Category Archives: muscle pain

Guest Post! Rachel Hill

Why I Don’t Mind Being Defined by Thyroid Disease

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Hypothyroidism. Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Anxiety Disorder. Adrenal Fatigue. Depression. All conditions I currently have or, in the case of depression, have had at previous times in my life (depression comes in and out of my life as it pleases).

People tell me however, not to let these conditions, physical and mental, define me.

But why? They do define part of who I am and what my life has become and I’m OK with that. 


Whilst it’s true that there is so much more to me than my health conditions, they are a huge part of my life and who I am. They’ve shaped who I am today. And in fact, they’ve made me a better person; a more well-rounded person. Someone who appreciates life and the small things more so than pre-diagnosis of any of these conditions.

The truth is, if you have a long term health condition, it will most likely play a part in defining who you are. If it has such an impact on your life that it prevents you from having a ‘normal’ life, then it is part of your existence right now and often defines what you’re able to do. And that’s OK. The conditions I live with have meant I now work part-time, can’t exercise as much as I used to (I used to be incredibly active) and can’t be as sociable as I once was.

I don’t want to be defined solely by my health conditions but at the same time, they are what’s made me who I am. 

Going through the many years of not knowing what was wrong with me, in terms of physical symptoms piling up, until I was eventually diagnosed with autoimmune thyroid disease, and also the anxiety I’ve experienced my whole life, without knowing that that’s what it was. Going through the pre-diagnosis, the diagnosis and now the ‘trying-to-cope-with-it-and-manage-the-conditions’ stages, I have become an advocate for my own health; I’ve become stronger in various ways.

I have learnt to stand up for myself. I am stronger in taking more control over my health and the pursuit of making peace with what life has handed me. And peace with myself. This has also made me more confident, independent and self assured. I’m very different to the person I was five years ago.

The conditions I have have helped me to realise that I am not Superwoman and that I needed to scale back on my commitments and expectations. Leading up to diagnosis of my physical health conditions, I was running myself in to the ground thinking that I should be working towards being supremely fit, having the ‘dream job’, a perfect house and very busy social life. When you develop health conditions that quite physically limit how much you can do, you have to take a step back and reevaluate. Reevaluate what is important and what you can do.

Compared to who I was five years ago, I am wiser, more mature, more independent, have my own voice and the strength to do more than I ever thought possible. And I don’t mean physically. I don’t mean run marathons or work a seventy-hour-a-week job. I do more for me and others in the same kind of situation; I speak up. I do more of what my body and mind needs and requires from me in terms of consciously looking after myself better but I’m also a voice for other thyroid patients, through my advocacy work.

My health conditions, and I call them my health conditions because they have formed such a huge part of who I am and what I get fulfilment out of doing, have led on to amazing opportunities. Helping others with thyroid disease, providing a voice for them and advocating for better diagnosis and treatment is a huge part of the person I am today. It’s what drives me and keeps me going on rough days. Of course, there is still so much more to me than these health conditions – I love vintage and retro fashion, I’m a total foodie, enjoy craft projects and musicals – but the truth is, my health conditions have given me more purpose. I know now that I was put on this Earth to weather the storms and come out stronger, telling others that they can do the same and that the support is out there. As it’s changed my life and who I am so much, I am defined by it.

But there is this idea in society that everyone should be aiming for ‘happiness’. That ‘being happy’ is the ultimate goal in life. Yet, if I was to become ‘happy’, for example in the sense that being 100% healthy would equal being happy, I’d lose myself. I’d lose who I was. I’d lose what makes me, me.

What is often missed is that it’s OK to not be happy. When we question that the end goal, the ultimate aim in life, is to be ‘happy’, we ask ‘what is happiness anyway?’ It’s not a destination, it’s an emotion. Emotions come and go all the time, in fact,  throughout one day alone we go through numerous emotions. How unattainable a goal it is to reach that place that can’t be sustained forever? An emotion, a feeling, where we inevitably won’t stay?

Life dishes out its trials and tribulations. It gives us challenges, difficult times and of course the best of times. And this is life. In many cultures, to be ‘happy’ means to find your soulmate, get married, have a family, buy a beautiful house, have lots of money in the bank and a dream career. But this is so unattainable, even more so for those of us with health conditions. Mental and physical health conditions.

What is with this pressure to find your ‘soulmate’? ‘The One’? Why can’t you be content with whoever you enjoy spending time with? Why must people feel pressured to follow social convention at all? For many of us with mental and physical health conditions, ‘the dream career’ isn’t an option we have. Many can’t work or those who do are limited in what kind of job they can do or how many hours of work. Why must a job exist solely to get you to a ‘dream career’? Why do we need this to be ‘happy’? There is so much more to life than a job, focus on money and pleasing society.

I just want to feel at peace. And in that I mean accepting that I’ll feel sad some days, angry or frustrated others and, on the rare days, just happy. Because peace is accepting all of this. Peace is accepting that life is life and there is no one emotion or ‘state of happiness’ that will suddenly all fall in to place when we tick things off a checklist set by society. Many of which don’t live with conditions that can limit or affect what they’re able to do daily.

Just making peace with the fact that we’re human and we come in a whole range of emotions is absolutely fine. We’re allowed tricky days, days where we barely make it through, and we’re allowed fantastic days. Those days that are the happiest of our lives.

But reaching happiness isn’t a destination or goal. You can’t keep it. It’s isn’t a possession.

And being defined by my health conditions is fine by me. I own them. They don’t own me.
You can click on the hyperlinks in the above post to learn more and see references to information given.

You can find Rachel @ TheInvisibleHypothyroidism.com

 

Ow! Ways to Help Muscle pain and Fatigue

    Thyroid disease comes with many issues attached to it. Since the thyroid is responsible for a good majority of processes in the body, a lot of things are affected when it isn’t functioning correctly. One of the most painful is the muscle pain and fatigue. If you are hyperthyroid, then you get muscle pain and fatigue because your body is running through energy so fast, it’s like having you run a marathon every few minutes. Your muscles feel sore, and achy and sometimes weak. Too much thyroid hormone can also start to break down muscle tissue as well. Then when you go hypothyroid,  your muscles are tired again,  and you are fatigued, due to not enough thyroid hormone giving you the energy you need to move. Either way, it prevents you from moving like you would like to be able,  and sometimes results in a lot of pain. Pain that prevents people from being able to work or function fully not infrequently.

First step if you are having a lot of muscle pain, is to work with your doctor to get your thyroid levels to optimal levels. Keeping a journal and noting what your last labs were, plus medicines you are on and how you feel at the time of blood draw can help you pinpoint where you feel better and where you feel worse. If you have a good doctor who will work with you, you can work to tweak your dose to where you are feeling better.

If your muscle aches and pains are not caused by injury, but by thyroid levels, there are some things you can do to help yourself feel better. The first one is moving more. (talk to your doctor and find out what is safe for  YOU to do first) Exercise is a good thing, but you have to be careful and find exercises that will strengthen you and not harm you.
When I was having really bad fatigue and muscle aches, I started out with low impact aerobics, only 4-5 minutes a day. After a week, I went up to 7 minutes, and paid attention to how I felt. If I felt worse after this, I would drop back down to previous level. Each week if I was able to handle it, I would go up a couple of minutes. It’s slow and feels pointless, but I made it up to 30 minutes 5 times a week eventually, and my muscles started to feel better and less fatigued.
Then I added in some basic yoga twice a week to the routine, maybe 5 minutes at a time of stretches. Basic stretches where I once again started off with slowest and easiest moves and slowly worked my way up to more difficult ones. Once I got up to being able to handle that, then I added in some light basic weights and exercises that strengthened my legs and lower back. They key is to find an exercise you like, that’s not high impact, and be able to ease into it, listening to your body the entire time. If your body is hurting, STOP. A small amount of aching in the muscles is ok, sharp pains or something that does not go away after a few hours or a day is not. Take a break and do less the next day or the day after. It’s not a race. Just moving sometimes will help me ease some of the aches and stiffness in my muscles and joints. On a really bad day, I will just do some basic stretches and basic yoga poses to help ease the kinks out of my muscles.

Next thing that will help ease some of the pain is getting proper rest. Do you have sleep issues? Do you snore, or have daytime tiredness that could signal sleep apnea on top of thyroid issues? It is quite common to develop sleep apnea along with thyroid issues. Get a sleep study done if you suspect that might be the cause. Otherwise make sure you are following good sleep hygiene rules:

  1. Avoid caffeine and stimulants past 2pm at least and altogether if you can. Caffeine and other stimulants can last in  your body for hours after and upset your ability to sleep. Also avoid alcohol, it may seem to make you sleepy, but you will be wide awake not long after you fall asleep with it.
  2. Turn your bedroom into a sleep haven. Dark curtains blocking out light. No electronic devices in your bedroom near you. Slightly cool environment temperature. Comfortable mattress and pillows. Try to keep all distractions outside of your bedroom when you are sleeping, pets outside of the room, as their movements can interrupt your sleep even when you don’t realize it.
  3. Have a soothing bed time routine. Take a bath every night, or read a calming book, meditate on the day, write out a list of things to be done the next day and then let those thoughts go.
  4. Go to sleep when you are really tired. If you are laying in bed still awake after 20 minutes, get out of bed. Go sit in a quiet room and do something quiet such as reading or listening to soft music until you are sleepy again.
  5. Watch your lights. The light from the television actually signals your brain to wake up, so do not watch television when you are trying to go to sleep. Also, when you get up in the morning, make sure you let in some sunlight if available that day to wake yourself up.
  6. Do not eat or drink within 2 hours of going to bed, and make sure you eat lighter at dinner if you can than at lunch time. This will ensure you are not still digesting when your body is needing to rest and relax.
  7. Establish a routine. Get up the same time every day, including weekends. Try not to nap unless you absolutely have to.

Next get your vitamins and minerals checked. Make sure your magnesium, calcium, vitamin D and potassium levels are adequate. Deficiencies in any of these can make muscle pain and fatigue much worse. When your thyroid levels are too low or too high, your body might also be using much more of these as well. If lab tests come back deficient, a simple supplement might be all it takes to ease your muscle pain and help with your fatigue. There are many supplements out there that can help also. Many people are able to take turmeric as a supplement also for joint and muscle pain. After checking with doctor and pharmacist to make sure it’s okay to take, some have found this eases inflammation in the joints and muscles and thus eases the fatigue.

So, get your thyroid levels to optimal levels. Then start an exercise program taking into account what is safe for you, easing into it for safety. Get your sleep hygiene straight, and then have your vitamins and minerals checked. Hopefully one or all of these will help you find some relief from your thyroid related muscle pain and fatigue.