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Does Thyroid Myopathy Affect Ligaments,tendons And Joints?

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Posted on Thu, 19 Jun 2014
Question: Could you kindly help with responses to these questions:

Q1: I have myopathy and every joint has been affected. I had stem cell treatment in Mexico using umbilical cord cells (eg not my own cells). I have been told that perhaps my body was rejecting these as an immune response. Is it possible that the myopathy condition arose as a result of an immune response in combination with a thyroid condition.
Q2: Does the thyroid myopathy affect ligaments, tendons, and joints?
Q3: Does it also affect gums or teetch? (It feels like my teetch have receded into my gums.
Q4: Please advise if this TSH movement is normal:
On March 24, I was on 88 mcg Synthroid and April 21 switched to 75 mcg
As of April 28, my thyroid readins were: 0.51 TSH, free T4 22, free T3 3.3
On May 14, the TSH had reached 1.01, is this jump normal? Should I expect more large movements in my TSH readings?
doctor
Answered by Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj (9 days later)
Brief Answer:
Foreign stem cells are stil foreign

Detailed Answer:
Hello XXXX Thanks for coming to HealthCareMagic. From what I understand, you believe you have developed Myelopathy as the result of an injection of foreign donor stem cells in Mexico.

Firstly I would like to warn you of the experimental nature of the treatment you have undergone. There are no long term clinical studies which show that stem cell therapy (cells cultured from your OWN tissue or foreign tissue) has ANY beneficial effect. From what we do know of the immune system, your body would have attacked the injected stem cells and destroyed them. The destroyed cells and inflammatory waste from this reaction can deposit in several organs in the body and it all has to be monitored properly to make sure there is no lasting injury.

Please make sure your

1) Kidney
2) Liver

are unaffected by the treatment.

Now, to your questions.

1) As i have mentioned above i believe the immune reaction from the therapy you took could cause your myopathy issue. But i'm less worried about the myopathy and more worried about the potential renal and hepatic (Kidney and Liver) injury.

2) The thyroid you seem to have is hypothyroidism. As long as you are taking your Synthroid in the correct doses, you should be fine and it should not affect your therapy one way or another.

3) The thyroid records here seem good and your teeth and gums shouldn't be affected by any of these phenomena.

4) Hopefully your thyroid readings should regularize if you are taking your synthroid regularly. The stem cell therapy is over now and you should not suffer any wild swings in thyroid requirements. but i do seriously suggest you get your Liver and Kidney functions tests at your doctors as soon as you can.

Hope this helps.

Vinay
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
doctor
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Follow up: Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj (16 hours later)
Thank-you for your responses. These are much appreciated.

With regards kidney and liver concerns, below are recent blood readings (eg March timeframe):

Creatinine is 60
EGFR is 125
UREA rating is 5.4
Albumin is 41
Micro albumin to creatinine ratio is 3.4
Bilirubin is 18.5
ALT is 10
AST is 15
GGT is 12
Potassium is 4.2
Calcium is 2.26


Questions are:

1- Are these readings of concern?
2- Are any other tests required to alleviate concerns?
3- At what frequency (how often) should these tests recur to monitor the situation?
4- Do you ave any further input / advice?


Kind Regards
Answered by
Dr.
Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj

Neurologist, Surgical

Practicing since :2006

Answered : 544 Questions

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Does Thyroid Myopathy Affect Ligaments,tendons And Joints?

Brief Answer: Foreign stem cells are stil foreign Detailed Answer: Hello XXXX Thanks for coming to HealthCareMagic. From what I understand, you believe you have developed Myelopathy as the result of an injection of foreign donor stem cells in Mexico. Firstly I would like to warn you of the experimental nature of the treatment you have undergone. There are no long term clinical studies which show that stem cell therapy (cells cultured from your OWN tissue or foreign tissue) has ANY beneficial effect. From what we do know of the immune system, your body would have attacked the injected stem cells and destroyed them. The destroyed cells and inflammatory waste from this reaction can deposit in several organs in the body and it all has to be monitored properly to make sure there is no lasting injury. Please make sure your 1) Kidney 2) Liver are unaffected by the treatment. Now, to your questions. 1) As i have mentioned above i believe the immune reaction from the therapy you took could cause your myopathy issue. But i'm less worried about the myopathy and more worried about the potential renal and hepatic (Kidney and Liver) injury. 2) The thyroid you seem to have is hypothyroidism. As long as you are taking your Synthroid in the correct doses, you should be fine and it should not affect your therapy one way or another. 3) The thyroid records here seem good and your teeth and gums shouldn't be affected by any of these phenomena. 4) Hopefully your thyroid readings should regularize if you are taking your synthroid regularly. The stem cell therapy is over now and you should not suffer any wild swings in thyroid requirements. but i do seriously suggest you get your Liver and Kidney functions tests at your doctors as soon as you can. Hope this helps. Vinay