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Avatar universal

Frozen Shoulder?? Oh goody.

I have been trying to ignore this problem but it's gotten pretty bad. Last October, I noticed when I reached back a certain way, my arm kind of "caught" not really pain, but kind of. Then over a few months, when reaching for things under a counter for instance- reaching to the side and back, I would get a horrible pain in my shoulder that would take a minute to go away. My shoulder did not and does not hurt all the time, although now it does hurt a bit when i lay on that side in bed. It only hurts when doing certain motions. Back when this started, my range of motion was not really affected ie; I could reach behind my back to unhook my bra where as now, it feels stiff and hurts to do that. The pain has increased quite dramatically and this has been going on for 5 months now. I don't have insurance and really no money to speak of and if anyone has anything that has helped them or worked for them, please let me know--thanks!!

ps. last year when very hypo I had a similar pain in my elbow on other arm, felt like carpal tunnel and thought maybe this was like that. Once I got my meds straightened out the elbow pain literally went away, no sign of it and it had gotten VERY painful. I had some wishful thinking that this was the same type of thing until i started reading about it.
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Avatar universal
I'm sorry I took so long to get back to you.  Having a hard day today.  I'm on Armour thyroid and yes, my labs are low.  I'm going to try dividing up my dose and possibly add 15mgs.  I have felt lousy for 10 weeks at this dosage. It's good to hear that those pains can go away and that means the other stuff too!  I have Hashi's which is an added complication and I weigh 20 lbs more than I ever have, unless I was pregnant.  I'm terribly uncomfortable with a lot of symptoms.  The right side of my lower back is out now.  sorry to complain; I'm just scared. How are you doing other wise?  
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I know this thread is old, but I'm wondering what you found that works. Last year my doc took me off of thyroid (t3) retested me and said my labs were fine. Then I got frozen shoulder(complete loss of use and major pain), and sore joints all over. Everything hurt, and if I walked for too long, my muscles hurt so bad I would just weep. I also got bad dry eye and dry mouth so that at times that was worse than the pain. Sleeping became almost impossible. My brain also went south, no words, no concentration. I couldn't work.It lasted about a year, then went away slowly. It's been gone for about 6 months, but is coming back now and starting in my other shoulder. My doc does labs and says I'm fine....and should go to a physical therapist. Any help would be greatly appreciated
Avatar universal
While my shoulder only hurts when I move certain ways, and now just this past week when I lay on that side- it doesnt hurt to touch it but last year my elbow felt like a ligament or tendon thing and was this intense pain when making certain movements and when i touched a certain spot it hurt very badly, so i do believe they are related to our problems- that's why I had wanted to know if anyone else here had frozen shoulder (look it up-it's crazy!) it's like havibng an illness that comes, takes it's time, then can go away on its own.
I just know with the elbow thing last year, that once I got my levels straightened out, the pain went completey away, so I am wondering what med you are on and if you have tested lately. I also had knee probs years ago when I was overweight. Are you on Synthroid by chance? Sounds like you have some tweaking to do. That elbow pain going away last year was like a miracle, was hoping for the same with shoulder but prob not!
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Avatar universal
Hi .I really don't know a whole lot about all this but my shoulder acts up. Sometimes it sort of becomes a little dislocated.  I have Hashi's and have had a lot of low thyroid issues and some hyper as well.  I believe my shoulder is ligament related and I believe the joints can retain fluid and inflammation goes hand in hand with hypo. Ligaments can become inflamed.  My elbows are sore to touch. Knees and fingers feel arthritic.   My lower back is having some disc issues, probably from the excess weight up front. I have acne and hair loss.I think for me it's all related to thyroid.  Just too coincidental to have the entire body fall apart at the same time, ya know.  I'm truly hideous right know and I'm not even friendly any more either!
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Avatar universal
Thanks, that info helps a lot, I didn't know that about the FT3! Well, then if the 1/4 grain increase wouldn't do much, I may do a 1/2 grain and see how I feel and then test at the appropriate time. The main reason I wanted to switch to Acella is that I am broke and 50 a month is a lot compared to 10- and I actually DO like Acella. Then I realized that knowing what levels I get out of what I have been taking is priceless right now with all that is going on, so it would be stupid to switch now- so I will try to get better and switch at a later date. This way too, I can add a 1/2 grain of Acella and maybe find out if the Armour was the culprit after all. The weird thing is, I feel better on 3 grains of Acella than I did on the 3 grains of compounded....weird. Thanks for working through this with me, having a knowledgeable sounding board has also been priceless right now!

For anyone else reading this thread, I wish I had discovered Acella a year ago and switched to that from the Armour I was on. In my opinion, it's a great alternative if you are having problems with Armour, Nature Throid or even Efra. I was in dire straights last year and the compounded brought me back into functioning but at a pretty high cost, so you may want to consider Acella if you are looking for something different.
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Avatar universal
The T3 from the extra 1/4 grain should have been out of your system in just a few days.  Some of the T4 from it was still affecting FT4 value, but it's a very small amount.

I think it's a good idea to stay on the compounded that's been working relatively well for you.  It's never a good idea to change something that works, but desiccated seems especially prone to individual differences.

The Armour does seem to be the common link in the weight loss.  It's probably best to avoid it and go with the Acella.  
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Avatar universal
First....my ft3 at 3.5 was at 2 weeks after having knocked off that 1/4 grain, so hard to say if it was a tad higher with the 1/4 grain or not. I really wanted to try the acella for just a few days last week just to see and have stayed on it but the more i think about  the probs I am having, I think I am going to go back on the compounded, since i knew where i was on it, and add Acella, rather than Armour to up my dose slightly. For all I know the armour was having an adverse affect on me again with the weight loss?? I just don't know. But in rethinking this, I know I will go to all Acella soon, but since I am at a certain level that I KNOW on compounded, I should try to go euthroid and see if it allevaites my hypo symptoms and even the shoulder pain.
Now the question is whether to add 1/4 or a 1/2 grain of acella to the compounded...I kind of wish I had left that 1/4 grain of Armour on before the 2nd testing but I don't think 2 weeks off the 1/4 would change the test that much.
Even when I had done well on the old armour and gotten down to my perfect weight, I would always put on 20lbs in the winter and then shed it in the summer. i usually knew I was on too much if my weight went under a certain point (I couldnt always afford to get tested over the years) so this is really weird for me to be or have been hypo and lose weight...it is a mystery I am trying desperately to solve. I do know that in doing my research when first being diagnosed that I knew I would have probs losing weight on synthroid which is why I insisted on Armour back then. Never knew about upping dose in the winter until recently or may not have gotten heavy again those few winters but since 2008, I have never been OVER my perfect weight again and feel quite lucky about that--although being 20lbs underweight kinda ***** when it happens!! I do love natural though!!
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Avatar universal
I'd just be curious to see how the compounded compares to the Acella.

So, at 3 grains, you're now taking 114 mcg of T4 and 27 mcg of T3.  That's a fairly substantial dose of T3.

If you got your FT3 up to 4.0, that would be well into the top third of the range.  Go a little slowly, though, you don't want to tip the balance.

Just curious...when you get hyper or overmedicated, do you GAIN weight???  If not, I'd have to say "I'll have what SHE'S having..."  LOL
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Avatar universal
duh, I guess I knew that about being undermedicated....just makes no sense about the weight loss at all! Weird because on Acella's website it says they have 30mg-60mg-and90mg pills, but there is talk of 65 mg- here's ingredients right from their site:

NP Thyroid (thyroid tablets, USP) for oral use is a natural preparation derived from porcine thyroid glands. They contain both tetraiodothyronine sodium (T4 levothyroxine) and triiodothyronine sodium (T3 liothyronine) providing 38 mcg levothyroxine (T4) and 9 mcg liothyronine (T3) per grain of thyroid (or per 65 mg of the labeled amount of thyroid). The inactive ingredients are calcium stearate, dextrose monohydrate, maltodextrin and mineral oil.

I'm going to have to call my pharmacy to find out exactly what my compounded is but assuming my holistic/flaky doctor (not the cranky-old-TSHtesting-doctor) ordered the same ration as armour just minus the horrible fillers. The compounded has olive oil as a filler. I will check with them, but Acella and Armour appear to have the same amounts of t3 and t4.

To me an indicator of being over medicated is losing too much weight, which I have, I was 20lbs under last year and now 10lbs under but we both see my numbers so truly hard to say whats doing that. Holistic/flaky doc said last year that the cellulose in the new armour must have effected me that way and I just thought he was just saying that because he didnt know or didnt want to deal with the adrenals.
Thanks for your input, I guess I will see how my shoulder is when I get to euthroid, otherwise, I am 5 months in to "frozen shoulder" and have 7 to 12 months to go...lol....ugh, it's always something!! I think I'd like to see my FT3 get up to 4.0 (?)---helps to have someone who knows and goes thru this too to discuss these things with, so thanks.
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Avatar universal
I just had a thought: You've been on compounded meds.  What was the T3/T4 content in your script?

Well, it is hard on your body to be undermedicated for a long time, but it's not as hard as being overmedicated or hyper.  If you're undermedicated, your cholesterol can rise (if you put much stock in that), you can gain weight (obviously no longer a probelm for you...lucky!), you can develop diabetes, the list goes on.

"if my FT4 is great but my FT3 needs to come up...how do I achieve that?"  Good question.  If you were on T4-only meds or a T3/T4 synthetic combo, I't tell you to consider upping the T3 component.  However, if your compounded T3/T4 ratio was similar to desiccated, that already has quite a lot of T3 in it (compared to what our thyroids produce when healthy), and it's unusual to have to supplement T3 on desiccated.  

Yes, you are starting over to some extent, although with a similar product.  What's the T3/T4 content in Acella?
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Avatar universal
PS. if my FT4 is great but my FT3 needs to come up...how do I achieve that? i suppose the ft4 will have to come up a bit with it? Eh, either way. I really am starting over since I switched meds but it had to be done.
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Avatar universal

"When you lose weight and have joint pain, do you feel you're overmedicated?"

That's just the thing- just a year ago I was a mess. I was under an extreme amount of stress (prolonged, like a year-major things) and hadn't been tested in awhile- I had lowered my dose myself thinking I was overmedicated because I had lost 20 lbs.(even though I had the other same hypo symptoms I have now) and then my doc tested my tSH and told me to go down more. I went from 120mg to 90mg in all--I did test my frees at 105mg and was very hypo at that point, I think my ft3 was 2.7 or so. This was all while on the New Armour. At that point I went to a new doc and got on compounded, upped it and got better.

Same thing happened a couple of months ago, although not under the same stress but having about the same hypo symptoms. I lose weight and think i am overmedicated only to find out by my numbers i am still hypo. Everything points to hypo except the weight loss. In the past i would put ON weight when hypo so it doesn't make sense. And that elbow thing- it was beyond painful for months and once I was about euthroid, it simply disappeared.
Last year I had suspected my adrenals but could never find out. This year, nowhere near the stress I was under last year but a lot of the same problems.
Wondering what can happen when under-medicated a long time? I just on't know anymore and the doctors are no help!!
Thanks!!
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Avatar universal
It just puzzles me because it's not a classic hypo symptom.  We hear of a lot of people with unusual symptoms that do go away when thyroid hormones are right, but this is the first I've heard of frozen shoulder.  I just did a little reading about it, and it's interesting that it goes away.  I know two years for that to happen is a long time, but I'm at that age where once things move in, they tend to stay, so that doesn't seem so bad to me!  LOL

I'm afraid I have no magic cure, but I am wondering if the 1/4 grain you added just wasn't enough to do anything.  Since you're already on 3 grains, an extra quarter isn't a lot precentage-wise.

When you lose weight and have joint pain, do you feel you're overmedicated?
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Avatar universal
I want to add that I was on 2 grains of Armour and doing well for 5 years before I "crashed" last year (another long story) and when I went on Compounded Thyroid, I had to go up to 3 grains just to get to where I am now with levels which is why i wonder about the strength comparison with anything else. It's anyone's guess, just had to throw that in.
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Avatar universal
Well, the doctor thing....don't truly have one. My bandaid doctor argues with me about my levels and goes by TSH ONLY (my TSH may give him a nervous breakdown) and will only prescribe 2 grains- what a joke- he thinks that I am the crazy one- we go round and round about it. The doctor that knows the deal, is nuts and basically absent. Long story.
Also a long story is, I am on 3 grains because the last time I tested, a med I took just before the test made my levels totally off and knew it did, but took that 1/4 grain off to play it safe and I tested again two weeks later and am basically where you see me at above levels. THEN, last week right after I tested, I decided to try the Acella NP Thyroid as i had some on hand and the compounded I take, I can't afford right now. I know, not a great time to switch as i am starting all over again especially not knowing if Acella is stronger or weaker....
So, I am taking 3 grains of Acella and plan to test in a month and take it from there. In the meantime, this shoulder thing has only gotten worse and matches everyhting I have read about frozen shoulder and it's phases and I have also read that it is related to hypothyroid all over the place online.
Please tell me what puzzles you about it and what you think it may indicate or if it is just random, but it reminds me of the elbow pain I suffered from for about 8 months in 2010-11.....something weird is happening to me at different times and I lose weight and have joint pain and hypo symptoms all while being hypo and just trying to figure it out. Also hoped someone would have a magic answer/cure for this frozen shoulder thing that by all accounts is only going to get worse. Thanks a lot for your attention to this post!!!

PS. LM- no injuries def not rotator cuff-matches frozen shoulder symptoms. This started small and gradually 5 months ago and getting progressively worse, from what i have read it could be a 1-3 year process....ugh.....
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798555 tn?1292787551
Is there a chance you might have hurt your shoulder some time ago when you were hypo? If so it might not have healed right.

Common shoulder pain when reaching straight forward out from your body (like turning on the car radio) is the rotator cuff. Its a group of small muscles and tendons attached to the top and goes down the outside of the upper arm a few inches. Might want to goggle it.  If this is whats wrong, Alternating hot and cold and gently massaging the area it in crossways pattern will help healing. There are tropical anti inflammatory like Arnica Gel (walgreens) that actually help and dont smell like menthol.
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Avatar universal
Well, your FT4 looks really good...just a tad over midrange.  FT3 could still stand some improvement.  It's at 62% of range, and many people find that it has to get into the upper third before symptoms are alleviated.  

How much desiccated are you taking?  I'm wondering if the extra 1/4 grain wasn't enough .  

Your shoulder is a bit of a puzzle, not a classic hypo symptom, but with your others, you have to wonder.  

What does your doctor think of your TSH?  Is he freaking out yet?
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Avatar universal
Goolarra, no hashis thatI know of. At the time this started, I felt hypo but my tests were about the same as they are now and even with these numbers, I have felt a bit hypo, or had hypo symptoms since sept or so. I did up my dose slightly for several months by 1/4 grain but that didn't seem to effect my results.

FT4- 1.32   (0.82-1.77)
FT3- 3.5        (2.0-4.4)
TSH .006     (0.450-4.500)
Thyroid Peroxidase (TPO) Ab <6     (0-34)
Antithyroglobulin Ab                <20      (0-40)

other symptoms are brain fog, boils that won't go away, memory issues (words) -migraines to name a few
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Avatar universal
Do you have current labs to post with reference ranges (these vary lab to lab and have to come from your own lab report)?

Do you have other hypo symptoms returning?

Do you have Hashi's?
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