Exercise Intolerance: pain, weakness and injury

[mrspickle]

I've read that hypothyroidism can cause exercise intolerance.  I have been very ill since exposure to some toxic pesticides.  Part of the poisoning is that I became hypothyroid.  I used to be a keen athlete cycling many miles a week and competing often.  Now I am unable to do any exercise.  I suffer from pain in my joints, particularly my knees.  If I try and do any level of exercise, I suffer injuries and weakness afterwards which take ages to heal (some haven't healed at all).  For example, an hour's walk incorporating a hill can leave my foot flexors so weak that I can then struggle to lift up my foot for weeks at a time and have to back off doing anything at all.  Swimming can cause sharp shoulder pain and weakness.  

I have some periods when I feel a bit better (relatively- nothing like when I was well). I notice that the joint pains are worse when I get my period.  Could this exercise intolerance be due to hypothyroidism?  I am struggling to work out what is the direct result of poisoning and what is the result of hypothyroidism. Anyone experience similar?  My TSH is now 4.88 (still too high- was below 2 when well).  However, it did get to 0.7 a few months ago and I still had these problems.  Free T4 is now 14.1 (range is 12-22 I think). Free T4 did go up to 18.1 a few months ago and I still had these difficulties.  Free T3 is now 5.1 (range 4-8 I think).  This is higher than it has been since I got ill.  It was 4.3 earlier on in the year.  When it was that low I could barely walk on the flat.

Any info much appreciated.  Thank you

[LazyMoose]

Oops.

Part two:

Obviously this is not something your going to solve overnight. You need to gather more info about what is going on after testing all that everyone mentioned.

Bottom line is not to exercise near the level you used to or anything that brings on body pain until this is resolved, since it can promote more micro trauma to the muscles - more pain for you. Adult athletes bodies, due to pushing their bodies to the limit, are for the most part different than most people that engage in general exercise. Your muscles have been put through their full use and have had many micro injuries, which may be more evident in the form of pain while still being hypo. You can still have hypo symptoms while in range. You can find a lot of proof here that many people feel better with T3 in the upper third.

I did compete  while hypo for years in an elite class and as a result accumulated a lot of  muscle trauma from repetitive motion and normal injuries that made a lasting impact.  That's why I now suspect I have to do all that stuff to get better thats listed in the later half of my first reply to you. Its amassing what you can do while hypo if there is an adrenalin high. But, over exercise with hypo symptoms = you might pay the price later on.

[LazyMoose]

Per the first part of my primary reply, it would be helpful to further look into the cause of your hypothyroid as a first step- if it actually was from the toxic exposure or autoimmune Hashimoto hypothyroid. You have good reason to assume your hypo is from toxic exposure, but you could have Hashimoto going on at the same time.

So just try to rule out Hashimoto first. You tested neg on the TPO antitbody test. Now get the TGab antibody test performed.

The reason? Hashimoto is forever, with increasing replacement thyroid hormones (med) for life in parallel with the antibodies slowly munching on the gland. Non- autoimmune is not always permanent and is caused by many things, things that are not-permanent. I'm no expert on toxicity, but many forms are not permanent.

And you could have Hashimoto along with toxicity going on. In addition to the TGab test, get all the toxicity testing you need based on what was in that pesticide. If you know the name of the brand it was, have you looked into the MSDS information sheet, tells health facts and long, short term health hazzards about the chemical. In the US by law the manufacture has to disclose this in a work place (other countries I do not know about).

The vitamins and minerals as stated in others reply'ss are also known to be related to hypos with muscle pain.

So the info I first posted is good for an athletic person dealing with pain from low thyroid hormone.  

[Barb135]

There's a whole list of organophosphates and they all affect the body in different ways; you would need to know exactly which compound you were exposed to.

[stella5349]

Toxic chemicals can alter thyroid function. It is based around the immune system. You may not have antibodies altering this. I'd check a few common things associated that links low thyroid, metobolism. Check your Magnesium, Vit D, Vit B , ferriten/iron and hard minerals. You may need to have a hard mineral analysis done that most traditional doctors aren't trained to do correctly also.

[mrspickle]

Thanks so much for your reply.  It's so helpful.  My doctor has no idea why my thyroid has gone wrong.  No-one in the NHS can find any explanation for what has happened to my health.  However, I've had private tests which show I have a large amount of organophosphate stuck on my DNA and in my fat, so have assumed this must be significant, since my health collapsed immediately following exposure and it is a known endocrine disruptor.  To be honest though, this is my assumption as a layman.  NHS has done every test they can think of and, as all have come back negative, have just put me in the "unexplained medical symptoms basket."  All very frustrating...  

I must confess I don't know much about the antibodies tests.  I know I had a TPO test which was negative, but I don't know about the TGab.  Should I ask for this?  If it's positive, would that mean I have autoimmune thyroid problems, rather than chemical induced?  Sorry if this is an obvious question, but I'm just a beginner when it comes to this sort of thing.  

When you say multi-dosing, do you mean trying to add in T3 again, on top of the levothyroxine?  I'm seeing my GP on Thursday and was going to ask her to increase my levothyroxine to 50mcg/day, but do you think it's better to try to add in T3 again instead but, as you say at a much lower dose?  

I can't tell you what a relief it is to hear that you were able to get back to adventure sports.  Any glimmer of hope is so welcome.  Right now if I could just get to be able to do a decent country walk that would be such a huge leap forwards.  

Thanks again for taking the time to respond so thoroughly- it's really kind of you and much appreciated.  Happy New Year by the way!  

[LazyMoose]

I will also add that hypo thyroid can magnify and bring back past injuries that were thought to have healed. Any repetitive motion injury or stiffness (runners: plantar fascitis, IT band and periformus syndrome), cyclists: weak hamstrings, tight psoas, hip flexors, tight quads and sagitaroius) can become more evident with low thyroid levels.

Ft3 is more important to muscle than FT4, most feel better with FT3 in upper third of the range. So hopefully if you get T3 higher, you will feel better. If not, then the individual muscles might need some work on them.