BHRT Bio-identical Hormone Replacement Therapy for Fibromyalgia and Rheumatoid Arthritis RA and Chronic Pain

Patient MH reports that she has been consistently feeling better since starting BHRT bio-identical hormone replacement therapy to address hypothyroidism symptoms that were contributing to her worsening pain and stiffness.  In having both fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis, she found that over time her pain levels were steadily increasing.  The stiffness she experienced was becoming relentless, no longer confined to the earliest part of the day but unfortunately taking over the whole day, leading to misery and severe difficulty whether moving around or sitting still.  A pharmaceutical medicine that had been quite helpful to her was taken off the market, and this was when her fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis symptoms markedly worsened.  Her situation was growing increasingly difficult through no fault of her own.

I did further research to find if there was another way to approach her case, putting on my clinical thinking cap and looking at the big picture for this patient. 

She is a very sensitive person, and therapies of all kinds that are well indicated for most people in her situation often do not provide relief or other benefit, whether it is natural medicines, drugs, or a combination approach.  This is one of the most difficult patient histories I've worked on in my almost 20 years of clinical practice, and I really wanted to find something that was a help to this patient.

In doing the research, I came across some information that mentioned that some cases of uncorrected hypothyroidism can lead to a worsening of either fibromyalgia or rheumatoid arthritis.  This made me think perhaps this was a  hidden issue for this patient, and maybe should be put front and center in the treatment of the case. 

I knew she had some hypothyroid symptoms, but the fibromyalgia and rheumatoid symptoms were always more severe than the hypothyroid symptoms.  So, I prescribed bio-identical thyroid hormone replacement treatment for her and so far she has noticed that she has a lot more energy to get through her day.  She also reports that she moves more easily and has less pain.  So, to quantify the improvements: she has so much more energy, says she: "I feel almost like my old self again - this is great."  She says her pain is improved by about 40 - 60% and her stiffness is decreased by 30 - 50%.  These are big positive changes in her quality of life, for which she and I are both very glad.  May it continue!