# Muscle pain and vitamins?



## stellablue (Jun 2, 2012)

I went into the doctor this week because the muscle cramps and soreness I have been experiencing were worrying me. My doctor is really attentive, and when I called with the concern, he had me go in to see him right away.

The main worry I had was that I still am having pain below my rib cage and up my back on the left side when I breath in and out. It feels like all of the muscles in the left side of my chest cramp up. I have posted about this problem before. It hasn't gone away.

In addition, I often wake up feeling like I worked out the night before, when I haven't done anything at all. My calves and forearms especially feel sore, and they get cramped quite badly. Last night, even my toes were feeling cramped up and sore, and they are still bothering me today.

The doctor checked my heart and lungs, and said that everything looked good. He told me that he is pretty sure that it is all muscular and related to having long-term hyperthyroid. He said that most likely I have muscle deterioration and fatigue, and that I need to supplement vitamins and rest. He prescribed something called dolo-neurobion. I guess it is some sort of vitamin complex that also helps with pain. I have never heard of it... I am going to give it a try. I just took the first one.

Are these common symptoms? Has anyone else tried vitamins to control muscle pain?

To give a short history- Uncontrolled hyperthyroid off and on for several years, and have been on high doses of Methimazole (tapazol) since May. I am hoping to try anti-thyroid meds for 1 year to 18 months and see if I go into remission, and so far I have tolerated the medicine alright. My most recent tests have been coming back showing a TSH that is hypothyroid and FT4 that is borderline hypothyroid, but still have some hyper symptoms. The doctor does not want to lower my medicine too much yet even with the hypo labwork. He says that he thinks I will flip right back into severe hyperthyroid if he lowers it too much.

The other symptoms that have been bothering me lately are mainly fatigue, eye pain, some dizziness.


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## sleepylady (Mar 18, 2012)

Could it be costochondritis?

I believe that is what I have.


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## Lovlkn (Dec 20, 2009)

Stella,
Do you have any lab history with ranges that you could share?

Did your muscles hurt before you went on Tapazole?

What dose are you on and how often are you having labs.

I had severe muscle aches while on Tapazole - I'm not sure if it was the Tapazole or being kept in a hypo state.

Today - off Tapazole and euthyroid I have no muscle pain.


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## nvsmom (Sep 30, 2012)

It almost sounds like pleurisy; a connective tissue problem of the ribs... Ouch.

I hope you feel better soon.


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## CA-Lynn (Apr 29, 2010)

I would see a rheumatologist to get to the bottom of it.

You're not taking statins, are you?


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

stellablue said:


> I went into the doctor this week because the muscle cramps and soreness I have been experiencing were worrying me. My doctor is really attentive, and when I called with the concern, he had me go in to see him right away.
> 
> The main worry I had was that I still am having pain below my rib cage and up my back on the left side when I breath in and out. It feels like all of the muscles in the left side of my chest cramp up. I have posted about this problem before. It hasn't gone away.
> 
> ...


So, I take it you did not query the doctor about costochondritis or the possibility of Lupus?

I am sorry you are in so much pain.


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## sleepylady (Mar 18, 2012)

Andros,

Sorry to highjack the thread-

Do you have costochondritis?

I believe that this is one of the things that I may be dealing with at this time. Left sided chest pain several times in last 6 years. Been to ER twice. Ruled out heart problems. No diagnosis of costochondritis but when I looked at all of the symptoms, they seem to fit. Chest pain in middle of chest around 3rd rib. Moving around towards back.


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## miltomeal (May 17, 2011)

try some Natural Calm - it is a magnesium supplement that helps my muscles out greatly. You should be able to find this at any health food store.
Kind of same story - long term hyper

Good luck!


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

sleepylady said:


> Andros,
> 
> Sorry to highjack the thread-
> 
> ...


I certainly did; that and pleurisy which I now know was symptomatic of Lupus. The pain was so bad from the costochondritis that I was screaming.

Get Anti-dsDNA for Lupus w/ the complimentary C3 and C4.

You can look everything up here...........
http://labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/anti-dsdna/

Yep; sure sounds like it. Also called Teitze's Syndrome. Very very painful. I feel for you.....................










Costochondritis can be an independent condition by itself or sometimes can be a feature of a more widespread disorder. Examples of illnesses that can feature costochondritis include fibromyalgia, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, reactive arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and inflammatory bowel disease (such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease).

http://www.medicinenet.com/costochondritis_and_tietze_syndrome/article.htm


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## sleepylady (Mar 18, 2012)

Do you believe fibromyalgia is a disease by itself? I have read that it may be actually an undiagnosed thyroid problem?

I did however, find an internist whom is a DO. My inlaws all go to him, so I am thinking of using him as PCP, since I don't have one anymore.

Hopefully, I can get him to run the tests that I need. LabCorp doesn't run TBII from what I read, only Trab. I would like to get something diagnosed once and for all.


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## stellablue (Jun 2, 2012)

Lovlkn-

I started on 45 mg tapazole in May, and now I am down to 20 mg. I think I need lowered again, as I have a lot of hypo symptoms (extreme sleepiness, super dry skin, slowed metabolism), but the doctor says he wants to keep me hypo just to keep me out of the hyper state, so I don't know what he will suggest. I still have some hyper symptoms as well (occasional hand tremors and palpitations, anxiety...)

After this bloodwork the first week of September, the doctor seemed happy and lowered me from 25mg to 20mg.

TSH: 34.48 (.35-4.94) 
t3: 0.7 (.58-1.59)
t4: 3.7 (5.53-11.0)
Free thyroxine (is this free T4 maybe?): 0.7 (.71-1.47)
t3 uptake: 29.8% (23.5-40.5)
Index of free thyroxine: 1.10 (1.4-3.1)
Iodine protein: 2.41 (2.9-8.1)

I know these are not all the correct tests I need. I had no other options at the lab, but I am searching for a lab that has more options. I am not living in the US right now. I don't know when my next labs are. I have an appointment every 4 weeks (next week I go in), and the doctor tells me based on his clinical evaluation when he wants my next bloodwork done. I would like to have more done within the next few weeks.

I never had muscle cramps before taking tapazole. I had muscle fatigue, and I have had this chronic soreness of the ribs/chest for a long time. In July I started with muscle pain and cramps in the arms and legs, and it has gotten worse recently.

Andros-
I mentioned lupus to the doctor, but he thinks it is all thyroid related. I still have my doubts, and after investigating, the tests I need are not even available where I am living. I will be back in the US in January and am going to make an appointment with my pcp to see if he will run the tests for me.

Thanks for all of the replies. I am thinking that something new is going on with my thyroid that may be related to the muscle pain, perhaps just becoming hypothyroid or a reaction to the tapazole. I have had so many new symptoms come up in the last few weeks. My neck has become swollen for the first time in all the time I have had thyroid problems (like 5 years), and my throat is quite sore. I feel like something is stuck in my throat when I swallow. Also, the skin is peeling off of my hands (and I live somewhere very hot and humid...This is not normal for me at all). I am a little bit frustrated...

As far as the vitamins, I don't see a huge difference. They seem give me a little bit of energy for a few hours after I take them.


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