These are my symptoms. What is wrong?

[MirabelM]

For as long as I can remember, I have very little energy beyond going to work as a teacher, sorting out my two kids, house and husband and general day to day stuff. I'm sick of feeling soooo tired. My exhaustion is now affecting my kids and husband.

Symptoms include: fatigue, exhaustion, never waking up refreshed, irritable, very low mood, tearfulness, slow weight gain, brain feels heavy sometimes and cannot juggle thoughts or tasks.

I've had blood taken recently and awaiting results but I'm worried. I'm worried there'll be something majorly wrong but at the same time worried there'll be absolutely nothing physically wrong so I cannot fix it.

Please help. I just feel like crying.

Hypothyroid would be my guess. I’ve been on thyroxine for years. Very easily treated once diagnosed. www.nhs.uk/conditions/underactive-thyroid-hypothyroidism/symptoms/

You're probably exhausted from doing so bloody much! Get someone to take the kids out for the day this weekend and relax all day. No jobs. Sounds like you need the break.

Hope you feel better soon

The link didn't share.

If you have Spotify I'd recommend you listen to Ep 1 and 3 of Louise Newson's podcast.

It is enlightening for women in their 40s and 50s.

Pretty classic hypothyroid symptoms. The relevant tests have been marked on the photo so if it is that you should find out. Relatively straightforward to treat, but can take a few months to get things corrected (the dose must be increased slowly).

Some of the tests requested can take a week or so to get the results (it's just how long the test takes). Your GP may hold off giving you the results until they have the full picture from every test they've ordered. Good luck with getting the answers you need.

Thanks so much for everyone's comments and advice. Just for info, I've had blood tests and I'm waiting for results.

Other symptoms I've just remember ed are night sweats and extreme cold.

Thanks also for telling me every kindly that posting here might cause me more stress. I totally get that but it's actually made me feel a bit more normal and that there might be some light at the end of the tunnel. My big worry is that bloods will be normal.

Hypothyroid - I have it. Could be - wait for bloods. I feel lots better now on medication

@NeverAgainSam

If it is not iron/thyroid then look at Louise Newson's Balance App as it also sound very, very perimenopausal.

More often than not GPs do bloods to check for iron/vit B/D and thyroid....and if they are all clear AND if you are over 45, you are pretty much assumed to be perimenopausal and HRT can totally give you back your life.

If under 45 they should do FSH tests to confirm...but they can be a bit rubbish and need to be taken on the right day of your cycle to be worthwhile. So if everything else comes back normal but no FSH was done ask for it to be done and check it is done on the right day of your cycle. 41 would be considered early - but not really amazingly early.

How are your periods?

Heavy/frequent/long can also tie in with thyroid and/or peri - as hormone related.

This! Please follow this advice. Your bloods could be 100% normal due to cycle changes but you could be peri/menopausal. Listen to her podcast because every sympton you've described is what Louise discusses... and also you aren't too young. 41 is normal to enter peri menopause.

Wish I could have a rest day at weekend. DH has Covid and feeling rough and obviously in isolation and no-one else.

Will definitely look at app. Thanks.

I mentioned menopause to GP last year and he was dismissive and said I was too young

Another vote for vitamin b12. I had all the symptoms you describe and I recognise that "exhausted to the point of tears" feeling you describe so well! Before treatment started (and still now when I'm due for a top up) I honestly felt like I was just dragging myself through life.

It's worth researching optimal b12 limits once you receive your results as the uk threshold for "deficiency" is surprisingly low and having looked into it in some detail - so many people experience significant life impacting symptoms even when officially within what is deemed to be an acceptable range.

Good luck OP, I really hope you get some answers soon

Brain fog and hair falling out, this happened to me at 41, along with periods that wouldn't come to an end without a tablet - you may not be at that stage yet. By 44 I had reached menopause. Of course I didn't realise it at the time.
But don't rule that out.

Could easily be peri menopause or even the start of the menopause depending on your periods. Have a look at the Balance app which was a lifesaver for me and gave me all the information I needed to get exactly the HRT I needed from my GP.

I'm really glad that the thread is helping you, and I hope that you get answers soon. Of course you're normal. I've had that too, the feeling of 'am I actually making all this up', then the relief of a diagnosis and knowing that it wasn't all in my head.

Keep seeking support here. Keep talking as much as you need to, whatever hour of the day or night, you'll find support.

Just don't ask for suggestions as to what might be causing your symptoms, as lay people (whilst very well intentioned) will only be able to speak from personal experience, and no decent HCP would say anything other than 'see your GP, keep persuing it', they certainly wouldn't attempt to diagnose you.

You suffer from stress and burnout from the double strain of being a teacher and having youngish children. Thousands of teachers, including me, are feeling the same. Have a think about quitting teaching and getting a less demanding job which will leave you with some headspace and energy for your family.

Hey op, sorry you feel so bad

I’m also here to vote for anaemia based on tiredness, feeling cold, and heavy periods. Strange question but do you eat a lot of ice cubes? I would have very heavy periods and regularly be anaemia and was obsessed with eating ice cubes. Didn’t realise till reading up on it that it’s actually a thing.

Anyways, after many years of not much help from GP it turned out my heavy periods and anaemia were caused by fibroids. This could also explain slow weight gain. I wondered why I constantly looked several months pregnant.

It’s just worth asking about as I had never heard of it at all when it is actually fairly common (something like 1 in 3)

You can also ask to be prescribed transexamic acid for heavy periods (I couldn’t take it unfortunately as it made me sick but think it usually works for most)

Just to clarify, if people can suggest questions to ask your GP, definitely take them up on that. Jot down loads of suggestions from here to ask you GP. Ask about anything and everything. Just don't let people on here diagnose you. I know that sounds so patronising, but I've seen a perfectly rational friend get into an absolute state after talking about her symptoms online. I mean she was planning her funeral. Seriously, was 100% convinced that she was dying from a rare cancer. She had blood tests, has a B12 deficiency. Obviously there's other issues there, that I'm supporting her through.

I probably sound cold, that comes from both working in healthcare and having some health shite of my own. Just please don't get 1000 worst case scenarios in your head.

I haven’t read through the full thread but I’ve literally just been to the drs with the exact same symptoms you’ve put in your OP.
My blood work is all normal because I thought I was having a hormonal issue.

She said I was stressed and needed therapy 🤦🏼‍♀️😂 i basically have too much stress in my life and need to manage it better.
I don’t feel any further to be honest.
Hope you get some answers.

I truly don't think it's anything sinister and the GP agreed as I have no red flags. If there is nothing I'm going to feel so lost. But I'll worry about that if it happens I guess. I had a rough idea what bloods were being done but will definitely collate ideas from here for discussion. At £90 for 30 Minutes I need to get my money's worth. Also being tested for Lyme's disease.

@Lifeismeh this is my worry, that GP will go down the mental health avenue. Ive been going one way round that for years.

Under active thyroid

I started peri menopause at about that age. Can be 10 years before actual menopause

[quote MirabelM]@Lifeismeh this is my worry, that GP will go down the mental health avenue. Ive been going one way round that for years.[/quote]
I laughed and she told me it was clear I was so stressed.
I literally have no stress in my life other than a difficult MIL (who I have very little contact with!) and she just kept telling me it was stress.
I felt lost because in my eyes, everything else had been ruled out.
I don’t know where we go from here but I’m still sure it’s a hormonal issue.
Good luck!

@Tilltheend99 ice cubes!!! I had totally forgotten about that symptom. I could only tolerate coke if it was in a glass filled with ice. I was constantly making ice to ensure I could have iced drinks all the time!

I too was a fibroids sufferer, but I didn’t have any inkling at all until he iron deficiency was diagnosed. Quick hysterectomy and I was right as rain!

For those who are saying these threads are not helpful/cause stress - I respectfully disagree. Nobody is diagnosing the OP, simply sharing their experiences with similar symptoms and giving - to my mind - the OP a list of ideas to work through with her GP to try and resolve her issue. Crowdsourcing at its best.

Diabetes? Thyroid issues? Vitamin deficiency?

If bloods all clear it sounds like mental health issues which is not surprising given your job and busy life.
I hope you find some answers and get the appropriate help