The Thyroid/Fibromyalgia Connection

Shared Causes, Shared Treatments?

by Mary J. Shomon¹

A significant percentage of the estimated 20 million people with hypothyroidism end up also being diagnosed with fibromyalgia, an important connection discussed in my new book Living Well With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia². Both conditions share symptoms, including fatigue, exhaustion, depression, brain fog, and varying degrees of muscle and joint pain. Some experts believe that like most cases of hypothyroidism, fibromyalgia is also autoimmune in nature. Others believe that fibromyalgia may be one manifestation of an underactive metabolism – hypometabolism – and is therefore one variation on thyroid dysfunction.

Fibromyalgia, also known as fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS), fibromyositis, fibrositis, and myofibrositis, is characterized by widespread joint and muscle pain and tenderness, fatigue, and exhaustion after sleep and after effort.

Fibromyalgia affects as many as 8 million people in the U.S., occurring mainly in women of childbearing age. Symptoms usually arise between the ages of 20-55 years, but the condition also may be diagnosed in childhood. Among the entire population, it's estimated that as many as 3-6% of the general population, including children, meet the criteria for diagnosis of fibromyalgia. This would make fibromyalgia over twice as common as rheumatoid arthritis. In general, fibromyalgia is strikes women seven times more often than men, according to a 1998 National Institutes of Health report.

Fibromyalgia Symptoms

Symptoms of fibromyalgia typically include:

• Feeling of pain, burning, aching, and soreness in the body
• Headaches, tenderness of the scalp, pain in the back of the skull
• Pain in the neck, shoulder, shoulder blades and elbows
• Pain in hips, top of buttocks, outside the lower hip, below buttocks, and the pelvis
• Pain in the knees and kneecap area
• Fatigue, unrefreshing sleep, waking up tired, morning stiffness
• Insomnia, frequent waking, difficulty falling asleep, or falling asleep immediately
• Raynaud's phenomenon (where your hands feel cold, numb, or turn blue, when exposed to temperature changes)
• Irritable bowel syndrome, diarrhea and constipation, bloating, cramping
• Balance problems
• Neurally mediated hypotension -- when you stand up, your blood pressure drops, which can make you feel faint, dizzy, nauseous, your heart rate drops, and you can even pass out
• Balance problems
• Restless leg syndrome
• Sense of tissues feeling swollen
• Numbness, tingling and feeling of cold in the hands and feet
• Chest pain, palpitations
• Shortness of breath
• Painful periods
• Anxiety, depression and "fibrofog" -- the term used to describe the confusion and forgetfulness, inability to concentrate and difficulty recalling simple words and numbers, and transposing words and numbers
• Frequent urination
• Muscle twitching
• Dry mouth