Has anyone else suffered from neck and shoulder pain/stiffness without having hurt yourself? I’ve had this for the past 3 weeks and I can’t sleep on that side for very long. I also had some swelling and pain on the top of my foot near my toes as well. Again I hadn’t hurt my foot.
Are these more hypothyroid symptoms due to being under medicated and still titrating?
I just feel like I am constantly in pain somewhere on my body and feeling irritated all the time.
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MsWhistledown
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The list of symptoms I had when BOTH thyroid meds and key vitamins were not optimal seemed endless… so yes, it’s likely your pain and swelling may be linked to this. However, I’ve also had extensor tendinitis in my foot (top) and this has improved since I saw a podiatrist for some insoles (apparently your arches etc can fall in menopause)
I find both gentle stretches (Pilates) & taking magnesium daily also helps with random aches. I take glycinate as I find this easy in the stomach, but other types are available.
We can get all sorts of aches pains etc when titrating up to a therapeutic dose. I see you wanted Teva. Did you manage to get sorted?.
I’m on Teva and an independent pharmacy is your best bet. I’ve recently moved and on registering with new surgery was told they had an arrangement where out of town patients had their prescriptions dispensed from the surgery. Then I was told “they only do Accord”. They decided to relax the ‘arrangement’ and said I COULD use an independent pharmacy after all. Because they couldn’t be bothered. Totally a law unto themselves. Thankfully a pharmacy in town have no such problem - professional!
BNF have said it is perfectly permissible for brands to be fixed. Inertia, I fancy, comes more from deficient working practices than ‘supply issues’. How much easier is it to just do cookie cutter pharmacy than actually work to patient’s needs.
Push for the brand fixing then if you start to get problems it is one less variable to consider when getting to the root problem- medicine needs more scientific principles applied.
No luck yet with getting TEVA. I will keep on trying to get it. It’s now listed on my prescription as the only brand I should be prescribed. Just waiting to hear from my local pharmacy to see if they are able to get it in for me. Also trying to find an independent pharmacy in my area to see if they will do it. I agree I just feel like the patient is no longer factored into treatment. It is incredibly frustrating especially when you are already feeling unwell and tired.
I have had pain in neck, shoulders and upper arms for weeks now. Not real stiffness, just pain on movement. The only thing showing in blood tests is tsh higher than usual. Still trying to find the cause.
I’ve had shoulder pain for months now so I looked at previous posts and found these comments:
The only time I have any aches or pain at all is when my FT3 is too low.
I think most, if not all of the tendon problems came about with hypothyroidism- all my aches and pains have pretty much dissipated. Any thing I have left now is age related.
Frozen shoulder has long been known to be associated with hypothyroidism eg this from quick google search , but there will be lots more if you look: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl... Association between Frozen Shoulder and Thyroid Diseases: Strengthening the Evidences *
It’s very much a symptom of hypothyroidism/Hashi’s!! Keep moving it. Get massage if you can afford it. Buy a ‘Bang’ massage gun to keep the pain away and also a bit of massage in between any appointments, which lets face it can be expensive. I managed one shoulder which was stopping me sleeping etc with my sports medicine guy. The next one I have not dealt with properly yet. Too much going on in my life and sometimes the ‘exercise’ required by just the deep massage can be painful and needs attention (ice cold packs) and sometimes pain killers and honestly worse fatigue after sessions - I have left them for the moment but will be going back to get it sorted. A brief few days with T3 was fab but had to stop temporarily because of very uncomfortable racing heart. So much for us to attend to. Agree get meds sorted out.
I resorted to some acupuncture which helped greatly and also do exercises but it took quite a while before it got better.
last year amongst usual symptoms of Carpal tunnel, IBS, tiredness, aches, weight gain etc I developed a new issue. Initially I thought I'd damaged my left shoulder rotator cuff..I couldn't remember damaging it but I suddenly couldn't raise my left arm past shoulder height and was in constant pain. Eventually went to minor injuries and referred to physio..he prescribed certain exercises to get mobility back..it kind of worked sort of. But something he said pricked my ears..he said we get a lot of people with thyroid issues and this injury.
Eventually, after the small improvement in arm mobility, I thought I'd increase my levothyroxine dose by 25mg (I had some spare)from 150 to 175..in two weeks I had far less pain and pretty much full movement back..
but then though it might be a coincidence (and I'd finished off the extra pills) so I returned to 150mg. Over the next few months the pain returned.
Thanks Bearo. I’m increasing slowly to 75mcgs and hoping that will help. Waiting for Medichecks to send out blood test kit so I can do full thyroid function to see where my T3 is at.
I have an osteopath appointment this afternoon. He is usually fantastic at resolving my muscular/joint aches and pains fast but this one is not budging which makes me think it is the thyroid.
I had frozen shoulder several years ago, before I got hypo diagnosis, so much so I saw a very arrogant ortho consultant who really rubbed me up the wrong way. I was offered surgery but because I was so bloody cross with the patronising git I declined.
Plus as with any surgery there can be complications like permanent nerve damage. Mine thankfully rectified itself. I started going to a gym and found doing weights really helped. It must have helped strengthen the tendons and muscles.
I'm hoping because I'm now on thyroid replacement that it doesnt rear its ugly head again. Its extremely painful and disabling.
The neck and shoulder pain can absolutely be because of thyroid. I have ended up with both shoulders frozen because of hypothyroidism. Specialists looked into various other possible causes but the only thing they found wrong was a thyroid issue, I have now read lots of papers showing the connection. Maybe they need to adjust your medication or look at your nutrients etc.
Thanks Nomad12. I am looking into where my T3 levels are and hoping my GP will agree to the increase I have started myself. Hope your shoulders are now much improved. It’s horrible pain.
The symptoms you describe are EXACTLY those I have suffered for almost four years, possibly longer. I have searched for the cause, as I expected a symptom of some strain or over-use, but have never been able to locate anything obvious. I saw a physio for my foot pain but she was puzzled about the cause and the treatment didn't really help. I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism only six weeks ago and am on a low "starter" dose of 50mg Levothyroxine. Already I do feel some improvement in these symptoms, although now I have a strange and similar pain in my elbow! I am not sure if my diagnosis includes Hashimoto's as access to a doctor here is not easy. But when I read about Hashimoto's after they Hypothyroidism diagnosis, I could recognise these pains (and other symptoms) as possible flares. I am not sure if this helps you but I just wanted to let you know that you are not alone ... yoga does help me on the whole btw, both the physical practice and meditation.
Thank you PorridgeFanatic it does help but so sad that so many of us are suffering this pain and it is not being looked into properly. I hope you are feeling better soon.
As well as frozen shoulder, tendonitis seems commo in hypo patients. I had tendonitis in my elbow which lasted for ages. My GP tried a steroid injection which helped a bit,he did say it will burn itself out eventually which it did.
I have hypermobility and Fibro so it can be hard knowing which one is the culprit. Hypos hold onto extra fluid which can build up and press on nerves and tendons,causing pain.
Thank you both for your responses. The extra fluid is something that I feel and can see. It does make sense that this puts pressure on all other parts of the body and may cause pain and discomfort.
I’ve had pain at the base of my skull and down my neck through shoulder and to middle of my back. This has been going on for 3 months and I wake with a headache every day. My primary doctor relates it to tension in that area and ordered physical therapy. She didn’t mention anything about my thyroid being a cause. I’m praying for relief.
Hello. I had shoulder pain a few years ago, which developed into frozen shoulder (unbelievably painful). It was during Covid so in the absence of medical help I turned to Google, found this support group and also the link between frozen shoulder and hypothyroidism. I recommend trying to do daily gentle stretches to retain as much mobility as possible. If possible you really want to avoid frozen shoulder.
Thanks so much Andie222. Seeing my osteopath today and I will definitely start doing some gentle exercises to keep it moving.
A few months ago I had the most horrendous sacro-iliac pain, that was worse when lying down! I saw an osteopath for four sessions, which did help, then it went! Thinking now about it,I checked my diary and it did coincide with my GP having reduced my thyroxine dose from 125mcg to 100mcg one day and 75mcg the next because my FT3 and 4 was high a few months earlier! Now I wonder if it was connected!.
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