posted February 11, 2014 01:33 PM            

This comes as no surprise to us. Is fibromyalgia really under diagnosed, or is it hypothyroidism that is really being misdiagnosed? It is no coincidence that the symptoms of fibromyalgia are often the same as the symptoms of hypothyroidism. Fibromyalgia in itself is not a diagnosis, but rather a Latin word that means muscle pain. It is a description of a symptom; however it has come to be used by mainstream medicine to describe a collection of symptoms.

We already know that hypothyroidism is grossly overlooked by mainstream doctors today. The symptoms of hypothyroidism include, but are not limited to:

loss of energy or fatigue
muscle and joint pain
tiredness after a full night’s sleep
difficulty concentrating and short term memory loss (also called brain fog)
difficulty losing weight
cold hands and feet
hair loss
dry skin
depression
headaches
constipation

The diagnostic criteria for fibromyalgia that was used for this study, established in 1990 by the American College of Rheumatology, are as follows:

1) Pain and symptoms over the past week, based on the total of: Number of painful areas out of 18 parts of the body, plus a level of severity of these symptoms: fatigue, waking unrefreshed, and cognitive (memory or thought) problems, plus a number of other general physical symptoms;

2) Symptoms lasting at least three months at a similar level; and

3) No other health problem that would explain the pain and other symptoms.

The American College of Rheumatology states that there is no cure for fibromyalgia, and we beg to differ. If your fibromyalgia is caused by hypothyroidism, then treating your low thyroid function with natural thyroid supplementation can resolve your symptoms. Many patients of Hotze Health & Wellness Center have come to us with many of the symptoms of hypothyroidism and an initial diagnosis of “fibromyalgia” and they have had great results by properly treating their hypothyroidism.

Are your symptoms from fibromyalgia...or hypothyroidism?

posted February 11, 2014 03:20 PM            

I have some personal experiences and views to share on this topic, especially from the thyroid point view... But right now I just want to get up on my freakin 'soapbox' about the lack of education of 'trained' docs, and the greed of big pharma, AE! I'll come back at another time when I can be more composed in my discussion....

posted February 11, 2014 06:24 PM            

@ JustAmanda1216 Welcome Amanda, have you tried natural desiccated thyroid such as (Armour Thyroid, Nature-Throid, Westhroid) I've read that many people benefited from it after having no success with the synthetic thyroid drugs as they contain both T4 and T3. So I would suggest discussing with your doctor about switching to natural desiccated thyroid and give it a trial.