post exercice problems

• By Catnap73
• Reply 3738025
• January 25, 2013 at 6:53 am
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Yep I posed a similar question a while back and still not figured out what is going on. A couple of times I noticed I was feeling really worn out just after light yoga and then I had a full 24 hours of being unwell after doing a run. The thing that I really struggle with is that I have felt fine during the exercise but gradually start to feel unwell after, lightheaded, racing pulse, just worn out feeling like I'm getting the flu. I'm really confused and frankly scared to exercise. I think mine sounds like post exercise malaise which seems to be mostly associated with cfs which I'm sure I don't have but all the other symptoms fit for me. I'm going to speak to my doctor again as I'm so frustrated and confused and unsure if is thyroid related, will let you know if I find out anything.

• By frogegirl
• Reply 3738086
• January 25, 2013 at 7:29 am
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Yes yes. I was a consistant runner before my thyroidecomy and RAI treatment. Now its really hard and the dizziness, and body aches is almost constant. I still try my darnest to push through the pain tho. The thyroid does control alot of these feelings. The dietician at my doc off said to still try and do as much as you can since the thyroid controls your metabolism and i dont have one now that it will be up to the rest of my body to manage the weight manangement. So it is tough. I have to get up extra early in the morning just to get over the dizziness and neaseousness

• By paganpoodle
• Reply 3738135
• January 25, 2013 at 7:53 am
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Thanks for the replys im sorry you are both experencing similar things but glad its not just me.
My oncolgyist has also mentiond cfs.no I dont think I have it but have been following an diet to help my adrenals.
I want to loose weight and get fitter as I have a manual job and want to keep doing it.
I used breathing exercises to start to increase my energy levals this worked very well but is not going to help my body strengthan.

• By lilacs54
• Reply 3738311 · In reply to 3738135 by paganpoodle
• January 25, 2013 at 8:50 am
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I had papillary with follicular variant and had a TT in August 2012 and RAI one month later for a 2 mm cancerous nodule.

I also feel worn out after exercise. I have been going to PT for a back strain that just won't heal and sometimes I get dizzy and nauseous if they push me too hard. I also feel so ill after a very stressful day at work. I have a new teaching position, which is only part-time, but 5 straight hours of face time with students two days a week and 2 full days of prep time. In the evening and the day after teaching, I am useless to do anything. My endo decreased my Synthroid from 125 to 112, and the pharmacy gave me generic which I did not notice right away. He also asked me to stop the Cytomel which I was taking every morning. Since then, I have gained about 10 lbs in 2 months.

I think this artificial way of supplementing natural thyroxine just doesn't keep up with our activities/stress. Also, if you are older (I am 58), one is already battling loss of muscle strength. At one point I just lost it in with the physical therapist and started to get weepy, which is not like me, because I felt like I was getting weaker instead of stronger and this would impact many aspects of my life, especially my ability to work full-time. It is true that it is so hard to be motivated to walk or exercise when already fatigued, experiencing weakness and then knowing you are not going to feel great the day after exercising.

The only thing we can do is to keep trying to stay as active as possible and push ourselves until we reach a place that works best for our body. It is a balancing act.

• By four_winds
• Reply 3738318
• January 25, 2013 at 8:53 am
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I had a partial thyroidectomy ten years ago. I've run for 30 years. I was a runner, darn it. I ran throughout very hypothyroid symptoms, while on levox 100 mcg. Could never regain fitness after. Bloomed from 150 to 240lbs. I pushed ten times harder than anyone else. I only complicated my symptoms, and sent myself further down the wrong path. Many injuries, several surgeries, and lots of deterioration later, I now have perspective. For many reasons I've figured out now, the t4 only (levoxyl or synthroid) treatment did not work for me. My rabbit hole is a little deeper than most, but I existed miserably for many years. Before, and after surgery.

Many of my threads/posts may offer you some insight into a broader perspective of what CAN happen (doesn't necessarily, depending on how well you take care of yourself...) ten years down the road...to fitness, to the brain, and to those very important cells in our body, that we are trying to get to absorb the thyroid hormone.... I was fed up and went on a heartfelt quest to find answers. You may find these posts of interest. I hope you feel better soon.

• By jemkat85
• Reply 3738678
• January 25, 2013 at 10:25 am
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After my TT I was doing well for a year and then all of a sudden started having shortness of breath, weak during exercise, fatigue, high HR. All of my issues were from being oversuppressed. Now that my dose is lowered and I am on beta blocker I feel much better. I don't feel that weakness during exercise, the fatigue is gone and my HR is down. Others who are experiencing the same symptoms being overly suppressed can be the culprit, at least it was for me.

• By mazbarth
• Reply 3739355
• January 25, 2013 at 1:11 pm
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I too have been very physically active my whole life. I had a TT almost 4 years ago and immediately noticed I could not exercise hardly at all without feeling like I had the flu when I was done. But I thought it was due to my low calcium issues. Two of my 4 parathyroids were left but they never restarted working and this produces massive problems with electrolyte balance.

I do feel better now having gone onto natural thyroid, as I seem to be one of those that needs the T3 along with the T4. I also am much better controlled again on the my calcium levels.

I also think cortizol levels play a huge factor in our condition. I would get your adrenal glands checked also!

I would also have your calcium, magnesium, & Vit D levels check and if any of these are off then you need your parathyroid hormone level checked. It's unusual for it to be a delayed problem, but hey anything is possible! :(

Best wishes!
Michele

• By paganpoodle
• Reply 3739511
• January 25, 2013 at 1:58 pm
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Thanks once again for the replys.I am well supressed at 0.01,but dont want to change anything at present as I am producing antibodys to the thyroglobulin so need a while to find out what is happening.my calcium has been just below normal for 2 years I am mtaking D3 and mag.I think you may have a point with the conection to the adrenals.thanks fourwinds I will take it slow and appreciate what I can do.

• By mazbarth
• Reply 3739618
• January 25, 2013 at 2:33 pm
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paganpoodle, I would request a parathyroid hormone level and make sure and supplement with calcium citrate BEFORE exercise. You may feel better! :) You should not be running just below normal anything, especially calcium!

• By drtaylor22
• Reply 3740712
• January 25, 2013 at 9:05 pm
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Yes, I feel Cortisol levels also play a part in this. I exercised for 30 min on a treadmill and got sick with flu like symptoms and a cold. Granted I am horribly out of shape and very overweight. Strangely, I felt alright while I was exercising it was a few days later I felt ill.

• By Timmi
• Reply 3741401
• January 26, 2013 at 5:55 am
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I thought I was the only one to get these extreme fatigue and flu like symptoms after a day of doing a little more. Of course doing a little more is nothing like I used to be able to do....not even close! And yes I often feel ok WHEN I'm exercising, but then afterward...I'll feel awful.
There is nothing like having your thyroid gland....synthroid (or any other) just isnt the same as the minute to minute control of a functioning thyroid gland...I'm guessing that is the reason,but I have no idea as I was on a suppression dose for 15 years BEFORE TT and RIA and I functioned GREAT then!

• By Yggdrasil
• Reply 3741496
• January 26, 2013 at 7:32 am
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Me too. Except I am not, and have never been an exercise driven person. I do it when I have to and to lose weight. I had spinal surgery so need to keep myself moving. Since TT I've been battling the usual stuff, but included in mine are weird muscle and joint issues my endo doesn't seem to think are important - but it's not him living my life.

My issues are stamina, muscle tightness, aches, shortness of breath and fatigue. I too feel better whilst on the bike/treadmill/walking, I even sometimes can only manage routines on the WiiFit thing, but at least it moves my joints. I found I was Vit D deficient, and things did improve after a few months of supplements. However, nothing ever was back to how it should be.

I actually have a strange thing where, for instance, I will go to a shopping centre (Mall in the US), walk around 1 to 2 hours, then after sitting for a coffee, or driving home, my thigh muscles are tight and painful, as if I had jogged or something. Totally not normal for me, ever. Currently I seem to be a bit suppressed, but I shouldn't be and have to take this up with my endo in a few weeks. Also I have to live on very low calorie diet and exercise to even lose small amounts of weight, he also doesn't seem to be taking this on board.

• By RachelDL
• Reply 3742206
• January 26, 2013 at 11:14 am
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Oh My! Bunch of us!
Jan 28th 2010 I had my tumor taken out , went back to one part time job (had been working three jobs)
Feb 22nd 2010 I had rest the my thyroid removed, went back to the same easy part time job ,,
March 7th RAI (UGH if I knew then what I know now!) went back to the same easy part time job,

I never was able to go back to the others and wound up applying for disability in November of 2010.. darn close to bed ridden for months ,, finally started crawling out of the hole when I switched to Nature Throid and added D3 and other supplements to my world! I still have a long way to go ,, just switched in July of 2012 and am continuing to refine my supplements, plant based calcium not rocks and so forth! I can walk a little now and that is exciting!

You are not alone! Mazbarth has given good advice on tests to get! Calcium being low will mess with you big time!

• By paganpoodle
• Reply 3742849
• January 26, 2013 at 2:48 pm
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Thanks again everyone.It is like an echo of myself reading your replys.I have now had another calcium test and awating results.doc says I dont need a parathyroid test as he knows 2dont work so yes I am hypoparathyroid.I will tary taking calcium before exercise and have now joined the hypoparathyroid grup Mazbeth recomended..(thanks Mazbeth).feeling somewhat better now as I havn't done anything for aweek.will try pilatis on monday.doing more resurch on adrenals and any conection to thyroid etc.may be its abit like taking an instrament out of a band.The music just does not sound the same once it's gone.

• By lilacs54
• Reply 3743024
• January 26, 2013 at 3:49 pm
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Yes, thanks to everyone's posts. The hard thing is that no one believes me when I try to explain my limitations. They think I am
exaggerating. That includes my physician daughter, my husband my physical therapists and sometimes my two other children. Even those that believe me try to tell me to PUSH myself.

I guess it is time to take charge and dismiss their attitudes. I can do what I can and I know I will try to stay well, as I can see all of you who posted, have been doing so. I think I will try to stop explaining and just set limits.

Your posts have been encouraging in understanding that this is a real phenomenon.

• By mazbarth
• Reply 3743397
• January 26, 2013 at 6:28 pm
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For everybody struggling with calcium issues, make sure and view the webinar that is coming on Monday at the HPTH assoc site. Will provide lots of answers for thosse just starting to struggle with what you need to learn to be stable again.

paganpoodle, your doctor saying he knows you are hypoparathyroid (hpth) because you have two paras that are not functioning is pretty crazy (BECAUSE you can live with just one parathyroid), unless you have had a parathyroid level with calcium, magnesium, phosphorus levels all together which are out of bounds. Some people can even run normal levels and still have symptoms but it is quite unusal.

I suggest either you need to ask a lot more questions or you may need to start the search for a doctor that truly understands HPTH! As you get to know more of what you need to know, you will be able to ask for what you need to feel better. You definitely need to know where you are at (level wise) because becoming HYPER on the calcium can be pretty uncomfortable!

If you have any other questions, just ask away and let us support you to feel better!
Best wishes, Michele

• By Yggdrasil
• Reply 3743513
• January 26, 2013 at 7:19 pm
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<<The hard thing is that no one believes me when I try to explain my limitations. They think I am
exaggerating. >>

ABSOLUTELY. This coupled with "but you look so well" from non medical friends/family, well, I suppose 2 stone of weight plus a small-ish scar tells them I'm not fading away to a shadow. before I had spinal surgery I used to think, IF I had a scar, to show you, will you believe me when I say that I am in constant pain? I know my calcium is okay, it's something else, and medical types just don't have a clue, don't want to understand or we all must go to different medical centers, all of whom have "very few" patients who have ever mentioned this.

I am sooo lucky my husband does believe me, and we just did a trip at Christmas and wow, what difference no thyroid makes.

• By Drmommyof2
• Reply 3743583
• January 26, 2013 at 7:45 pm
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It is such a shame that people dismiss us as being normal after our surgery. Removing the thyroid causes a tremendous amount of havoc on the body. In fact, I think this is harder on our systems than say removing some other organ. There are some organs that become cancerous that do not have the same vital functions as a thyroid. Lets see.....prostrate, breast, uterus, ovary, cervix, vulva, melanoma, vaginal, kidney, adrenal. I am not belittling any type of cancer. I have known people to die from all types of cancer. I was taught in medical school that many people will be found to have prostrate cancer at autopsy, but my dad had prostrate cancer. I have also seen mem with having spread and have had bone mets, I have also seen men impotent and incotinent from having a radical prostectomy. My grandmother had breast cancer. I have had to tell patients in their 30's that they have bilateral breast cancer. My great aunt had ovarian cancer. I had a patient who had renal cell carcinoma when she was 18, diagnosed when she was pregnant. She died shortly after her baby was born. No cancer is fair! No cancer is good! I think thyroid cancer just leaves us with more daily problems. Yes it can be easily cured for some. However, it has a HIGH rate of recurrence. Mine recurred at less than one year. I have a rare case of Paraneoplastic Syndrome. At least we hope that is what it is, it's the lesser of the evils.

• By lilacs54
• Reply 3743821
• January 26, 2013 at 9:23 pm
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Dear Drmommyof2
Thanks for this sobering perspective. I feel guilty sometimes that I have a cancer that is not as vicious as some of the others. But I think it is so hard to tell what is really going on inside my body and what to expect. Early detection and treatment is the key for any cancer and that is what our doctors are trying to achieve, and we have to keep on top of it, every 6 months or so.

I am happy that we can share our experiences of how 'crummy' we feel. It just validates that it is real and that we are dealing with many potential causes such as the long term effects of suppression, calcium issues, etc, And we can try different methods to get some relief and improve our strength and endurance. And we can also just let loose and complain in a safe place such as this website, among friends.

• By bbsoulful2
• Reply 3757297
• January 30, 2013 at 6:54 pm
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I am so happy to have found this thread (the site was recommended by my endocrinologist, but I only used it previously for low-iodine diets before RAI treatment).

I, too, am having trouble with this fatigue, and your letters all sound just like me. I was always an active person, and I am a teacher, so I don't sit a lot. Being over 50, I recently joined a gym, to make sure that I keep my heart strong, and found that I feel great while on the treadmill or arc trainer, and my body, heart and lungs quickly got used to the new activity, so that I was able to really get back to what I did before my surgery. I can keep up with a lot of the youngsters at the gym - exercise is not new to me.

I felt a little muscle sore (not even bad) after I first started back up, but not really tired. Strangely, I found that I slowly got tired over the next few days, so that I had to stop exercising for a bit. Like you all, it felt like I was getting sick.

Yesterday, I had a busy (but normal) day at work. By dinner, I was so exhausted, I thought I'd cry. My husband ordered pizza so I didn't have to cook, and I was sound asleep by 9:17 pm. If my alarm hadn't gone off this morning, I know I would have slept through until 8:00. All day, I have battled exhaustion. I called my doctor this afternoon, and the nurse says it's normal to feel tired when you start exercising after a break from it. I don't know how to explain that it feels just like the fatigue I felt after going off thyroid medicine for three weeks before my RAI treatment. It's a deep down in your bones tired, disproportionate to the amount of activity I just did. No one should have to sleep all the next day just from going to work one day.

I have an appointment next week, but, after reading all your letters, I think I'll call my doctor directly, because I wonder about my blood calcium levels, the levo dose I'm taking, and Vit D levels.