# NEED INPUT - Abdominal cramps & high TSH?



## eorhythm (Jan 3, 2011)

Hi, guys. I'm back, and with a new...something.

Here's my question: Can the following symptoms be related to thyroid? Has anyone else had anything similar?

I'm experiencing bowel symptoms that are making me think something serious (namely, Crohn's disease, since my dad had it) is going on. For years I've had occasional right sided abdominal pain, but nothing like this. It struck me after finding out my TSH is high that hormones could be the cause.

The last time I had this lower right quadrant pain was last August-November, before it resolved on its own. Well, now it's back, and I just found out my TSH is .462 on 45mg Armour. I used to be on that much for two years before the decimation of the desiccation, as it were. I didn't get a colonoscopy (...yeah, going to try to avoid that one), but I got told it was my gallbladder because it was functioning at 39% (borderline low) and had some sludge. I can live with that, though.

The pain is low to high and follows my hip (the "right iliac fossa"). It's burning, aching, or occasionally pinching and twinging. There's also associated bloating and it can be tender to the touch. It aches or burns after I move around sometimes. It's not relieved by passing stool. Now the pain has migrated to my lower abdomen not far from my bladder, so it's not always confined to the right. I had near diarrhea only one day early this month, and I felt pretty weird that whole day. Other than that, my bowel movements have not been too spectacularly strange, usually once a day, but always on the loose side.

I don't have fever, bleeding, or extreme fatigue, nor do I have any symptoms of hyperthyroidism. In fact, I'm worried because I should be having insomnia, and I'm sleeping more than I feel I should be.

I'm going to be lowering my Armour to 30mg in about a week, but I don't feel badly on this much as it is.

Any insight? Links to information? Guesses?


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## lavender (Jul 13, 2010)

your TSH is pretty low, not high. I had a lot of abdominal pains when I was hyper and before my surgery, liver, spleen, intestines, all affected by thyroid. Diarreah makes me think hyperthyroid, but you may need bloodwork to confirm. Can you call your doc and get labs drawn now? Also, are they drawing a full thyroid panel including TSH, Free T3, and Free T4. You can not dose Armour on TSH alone.

I also thought perhaps it might be your apendix, but it sounds like this has been going on for a bit.


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## eorhythm (Jan 3, 2011)

lavender said:


> your TSH is pretty low, not high. I had a lot of abdominal pains when I was hyper and before my surgery, liver, spleen, intestines, all affected by thyroid. Diarreah makes me think hyperthyroid, but you may need bloodwork to confirm. Can you call your doc and get labs drawn now? Also, are they drawing a full thyroid panel including TSH, Free T3, and Free T4. You can not dose Armour on TSH alone.
> 
> I also thought perhaps it might be your apendix, but it sounds like this has been going on for a bit.


Woo! Score one for brain fog! I love thinking one thing and typing another, hahah. Oy.

The thing is, I feel better than when I was on synthetic T4 alone, I could definitely drop my dosage somewhat because at one point I was on 30mg and doing well, I just figured 45mg would be better. Guess not.

Yeah, I highly doubt it's my appendix. One friend of mine had chronic appendicitis for two years, and any time it would act up she'd be sick, have a fever, etc., though the pain was similar. That's why I'm far more afraid of Crohn's, given my dad's history.

The thing is that the pain _does_ change around, even on the right side, from high to low, with reflux sometimes, and occasionally cramping all over. Very little nausea, if at all, and my temp has been hovering around 99 because of the minor thyroid overdose, but I don't feel sick. My only bowel movement change that's lasted is it's too loose and seems less digested than normally, which...makes a lot of sense, if I'm getting too many thyroid hormones.

So strange it can effect the spleen. What a deal, having your whole abdomen effected. 

Since it's not seeming like any kind of emergency, I'm going to consult with my GP and ask for the T4-T3 tests once I cut back to the 30mg (which honestly will be far better than having to break these tiny pills in half) for a few weeks. I wouldn't dare if I hadn't already successfully done that dosage before, so I'll see if it drops me too much.


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

eorhythm said:


> Hi, guys. I'm back, and with a new...something.
> 
> Here's my question: Can the following symptoms be related to thyroid? Has anyone else had anything similar?
> 
> ...


Hi there! As you well know, pain can radiate to a far location from the actual problem. I am thinking appendix, kidney stone, ovarian cyst, endometriosis, GB.

And after I did all that, I found this.
http://www.healthline.com/symptomsearch?addterm=Right Lower Quadrant Pain

It is my humble opinion that you should see a doctor about this. Pain is a warning that something "is" wrong and it does not sound thyroid related at all!!

Please let us know and it is good to hear from you even though it is under unfavorable circumstances.


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## northernlite (Oct 28, 2010)

I would suspect the gallbladder, your low function and sludge can cause symptoms that are different than the acute higher pain of a gallstone. My brother was able to take medication to remove his sludge and eliminated the problem and my friend, also with sludge, opted to have hers out.


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## eorhythm (Jan 3, 2011)

Thank you, Andros.  Oddly enough, except a few small pain bouts earlier today, so far I've been without this pain today. Knock on wood it seems to be letting up, and by accident the morning before last I missed a dose of Armour. Hmm. I didn't even realize until yesterday.

Endometriosis is a possibility, since my mom thought she had it. Ovarian cysts are genetic and I always get checked for them because of other symptoms. IBS was already diagnosed for me by a gastroenteritis. As far as I know, my dad was the only one in my family who had Crohn's disease, and his happened only after his appendix ruptured. Apparently, I've read that appendix rupture is a very big risk factor in developing CD.

I'll keep updated on here should anything be found out. I know that thyroid disease and Crohn's disease are often found together, so I think it would be important to note should it be found.

Thanks to you and Lavender!


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## eorhythm (Jan 3, 2011)

northernlite said:


> I would suspect the gallbladder, your low function and sludge can cause symptoms that are different than the acute higher pain of a gallstone. My brother was able to take medication to remove his sludge and eliminated the problem and my friend, also with sludge, opted to have hers out.


Thank you for this. Yeah, a couple friends of mine say they're worried it's my gallbladder. But it's so low down in my intestines it seems unrelated. But today the only pain I've had was burning in my ribcage and pain shooting into my clavicle, which does seem suspect.

Thank you for the input.  Were your brother's symptoms anything like mine?


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

eorhythm said:


> Thank you, Andros.  Oddly enough, except a few small pain bouts earlier today, so far I've been without this pain today. Knock on wood it seems to be letting up, and by accident the morning before last I missed a dose of Armour. Hmm. I didn't even realize until yesterday.
> 
> Endometriosis is a possibility, since my mom thought she had it. Ovarian cysts are genetic and I always get checked for them because of other symptoms. IBS was already diagnosed for me by a gastroenteritis. As far as I know, my dad was the only one in my family who had Crohn's disease, and his happened only after his appendix ruptured. Apparently, I've read that appendix rupture is a very big risk factor in developing CD.
> 
> ...


You are welcome and keeping you in my prayers here!! We don't need pain; we don't need more problems. Bottom line here!


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## northernlite (Oct 28, 2010)

Yes both my brother and my friend reported more generalized abdominal discomfort as oppose to right upper quadrant like I have seen people report with gall stones. Both did report a significant amount of indigestion after eating though so I don't know if you are experiencing that.


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## eorhythm (Jan 3, 2011)

northernlite said:


> Yes both my brother and my friend reported more generalized abdominal discomfort as oppose to right upper quadrant like I have seen people report with gall stones. Both did report a significant amount of indigestion after eating though so I don't know if you are experiencing that.


Completely depends on when and what I eat, and some days are better than others, but definitely. I ate cereal one night just before I went to bed and I woke up with crushing chest pains and nausea that forced me to sit up. After that, I had a dish with a lot of tomato in it, and that just about killed me.

I'm probably a good contender for gallbladder problems, but I always think the worst.  I recognize that the thyroid can definitely slow transit and cause a sluggish gallbladder, too, and over half the women (and men) on my mom's side alone have had major gallbladder issues with no stones. Blah!

Thank you so much for the response, it definitely helps to know these things.


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