Why am I feeling bad after thyroid surgery?

I had my thyroid removed on April 1, 2010. I am still tired and have no energy although some days are worse than others! I have leg cramps/aching just in the middle of the night. I was diagnosed deficient in Vitamin D the middle of March and took Vitamin D for 6 weeks. The leg cramps/aching went away and now are back. I was told my Vitamin D levels are within range after the 6 weeks so not sure what is going on. I also have shortness of breath - I also experienced this the month before my surgery. Has anyone experienced this with thyroid problems?

Anon,

Have you discussed your muscle cramps and fatigue with your surgeon? It does take the body time to adjust to the medications, but most of the articles I found about recovery from thyroid surgery didn't list muscle cramps as a common symptom.

This page, however, does mention it as a symptom of transient hypoparathyroidism, which is is underfunctioning of the parathyroid glands:

http://thyroid.about.com/od/thyroiddrugstreatments/a/complications.htm

Extremely low calcium can also cause muscle cramps. Did the hospital tell you how much calcium you need on a daily basis?

Do you have any tingling in your fingers, toes or around your mouth?

Have you had headaches?

Are you taking any Vitamin D, or have your Vitamin D levels been tested?

I had my thyroid removed on april 1 2010. My body hurts. :( I move the wrong way and get severe muscle cramps I feel tired all the time. I am currently in the process of adjusting medications but this is not at all what i expected, I had both hypo and hyper thyroid problems. Not too much depression as of yet. someone please tell me what I am feeling is normal and give me some pointers on what to expect and how long it is going to take to feel normal or at least halfway normal again I would appreciate any and all suggestions. I am currently eating tums all day for calcium and i think they are yuck :( but it is what the hospital recommended.

Hi Anon - The long-term effects of thyroidectomy depend on how much of the thyroid is removed. If only part of your thyroid is removed, then yes, you could have hyperthroidism again. I hope your doctor visit went well today. Will you let us know what you learned and if we can help you further? Take care, Pat

I had a partial thyroidectomy 8 years ago and everything was fine afterward. Now I am starting to get the same symptoms as before except my eyes are all weird, watery and feel as though they are bulging. I also feel week, tired, and shaky. I've always been extremely thin but I seem to be loosing weight again and my hair is coming out in clumps again. The thing is could I have hyperthyroidism again if all that is left of my thyroid is a small piece on the left side? I have an appointment with a doctor today to discuss this. I 've had to call off of work two days in a row because I feel so weird and tired. Thanks for any response.
Tracy

I had my Thyroid taken out in Sept. 09 and I am still having problems getting my body sorted out. I am an avid swimmer and do an hour of laps everyday but since I had my thyroid taken out it is all I can do to do that. Afterwards I am done for the day on doing anything else. I feel like someone pulled the plug on my energy level because I am tired all of the time. I felt better at 150mcg but my doctor said that my labs were "surpressed" whatever that means and we moved me back to 100mcg. Now my levels are all wrong and we have moved me to 125mcg but the main issude for me is that I haven't felt good or my body hasn't felt "right" since the surgery. I don't know what to do and I don't think it is depression. I wasn't having problems before the surgery in fact I was feeling the best I have felt in years. I think it is something missing from my system that synthroid does not handle. Any suggestions?

Ditto on the advice above.

I know someone who had this done and it took a lot longer than she originally was told to feel mostly right.

Karen, I just wanted to agree with Alison and ask about your anti-depressant. Meds often need to be changed or adjusted, especially when we suffer from severe depression.

Your recent challenges, your surgery, and your thyroid medicine all represent big changes in your daily life. To a person who is already dealing with depression, this can be startling. And any hormonal changes can affect us as well.

How long have you been on this dose of Cymbalta? Have you seen your mental health doctor since your thyroid surgery?

Please take care, and let us know.