# Tingling in limbs - is this a hypo symptom?



## AgentChupa (Nov 12, 2014)

Just wondering if anyone here with hypothyroidism has experienced tingling in their hands and feet (or arms and legs). This started happening to me a few months ago, and while it's not painful or extreme, it's still enough to feel. My ability to move or go about my routine isn't impeded at all, and I do notice that my hands fall asleep a lot more easily and often now (but only when I'm lying down).

I've been on 100 mcg of Synthroid for about two weeks now and I haven't seen any changes in any of my symptoms (I also haven't experienced any side effects like hair loss or heart palpitations), including the tingling. Is this a normal symptom of hypothyroidism? Also, if my medication is going to work, any idea when I could expect to start seeing a difference in my symptoms?


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

Relief should come at around 5 or 6 weeks, normally. Tingling is definitely odd. You've had an ultrasound lately, yes?


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## AgentChupa (Nov 12, 2014)

Thanks for the input! I've seen a lot of different time spans for when a hypothyroid patient should begin feeling a difference on medication, ranging from a week to six months, so I wasn't sure. Of course, I could very easily need a higher dose too, so I guess I'll see what happens in the coming weeks.

And nope, my doctor did not order an ultrasound. She felt my thyroid and didn't say anything felt abnormal or enlarged, but perhaps she's also not aware that I can get an ultrasound of my thyroid. I'll bring it up to her when I go see her again in a couple of weeks when she re-orders more blood work.


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## WhatHappened (Nov 12, 2015)

If I were you, I would ask your PCP what your free FT-3 and FT-4 was (according to your signature they were not provided to you after you got your TSH). You are entitled to them and it would be helpful to you in understanding how you feel and when measuring your progress.

I got lots of tingling in the extremities, but I think it was a consequence of untreated hypo. My symptoms are not so much disappearing as they are slowly fading over time. Lots left, some I no longer remember are gone, but it has three months. I just got over being freezing all the time. Now I just have occasional bouts of damn its chilly. Personally, I think I began to feel "some" relief about a week in and judging by my latest change in meds, like a week after the script change.


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## Octavia (Aug 1, 2011)

Does the tingling go away after you take a Calcium pill? If so, it could be a parathyroid issue...but that would be pretty rare, especially if your thyroid has not been removed.


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## AgentChupa (Nov 12, 2014)

I haven't taken any supplements in a long time, but after reading some other sources, it seems that the tingling/numbness in various places isn't all that uncommon of a thing with hypothyroidism. My newest symptom is my tongue being numb, kinda like I burned it, but without the pain. I also notice I've had more aches and pains in random spots since I started taking thyroid meds, but that could just as easily be a coincidence.

If calcium will help with this, then I'll take it. I'm sure it wouldn't hurt even if it doesn't help with the tingling. Strange that I've got all these new symptoms popping up after starting on levothyroxine.


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## WhatHappened (Nov 12, 2015)

Read up on the interactions between supplements and levo. You probably should take the calcium hours after your levo (according to Mayo, like 4 hours before or after).

http://www.mayoclinic.org/hypothyroidism/expert-answers/faq-20058536

I still get muscle twitches on occasion, and a big glass of OJ makes it go away (think it is the magnesium) But even though it is NOT a multi-vitamin, I only drink it at or after lunch.

http://www.drugs.com/drug-interactions/calcium-magnesium-and-zinc-with-levothyroxine-1665-14454-1463-0.html
"Using multivitamin with minerals together with levothyroxine may decrease the effects of levothyroxine."


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## Octavia (Aug 1, 2011)

Well, the Calcium will only really help if it's a parathyroid issue. Take it at least four hours after you take your thyroid medication, like WhatHappened said above.


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## creepingdeath (Apr 6, 2014)

Peripheral neuropathy is associated with long term untreated hypothyroidism.

I have it slightly in feet and fingertips.

I was hypo for years and had no bothersome symptoms till age 50.

Sort of the same as diabetic neuropathy but not as bad.

It may or may not be permanent.

"It Sucks"


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## AgentChupa (Nov 12, 2014)

My hypothyroidism went untreated for about two years, but I don't know if that counts as "long-term." I just find it interesting that I've got all these new symptoms after starting on medication. Another new one is nausea, which, from what I'm seeing, isn't all that uncommon on levothyroxine. Geez, what symptoms doesn't thyroid disease or pills cause?! Seems like everything breaks if your thyroid breaks.

I have also heard that calcium can interfere with thyroid medication, but since I take levothyroxine right when I wake up and my BC pill around 5pm, I can probably just take a calcium pill at 5 too since that would be several hours after the levothyroxine. Thankfully, none of these symptoms are severe or debilitating. They're pretty mild.


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## Octavia (Aug 1, 2011)

If this stuff all started since you began the thyroid medication, my suggestion is to see if it subsides in another week or two, and if not, ask your doctor about switching medications. Some people have odd side effects on certain thyroid drugs, but no side effects on others. As an example, you could switch to Tirosint.


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## Monteverdi (Jan 19, 2016)

They say that there are dozens if not more causes of neuropathy. I'm both hypothyroid and suffer from fairly extreme peripheral neuropathy, which in my case manifests in numbness and tingling (though not, thankfully, pain). Are the two related? No doctors have mentioned this, but of course everything is related in some way.

For the O.P., it might not be a waste of time to see a neurologist in case your tingling symptoms are part of something other than your thyroid condition - as an early poster suggested.


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## creepingdeath (Apr 6, 2014)

It can be related to the thyroid .

When you are hypothyroid a substance called myxedema is formed throughout your body.

It is swelling within the tissues.

The neuropathy is caused by swelling around nerves that compress the nerve sheath.

Depending on how long this condition existed can cause the damage to be permanent.

I saw a neurologist and the minor nerve damage I have is directly related to long term untreated Hashimoto's disease.

The numbness and tingling is not constant , It comes and goes and is not as bad as before treatment.

It is mostly not too painful as more annoying than anything.

I do occasionally get stabbing needle pain in my toes which is very painful but only lasts seconds.

I am hoping these symptoms are not permanent and will slowly go away.


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## AgentChupa (Nov 12, 2014)

The tingling seems to come and go for me as well, but more in the sense of sometimes I barely notice it and other times, my whole leg will feel all prickly. Thankfully, it's not painful. My hands and feet fall asleep more often than before, but that's about as bad as it seems to get.

Also, and I realize that this could just as easily be a coincidence, but does pain in one's side happen to be a symptom that can arise either from taking Synthroid or having thyroid disease? Specifically pain in my left side. It's not severe or debilitating - it's just a little stitch that I notice. I've had pain like this before that came and went, but it seems that it simply came after I started on levothyroxine and never went. I understand that pain in that particular area can be caused by many things (kidney problems, pancreas problems, spleen problems, hernia, or just plain gas), but I'm kind of wondering if it has anything to do with the medication.

I'm going to be seeing my doctor again on the 26th anyway, so I can ask then. Blah, I hate that I'm getting all these symptoms after getting on these pills, but here's hoping it'll be worth the crummy side effects in the event it starts to help me eventually.


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## Octavia (Aug 1, 2011)

Sounds like it would be worth experimenting with a different drug. Perhaps Tirosint?


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## creepingdeath (Apr 6, 2014)

I took synthetic for 3 years and constantly complained about side effects that started two weeks after starting Levothyroxine. I took every brand and generic out there too.

I was told by a very well known Endo in my area that there is no way it causes side effects.

That it is exactly the same as what your thyroid makes naturally. "I'm NOT BUYING IT"  I told him...

I take the hormone I get side effects, I stop it and they slowly go away.

"It doesn't take a Rocket Scientist to see I'm having a reaction"......

The main reason I no longer see him.....

The chemical structure or formula of synthetic is not exactly the same as what your thyroid naturally makes.

But Natural Desiccated thyroid is chemically the same.

Modern Medicine does not have the technology to copy a human hormone exactly.

Synthetic is bio equivalent and NDT is bio identical.

There are many receptor sites within our cells .

Some of the cells do not recognize the fake hormone so they reject it.

You get good lab work because your pituitary is fooled by synthetic.

The actual thyroid hormone in you blood is within range but at the cellular level your body chemically does not recognize it and presto ,you get side effects and your symptoms do not fade.

NDT is exactly the same chemically so it should be easily accepted.

I have only been on NDT for a month or so and already feel so much better.

I will never take that synthetic crap ever again.

Id rather let this nasty disease consume me....

One of the many, many side effects was slight but constant pain in my lower rib cage which was so flippin' annoying.

I still get it occasionally and am hoping it subsides all the way as the synthetic poison eventually leaves my body totally .

Good luck finding the right treatment that works for you.

It seems to be a challenge for every new thyroid patient.

I am not totally against synthetic's....

"If it works for you, great"

Just my personal experience.

"Everyone's Different"

"WE ARE STRONG"


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## AgentChupa (Nov 12, 2014)

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who feels all this weirdness after starting on thyroid medication. At the same time, I'm sorry any of us have to take pills that make us feel worse before they make us feel better, but I take comfort in knowing I'm not just crazy.  The cramp I've been getting also feels about like it's under my ribs. You know that feeling you get when you physically exert yourself a little too much in a short span of time and you get that kink in your left side from it? That's kind of what I feel, but not as painful.

I'm considering giving the levothyroxine another month (as in asking for a refill) and then seeing how I feel. I figure if two months isn't enough to start seeing some kind of a difference, perhaps I can ask about other thyroid medications. I'm just concerned my doctor will tell me I'm imagining my symptoms, or that there is no possible way I could be having side effects that aren't listed in the pamphlet that comes with the pill bottles and that I should get a psychological evaluation if I think otherwise.

I'm just not sure if a family practice doctor will be familiar with thyroid meds aside from Synthroid. That seems to be the go-to for hypothyroidism, so I may need a referral to an endocrinologist, which will mean a 3-month-long wait since there's only one endo at my hospital.


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## creepingdeath (Apr 6, 2014)

Yep~ that's the feeling but I get it in both sides.

And gets a little worse after I eat.

Probably gas caused by your metabolism being off for along time .

Thyroid controls metabolism and metabolism mostly occurs in your gut.

Till your levels are right with the type of hormone that works for you, you will have stomach issues.

If your Doctor starts acting in a manner you don't like simply find another.

My new primary doctor sees no reason I couldn't be having a reaction and is letting me try Desiccated thyroid.

He doesn't know that much about it like me but is like me, willing to try and learn as we go.

Just him giving me a chance is tops in my books as a good old fashion home town Doctor.

I told him what I learned on this site and the internet research I've done and he listens and trusts my judgment.

Find a doctor who is willing to experiment a little and go out the normal guidelines.

"WE ARE STRONG"


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## AgentChupa (Nov 12, 2014)

I kinda wonder if maybe these pills are beginning to work. These last few days, I've felt a little bit better. Not completely better - I'm still tired every day, but rather than feeling so beat down that I absolutely need to take a nap every day, it's slowly becoming a matter of wanting or preferring to take a nap each day instead. As in, I think I could get by without one, whereas this time a month ago, I absolutely could not get through an entire day without needing to sleep halfway through. I think I'm getting there, but I'm not there just yet.

All those other symptoms are still there: the tingling, the nausea, and the side cramp, but I seem to have a recurring pulled muscle in that same spot. Every so often when my left side hurts, I manage to find a tender lump under my skin that the pain radiates from. I guess I thought it could have been due to the Synthroid because it felt a little different from normal and occurred while on the pills.

Another good one: I've managed to gain weight since starting on medication! I gained ten pounds in about three weeks (was 279 when I saw my doctor, and now am waffling between 288 and 289). And here I was hoping for weight loss. Now would be a great time for my body to decide to spontaneously drop 20 pounds like it used to do. 

Lastly, and this might sound a little silly... when do you know exactly that your medication is doing its job? I understand the general time frame of 6-8 weeks for when it's expected to begin working, but how exactly do you know? What I mean by this is I haven't felt normal for almost nine years. I think I've actually forgotten what normal feels like and I'm not sure if I'll recognize it if/when I do get back to normal. Does that make sense?


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## WhatHappened (Nov 12, 2015)

I know I am still healing. I just feel better with time and forget some of my symptoms. I've got hair back on my arms, and think I see a hint of a hint on my legs (I was never a metrosexual by choice! Lol).

Bur like you wonder what normal is supposed to feel like, have I forgotten, or what?

I think the body takes its sweet time with this, and the further along you were the longer it takes to get back.

I do know this--If you told me my tsh and free t4 was in range today, I could tell you we're really not done yet. I would bet my tsh was still on the high end and my free t4 on the low.


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## AgentChupa (Nov 12, 2014)

Well crap, my doctor is convinced that my tingling hands and feet are due to my dose of levothyroxine being too high, so she bumped me down to 75 mcg. On the 100 mcg dose, my TSH was 0.2, and I still wasn't feeling totally better. For a few days, I felt almost human again, but then started getting a bit more tired again. I was hoping she'd increase my dosage, not decrease it, and she wants me to be on the lower dose for about 3-4 months before coming back.

Well, here's hoping that maybe my symptoms will start to even out on a few solid months of medication, even at a lower dose.


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## WhatHappened (Nov 12, 2015)

I would give it the standard 6 weeks or sooner if you start to feel worse. Not double to 3 or four months. But who is to say if it isn't due to the dosage if the blood work holds up. But from your bio I don't see any free T4 levels (still figuring out T3). I only no my tingling extremities are one of the things that drove me to a Dr and lead to my diagnosis and went away after taking meds.


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## AgentChupa (Nov 12, 2014)

Whoops, didn't realize I already had a second page to this topic! Pardon the double post.


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## AgentChupa (Nov 12, 2014)

I did get a note in the mail from my doctor saying that I should go get my TSH tested again in 6-8 weeks and then have a follow-up appointment with her in 3-4 months. I don't think I'll feel worse (beyond the tingling, random nausea and muscle cramps I already had, that is), but if I was only almost feeling normal when I was on too-high of a dose, I can't imagine I'm going to feel completely normal on a lower dose. Maybe I just need to be on the levothyroxine longer than a month.

If I don't feel better by the time my next appointment with my doctor, I'll bring up possibly trying other thyroid medications (I'm not sure if a family practitioner will be familiar with any meds beyond Synthroid, so I might need a referral to an endo, not sure). I know, at most, she will just lower my dosage more if it's still too high, but I could just wind up falling into the same place as I did two years ago if my dose continues to be lowered. I also asked her if I should take any vitamin supplements to boost the effects of the levothyroxine since hypo patients tend to be prone to certain deficiencies, and she said I didn't need to, but that it surely wouldn't hurt if I took them because I wanted to.

Frustrating as this all is, I'm at least glad my doctor tries to help me and returns my calls quickly, unlike the person who was treating my hypothyroidism before.


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## WhatHappened (Nov 12, 2015)

Um... what help is blood work 2 months away if you aren't going to see her for 2 months after that? (maybe I missed something?) Seems like other than possibly telling you you've been right all along and then having to wait longer to tell her?

It's good she returns your calls (is she an endo or just a PC?) but maybe you are going to have to gently educate her to what it really means to be hypo. For me, it was a 100% correlation between getting meds and having the tingling go away.

It would be really helpful to you and us if you could somehow get those FT4 and FT3 levels and see how they correlate with how you feel and what your meds are.


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## AgentChupa (Nov 12, 2014)

I think maybe she wants to see what my TSH looks like after two more months in the event she needs to lower my dosage again (so I'm not on a "too high" dose for the following two months). She's not an endocrinologist, no - she's a family practitioner, but she told me that hypo patients are treated often in family practice.

And I intend to call her sometime soon to ask her if she'd be willing to give me my other lab results. I don't know why she never told me what they are, or mailed me the results.


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## Octavia (Aug 1, 2011)

Doc needs to stop basing your dose on TSH alone. What about Free T4 and Free T3?


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## michelmiller (Mar 8, 2016)

AgentChupa said:


> Just wondering if anyone here with hypothyroidism has experienced tingling in their hands and feet (or arms and legs). This started happening to me a few months ago, and while it's not painful or extreme, it's still enough to feel. My ability to move or go about my routine isn't impeded at all, and I do notice that my hands fall asleep a lot more easily and often now (but only when I'm lying down).
> 
> I've been on 100 mcg of Synthroid for about two weeks now and I haven't seen any changes in any of my symptoms (I also haven't experienced any side effects like hair loss or heart palpitations), including the tingling. Is this a normal symptom of hypothyroidism? Also, if my medication is going to work, any idea when I could expect to start seeing a difference in my symptoms?


It is very strange and I have been reading about these symptoms but it seems many things could cause this they even mention diabetes and nerve damage due to glucose levels being off - and tingling of the hands and feet being a symptom of this so you need to go get consult with doctor


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## BurntMarshmallow (Feb 26, 2016)

Thiamine (B1) deficiency is another one that causes tingling in the hands and feet. I think a good B-complex vitamin, something with substantial amounts of B12, could really help.


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