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Hashimotos, joint aches, vitamin D

I have Hashimotos and have been struggling with body aches since last 3 & 1/2 years.
Recently, I have had severe joint aches (I will come to what my Ortho doctor told in a short while).
As my T3, T4 etc were all okay, I repeated by Vitamin D test.

As my vitamin D was lower at 40 nmom/L at the beginning of 2017, I was supplementing with 50,000 IU every week.

My measurement on 4/29/17 - 120 ng/ml

As vitamin D level was high, I went on same dose above but every month.

I measured vit D level again yesterday. The following is the result: 34 ng/ml.

Now, I am not sure why the level has dropped to such a low level despite supplementing with 1500 IU of maintenance dose every day. Does being Hypothyroid make us Vit D deficient even though we keep supplementing?

Also, are my current symptoms of huge body aches consistent with low Vit D levels?

By the way, my recent thyroid test reads as follows:

FT4 - 1.10 (0.5-1.1)
TSH - 0.65 (0.34-5.20)

I bring up this topic of body aches to my endo. He symphatises with me but all his tests show normal readings. He wants me to wait it out.

Also, I have been referring to Ortho due to severe plantar fasciitis pain.
So, I asked the ortho if joint pain is common. His words - "more than joint pain, it is muscle pain that is common among Thyroid patient. This is due to loss of muscle tone". Anyway, it is good for a doctor to acknowledge that we suffer from hypothyroid and it is not joint pains but muscle pains.

Suggestions and comments please
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1756321 tn?1547095325
It's unusual that you are using two different measurements. The nmol/L is SI units (most countries today use this unit of measurement) and ng/mL is conventional units (used in the United States, Burma, Liberia).

The vitamin D council has an article "I tested my vitamin D level. What do my results mean?" on how much you need to raise vitamin D levels.

"If you want to raise your blood levels starting from 35 ng/ml, you can take the following action (based on an average body weight of 150lbs)

To achieve this level… Take this much supplement per day…

40 ng/ml 800 IU
50 ng/ml 2500 IU
60 ng/ml 4600 IU
70 ng/ml 7300 IU"

You would have to check your labs every so often to see how much vitamin D you need to maintain your vitamin D levels in optimal range.   It's important to have adequate magnesium intake especially when taking vitamin D.
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1756321 tn?1547095325
You have two different vitamin D measurements. 40 nmol/L is the equivalent to 16 ng/mL. Optimal calcium absorption occurs with vitamin D levels at 80 nmol/L (32 ng/mL). Optimal vitamin D range is 100 - 150 nmol/L (40 - 60 ng/mL).

Vitamin D requires and "uses up" magnesium to convert from supplements/sun into its active form in the blood. So taking high doses of vitamin D can cause or worsen an existing magnesium deficiency (I know from experience!). And magnesium deficiency causes pain. And as you need magnesium to absorb vitamin D this can explain why you can't keep up your vitamin D levels.

The pain from hypothyroidism can be due to fluid retention pressing on nerves to abnormal levels of certain biochemical substances accumulating in your muscles.

But you may have other conditions which are linked with Hashimoto's thyroiditis...

"Recently, researchers seemingly linked Hashimoto’s and RA defining patients with Hashimoto's as "more susceptible" to RA. The article also finds that patients taking thyroxine had DOUBLE the risk of non-RA arthritis. These links were found on the genetic level; therefore, Hashimoto's shares the same alleles as RA, which means that they appear on the same link in the genetic chain."*

*Thyroid Change - Hashimoto's Thyroiditis Linked To Rheumatoid Arthritis And Higher Incidence of Symptoms of Depression
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1 Comments
Redstar,

Thanks. I have seen both nmol and ng/ml but I assumed both are same units represented differently.

at 120 nmol/ml my range was 48 ng/ml but it has dropped to 34.

Looks like I have to supplement vitamin D and bring it to 50 ng/ml. The other question is, once the level comes up to 50 ng/ml, how to I maintain this range?
This part really confused me.

Also, should I be take vitamin D along with magnesium supplement then?

Gimel,

My My FT3 was 3.4 (1.7-4.2).
Some of my previous reports are available in this thread. I have done cortisol test and it was found to be ok then:

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Thyroid-Disorders/Upper-back-pain/show/2771043
Avatar universal
Hypothyroidism can cause low stomach acid levels, which reduces absorption of vitamins and other nutrients.  Your dosage of Vitamin D went from about 7000 IU daily down to 50,000 divided by 30 days which amounts to about 1667 IU daily.  Your Vitamin D went from 120 down to 34.  Obviously you reduced too much.   The best daily dosage would probably be around 3500-4000 IU.

You said your Endo wants you to "wait it out".  What is it you are waiting for?  Your FT4 is at high end of the range, but more importantly, what is your Free T3 level.  Joint and muscle pain can often be related to Vitamin D and hypothyroidism.  One of the definitions for hypothyroidism is "Inadequate T3 effect in some or all tissues of the body".  So you need to at least know your serum Free T3 level.  And even that may not accurately reflect tissue T3 levels and effects, which determine your thyroid status.  Cortisol is also an antagonist of thyroid.  Have you been tested for cortisol?  Low cortisol can also cause muscle pain.  
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