Thyroidism
I did not realize, since RA affects SO many different parts of the body that thyroid is another one that affects us. My OLD primary care (I had to get rid of him, because of what he did - did not order the complete thyroid panel, he knew I had RA and was seeing a rheumatologist. Anyway, BECAUSE he did not, one day my pulse rate skyrocketed, when I was just sitting in a chair. Come to find out I had ATRIAL FIBRILLATION due to an overactive thyroid. Because, months earlier, when he ordered a thyroid test, and he did not do the complete test (I found this out when I went to an endocrinologist) I was way out of range and had HYPERTHRYOIDISM. Now take methimazole for it, but this atrial attack scared the fire out of me and they put me in the hospital because they thought I had a heart condition, which I do not! Never did. This sounds odd, but I was in the hospital for three days, first time in my life, because they could NOT do the thyroid test until the right lab people came in on MONDAY. It was a Friday night when I went in and I was in the heart ward!
Anyway, that was three years ago and I still take thyroid med, but am thinking of weaning myself off since I am taking Humira and feel so good that I have stopped taking all other RA meds like MTX and sulphasalizane and I wondered if NOW my thyroid would go back to normal. I may ask my endocrinologist, but he seems to go along WITH ANYTHING I WANT TO DO and I don't know if I like that or not!
Wondering how many of you have thyroid problems, and if their doctors related it to rheumatoid arthritis. I get tested every few months but I take a very low dose. I found if I take too much, I FLEW over to the hypothyroid side within six weeks. I was a minus something and then went to an 11!
Take care
Joanne
4 years ago I was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism. I had radioactive thyroid treatment to correct the problem.I now am hypothyroid. I take synthroid. During all this i developed graves disease(also an autoimmune disease). Then 2 to 3 years ago I developed what the doctors thought was carpal tunnel in my wrists and thumbs. After seeing several doctors no one could pin it down. Finally I was diagnosed with ra but by that time I had lost my job working for ups. I couldnt get disability and have been jobless since. I'm on methotrexate and celebrex but I am getting worse. My hands and wrists are the most effected. I try to keep a positive outlook but it is hard and my family has been greatly affected by this. Oh I am also sero negative.
I have had ra since my twenties, diabeties since adolescence, and hypothyroid since my 30's. I do know they are all linked somehow, as a Dr. once told me it was the X factor. Don't know exactly what that means.Hi Joanne,
Being an RN, I tend to err on the side of caution when it comes to things like weaning myself off of something without first discussing it with my MD. Glad you have been successful with the other meds but it doesn't mean your RA is gone, just in remission. Mine is too and with my RD am in the process of cutting back on meds but I wouldn't stop taking something as important as your thyroid meds without a doctor's direction. Just my thoughts on the matter.
Jeanne
Hey Vanessa;
X = female as in double X chromosones.
Interestingly, I've seen research that says when men get RA or other autoimmune diseases they have higher estrogen levels than the rest of the male population. (Guys, don't freak out here - nobody is saying you're gay). It's why AI diseases primarily hit women and all this stuff is tied to the endocrine system.
Hi Kotts8 -
Welcome - are you new?
Joanne -
I'm with Jeanne on this - don't wean off because it could really put you into a tailspin. If you don't like the meds, look into Armor Thyroid which I think is half synthetic or bio-identical hormones. Buckeye would know for sure. I'm still researching because I just figured out I have this problem.
Pip
Joanne, do not wean yourself off Methimazole without discussing this with your doctor. These meds and your thyroid affect other glands and organs and you can do some serious harm. It's not just your thyroid that's involved here. When we start to feel good we all want to throw caution to the wind and also our pills; it's not an unusual feeling.
I'm hypothyroid and have been for years. Now that I've gotten older the levels jump around quite a bit and aren't always stable so my primary adjusts my meds according to the latest labs. This was the second auto immune disease that I acquired.
Take care. Lindy
I was diagnosed with a hyper thyroid in 2004 and had the radiation treatment, and then a year later it went to Hypo and a year after that I was diagnosed with RA. I'm on Synthroid and Methotrexate.Joanne-I was diagnosed with Graves Disease (which made me hypERthyroid) back in Nov. 06' About that same time is when I started having my problems with my hands hurting...so I was seeing one Dr for the hand problems..at the same time being diagnosed with the Graves by another Dr. I believed at first that the Graves was causing the joint pain. ( symptom of thyroid problems can be joint pain) So I wanted to treat the Graves first, see if that cleared up the hand pain.....it didn't....so in March was officially told I had RA.
So anyway--I started out on 200mg of PTU for my Graves...went into hyPO hell......when my Dr took me down to 50mg of PTU, I asked about weaning down more..she didn't want to. She said she'd just end up taking me off it cold turkey. Well, I didn't like that approach, so I have slowly weaned myself from the 50mg to 37.50...had labs ran, they were moving in the right direction. Then I lowered to 25mg, had labs ran..looked good. Now upon the advice from some other "thyroid gurus" I'm staying at the 25mg dose for now.
Do you happen to know what your thyroid levels are at? I'd probably run it by your endo since he seems to be willing to "work with you."
And yes, my Dr.'s told me when you have one autoimmune disease, you're more likely to get another one. It's just not fair, is it?
I was diagonsed with Graves about 24 years ago. I took the radioactive iodine pill, after 2 years of my Dr trying to fix my thyroid. I've been hypothyroid for probably a good 20 years, I'm taking synthroid. I was diagnosed with RA on the 16th of this month.
I'm hypothroid too but haven't started taking the armour thyroid for it yet. I'm taking over the counter diet supplements and they can't be taken in conjunction with armour. I'll ask my RD when I see him if it's ok. My DR. said I was just in the lower range and boy did I have to fight him to admit I had a problem. I had so many symptoms but the test they use wastoo strict and they've only recently changed it. If it's not one thing it's another.AMYLYNN: I am waiting for my latest thyroid blood test results to come in to the mail. THey ALWAYS forget to mail it to me even though it says right on it "COPY TO PATIENT, but I was in normal range and take only 5 mg of methimazole to maintain it. If I take too much it goes out of whack. One time it went DOWN and I told him I wanted to take perhaps 5 mg and then 10 mg every other day to balance it and he agreed.
I want all my blood test results sent to me. Doctors some times do not even look them and they are just filed, or what happens sometimes is the nurses leave them stacked up for filing and it is not even in your records when you go to see him. Happened to me just last month before I began the Humira drugs. My shoulder was in GREAT PAIN and I was so afraid it would get to the point of my left shoulder WHICH HAD TO BE REPLACED!!! So I had to ask for an xray of my good shoulder because the cortisone shot did NO GOOD.
WELL, come to find out the xray report was not even in my file (I thought they'd call if something was wrong) and when they gave it to him when I was sitting there, it said I had bursitis. So he - nonchalantly says - when I blurted out BURSITIS. BURSISTIS! he said yes, well if we had known we would have given you a shot directly in the bursar sac, which he did NOT inject you in the sac the last time, so I got ANOTHER SHOT, and within a day, pain was gone.
If I had NOT HAD A COPY OF THAT XRAY REPORT AND HAD TO REQUEST IT, I'D STILL BE IN PAIN, thinking it was my RA!
I could site other levels of incompetence, but I will not get on my soap box.
Just keep all your records yourself!
Frankly, I did not know that rheumatologists were scarce. I just read in Arthritis Today some people can't even find them to get care!! And in the boondocks, they have to try to find things "on line". So I guess I am better off than others.
Take care
Joanne
In 2001 I was diagnosed with "early" Hashimotos. The endocrine doc didn't want to medicate me quite yet. So, I let it go and doc retired. When all of this started to come about, all my docs have said thyroid is "fine, normal". After I am through will RD doc and have or don't have DX...I'm going to find a new endocr. doc, and find out what is really going on.
I was diagnosed with low thyroid function and large thyroid tumor about 5 years after my RA diagnosis. I just had a partial (left side) thyroidectomy this past February and am currently taking/alternating Levoxyl 75 and 100 mcg. every other day.
BTW...the pathology on my thyroid tissue came back as follicular adenoma.
The connection between thyroid problems and RA seems to be more common than I thought.
My thyroid was declared "overactive" 30 odd years ago and at the time the choice of treatments was between surgery and radioactive iodine which you drank.
The iodine did the trick but after a few years the thyroid went "underactive" - apparently very common, for which Thyroxine was prescribed. I have twice yearly blood tests and the Dr. gets very upset if I tell him I missed a few pills. After reading these posts I won't miss my thyroid pills again.
Cheers, Des.