Polymyalgia or what?

[helyanna]

My neck symptoms have been very serious during the last few days. The neck is painful and weak. Sometimes there is feeling of tremor. Is this polymyalgia or  symptoms of my thyroid or parathyroid illnesses? I have no fibromyalgia. I am not allowed to increase my Thyroid Erfa daily dose. My FT3 is good, 5.3 (upper range limit 7.1). My parathyroids will not be removed. Two doctors have said so. I have been getting physiotherapy, but the neck is becoming worse. I feel as if it were infalammed. I got a prescription of Dolan, but I read that it is not recommended when one has urine retention or tachycardia.  I am sometimes nervous and sleepless. Thus I don't dare to take it.

How should I treat my neck symptoms? There is some arthrosis of the facette joints, but I think it will not cause so serious symptoms. Should I continue the physiotherapy although it by now has not helped?

[dai3symae]

I asked the chiropractor about my jaw pain and he examined the muscles there.  When he found the spasm he was able to work it out.  It took two sessions to resolve it but I haven't had the pain return.

I hope you're feeling better soon.

[helyanna]

How did the chiropractor find the mucle spasm in your jaw? Did you have jaw problems? Could I have the same problem?

I lowered my Thyroid dose yesterday, because I felt hyper (I was nervous and I have had awake dreams). Today in the morning I found that my blood sugar was the lowest ever for me (4.1). A few years ago, in a glucose loading test, I had typical low sugar symptoms at sugar 4.6. Maybe low or alternating sugar among with other reasons causes my tremor.

Now I have in addition to dysautonomia and alii tremores specificati an additional diagnosis from a neurologist: syndroma arteriale vertebrobasilare. He suggested that, my neck weakness attacks could be of TIA. I'd also like to attribute the neck weakness to hyperparathyroidism, but endocrinology specielists deny it. On October 31 I'll go to scanning of the neck arteries.

[dai3symae]

I had terrible neck pain that always happened at night.  After many attempts to find the cause I finally went to a chiropractor.  He found a muscle spasm in my jaw and worked on the muscle to release the spasm.  I have had no pain in my neck since.

[helyanna]

In my last post I forgot to tell about myasthenia gravis. MG was suspected by a neurol specielist in 2009. I have had some general weakness ( or sitting weakness) since 2002. In 2009 i had an ENMG test for my right side muscles. Myathenia could not be found out but there was slow activation in two muscles (Oh, I must go to take magnesium, because my legs are cramping!! It was awful, has not yet ended totally , I have to stand). An endocrinol speciealist suggested again myasthenia a couple of days ago. The neurol. spec. today said that ENMG for deep muscles of the neck may be vaery painful. I refused it.

I don't know who could solve my neck problem.

[helyanna]

Barb135 thank you for your reply. My latest thyroid labs were in August: TSH 0.023 (ref. 0.3-4.2), FT4 13.3 (12-22), FT3 5.3 (2.8-7.1). My age is 63. Why do you think that I am hypothyroid?

I think that there may be several possible causes of neck weakness:
to be hypothyroid,
to be overmedicated, Doctors have not said anything,
hypercalcemia due to hyperparathyroidism, but my Doctors say, that my symptoms are not parathyroidrelated.
electrolyte and water disorders, often high Na+, low ADH, a Doctor said that they don't cause muscle weakness
chronic sinusitis (?, ENT specialist: maybe cannot cause neck weakness)

Doctors have suggested (maybe not very seriously):
vasculitis (due to periodic temporal aches),
polymyalgia (due to temporal and neck-shoulder-arm pain and weakness) The Doctor has twice offered me cortisol treatment. Because the polymyalgia or vasculitis have not been verified with any lab or other experiments, I don't want to take cortisol. Today I had ANCA antibody test ( no results yet, maybe after a coulple odf weeks). Maybe these diseases are autoimmune as is thyrioiditis, too. Often autoimmune diseases appear together. I have read that vasculitis and myastenia may have some connection to sinusitis. I have some immune deficiensy and am thinking how autoimmune diseases and immune deficiensy are linked together, are they somehow linked? I have sicca syndrome but no nuclear antibodies (no real Sjoegren's syndrome. But I have sialadenitis. I also have a lung tumor, and a faechromocytoma has been searched with blood and urine tests (not found although I have sometimes symptoms which match with it and have chromogranin-A at the upper limit of the reference).

My neck symtoms began in last November or December with severe weakness and pain in neck and left shoulder and arm. I could not carry my shoulder and arm for writing with a computer. Then  I had some morning nausea from November to about February. In january trembling and muscle twithes and other symptoms began. The symptoms appear every now and then, not all the time. From last August the symptoms have become worse and  have appeared in every day for a couple of weeks. I have dysautonomia, my temperature regulation does not work properly.

Today I got my latest diagnosis proposal: TIA. I'll have a scan on jugular and vertebral arteries. The neurology specialist thaught that it should be taken into consideration.

Because I don't know whether I have a thyroid medication optimal to me, I suppose that an unoptimal dose of thyroid medication could be a reason. That is why I posted my story here. My FT4 and FT3 are within the references. I know that both hypo and hyper may cause muscle weakness. Many thyroid patients here  tell that they have neck muscle pain when they are hypothyroid.

I'll read the neurology and other forums, as you suggested.

[Barb135]

Just did a quick search for polymyalgia and your symptoms do not match those of polymyalgia.  I don't know your age, but polymyalgia usually affects those over 65, and rarely, those under 50 yrs. of age.

Here's a website that may help you:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/polymyalgia-rheumatica/DS00441/DSECTION=symptoms

[Barb135]

This is specifically a thyroid forum, and it doesn't appear that there's anyone on this forum with experience in polymyalgia or the issues that are affecting your neck muscle coordination.  You might try posting your question on an expert forum, or check the list of forums to see if there's one that more closely matches your specific symptoms. There is a neurology forum.

While I see you are, apparently, hypothyroid,  since you are on ERFA, I'd agree with your doctors that your issues do not sound thyroid related, although we don't know which thyroid tests have been done, or what the results and reference ranges are, with the exception of the FT 3 at 5.3, with an upper limit of 7.1.  Since we don't know the lower limit of the range, we don't know where your level actually falls.

If you'd care to post your other thyroid tests, with full reference ranges, we'd be happy to look at those and possibly make suggestions, regarding thyroid treatment.

[helyanna]

Two endocrine specialists have said that my neck muscle problem does not result from hyperparathyroidism. One of them, however, said that my facette joint arthrosis does not cause such symptoms. He recommended me to go to a neurology specialist. A previous neurology specialist had recommended me to go to an internal medicine specialist. An ENT specialist said that my chronic sinusitis may not cause neck muscle weakness. He said, as I also suppose, that the weakness is due to an internal medicine disorder.

I had ENMG studies a few years ago. Myasthenia gravis was searched. It could then be excluded.

OMT physiotherapy has not helped but the neck has been becoming worse. Every day the strength is lost in afternoon or evening. I have excersised the posture muscles. When Doctors test my muscles, they are ok.

Next I shall go again to a neurology specialist.

[helyanna]

Today I had a weird attack. My neck lost strength totally (as in past few days). I began to tremble and had muscle twitches. My fingers were cold (till now being cold). My temperature and pulse rose slightly.

In the morning I was OK. Now I begin to worry.

[helyanna]

Now I have nausea and some tremor. In January I had similar symptoms. Doctors are inflexible in their view, that my parathyroids will not be removed (although hyperparathyroidism). In my nearest town there is  not even a specialist surgeon.

What else could this be?

[helyanna]

In the evenings I cannot keep my head up.

What is this?