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Muscle weakness
Can anyone tell me if muscle weakness is a because of low thyroid levels, high thyroid levels or something different? I had a thyroidectomy for cancer 2 yrs ago and noticed for a while even though I never mentioned it my my Endo or my primary doctor I didn't think much about until recently since it seems much more noticeable especially when I hold the handle on the cart my arms almost quiver as if I had done a lot of pushups.
Hi Gracevd70,
I'm sorry you're experiencing muscle weakness... I am not a doctor, but I just did a little googling because I know muscle weakness in the shoulders and thighs can sometimes be associated with hypothyroidism, and it looks like autoimmune diseases like Hashimoto's and Graves, as well as both hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism can all cause muscle weakness.
The short answer is that all of the above - hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, or other can all cause muscle weakness. Muscle weakness in the muscles you are talking about feeling weakness in, like from pushups (triceps, deltoids, maybe biceps and trapezius) are associated with hypo and hyperthyroidism though, so I think you're on the right track to look in to your thyroid hormone level as a cause, but I can't say it is definitely one of those, or which one it is.
One hypothyroidism symptom is "frozen shoulder", where you can have weakened muscles in the shoulder and arms, pain or general achiness in the muscles, muscle cramps, loss of grip strength, joint pain, pain and weakness in the muscles worsening with cold temperatures, and difficulty raising the arms over the head. (I have Hashimoto's, and have had both shoulder pain/weakness as well as muscle weakness in the front of my thighs at a time when I was experiencing a lot of other hypo symptoms).
Graves disease and hyperthyroidism often cause muscle weakness and fatigue, but pain is not as common as with hypothyroidism. From the website I'm looking at (on "thyroid info", I googled "hypothyroidism shoulder weakness"):
"Some people with hyperthyroidism actually lose muscle tone and strength, a process that can be referred to as "muscle wasting." Some common complaints include:
difficulty climbing stairs
difficulty holding or gripping objects with hands
difficult reaching arms above the head "
My thoughts - lots of things cause muscle weakness and it could be unrelated to your thyroid hormone levels, but weakness especially in the arms and shoulder is both a hypo and hyper symptom, so that is a good place to start looking for a cause.
I would talk to a doctor about it and make sure you are at the right level of hormone treatment. Are you having other hypo or hyper symptoms? I would guess if you are experiencing muscle weakness from being hypo or hyper, you would likely be experiencing other symptoms as well. I know sometimes with thyroid cancer treatment they aim to get your TSH as low as possible to suppress cancer growth, below what might be "normal", which might cause you to have more hyper symptoms, but this depends on the individual and your personal cancer treatment - in my case I think we are just trying to get my TSH down to a "normal" level following my thyroidectomy for thyroid cancer.
I'm sorry you're experiencing muscle weakness... I am not a doctor, but I just did a little googling because I know muscle weakness in the shoulders and thighs can sometimes be associated with hypothyroidism, and it looks like autoimmune diseases like Hashimoto's and Graves, as well as both hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism can all cause muscle weakness.
The short answer is that all of the above - hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, or other can all cause muscle weakness. Muscle weakness in the muscles you are talking about feeling weakness in, like from pushups (triceps, deltoids, maybe biceps and trapezius) are associated with hypo and hyperthyroidism though, so I think you're on the right track to look in to your thyroid hormone level as a cause, but I can't say it is definitely one of those, or which one it is.
One hypothyroidism symptom is "frozen shoulder", where you can have weakened muscles in the shoulder and arms, pain or general achiness in the muscles, muscle cramps, loss of grip strength, joint pain, pain and weakness in the muscles worsening with cold temperatures, and difficulty raising the arms over the head. (I have Hashimoto's, and have had both shoulder pain/weakness as well as muscle weakness in the front of my thighs at a time when I was experiencing a lot of other hypo symptoms).
Graves disease and hyperthyroidism often cause muscle weakness and fatigue, but pain is not as common as with hypothyroidism. From the website I'm looking at (on "thyroid info", I googled "hypothyroidism shoulder weakness"):
"Some people with hyperthyroidism actually lose muscle tone and strength, a process that can be referred to as "muscle wasting." Some common complaints include:
difficulty climbing stairs
difficulty holding or gripping objects with hands
difficult reaching arms above the head "
My thoughts - lots of things cause muscle weakness and it could be unrelated to your thyroid hormone levels, but weakness especially in the arms and shoulder is both a hypo and hyper symptom, so that is a good place to start looking for a cause.
I would talk to a doctor about it and make sure you are at the right level of hormone treatment. Are you having other hypo or hyper symptoms? I would guess if you are experiencing muscle weakness from being hypo or hyper, you would likely be experiencing other symptoms as well. I know sometimes with thyroid cancer treatment they aim to get your TSH as low as possible to suppress cancer growth, below what might be "normal", which might cause you to have more hyper symptoms, but this depends on the individual and your personal cancer treatment - in my case I think we are just trying to get my TSH down to a "normal" level following my thyroidectomy for thyroid cancer.
2 Comments
Hi
No I'm not having any type of hyper symptoms ...below are my current thyroid test and Ive been riddle with pain ever since I lost my thyroid 2myrs ago.
Sept 24, 2018
TSH: 0.090 (L) (0.27 - 4.20)
T3: 98.7 (80-200)
FT4: 1.02 (0.93 - 1.7)
FT3 NOT ORDERED (Retest in Jan 2019)
No I'm not having any type of hyper symptoms ...below are my current thyroid test and Ive been riddle with pain ever since I lost my thyroid 2myrs ago.
Sept 24, 2018
TSH: 0.090 (L) (0.27 - 4.20)
T3: 98.7 (80-200)
FT4: 1.02 (0.93 - 1.7)
FT3 NOT ORDERED (Retest in Jan 2019)
I'm no expert on reading thyroid hormone test results (I've had 4 so far, so I'm learning, but not that experienced, and my TSH has always been on the "normal high" at 3.44 or "high" side (7, 16, and now 12). I do know that TSH isn't the best indicator of thyroid hormone function unless it is way off from the normal range, and your free T4 (and T3) indicate you are clearly not hyper since you are on the low side of those ranges.
I believe most people feel better and experience fewer hypothyroidism symptoms if their free T4 is in the top 50% of the normal range, and right now it looks like yours might be on the low side (in the bottom 12% of your range), which suggests you might be experiencing some hypo symptoms now, even though your TSH is on the low side.
Hopefully someone else with more knowledge will chime in and give their opinion, but for comparison, here are my latest numbers:
Test results from October 10, 2018: TSH 12.83 H (range 0.4-4.00), T4 free 1.24 (range 0.8-1.80).
Even though it says my T4 free is in the normal range, my TSH is still pretty high, and with free T4 at 44% of that range, I was experiencing a lot of hypo symptoms (fatigue, cold hands/cold sensitivity, menstrual symptoms, dry skin, hair falling out, brain fog, and lots of being tired all the time). (I'm almost 3 months post surgery, so we're still trying to get to the right dose for me.) The free T4 is what really matters on this test, because it tells how much circulating T4 is in my blood. TSH is made by the pituitary gland, and since my thyroid is gone, this can indicate my body is trying to make more thyroid hormone, but it's the hormone (T4 which gets cleaved to become T3) that really matters when it comes to symptoms.
Free T4 near the bottom of the range makes me think you might be experiencing some hypo symptoms, and that could be causing your muscle weakness, especially because the weakness/pain is affecting the shoulder/arms which is a hypo symptom. Have all your free T4 tests been in the lower half of the range? Everyone varies, so it is possible that is "normal" for you, but this is something to consider.
I would speak to your endocrinologist or primary doctor about getting your thyroid medication adjusted so your free T4 and free T3 are in the upper parts of their ranges and see if that helps to relieve symptoms. I'm hoping your doctor is willing to treat the symptoms and not just go by TSH because your TSH doesn't seem to correlate with your circulating thyroid hormone (which is fine, unless your doctor is using TSH and TSH alone to adjust your thyroid hormone medication).
I'm so sorry you're in so much pain!
I believe most people feel better and experience fewer hypothyroidism symptoms if their free T4 is in the top 50% of the normal range, and right now it looks like yours might be on the low side (in the bottom 12% of your range), which suggests you might be experiencing some hypo symptoms now, even though your TSH is on the low side.
Hopefully someone else with more knowledge will chime in and give their opinion, but for comparison, here are my latest numbers:
Test results from October 10, 2018: TSH 12.83 H (range 0.4-4.00), T4 free 1.24 (range 0.8-1.80).
Even though it says my T4 free is in the normal range, my TSH is still pretty high, and with free T4 at 44% of that range, I was experiencing a lot of hypo symptoms (fatigue, cold hands/cold sensitivity, menstrual symptoms, dry skin, hair falling out, brain fog, and lots of being tired all the time). (I'm almost 3 months post surgery, so we're still trying to get to the right dose for me.) The free T4 is what really matters on this test, because it tells how much circulating T4 is in my blood. TSH is made by the pituitary gland, and since my thyroid is gone, this can indicate my body is trying to make more thyroid hormone, but it's the hormone (T4 which gets cleaved to become T3) that really matters when it comes to symptoms.
Free T4 near the bottom of the range makes me think you might be experiencing some hypo symptoms, and that could be causing your muscle weakness, especially because the weakness/pain is affecting the shoulder/arms which is a hypo symptom. Have all your free T4 tests been in the lower half of the range? Everyone varies, so it is possible that is "normal" for you, but this is something to consider.
I would speak to your endocrinologist or primary doctor about getting your thyroid medication adjusted so your free T4 and free T3 are in the upper parts of their ranges and see if that helps to relieve symptoms. I'm hoping your doctor is willing to treat the symptoms and not just go by TSH because your TSH doesn't seem to correlate with your circulating thyroid hormone (which is fine, unless your doctor is using TSH and TSH alone to adjust your thyroid hormone medication).
I'm so sorry you're in so much pain!
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