Question:
I had Graves' Disease and was treated with Radio Active Iodine (about 20
years ago), am now hypothyroid. I have also been diagnosed with
fibromyalgia.
I suffer terribly with pain, particularly in my upper arms, shoulders, and
wrists. My muscles in my upper arms seem to be wasting away and I have
very little strength in them.
Does anyone else have similar diagnoses or have you found something that
helps besides narcotics? I have tried just about everything I can think of
and nothing has worked.
Answer:
This is worth emphasizing. Since many MDs set dose by TSH and since
TSH is easily driven very low by taking exogenous hormone, many people
are systematically UNDERdosed these days. If you are UNDERdosed then
your fibromyalgia could be caused by, and certainly is worsened by,
the UNDERdose condition.
You should be able to get cpoies of your lab. test numbers, with that
lab's "normal" ranges, to interpret. If you have any questions as
to what the numbers mean, there are resources to help you interpret
them -- and many people here are willing to comment.
