Inflammatory Arthritis with Levothyroxine

[Denise500]

Has anyone else had severe pains in their tendons and muscles due to Levothyroxine? 18 years ago I had an ESR blood test at my G.P.'s surgery as I had severe pains on Levothyroxine, this proved I had Inflammatory Arthritis, so I bought Armour Thyroid from the US as the only alternative at that time. I had to go back on Levothyroxine for over 18 months as I could no longer afford Armour Thyroid, so I became ill again, it was a cumulative process and my body felt like it was 'disintergrating', I eventually was sent to an Endocrinologist she put me on T3 combination with Levothyroxine; I have now been taking T3 only for over 3 weeks, the brain fog has definitely lifted but I still have pains in certain tendons in my body mainly leg areas, but I read that Levothyroxine takes 4 to 6 weeks to leave the body, I was on 100 mcg of Levothyroxine before and am now taking 15 mcg T3, I have tried putting this up to 20 mcg but I get terrible side affects like a really fast heart rate and feel ill. Does anyone know how long it takes for the damage done by Levothyroxine to the tendons to go away completely? Thanks for your help.

[Jaydee1507 Administrator]

Its not the Levo thats damaged you as such but the lack of T3.

If you haven't optimised vitamins yet then that will also help you to feel well and for your thyroid hormone to work well.

Low vitamin levels can make it difficult to tolerate T3.

When hypo we get low stomach acid which means we cannot absorb vitamins well from our food, regardless of a great diet. For thyroid hormone to work well we need OPTIMAL levels of vitamins.

Have you recently or could you ask your GP to test levels of ferritin, folate, B12 & D3? Private tests are available, see link for companies offering private blood tests & discount codes, some offer a blood draw service at an extra cost. thyroiduk.org/testing/priva...

There is also a new company offering walk in& mail order blood tests in London, Kent, Sussex & Surrey areas. Check to see if there is a blood test company near you. onedaytests.com/products/ul...

Only do private tests on a Monday or Tuesday to avoid postal delays.

Do you know if you had positive thyroid antibodies? Many with autoimmune thyroid disease aka Hashimoto's benefit from a gluten free diet. A smaller percentage of those also need to remove dairy from their diet to feel well. These are intolerances and will not show up on any blood test.

Recommended blood test protocol: Test at 9am (or as close as possible), fasting, last levo dose 24hrs before the blood draw, last T3 dose 8-12 hours before blood draw & no biotin containing supplements for 3-7 days (Biotin can interfere with thyroid blood results as it is used in the testing process).

Testing like this gives consistency in your results and will show stable blood levels of hormone and highest TSH which varies throughout the day. Taking Levo/T3 just prior to blood draw can show a falsely elevated result and your GP/Endo might change your dose incorrectly as a result.

[Denise500 in reply to Jaydee1507]

Thanks for all that information, I don't know if I have Thyroid antibodies but I might stop eating bread for a while, I ate bread lunch time today and the pains were a lot worse. Also I will start taking B12 again, folate and iron, I have been neglecting these for some time. Thanks for your help.

[Ellie-Louise in reply to Denise500]

Have you tried soda bread?

I changed breads to soda bread and it made such a difference.

[adin]

Maybe a slightly higher dose of levo. would make the pain disappear, the same way I had it

[Denise500 in reply to adin]

No I cannot tolerate Levothyroxine at all, some people have T4 Conversion Disorder.

[Forestgarden]

Its not the levo causing the pain. My advice would be to get back on the levo plus lio combo. Once you find your optimum doses that should make you feel much improved.

[Denise500 in reply to Forestgarden]

Hi, unfortunately I cannot tolerate Levothyroxine at all, I have T4 Conversion Disorder, my Thyroid does not convert T4 to T3.

[Forestgarden in reply to Denise500]

Conversion of t4 to t3 is a separate issue to not being able to tolerate levo. Many of us are poor converters (myself included).

[Bluesadawg]

I've heard that hypothyroidism itself can cause these sort of pains. I get them quite badly at times, mainly wrists & upper ankle tendons, usually when I'm having a flare & other hypo symptoms.

[Obsdian]

I had some sharp muscle pains before levothyroxine, but after 2-3 weeks on they've never returned

[Brightness14]

I don't think that it's damage from the Levo itself rather your low FT3. It does take weeks to increase the T3 at least it did for me. I split mine in to eights to start with a pain but worth it.

I was aiming for 88 levo and 25 T3.

I could only start with one split into 8 pieces. This was taken throughout the day.