Yoga: A Party For My Body!

I have been on Nature Throid for maybe two months? Two and a half? It's hard to remember. But my biggest complaint (really my only complaint) is that I still have joint pain. I keep thinking back to how treating my hypothyroidism with a drug or supplement seemed to eliminate the arthritis, at least when it was adequate treatment.

I am reluctant to consider that now, despite adequate treatment, I might just have arthritis. The reason this bothers me is because I do believe that pain of any sort is our body's 'alarm system'. Arthritis must mean that something is still causing my body to be inflamed. Anyway, I went looking for some articles on unresolved joint pain.

Here's a link to an article about a woman who basically suffers from the same symptoms, hypothyroidism and join pain. Unfortunately, most of the suggestions are not natural, it's mostly about taking drugs. :(

This article kind of says the same thing: "If joint and muscle aches, stiffness, swelling or redness continues in thyroid patients who are well-treated, their doctor may need to thoroughly evaluate them for the possibility of other rheumatic diseases being present. If thyroid disease is the autoimmune type, a patient is at higher risk for developing other autoimmune diseases, including Rheumatoid Arthritis."

Good news! I've already seen a rheumy and I do NOT have rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis. So....where does that leave me?!

This page is one I have referenced a few times. I keep thinking about what vitamins and minerals are needed to help break down protein in the...joints? But I think the terminology and the finer points of the chemistry of my body are beyond me. Maybe I just need to devote more time to DH's collection of biology textbooks. Anyway, this is what this link says:

"Hypothyroid arthritis. Arthritis from an underactive thyroid gland is related to excessive deposits of certain proteins in connective tissues. Thyroid stimulating hormone, produced by the pituitary gland at the base of the brain, may cause the excessive protein collections. Symptoms include vague aches and pains, but usually there are no inflammatory signs. Joint thickening and fluid collections occur in 33% of patients. Knees, ankles, and small hand and foot joints are involved and are unusually thick. Knee x-rays show a characteristic thinning of bone near the joint."

Another possibility that occurred to me (albeit before recent test results were in) is that I have joint pain because I'm under treated, as in, I need more thyroid hormone. "What is undertreated hypothyroidism? It's hypothyroidism at the cellular level that means you still have hypothyroidism symptoms such as fatigue, weight gain, depression, fibromyalgia/muscle & joint aches and pains, hair loss or coarse/dry hair, infertility and more --despite taking thyroid replacement and having a "normal" TSH level."


Now, my TSH is currently somewhere around .898. That's supposed to be dang near perfect. But according to an alternative web site (alternative in that the authors do not agree with the 'mainstream' doctor solution of giving Synthroid and calling it good....), .898 could still be too high for me. 

Reading this whole page was like reading about me (I'm sorry, this is quite a bit to cut and paste, but there was nothing I felt I could cut out!):

"For example, a doctor has his patient make her way up to 1-2 grains, notices great improvements, but also has continuing problems. OR, a patient makes her way up to 2 grains and notices NO improvement. And it’s common to think that desiccated thyroid is not working! In reality, it may simply mean a patient isn’t on enough! It can also be very wise to check adrenal function, since low cortisol can prevent thyroid hormones from making it to the cells….and you will still feel bad.

• BEING ON AN OPTIMAL DOSE and FEELING GREAT, BUT BEING LOWERED DUE TO THE TSH LAB RANGE Similar to #2 above, this is the person that made his/her way up to an optimal dose, or the dose that simply made them feel very good and removed symptoms, but having the dose lowered by a doctor who saw your suppressed TSH (i.e. below the range). This is doctor who thinks that ink spots on a piece of paper tell the truth more than your symptoms! When on an optimal dose of desiccated thyroid (or being very near), you WILL have a suppressed TSH without being hyper. 

• THINKING YOU ARE ON TOO MUCH BECAUSE OF HYPER-SYMPTOMS Yes, a doctor can guide you to  go too high with desiccated thyroid and you’ll have hyper symptoms. You would then want to decrease your amount. But even more common is having hyper-like symptoms (anxiety, shakiness, fast heart rate, etc), especially on doses lower than 3 grains, because of underlying low-functioning adrenals (i.e. not enough cortisol), or even a low Ferritin or iron—-each and/or both of which can be quite common in hypothyroid patients."

If low functioning adrenals is really a "thing", then I am happy to say that I have started to do yoga to help my whole body in general. I highly recommend relaxing yoga. There is a streaming video on Netflix called "Crunch: Candlelight Yoga". I am in love with it. I feel so relaxed during and after and get excited to do it beforehand. That can't be a bad thing. I also noticed that in Dr. Grantly Dick-Read's book, he recommends yoga exercises (um, not ALL yoga is pregnancy-friendly) to help open the pelvis for childbirth. What isn't yoga good for?

I have also noticed that getting enough sleep helps with the arthritis, surprise, surprise. Maybe I just generally need to take better care of myself, more sleep, more Vitamin D and Iron.