A long shot I fear, but I wonder if anybody has experienced anything similar. For the past 3/4 months I have been experiencing pain (but only occasionally) in one finger and my thumb on one hand. It’s very specific, between two knuckles of the finger and low on the thumb towards the wrist. It hurts but only for a while. The doctor simply told me he had no Idea what’s wrong as they is not redness, swelling or bone deformation. Most peculiar and somewhat worrying. Might this be some bizarre side effect of Hashimoto’s? I am on 50 micrograms of Levo 4 days a week, 75 mg 3 days (that I spread throughout the day as I find I have some reactions) …. Might anyone else have suffered similar?
Many thanks
Q
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Quinc
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Possibly carpal tunnel which is certainly linked to hypothyroidism, you are on a very small dose I would be surprised if it is enough, which brand do you take as it could be you are intolerant to the excipients rather than the hormone?
Relatively new brand which I've not read much about, suggest you get a full thyroid panel with vit's and min's if GP unwilling and post up your results, being on a low dose is often worse than not being on any at all!
That’s a very low dose of levothyroxine, especially for a bloke
What are your most recent thyroid results
You need TSH, Ft4 and Ft3 tested together
Plus vitamin D, folate, B12 and ferritin
Recommended that all thyroid blood tests early morning, ideally just before 9am, only drink water between waking and test and last dose levothyroxine 24 hours before test
This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip)
Test day after a 50mcg dose
Which brand is 50mcg
Which brand is 75mcg …..or is it 50mcg plus 25mcg
Private tests are available as NHS currently rarely tests Ft3 or all relevant vitamins
If you normally take levothyroxine at bedtime/in night ...adjust timings as follows prior to blood test
If testing Monday morning, delay Saturday evening dose levothyroxine until Sunday morning. Delay Sunday evening dose levothyroxine until after blood test on Monday morning. Take Monday evening dose levothyroxine as per normal
Even if we frequently start on only 50mcg, most people need to increase levothyroxine dose slowly upwards in 25mcg steps (retesting 6-8 weeks after each increase) until eventually on, or somewhere near full replacement dose (typically 1.6mcg levothyroxine per kilo of your weight per day)
Adults usually start with a dose between 50 micrograms and 100 micrograms taken once a day. This may be increased gradually over a few weeks to between 100 micrograms and 200 micrograms taken once a day.
Some people need a bit less than guidelines, some a bit more
If symptoms of hypothyroidism persist despite normalisation of TSH, the dose of levothyroxine can be titrated further to place the TSH in the lower part of the reference range or even slightly below (i.e., TSH: 0.1–2.0 mU/L), but avoiding TSH < 0.1 mU/L. Use of alternate day dosing of different levothyroxine strengths may be needed to achieve this (e.g., 100 mcg for 4 days; 125 mcg for 3 days weekly).
For me it’s described by tendonitis, RSI from weeding, knitting handing out sheafs of papers to students all do it to me. I’ve lost my pinch capacity. The opposable thumb strength.
Rest from the antagonist activity and optimal thyroid replacement definitely help.
I had wrist pain some years ago. I bought a wrist brace or splint (I can't remember what it was actually called) that kept my wrist completely rigid. I found that wearing it in bed gave my wrist the rest it needed to heal.
Is there any chance you could find something to keep your fingers still to see if it helps you?
The other thing that occurs to me is that perhaps it is an early indication of rheumatoid arthritis. I'm sure I've read that the fingers and thumb being affected is often the first sign.
Quinc I get this in my thumb and am pretty sure it is rheumatoid arthritis. Something my Mum and Nan also had, so guess it is a family thing. Worse when the weather is wet.
Quinc I went to my doctor with the same. I said … great! Now I’m getting arthritis in top of everything else and this long list of Hashis symptoms.
He said - “is it how your are holding your phone when you text?”
Now, being very accustomed to doctors not understanding just how Hashis affects us and how our symptoms are “real” and blah blah blah… I was about to push back …
Then I paused and realized … it was definitely how I was holding my phone.
So - sounds like yours might be in a different place or worse than mine… but just something to consider.
As the old joke goes:
I went to the doctor and said “Hey doc, it hurts when I do this.”
Don't forget Hickam's Dictum: Patients can have as many diseases as they damn well please! I had to fight to get my GP to refer me to rheumatology when I started getting pain in my hands. I was eventually diagnosed with another autoimmune disease, psoriatic arthritis.
I had something similar for sometime until I went for specialist physiotherapy. It’s likely to be a form of De Quervain’s syndrome. The extra moisture that hypothyroid bodies hold on to swells tendons & then the rub as the pass through the joint. There are specific exercises which you’ll find online or you could ask for a referral to a physio . Educate your GP too. I couldn’t believe how effective the exercises were after 18 months of pain. It’s a common problem for hypos.
if you google De Quervain’s tendonitis you will find lots of info hopefully including the simple exercises to improve the situation. Supports etc don’t tackle the underlying problem, give it a go, nothing to lose.
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Thin black lines on thumb
Swollen finger
Tips needed to get blood for finger prick medichecks test
Just a general inquisitive chat on blood samples 
Thyroid feeling sick
