[Sue_Conard]

#1019215

I’m confused, but what’s new?? June 10th I went back into hyperthyroidism with my Graves again. I’m on Tapazole and my endo dr. increased my dosage; however, I’m experiencing joint pain and muscle pain to the extent that I FEEL as though I’m 90 yrs. old. It’s difficult for me to get up and walk across the room some days. I enjoy exercising and I use Jazzercise as my means of exercise. Jazzercise is a source of strength training, along with the aerobics. Can anyone out there tell me "why" I shouldn’t exercise? I’ve heard that it has something to do with "wasting away" the muscle tissue to "you might fall from the pain". I "think" someone even told me that when your muscles/joints hurt, it has something to do with an excessive infiltration of white blood cells into these areas?
If I felt like trying it again soon, can anyone tell me the "physical" ramnifications of going back to Jazzercise? As you can see, I’m really CONFUSED with this disease…I know that I’ll never get rid of Graves, but I don’t want to harm anything else (ie. muscles/joints/organs) by being stupid either. Thanks for ANY INSIGHT you can provide me!!

[cathycnm]

#1070145

Sue – Yes, hyper effects muscles. It also impacts the heart (our biggest muscle). It is generally best to stay clear of exercise while we are hyper for these reasons. I recently had to be readjusted on my thyroid because I was a little high. How did I know – my theigh would ache (starting about 1/2 way through my walk) and would radiate down into my knee – it lasted a few hours and was helped by motrin. Within 3 weeks of having my dosage adjusted back down – the achy pain resolved. There is no doubt – our muscles are effected and the cells do not respond in their usual was to exercise.

Jazzersize sounds great – hang in there, I wish you a rapid recovery to normal levels so you can get back to what you love! Cathy

[Sue_Conard]

#1070146

Cathy: THANK YOU for reassuring me that I’m not going crazy with these symptoms!! I just ran and took some Motrin in hopes it relieves the muscle pain…I really appreciate you responding to my post!! Sue

[susant]

#1070147

Hi Sue,

I hope this helps, this is my experience with the leg soreness . I remember coming back from the gym and feeling like I was giving birth out of my toes…ahhhhh. I experienced incredible pain about 4 weeks after I started on anti-thyr drugs. It was particularly painful when I was at the gym . I discussed this with my physio who consulted an endo, and came to the conclusion that it was due to a change in metobolic rate. I decided to take an anti-inflammatory (voltaren) and a vit c morn and evening. It calmed down after about 4 weeks. I felt extremely frustrated about the fact that I was putting on weight (fast) and not able to work out to combat it. Hope this helps, please consult endo about anti-inflammatory advice.

All the best – it does get better!

Susan

[Sue_Conard]

#1070148

Thanks Susan for responding!! I have an Endo appt. coming up early July and will consult him. I appreciate your advice. One thing my Endo did tell me is that he didn’t want me to become lethargic from this disease!! I do have to say though, I took a motrin last night after reading Cathy’s post and it did help my symptoms this morning…I didn’t feel as rough!! Thanks ALL for helping me through this phase!! Sue

[runlacie]

#1070149

Hi! I’m new with Graves’ and very sore after walking/jogging. My PCP told me that it was okay for me to walk/jog just so I take it easy and my heart rate doesn’t go too high. I am a regular runner averaging about 60 miles per week before I got this, ran a marathon in May (I had the beginnings of Graves’ symptoms then, but did not know that’s what was wrong). Anyways, now all I can manage is a very slow jog or walking- I wear a heart rate monitor to make sure I don’t overdo it- and my legs are extremely sore afterwords. In just the short time I have known that I have Graves’ I already notice my muscles wasting away. I have lost a couple pounds and I’m getting flabby, so I think that the weight loss is my muscle turning to fat. How distressing. Right now I am not taking anything and am hyper, have an endo appt on Thursday and can’t wait to do SOMETHING about this so I can get back to being me again.

[Sue_Conard]

#1070150

OH MY GOSH LACIE!! That’s WHY my legs look cheesy, right? I looked at myself in the mirror the other day and couldn’t believe how tone I used to be and my legs looked like cottage cheese. So you’re saying that my muscles are "wasting away" into fat?? Do you think I’ll get the muscle back once I get out of "hyper"ness and start exercising more or is this something that can be permanent?? I don’t know much about it…THANKS for anything you can offer me.

[runlacie]

#1070151

Hi Sue ” title=”Smile” />

YES!!! I absolutely think we will get our muscle back! We better! I’ve weighed about 135 (I’m 5’7) for a year and was pretty much all muscle. No fat on my stomach, just some excess skin from pregnancies. In less than one month I suddenly weigh 130 and have FAT on my stomach and on my LEGS! I lost 5 pounds and got fat, how can that be??? I am still doing all of the core exercises I have always done (crunches, etc) I just can’t run fast anymore. I don’t really know how much of this is the disease and how much is just not being able to run like I used to. I am trying not to be depressed about it and constantly reminding myself that I am STRONG and I’ll fight to be me again.

I hope you get some answers at your upcoming appointment! Did you have any side effects from the Tapazole? I’m trying to decide what treatment to pursue.

[Ski]

#1070152

If you aren’t being treated at all, I’m surprised your doctor has agreed to let you exercise. When we’re healthy, exercise helps. When we’re hyper, it accelerates the muscle wasting. You’re actually better off, just now, to do nothing other than stretching and EXTREMELY light walking. It’s not really your muscle turning into fat, it’s your muscle tissue literally being stripped away from your body. You don’t want to help it happen faster.

[runlacie]

#1070153

That’s exactly what my Mom said about muscle can’t really turn into fat. That my stomach just looks different (fatter) because I am losing muscle. I guess my doctor figured that the exercise I am doing now is much less intense than what my body is used to, so it would be okay. I promised to keep my heart rate under 140 (181 is my max) and actually only am averaging about 105 when I walk and under 100 for the core exercises. I can jog slowly and stay under 140, but mostly am mainly walking as jogging just makes me want to go faster. I have a GPS/heart rate monitor that I wear and surprisingly, in the past couple days, I have noticed my average HR is actually dropping a bit on my walks, makes me wish for a spontaneous remission. I don’t understand how, exactly, being hyper wastes our muscles. Maybe if I understood the science behind it I’d be more apt to sit on the couch. Probably not, though- I’d really go insane then.

[Ski]

#1070154

The normal process for building muscle during exercise is that exercise tears down the muscle tissue, and the body rebuilds it stronger. When we are hyperthyroid, our "tear down" mechanism is accelerated (so we lose muscle tissue even while sitting still, even more while exercising and working the muscles), and our "rebuild" mechanism is completely suppressed. That’s why exercise is such a bad idea. You’ll lose muscle mass anyway, and running or jogging will only make it worse.

[runlacie]

#1070155

That’s depressing. But at least now it makes sense. Wonder what the quickest route to un-hyper is? surgery???

[Ski]

#1070156

Surgery’s the quickest way to know the thyroid is gone, but meds can act pretty quickly to bring your levels down, and you’ll need to do something while you prepare for surgery anyway, so you may want to start with meds and see how you feel on them. If they don’t seem to be working for you, you could proceed to surgery. RAI, at a high enough dose, can be just as quick a solution. Just make sure it’s an ablative dose, nothing less. No matter WHAT you do, it’ll be up to six weeks before the excess thyroid hormone gets out of your bloodstream.

[Sue_Conard]

#1070157

Back again…I’ve been on Tapazole since last October, on/off prednisone and had 2 IV Infusions on Solumedrol and radiation b/c I also have the eye disease. I wish that there was some explanation about muscle tissue literally being stripped away from your body with GD on the internet. Ski – If you have a link on the internet that you could send me to better educate me with this explanation, I’d appreciate it. I too would like to read the scientific explanation since I’m currently studying to be a nurse. Thanks a ton!!

[runlacie]

#1070158

Sue- I googled hyperthyroid and muscle loss and found some info. Much was too scientific for me to fully follow, but I got the gist of it and with what Ski said and what I read, I guess it makes sense and now I believe it is real. You’d understand it better, I’m sure, since you are in nursing school. Bummer. But I’m going out for my walk now anyways. Maybe I will slow down and listen to the birds now.

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