# Swelling & Joint Pain



## interpret77

I know that both of these are common in hypothyroidism, but it is getting pretty severe with me. Today I woke up with pain everywhere but mostly in my lower back, neck, and from my elbows to my fingertips. The swelling in my left had is so severe I couldn't drive today and my dad had to take me to a jeweler to have my wedding set cut off. The jeweler could almost not get the device under my rings I was so swollen.

Did anyone else go through this? Are there any ways to get relief? The pain is so bad I'm taking Vicodin and I'm 3 weeks from RAI and my synthroid.


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## joplin1975

Yes x 1000.

My muscles cramped so badly that I had to have someone get me out of my car at the office because once I reached across to undo the belt, I got stuck. Lots of swelling too. Bad lower back and shoulder pain.

I don't have tons of advice. I took hot baths when possible, regularly took Advil, stayed super hydrated and tried to lay low and get lots of rest.

Hang in there!


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## interpret77

My back seizes up sometimes and I can't turn like you just explained without getting cramps in my back. That's scary. Thanks for your advice.


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## Octavia

Wow...I feel for you. Can't say I can relate, but I feel for you.

My body must be so totally insensitive when it comes to being hypo... for both my whole body scans, my TSH was over 100, and my only symptom was being a bit tired. I'm sorry it's affecting you this way. I wish people like you could get the Thyrogen shots to avoid the side effects of being so hypothyroid.

How long have you been off medication? Or did not not start any after your TT?


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## interpret77

I have not started any thyroid meds yet. I had my TT May 3rd and having RAI on the 18th. Will start the synthroid after that.


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## Andros

interpret77 said:


> I know that both of these are common in hypothyroidism, but it is getting pretty severe with me. Today I woke up with pain everywhere but mostly in my lower back, neck, and from my elbows to my fingertips. The swelling in my left had is so severe I couldn't drive today and my dad had to take me to a jeweler to have my wedding set cut off. The jeweler could almost not get the device under my rings I was so swollen.
> 
> Did anyone else go through this? Are there any ways to get relief? The pain is so bad I'm taking Vicodin and I'm 3 weeks from RAI and my synthroid.


Have you been checked for Lupus and have you been checked for Lyme Disease and RA (although this does not sound like RA?) Who put you on the Vicodin? What was the diagnosis that prompted that Rx?

Do you have a fever? Have you had white blood cell count done for infections?

Sending gentle hugs,


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## Andros

interpret77 said:


> I know that both of these are common in hypothyroidism, but it is getting pretty severe with me. Today I woke up with pain everywhere but mostly in my lower back, neck, and from my elbows to my fingertips. The swelling in my left had is so severe I couldn't drive today and my dad had to take me to a jeweler to have my wedding set cut off. The jeweler could almost not get the device under my rings I was so swollen.
> 
> Did anyone else go through this? Are there any ways to get relief? The pain is so bad I'm taking Vicodin and I'm 3 weeks from RAI and my synthroid.


If you had to have your rings cut off; it is my humble opinion you should see your doctor. You could also have some serious myxedema and/or cellulitis. Or a clot. You see? It is peculiar that it is only one hand.

Please let us know how you are. I am very very concerned and I know that the others here care a lot also.


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## interpret77

I called my doctor and they said that it is completely normal. They told me to take Tylenol or Ibuprofen. They prescribed me an anti-inflammatory. The vicodin is actually leftover from my surgery.


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## Andros

interpret77 said:


> I called my doctor and they said that it is completely normal. They told me to take Tylenol or Ibuprofen. They prescribed me an anti-inflammatory. The vicodin is actually leftover from my surgery.


Gosh; that does not sound normal to me! Maybe the anti-inflammatory will help.


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## teri2280

Interpret, did they by any chance say how long it lasts after you start your meds? I'm curious, because I have similar (although not NEARLY as bad) going on, and as of tomorrow, will have been back on my meds for a week (with double doses the first 3 days, at that). My symptoms aren't as bad as yours, but I get "charlie horse" type pain in odd places (neck, lower/mid back, arms, etc). It only lasts a few minutes at a time, but it hurts like he** when it IS there! Other than the odd muscle spasms, I feel GREAT both mentally and physically.


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## joplin1975

Mine went away ~72 hours after taking the meds.


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## teri2280

joplin1975 said:


> Mine went away ~72 hours after taking the meds.


Ruh-Roh.  Hmm. How long do you think I should give it before becoming super concerned? (I'm concerned already, but I don't wanna flip out yet lol.) As of this morning, I've taken, oh, 10 pills (175 mcg Levothyroxine) since my RAI. (Fri, Sat, and Sun were 2 pills, Mon, Tues, Wed, and today were singles, per my endo.) The pain usually goes away after a few minutes.

Something to consider in my case: I lift/throw around freight as part of my job. "Usually" it weighs up to 50 lbs, but the stuff I was throwing around today when it hit me at work couldn't have been more than 10-15 lbs (nor have I lifted more than that in my 2 days back). It also "hits me" at weird times. Last night I was on the computer, and looked out the window at the driveway across the street (hubby's uncle - I'm not THAT nosy of a neighbor LOL) when it hit me. (First in the neck, seconds later in the back.) I also have a previous history of disk issues in my lower back (rupture/herniation L4/L5 in 1997, same in L5/S1 in 2009).


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## joplin1975

Hard to say. Do you know what your pre-RAI TSH was? It can take a while to get regulated. That said, I loaded, unloaded, and stacked 100 bales of hay a week after getting bumped to 100 and did fine...but I only have a minor neck herniation.


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## teri2280

Not a clue, and next labs not even PLANNED until Sept. 4th. (A week before my next appt. w/ endo.)


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## interpret77

Glad to know I am not alone. Teri, it sounds like you should call your doctor and get some labs drawn or at least ask questions. They will just assume you're doing ok unless you talk to them. Listen to your body...if it's not right, call them. That's what they make the big bucks for! 

The cramps are enough to make me cry out in pain. You're right...they don't last long, but they are long enough to feel like someone just stabbed a knife into me.  This is not "JUST Thyroid Cancer". It's been a journey I wouldn't wish on ANYONE.


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## teri2280

Well, good news to share- haven't had the cramps since Thursday evening. 

Bad news to share- The pain has changed.  Hurts like crap in my right leg (hip/outer leg areas) when I sit down somewhere (chair, couch, toilet, even my car, which is a CRV, and since I'm tall I just slide in). Once I'm there, it's fine, just getting in and out that hurts like a witch. Called my endo's secy. today (was too late to get a hold of them on Friday), and he's on vacation this week (of course!) but she said she doesn't know if/when he'll check in. She said she'll run it by him if/when he does, but can't guarantee when she'll find out. Called my PCP right after that, and he doesn't know enough about patients being "that" hypo to make even an educated guess, and told me to give it 2-3 weeks and see what happens. The super bad part about this, is that if it's NOT hypo related, that means it's back related, and even waiting around for my endo to get back from vacation could totally incapacitate me. (I've ruptured 2 disks, one at 16/17 y/o, one at 28/29. Since I had surgery at 16, that disk stopped growing earlier than it should have, so I've got a sixteen year old disk in there that the other disks immediately next to are working overtime to compensate. The last surgery was the disk immediately below the orig. disk, and both times, the ruptures were hitting my sciatic nerve, sending pain all up and down the outside of one of my legs. The only way to alleviate the pain was to lay flat on my stomach. Even vicodins and percosets didn't work. Last surgery, I was told by my neurosurgeon that if I didn't rupture that third disk, the one above the orig. one, within the next 10 years he'd be VERY surprised.)


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## interpret77

Have you tried calling your neuro? I might call the endo's office again and ask who is that dr's b/u physician because he should have someone on call for him. They shouldn't be able to brush that off.


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## Octavia

teri, I'm thinking from a thyroid-related pain perspective, you should be getting some relief by now...it's been over a week back on the Levo now, correct, with the first few days getting a double-dose? I'm wondering if it's something else, like you said.


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## teri2280

Octavia said:


> teri, I'm thinking from a thyroid-related pain perspective, you should be getting some relief by now...it's been over a week back on the Levo now, correct, with the first few days getting a double-dose? I'm wondering if it's something else, like you said.


Yuppers. 15 pills total, counting this morning's.


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## teri2280

interpret77 said:


> Have you tried calling your neuro? I might call the endo's office again and ask who is that dr's b/u physician because he should have someone on call for him. They shouldn't be able to brush that off.


I'm kind of hoping that MIGHT be what's causing the delay in the answer from my endo. My endo is my neuro's father (yeah, small world in my town medically LOL), and I could see him asking his son about it before getting back to me (endo also knows that I was a patient of his son's before I was a patient of his). And, unfortunately, there is only ONE endo in my town, too, so no one else to call (other than my surgeon's office, but considering she is the head of endocrinology @ The Cleveland Clinic main campus, I'd be better off waiting for my endo to get back from vacation, by the time I'd hear back from them - Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my surgeon, but I know how busy they are).


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## teri2280

I think I'm going to give it another week or so (unless it gets worse, or I hear from the endo of course). I was googling last night, and the nerve path of the third disk (the one that I'll have to eventually have surgery on) is right where the pain is. Yes, seeing this confirmed a bit more for me that it may be back related, but on the plus side, it's high enough up that I don't think I'll have the super intense pain I had last time. (And by extension, no laying on my stomach all the time.) I could be wrong on this part, but that's where the "unless it gets worse" part comes in.  Granted, I've never had problems with this disk, but last time, it was more than obvious when the pain got worse. (I dealt with it off and on for over a year before having it operated on. I didn't have med. ins. at the time, and my neuro said that there was a slight possibility that it might correct itself, so I definitely explored that possibility. Had I had med. ins. right off the bat, I would have had it cut on back in July of 2008 instead of Dec of 2009. Usually the pain would come on gradually, I could pop some pills for 2 days or so, and get rid of it before it got horrible and had me on the floor, but the last time before surgery, it came on out of the blue, and I knew that surgery was the only way to get rid of it. - This is why I'm a pain pill hoarder LOL.)


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## teri2280

Heard from endo's office after having lunch with the hubby. He DID talk to my neuro about it, and the thing is, it could be an either/or kinda thing. Said to give it another week/week and a half or so and see what happens. (From both the endo AND the neuro - was told that even though the endo didn't mention my name to the neuro, he remembered me.) On the plus side, I was right about the pain for the 3rd disk not being in the same area as before, so even if it WERE to get worse, it shouldn't be as bad as last time (meaning I should be able to still move even if it gets worse). Neuro told his dad that if it gets worse between now and the end of my trial period, or doesn't go away in that time, just to skip my PCP this time around and make an appt. with him. Since I'm already an established patient (albeit from a few years ago), I won't need my PCP's referral this time around (Good to know - less time spent waiting and running around!), and he's told his schedulers that if I call to get me in ASAP. (Yes, my neuro kicks butt!! LOL. Total night and day difference between him and his old man!  )


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## interpret77

Just saw the doctor and he said that my hand swelling is edema and will go away after I have RAI and start the synthroid. RAI scheduled for Monday!


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## Andros

interpret77 said:


> Just saw the doctor and he said that my hand swelling is edema and will go away after I have RAI and start the synthroid. RAI scheduled for Monday!


I sure hope so! And wishing you the very best on Monday!!!


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## interpret77

Update on the hands. The swelling is gone but the joint pain is crippling. I cannot make fists and have no grip. Cannot close my hands more than halfway.  My endo is sending me to see a rheumatologist. Having horrible pain in my hands, elbows, shoulders and hips. Endo seems at a loss for what is causing it.


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## joplin1975

For what it's worth, it took a LONG time for my joint pain to go away once I got on a decent dose of synthroid. Granted, I was super under medicated so that might have been it, but I got on 100mcgs in early November and couldn't really get a good run in until Christmas...even then, my hips really hurt. That started to go away in maybe January or so?


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## Andros

interpret77 said:


> Update on the hands. The swelling is gone but the joint pain is crippling. I cannot make fists and have no grip. Cannot close my hands more than halfway.  My endo is sending me to see a rheumatologist. Having horrible pain in my hands, elbows, shoulders and hips. Endo seems at a loss for what is causing it.


Have you had testing for Lupus? I am sure the rhuematologist will consider that. I know mine did. And there it was. I did suspect it for years, however.


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