round. I even managed to reduce the swelling and pain in my neck and jaw (glands) due to a recent cold by rubbing Mag gel on my neck!!
I have Hashimoto’s and I can just about manage one 4 km run per week. That’s it running wise. I swim because it doesn’t seem to make me ill. I also do yoga/Pilates at home which is normally very beneficial. I’ve given up any hope of returning to sport. Pre Hashimoto’s sport was very important to me. But now I can’t do any really. It’s a little depressing! You could to different though - everyone’s different. I would say low ish impact stuff only. I used to do body pump and that was ok.
Sorry to hear that HashiFedUp. You never know perhaps in the future you may be able to do a little more if that's what you wish. I must say I have done some Yoga classes since being diagnosed (didn't do Yoga before as normally did other sports). I find Yoga very hard and whilst I am quite flexible I suffer with alot of bone pain all over and joint stiffiness as mentioned previously. For days after too. I am still trying to continue to do it as I am assuming it is doing me good even though it doesn't feel like it at times.
I understand where you are coming from Mar31. I used to do a lot of sport too & when I was very ill for over a year I could not exercise. Since then I have been taking quite a lot of supplements and am thankfully much better but I think the ones that have made the biggest difference to me are Fibroprotek which contains carnitine and coenzyme Q10 and metavive I in addition to my Levo.
I also take iodine which I know is controversial but so far it’s been very good for me. Others include zinc, magnesium , B complex and vitamins D and C. So quite a lot!
I’m in the same boat. It’s been nearly 9mths since I became well. I’m still around 2stone overweight and just starting back into fitness. I’ve got a crappy pelvis since I had the children, painful SP that flares up when I do too much. Nevertheless I’ve started the treadmill again, not much, only 2k each time. Lateral training too. I’m mentally preparing myself to give up dairy to see if helps with my joints and I’ll add in some load bearing training to build up my bones (I’m 45, so bone health is one of my top priorities now)
Hashimotos really did a number on me, I’m naturally sporty and I need it for good mental health so I don’t want to be scared of it. I’m currently in physio for my pelvis so I hope that helps my knees and ankles too.
I wonder if you should dabble in other forms if exercise? See how that affects you? Could it be an age thing? Or is it too much too soon? 🤷♀️
Thank you for your response and wishing you the very best. Fingers crossed and think positive. That's what I am trying to do. Yes I am not ruling out other factors that may be impacting thyroid either like age and menopause but it all seems to have landed on me at the same time so seems strange for it to be other stuff.
Like others have said perhaps it is a case of trial and error and see how your body does. I personally find yoga very hard for my bones and muscles at the time of doing it and after. Possibly more so than running. Running I am fine whilst doing it but am wiped out after for some time. Good luck.
I was in a similar situation to you. I used to run frequently, did the London Marathon, lots of 10ks and 4 Great North Runs. I ran 5 miles twice during the work week and 7 or 10 miles at the weekend
When I became ill I stopped running because I didn't have the energy to do all I wanted to do in a day.
last year I started treatment and felt better so I started running but found that if I did more than 2 x 5k runs per week I was exhausted and some weeks to the point of not having the energy to run that week. Plus when I did run my times were down on before I was ill. I didn't care about that, I just wanted to be out running and feeling good at the end. Until recently i would come home from work and sit on the couch watch TV and not have the energy to change in to my running clothes.
I though to myself - "what is the point of treatment?" Like a lot of people on this forum I didn't want just enough to get through work and collapse at home.
I wanted to feel as near normal as possible. Normal for most people is working (paid or voluntary) and having a family life. Not just existing. For me a family life means being well so that I can do all I want to do with the people I want to do it with.
I thought that maybe I should try an increase dose to get my energy levels up along with managing other symptoms that hadn't fully resolved.
I went to my GP and explained that the dose I was on has helped but not enough. I explained about my running and that on the then current dose I could only manage 2 x 5k runs a week and sometimes not even that. I told her about my running history. I said that the NHS encourages people to exercise and how beneficial exercise is in general. I told her that my T4 and T3 are way down in the range so there is ample scope for them to be raised so long as they don't go above the upper limit. I told her that I know what the symptoms of over medication are and went through them., I told her I monitor my blood pressure pulse rate and heart beat so i can look out for signs and symptoms of over medication.
She agreed to raise my dose of Levo from 125 to 150.
I feel better now and have started training for a Half Marathon in April. I'm taking it easy building up to the run in April. I don't want to over do it and run out of energy.
I'll start on 2 x 5k and 5k at the weekend
then 2x 5k and 7 k and the weekend
then 2 x 5 miles and 10k at the weekend until I can do 10 miles on a weekend 2 weeks before the run.
The last time I trained in 3 months run was for a Great North Run. I felt good at the end but had a time of 3:30. I'm hoping for a time of 2:30 this time, but I just want do it without walking and feeling good at the end. Time is secondary.
The point of the is post is that I think that patients should expect to be made well so that they can do what they want to do. Some doctors don't understand this and simply look at lab results to decide what dose patients need.
for information the World Health Organisation says that
"Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
The enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition".
Thank you for this response HSB. I can relate to many posts but this one in particular. Wishing you the very best. You never know we may meet at a race in the future. I would love to get back to half marathon level (not at a fast pace) but competing in it for myself. I am many moons away at present though. Never say never.
Thank you to all who have responded. Every post has been informative and I can relate to them all.
Of course we all want to feel the best and be as healthy as possible and like a number of you have stated that means different things to different people. I have come a long way from where I was at the start of diagnosis and pleased with my progress but still lots of room for improvement. Sports activity is really important to me from a physical and emotional health stance. I think I may need to learn about 'me' and what I can and cannot do. I am forever pushing myself becuase I think sometimes you need to. At times I am very tired though. I shall not give up until I am happy with my life and exercise.
On the medication front, of course I am taking Levothyroxine but apart from Vitamin D supplements I am not taking anything else. I am very reluctant to take anything other than what I need. A bit paranoid about medication, if I am being honest. Hate taking levo! I recently had to take some amoxycilin and ended up with a rash/itchy hives for three weeks after I stopped taking it. I dread to think what medication has in it.
Just to add after what you’ve said. I was tired just before Christmas. I did a blood test and my thyroid levels are excellent but my B12, folate, Vit D were all low. Nearly 4 was after starting supplemts I feel much better. I eat a wide and varied diet, I’m in and out if the house all day. There is no reason these vitamins should be low and yet they are. Must be linked to Hashimotos. I have resigned myself to always needing to take supplements and I’m ok with that because they make me feel good 🤗
I wish you luck in getting back into your exercise.
When I got ill, giving up the swimming (I did 100 length swims 4-5 times a week) and walking I loved and had done for years and years was so hard. I wondered if I would ever be able to exercise again. I’d be under a blanket on the settee feeling like cr*p and I’d see someone go pass the window on a skateboard and feel envious! I used to say to myself ‘when I’m well, I’m going to skateboard, run, ski, skydive etc! But deep down I wondered if it would ever be possible.
I’m lucky, a brilliant endo who worked with me (when I experienced so many issues on Levo because of my reaction to it) has resulted in the restoration of my health - not fully, but largely. It was like someone flicked a switch when I suddenly hit on the right dose. I’m back swimming (over 100 lengths at a time again or more now) and walking - and I’ve joined a gym and started running on the treadmill, I’m up to 4K. Not got the skateboard yet - but who knows! My times aren’t what they used to be, but I’m older and I don’t really care!
One thing my endo did say to me though - when you do these things, you will likely always be more tired after than someone with a functioning thyroid. I suppose because our energy comes from a pill in a set dose a day. We don’t have a thyroid to adjust and increase that dose when we up the ante with exercise. No one would normally have a set amount of thyroxine first thing in the morning and that is it.
But I can live with that - not sure I could have lived with the life of a couch potato though. That’s why I feel so strongly about the way some people on here are treated by their doctors who do so little to fine tune the dosage so that switch is flipped and they too feel well. It’s a travesty. 🤸🏿♀️🥛
I'm the same. You need to listen to your body now. Give it more time to recover. Not push it as hard. It sucks but it will thank you and not push you back out of range again.
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