Avioding Coming a cropper when we are trying to... - Thyroid UK

Thyroid UK

143,879 members•169,332 posts

Avioding Coming a cropper when we are trying to regain a level of fitness

I wondered if anyone else has experience of getting back to some degree of fitness once the dose of thyroid hormones was adequate - whatever the form that took (T4 only, T3 only, Combo T4/T3 or NDT). thought it might be good to share this, in the hope of others avoiding the mistakes I made.

Mine is a cautionary tale 🥴 a very cautionary tale!

I was about 3 months in to being on a full replacement dose, feeling good, but unfit. During those months of being under medicated then slowly getting to theraputic dose I was very inactive, muscle tone was lost and hips back muscles tightened. So I though gentle exercise!

My problems started with the yoga. Trying to keep up with my supple neighbour who has 15 years on me. Yep you guessed it, I ripped/stretched muscles in back and hips that had shortened and tightened up when inactive - so be very careful how you proceed. I can still get a twinge - over a year on.

I ended up with a lateral pelvic tilt looked like a typewritter with its carriage over to one side.

Tried an Osteopath, 6 sessions in didn't help sadly, then had 6 sessions with an amazing sports physio who worked on the traumatised area - they do facia work and this helped and I started moving about a bit more walking etc. Then physio was away and I needed some work so went to a Chiropractor (again). I have had some considerable success with this in the past when I've done myself a mischief. I had two sessions with them and I was back on track then a further session with the physio which just ironed me out that bit more.

I still need to get flexible again - I've never been a splits girl but have had a reasonably good range of flexibility.

I had plantar fasciitis and all sorts of aches and pains before getting to my therapeutic dose. So once these left me, I think I got a false sense of my own fitness, but I hadn't factored in the general deterioration of my muscle tone. this had lulled me into a false sense of my own ability YIKES!

SO I guess with regards to getting fit again - it is low and slow and don't compete with super supple neighbours🤪🤣

Written by

Charlie-Farley

To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .

Read more about...

31 Replies

•

Treesong20232 years ago

Hello, Charley. I hate not being able to walk and run. Not done running since COVID. One longish walk and I am looking for a floor,any floor, to lie down on. I am now thinking of swimming as the best low impact, muscle tone builder...? K🌻

Charlie-Farley• in reply toTreesong20232 years ago

I can swim but don’t like the way they treat the swimming bath water - which ever way they do it, my skin reacts, be it Chlorine or Ozone. I have to tentatively work this out on dry land 😂

But I do think it is a good option 😊👍

RegenallotmentAmbassador2 years ago

familiar story here too.

2017 running 8km 3 times a week, HiT /weights every day, long walks at weekends and extensive allotment digging.

2021 can barely walk around Asda but started an Iyenga Yoga class (older and stiffer @49😫)

I’m only 7 weeks into 125mcg T4, but yoga aches are easier, I can do more, I can walk further, I can do a couple of hours weeding, but yeah, overdoing it is still 1 activity to much away. I’m learning what recovery looks like. Bath bed book & winterwatch on iplayer ✅

Yoga - if you find an Iyenga class they use all manner of chairs, blocks, bolsters etc to support. My teacher has folks with hip and knee replacements and is super attentive to over doing it. Finding the balance between a good stretch and hurting yourself is so fine.

I’m hoping this time next year I’ll feel this much better again 🤨

🌱

Charlie-Farley• in reply toRegenallotment2 years ago

It’s hard pacing when we’ve been used to limitless. That overdrive has gone for now so I’m being patient. 😬👍

Tythrop• in reply toCharlie-Farley2 years ago

I empathise with you .I help out with horses for Riding For Disabled and leading vulnerable horse riders ..mucking out etc for its mental as well as physical therapy ; but the lack of stamina and muscle weakness has impacted heavily. I used to think of myself as robust and strong physically , but its hard to get my head around being somewhat frail or accident prone .Ancke pain the worst and muscle stiffness a b...r . I'm hoping that it will improve with warmer weather as well as lighter evenings and on going t4 therapy .Maybe t3 too if I can get it . Its very onteresting to read Diogenese' latest info which touches on the body's own t3 supply being affected by climate ,cold and seasons . I do wish us all an improvement as we travel together along this rocky road. Also if , like me, you have been trying to keep up with Diogenese' articles, you might be feeling really really angry at the failure of medical profession to put into practice the info TUK and others has been placing at their door for years and years .They do not have consideration for patients .It's a scandal , and their failure to apply existing knowledge has cost the NHS a lot of money and resources in terms of ongoing and avoidable collateral issues .Shame on them.

Charlie-Farley• in reply toTythrop2 years ago

I have started properly reading now yes and I am aghast. I keep saying to friends, I can’t believe it! Where is the scientific rigour. Diogenes and a few others a pushing back against a ground swell of fairly mediocre science that has been built on false assumptions and bolstered regularly as those who follow the paradigm are rewarded. It is us brave thing to do to stick ones head above the parapet - it takes integrity.

Fruitandnutcase2 years ago

Oh Charley-Farley - I know just where you are coming from. A few years ago I developed plantar fasciitis - we were due to go on holiday in a couple of weeks and I could hardly walk so I consulted Dr Google as you do. Got a long list of possible cures - did everything suggested, still didn’t work all that well and I mentioned it to my physiotherapist/ Pilates teacher after a Pilates session. She asked what I was doing with it - I listed all the things I’d been doing and she looked at me and said ‘have you tried resting it?’ Well it was obvious that I hadn’t so I rested it and dipped it into hot then cold water as she suggested and lo and behold less turned out to be more.

The physio who treated me more recently for CRPS in my hand said that on a scale of 0-10 I should be working at about 3 which is what we’re told in Pilates so like you say ‘lo and slow’ is the way to go - that and avoid lying next to anyone who looks fitter than you do 😉

Charlie-Farley• in reply toFruitandnutcase2 years ago

😂. So on point! Interesting though, re the plantar fasciitis, once up to full therapeutic dose that disappeared- I don’t even wear insoles now. My hands started working too. When I was at my worst, I couldn’t do up shoelaces so reverted to slip ons or Velcro closers, just had no grip - I was dropping things all over the place. Felt so clumsy- grip back too since I got to my full therapeutic dose.

Tythrop• in reply toCharlie-Farley2 years ago

This foot pain thing is really really interesting for me . I can't wait to up my 50mcg per day to 100 to see how my body reacts ...Impatience is my middle name .

1tuppence• in reply toCharlie-Farley2 years ago

Your experience of "better working hands" grip, strength and clumsiness resonates with me Charlie. When I had my best T3....5.3, I discovered I wasn't so horribly clumsy, could walk and move easier, was able to cancel knee injections and felt generally "up and at it" especially compared to how I'd been all that year...wondering if I needed to give up my home and garden as being unmanageable for me now. That T3 was a game changer. I've experienced that I can feel better..... ( that's still a work in progress) but knowing things can change is a "light at the end of the tunnel".

Charlie-Farley• in reply to1tuppence2 years ago

it’s wonderful when you see that first chink if light! 🤗❤️

Christabel• in reply toFruitandnutcase2 years ago

I never think of resting anything either! It's good advice.

Christabel2 years ago

I can relate to this. I still do an exercise session and a walk every day, but nothing seems to improve.

I have heard or seen somewhere that if you have Botox injections in the affected muscles, physiotherapy etc. actually works, because then the muscles are where they're meant to be, so to speak. Mine go back to being horribly tense immediately after any treatment.

Charlie-Farley• in reply toChristabel2 years ago

Yes I think the hypo thing really slows recovery from injury reading everyone else’s comments you can really see a pattern.

Pearlteapot2 years ago

I think I am nearly but not quite at a correct replacement dose and it is making a big difference to exercise capacity. I can now do fairly full on intermediate level Vinyassa classes without problems with recovery. When I tried this a few months ago I would do the class but a few hours afterwards I would be wiped out and it would take a few days to recover. I am also running 2km 3 x a week. It feels fine, more than fine as it give me a big endorphin lift and probably a cortisol lift but I've noticed, thanks to the new 'cardio recovery' function on Apple watch, that its taking longer and longer to recover so I suspect I'm pushing too hard and am going to cut it back a bit.

I have lost a LOT of fitness over the last year. My heart rate spikes too quickly and takes too long to recover. I see this as a loss of CV conditioning which I am assuming can improve with training, regardless of the thyroid issues. This is in the context that for me, T3 does not increase heart rate but actually slows it down. At least this is true when at rest.

I am wondering about the conundrum that I can increase fitness in the sense of improving my cardio vascular capacity but I can't increase fitness fully because a healthy thyroid will produce what is needed to match increased capacity but mine won't. The T3 capacity is finite. Then again, the nature of CV conditioning is that you need less energy to do more because of increased efficiency in oxygen conversion, so maybe more T3 is not needed. What do people think about this? If you are an active person should/could you increase T3 dose to enable more energy expenditure? I am planning to ask my Endo about this later this week.

Edited

RegenallotmentAmbassador• in reply toPearlteapot2 years ago

oh wow this gives me hope 👏💕

Links to the T3 in fit people after exercise study I read recently here too. Sorry I can’t remember which angel posted it.

🌱

Pearlteapot• in reply toRegenallotment2 years ago

I would like to see that, it rings a bell, I'll look. Don't lose hope! Because you were fit before you have the muscle memory and my theory is that that includes the heart muscle. I really am wondering how much of the fatigue is due to loss of CV conditioning plus all the other horrible heart effects of being incorrectly dosed.

RegenallotmentAmbassador• in reply toPearlteapot2 years ago

I think it was this one healthunlocked.com/thyroidu....

Pearlteapot• in reply toRegenallotment2 years ago

ah yes but that article is about people with functioning thyroid glands. I doubt my levels go up after a run, that is the problem. Cortisol may do.

RegenallotmentAmbassador• in reply toPearlteapot2 years ago

yes that was my takeaway point, as mine clearly isn’t functioning I can’t have this natural reaction post exercise and take ages to recover. I’m left drained. I’ll patent my dream wearable T monitor and automated dosing device like diabetics have 💰

Pearlteapot• in reply toRegenallotment2 years ago

I am also D102 heterozygous. My exercise tolerance has greatly improved since starting T3. On levo alone my T3 levels were 3.1. I was then put on a bumper dose of levo that took me over range for T4 but enabled T3 to go up to 5.1. Since starting liothyronine my T3 level is just a little higher at 5.6 but T4 is back down within range. I am hoping to slightly increase the T3. My energy levels and exercise tolerance only really began to improve when T3 was over 5. Of course we are all different. I quote these figures to show what has seemingly been needed in my case.

RegenallotmentAmbassador• in reply toPearlteapot2 years ago

That’s excellent, thanks for sharing. I remain hopeful I can do something similar, yes like many here I also have DIO2 mutation. Still early days for me but all going the right direction.🌱

Charlie-Farley• in reply toPearlteapot2 years ago

I relate to the feeling of limits. I’m still on mono therapy, but yes, No overdrive now. I have my tank of fuel I use it up then I’m parked for a few hours and if I really overdo it, I can lose a day. I have a level of fitness but the 16 hours days are over for me - I can do 6 and I’m done!

arTistapple2 years ago

Presently I can only dream BUT the pattern most people mention is extremely familiar. During the pandemic, before diagnosis or just about the same time, I was doing a mile a day walking and weightlifting and dynamic stretching 3x per week. It became the most terrible struggle. It had been a struggle for quite some time, truth be told. Useless for the rest of the day. I have been worried about muscle loss since being thoroughly unable to keep this going. However I have just read a bit about pseudomytonia. This is virtually exclusive to hypothyroidism. This is the first post that I think has been quite so in depth about everyone’s experience of fitness after suffering this illness and I think it is worthwhile to mention it here. Initially the symptoms were observed by tapping the ankle joint and therefore was used for diagnosis.

The point being that I thought I suffered this alone but I can see the similarity in what you are all describing. Whilst this is pretty old news, the guy who originally spotted it says that muscle wasting in this instance does not really happen. Flexibilty is recovered with good thyroid levels/medication.

I found this information aftertattybogle highlighted the ‘test’ earlier in the week. It’s about Thyroid meds needed for both tensing and relaxing muscles. Simply it’s a problem with flexibility. As I mentioned in another post, this is a feature of hypothyroidism more familiar with veterinarians and almost unknown in human endocrinologists. I think the straining and the lack of ability to relax the muscles must be what maintains the muscle through our illness and hopefully we can aim for a good outcome if our meds are balanced. In my case - eventually. Amusing that doctors don’t believe/give a hoot whether a seventy year old might want to stay fit.

Charlie-Farley• in reply toarTistapple2 years ago

Tistapple

I had no idea! Wow, this is amazing. So interesting- you have set me off on another quest to further my knowledge. I’m taking it super slow after the lateral tilt- almost a year to get sorted. I thought it was worth posting after someone asked me about recover and back and hip problems. I hope you make gentle progress. 🤗❤️

arTistapple• in reply toCharlie-Farley2 years ago

You too!

Christabel• in reply toarTistapple2 years ago

That is fascinatiing.

I agree, I think there's an assumption that people over fifty sit around all day.

chrisbuy632 years ago

I have been totally inactive due to complications with my legs and standing all intertwined with Hashimoto's. I find it hard to walk (far) but find swimming to be the best excercise for me as long as I have help to enter and exit the pool (husband!). Once in you would not know anything was wrong with me and I can excercise for an hour and even stand and talk to others which I find difficult on land. I haven't been in Dec/ January though because of all the nasty bugs going around but will start up again soon.

Charlie-Farley• in reply tochrisbuy632 years ago

I’m so glad you are able to get some relief in water. Wish I could swim, actually I can but that water just brings me out in blisters 😱. In most other situations you would think I had the skin of a rhino 😂

Charlie-Farley2 years ago

Denny39 thought I would tag you in might be of some interest.

Charlie-Farley2 years ago

Denny39 thought I would tag you in might be of some interest.