Thyroid disease and Crohn's

Does anyone else have Crohn's and Hypothyroidism?....I was diagnosed with Graves disease 7 years ago and had the radioactive iodine treatment which left me with hypothyroidism...I've been very stable over the years on synthroid until now...now every couple of weeks my TSH keeps rising and I keep having to increase my medicine...my current TSH is 16...normal is .4 to 5.0 but I'm symptomatic over 3.0...my endocrinologist feels my numbers keep fluctuating b/c of the Crohn's as I'm apparently not absorbing...does anyone else have this problem?...I finally had my first dose of humira on monday and while my stomache feels fine, I'm horribly fatigued with awful joint pain which could be from the crohn's or thyroid...it's so difficult to seperate the two b/c when my thyroid is off it gives me similar symptoms to the crohn's....this is very frustrating....

Yes, I have been on synthriod since May of last year.

I had a two surgeries to complete a total thyroidectomy in 2004 (two months after I was diagnosed with Crohn's).  As a result, I'm 100% reliant on thyroid medication.

I have to undergo blood tests (thyroid panel) quite often. I, too, have noticed that when I get my TSH checked during or immediately after a Crohn's flareup, I'm always hypo (TSH of 10.0-20.0).  I'm supposed to have my TSH carefully suppressed to slow the growth of any latent thyroid tissue (benign or malignant) that may be left in my body- I've already had two battles with thyroid cancer and don't want another!

So, no you're not alone.  I just have yet to hear a good idea from one of the docs regarding how to handle it.  Logic would dictate that you crush up the thyroid pills into a powder, place the powder under your tongue, and let it absorb- but I don't know how the medicine works and if that would shock the system.  :-\

I was hyperthyroid back in 2002. I took medication for approximately 18 mos. and am doing fine now. I don't think mine was related to my Crohns though. I think it was because of a medication that had alot of iodine in it caused mine.

When I take my Humira, I am severely fatigued for a day, sometimes 2. And since I started it my joints have hurt and they always hurt worse the first week after injections. So maybe its the Humira causing problems?

I have colitis and hypothyroidism. I got so constipated that I got diverticular disease on top of it all.   I hope they can fix the dosage for you. All the best.

I know not having crohn's dosent allow me to know how you all feel, I do have a sister who has crohn's and possabliy hypothyroid, all the rest of us kids in my family have some sort of hypothyroid problems and armor thyroid(natural) seems to work best of us, and it can be taken sublingual, (between the cheek and gum, or under the toung) which may help for some who have a varaing absorbson, synthyroid can not be taken sublingual,

We take natural (armor ) because it also treats very well the symtoms, also the new thinking in thyroid is a TSH of 2.0 or less and they are talking of it going to 1.5 or less, it would make a person think that when they take in to account that 80% of the cross section of test they do for creating the chart .3-5.5 for TSH that the 80% is 1.0 or less, which would leave me to think that every one TSH should be 1 or less or treated, it's kind of a no brainer so why the wide variance, also hypothyroid people who have a free t3 of 3.1 or less seem to be very high risk of heart attack, armor treats with free t1,t2, t3, and t4, synthyroid only has t4, t4 is converted to t3, if a person is hypo they may also have a converson problem any way I feel much better now that I am on thyroid.

I am 36 and have had Crohn's for 19 years.  I am pregnant with my 3rd child.  For the last few weeks I have been so tired I couldn't get out of bed.  I was diagnosed with a hyperthyroid and they are doing tests on my heart because it is irregular.  I was wondering if there is a link between Crohn's and the thyroid condition?  Will medication bring me some relief for my fatique?

I am 25 and was disgnosed with Chron's Disease last summer. It's been an awful year of very little remission, despite completely changing dietary habits. Lately, every time I have an attack I gain a ton of weight. I am always swollen and tired. I feel cold in 80 degree weather and my skin is TERRIBLE (I've done EVERYTHING humanly possible to fix it on my own). Lately, I've been waking with joint pain in the night and it lasts until I take 800mg of ibuprofen. I am so sad. I work out constantly and very carefully watch diet and caloires. I am ALWAYS HUNGRY. When I am eating, I do not feel satisfied unless I am STUFFED to the point of pain. I tried eating very slow and foods higher in protein (although they make me feel awful) to try and feel full.

I am DESPERATE and will do whatever it takes to feel better and NOT GAIN WEIGHT!  My doctor gave me a non-fasting thyroid test last year and said I was only slightly low, but I think I have gotten worse. I've heard auto-immune diseases like Chron's can kill your thyroid, is that true? My GI doctor doesn't take me seriously and I'm at WITS END!

Someone, anyone please help me!

hi i have crohns and i was thinking that there might be some connection between an underactive thyroid and crohns. i have noticed that i am always tired and my skin seems dry. i also seem to have baggy eyes. i am going to ask my doctor for a blood test i think soon.

Hey vadreamer.  I was just diagnosed with Crohn's in November of 2009.  My Naturopath has diagnosed me with Hashimoto's.  According to him, it is an auto-immune disorder as well, and is common for Crohnies to have thyroid problems.  Basically your body starts attacking the thyroid.  It may show as only slighly low on tests, but it is not functioning as it should because of the body attacking it.  We have tried supplements to correct that, but we are so far not able to regulate it.  I passed out earlier this week, and have had trouble getting my blood pressure up.  The Naturopath is concerned, so has just put me on Cytomel and Levoxyl to try and get my thyroid back to normal.  Looking back in my history, I have ALWAYS been tired.  Sometimes more so than others, but generally low on energy.