AIBU to ask for a second opinion?

[poppet31]

I have been feeling unnaturally tired the past few months, to the point where I can barely keep my eyes open some days. I'm in bed by 9pm most nights and no matter how much sleep I get, I wake up feeling shattered and have no energy throughout the day. I have constant bags under my eyes that are so bad it looks like I've been crying.

To add some context, I adopted my 3 year old son who has additional needs last September and am now back at work 4 days a week, so it has been a very stressful and busy year, but this level of tiredness has only really started in the last few months. He sleeps really well so that is not the problem.

I went to my dr last month and asked for some bloods to be taken to check if I was deficient in anything. She fobbed me off and was so patronising. She basically laughed at me and said that's just what being a parent is like, you'll get used to it. I persisted and said I had been a parent for 9 months before I started feeling this way, and I was sure something wasn't right. She booked me in for bloods but sighed and made it seem like I was wasting her time.

I went for the bloods and had a completely unrelated appointment 2 days later with the practice nurse for my contraceptive pill check. The nurse mentioned the results had all come back normal but at no point has the dr called me to discuss this. If I hadn't seen the nurse that day, I wouldn't have known.

The tiredness is getting worse and I am really struggling to function. My ibs is also flaring up and I have diarrhoea most mornings (something else I have been fobbed off about over for years - never been tested for anything, just told I have ibs and given anti cramping tablets.) I just have a feeling something isn't right but I know how much pressure the nhs is under and I really don't want to waste anymore of their time. On the other hand, I don't know it I can go on feeling this awful. AIBU to go back to the GP or is she right and this is just what it feels like to be a parent? Thanks.

I’d be going back to the dr if your tiredness is that bad. I’ve live through two newborn stages with children that didn’t sleep through until they were two. I’ve not experienced tiredness like that so I don’t think you can but it just down to parenting, though it will be a factor. I think you need to go back and get the gp to listen to you and take your seriously

These sound like my thyroid symptoms.

Do you have a copy of your results to see what the thyroid levels were? Or, you can do your own via Medichecks for about £25. They send you a finger pricker, you dribble blood into a little vial and post it off (my GP stopped doing thyroid bloods over lockdown so I did my own).

Do you know what blood tests you had done?

Unfortunately, drs tend not to take fatigue seriously unless accompanied by other symptoms they consider 'more worrying'. I say this as someone who suffered with fatigue for very many years and I still get fatigued far quicker than most, although I do have underlying health problems

Do you take any vit D supplements? I highly recommend if not

Thanks for all your replies. I don't have a copy of the results no,but I'm sure she said she was checking my thyroid, liver and kidneys, blood sugar and doing a full blood count.

I have only been taking an iron supplement so far as I am a vegetarian but I will try vitamin d also, thank you.

Something that might be less noticeable than a low blood count is ferritin levels. Mine were abnormally low despite having a blood count that wasn't alarming. I think ferritin is not routinely checked and my symptoms were fatigue despite getting 8 hours sleep. I felt really weak for a while also.
I would ask to see the results so you can check what they tested. In my experience the GPs are not great when it comes to things like unusual fatigue and mild chronic issues.

And I would second vit D since at this time of year you're unlikely to get enough sun.