exercise and thyroid

[Choc_Cream]

Good morning all!

Hope everyone is doing well today.

a quick question if I may - I have been living with a thyroid diagnosis for the last 5 years. In this time, there’s been a load of experimenting, trials and tribulations with diet etc. I am happy with that (thank goodness because it’s taken some time to get here!)

However, how’s the time to address the exercise. Everything I’ve read online seems to point to the most gentle stuff; walking/swimming/Pilates. Higher impact exercise doesn’t seem to be recommended…

Currently, I do CrossFit (this is ok) and I’m a beginner runner, BUT I can’t seem to get past the point of the soles of my feet wanting to explode with pain. I’ve tried different insoles, supportive shoes etc, but nothing seems to be working. I am warming up beforehand and taking care not to go into any exercise cold.

My question to you all is: who runs? Are there any remedies I ought to consider? Is there a link between shin splints and vitamin D, or lack of?

Genuinely perplexed! Also - how do you all manage your cortisol levels?

Thanks for your time in reading.

Any sensible advise gratefully received

[Buddy195 Administrator]

Welcome to the forum Choc_Cream,

So we can offer better advice, can you tell us more about your thyroid condition, eg when you were diagnosed, ongoing symptoms, current medication & dosage, plus blood test results (with ranges in brackets) for:

TSH

FT3

FT4

Plus any antibody and key vitamin tests (ferritin, folate, vitamins D and B12)

If your GP is unable to complete all the above (eg if TSH is within range, some surgeries may not be able to access FT4 and FT3 tests), you could look to do this privately, as many forum members do, for a better picture of your thyroid health:

thyroiduk.org/help-and-supp...

prior to my thyroid diagnosis I was a keen x country runner, but due to aches (knees/ hips)I kept having recurring injuries. Although I had massive improvement when both thyroid levels & key vitamins were optimal, I have chosen to move to spinning as an aerobic form of exercise, as this seems to cause far fewer aches and pains. I’m able to spin several times a week & also do gentle Pilates to help with flexibility.

[farrellkl68]

is it plantar fasciitis pain ? Google it . I’ve had that . I only run a couple of short runs but Altra trainers helped me .

[helvella]

If it is plantar fasciitis (as suggested by farrellkl68 ), then my experience was that it got worse with everything suggested!

It was getting my thyroid hormone level good for me that eventually resolved it. (And, maybe, taking vitamin B12. Difficult to know.) I also used ultrasoft diabetic insoles - and shoes which were able to accommodate their thickness.

[Emaych61]

It is very important that you get a correctly fitted pair of shoes and they are suitable for the surface you are running on. Only reason I know is that I have a husband and elder son who both do running.

My particular favourite form of exercise is ballet. I have tried running but as a known exercise induced asthmatic the most I could do was a mixture of runs and power walks. Eventually I had to stop when a run one morning last summer resulted in breathing problems on and off for a week (after the best part of a year doing runs with few issues - worst was feeling a bit breathless for a couple of hours after a run, but that didn’t happen very often). The jury’s still out on why that occurred. Resp. consultant reckons it was asthma but I’ve had asthma for nearly sixty years and it really didn’t feel like it. Within a couple of weeks I was found to have a raised TSH. Not sure whether that has something to do with it.

[crimple]

Choc_Cream, not long after I was diagnosed hypo I suffered very badly from painful feet. It was like a red hot knife being shoved into the ball of my foot. Walking is my main form of exercise, so I needed answers. Eventually, after googling I came across Mortons Neuroma. An Xray proved it was MN. It's a bit like carpal tunnel syndrome. The nerves get trapped and it is very important to have wider fitting shoes so that the foot isn't squeezed.

I had to look carefully at what shoes I had and several pairs went to the charity shop.

Hope you get some answers.

[Emaych61 in reply to crimple]

I’ve had something very similar, though I described it as feeling as though I was walking on shards of broken glass. In my case it turned out to be Morton’s metatarsalgia (they did check for Morton’s neuroma but found nothing to suggest it). They said it was to do with my arches (which are naturally very high) beginning to collapse and I ended up with orthotic devices to help with it. I’ve been wearing them for around fifteen years now. Nothing else can be done about it, other than exercise to help maintain the strength in my feet (one reason why ballet is such a good form of exercise for me). In my case it was unconnected to thyroid (at that point in my life there was nothing to suggest there was a problem in that area). We now know I have Hypermobility Ehlers Danlos syndrome (HEDS), which helps to explain not just the metatarsalgia but any number of issues throughout my life.