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.

Thanks everyone once again. Im blown away by the amount of responses, really am. Follow up appointment is Saturday morning so hoping I'll know more asap.

Good luck. I had a lot of those symptoms. Low vitamin diagnosed and fixed. Zero hormones fixed with patches. Anemia fixed.
Kept on going round in circles - I have auto immune disease. Put on weight (had a bmi of 16) and periods returned - now fixing Peri.
Sometimes it's not just one thing, it's a whole bus load of imbalances. Addressing the auto immune disease is the most challenging for me - I am still on vitamin D and back on the pill to fix the menopausey stuff.
Keep asking for answers - write questions down before because I always forget on the day.

My money is on underactive thyroid. My symptoms to a T. It may be worth getting your bloods done several times to get a comparable result if things are “ok” or boardline hypothyroidism is hard to get right medically- for your levels can be “in range” but your symptoms aren’t improving. Find a doctor willing to work with you to get the right levels.

I pushed to see an endocrinologist too, between my hypothyroidism and pcos I’ve finally got a balance that works for me.

I feel for you OP, feeling like you are constantly worn out. I used to tell people you know when you go to bed bone tired after a really long day? Yeah, I wake up feeling like that.

I still have days like that but honestly with very simple meds you can get a better balance just push for more tests if needs be.

Definitely ask for a copy of the results. They should show your level and the testing range. My iron was right down at the lowest level but because it wasn't below it apparently that meant I was fine. Another Dr (who happened to be a private one) told me I ought to aim for a much higher level, I think about 70.

Haven't read the ft but for me it was sleep apnoea. I didn't know I had it till my husband told me I stopped breathing whilst asleep. Apparently everyone apnoeas a bit but people with sleep apnoea do it a lot. I used to wake up feeling tired. I frequently got a dull headache in the early hours.

My bets would be on vit d/iron deficiencies and perimenopause. Hope you get it sorted and start to feel better very soon OP.

I'm 43 and had alot of these symptoms (also an (ex) teacher!

My friend found a very reasonable private consultant who specialises in perimenopause, menopause, pms etc. He gave me a prescription for hrt (bio identical estrogen, and progesterone), and I no longer have extreme tiredness, no overwhelming need to nap every day, and no more muscle and joint aches. I never thought it would have this effect, actually agreed to see him because of crippling pmdd, so was surprised at the range of benefits for me. If you'd like his details, pm me (or push to try hrt from your gp).

I also had postpartum thyroid problems, and had low vit d levels in my life, and know the extreme tiredness those conditions can cause, and how easily they can be treated!

But if bloods are fine, consider the pluses of hrt, life changing for many of us in our forties...

Under active thyroid. I’ve been having treatment for 15 years and it’s much improved but I still have the exhaustion and the night sweats. I remember those untreated days. I used to take my DS to school - a 10 minute walk - and I felt like I was carrying another person on my back I was so tired.
When you get your results, ask what your TSH is (thyroid stimulating hormone). In the UK they don’t tend to medicate if it’s 4 or less, but in reality unless mine is under 2, I am exhausted. Before I started on Thyroxine, my TSH was 175.
Good luck OP, hope you get it sorted.

You say your doctor jeeps giving you iron tablets. Do you know what your haemoglobin and ferritin levels were? Did they re-test you once you started on the iron? In some countries a ferritin below 50 is considered low but in this country some labs report low as 11 or below!

@MirabelM

41

I just want to feel better.

Not sure what bloods have been order d tbh and don't think menopause was really discussed. It has crossed my mind.

Another symptom I forgot was hair thinning and coming out on brush.

@MirabelM I had this. I was anaemia. Try supplements for a few weeks.

sounds like burnout! are you able to cut down at home? book a good long holiday somewhere rejuvenating / healing.

@MirabelM

41

I just want to feel better.

Not sure what bloods have been order d tbh and don't think menopause was really discussed. It has crossed my mind.

Another symptom I forgot was hair thinning and coming out on brush.

I'm 40 and recently diagnosed as peri menopausal. Google the greene climacteric scale and have a look at it. Also look at newson health website for some good factsheets. Also keep in mind that your bloods may come back as normal but hormones fluctuate so that doesn't mean you aren't Peri-Menopausal. Do some research. I'm 3 months in on hrt and feel a tonne better. Good luck op

Please us know how it goes. I felt like I was reading my own post as my symptoms are exactly the same.

Trying to summon up the courage to make a GP appointment but my list of symptoms sound so vague

@ScribblingPixie

There's a link between tinnitus and B12.

This.

B12 fits all your symptoms... you sound exactly like I was.

Your list of symptoms is classic hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid). I have the same, diagnosed late last year. The tablets made me feel weird, so as a pp mentioned, may take a few weeks to find the right levels. There is a little booklet you can get from Amazon. It's written by the BMA with lots of info about this condition, if this is indeed the result of your blood test.

There could be a simpler explanation. I had every single one of those symptoms. Turns out they were side effects from the citalopram i took for about 2 years. Before i went on them I never ever used to nap but the exhaustion got progressively worse to the point that i was finishing work and having to go to sleep for at least an hour every single day. I piled on so much weight it was ridiculous. My hair was awful, i was having headaches all the time and i had so little energy. Once i stopped taking them it took a few weeks for it to leave my system but my mental health has unsurprisingly become a lot easier to manage without feeling really ill most of the time.
I did have a blood test for thyroid issues and i was crushed when it came back clear because i couldn't see what else it could be until i joined the dots. Obviously talk to your doctor first, don't just come off them. But your anti depressants could be causing some of all of the issues.

I have similar. Thyroid is fine, well within normal. A vit D deficiency was found and treated but made no difference. Iron levels are fine. B12 is fine. I’m 4 years in to tests, I’ve had gallons of blood taken and no answers. Hope you find an answer.

This was me 10 years ago. Investigated for thyroid issues but it was tough peri menopause - eventually got on HRT - transformed.

Ooh I literally just had the same conversation with my doctor... had a blood test last week... and am MASSIVELY deficient in vitamin D! I've been prescribed some really strong vitamin d tablets. Apparently it's quite common right now. They suspected a thyroid issue but seems simpler than that! I'm a teacher too actually.

I've had all the same symptoms too OP, my test came back as severely anaemic and underactive thyroid so I'm now on a high dose of ferrous fumarate and levothyroxine and should stat feeling better soon!

Do you ever get dizzy? If so ask to get your cortisol levels checked.
DH complained of fatigue & exhaustion for years until he started getting dizzy too. Turned out his cortisol levels were in his boots, referred to and endocrinologist, treatment and feeling loads better 🙂

Get thyroid checked and ask which tests they've done and the specific levels. The NHS lumps a lot if people in the normal range but it might not be optimal for you so get the actual results and do a bit of research. Could be Vitamin B12 deficiency check the symptoms www.b12d.org/overview/symptoms and could be Anemia/iron deficiency- note that sometimes they determine this from full blood count. However if you had both b12 deficiency and Anemia it would cancel each other out on full blood count (one deficiency makes cells smaller, one makes bigger so could appear normal). Some Anemia will show on a serum iron test. I had iron deficiency but blood count normal and serum iron normal. However I had hardly any ferritin left. Many doctors think this is just storage and unimportant but as soon as my ferritin levels were normal I felt completely different. (Before that I just thought all day... how much longer till I can get in bed as I was permanently exhausted, really cold, hair falling out and later on I started getting dizzy, heart palpitations etc). Good luck and keep pushing for answers, it's not just what shows 'normal' it's about helping find what us causing you to feel like this.

Could be anything really!
Anaemia - that for me was thinking the pavement looked comfy if I could just sleep on it for a bit, and weirdly heavy arms, struggled to hang washing or change bedding
Vitamin d - nothing except pain in my shin bones which I put down to age and had a vitamin d level of 9
Thyroid - yes I've also got that issue I'm on levo but I haven't noticed any changes really but then I have other health conditions too

B12 would be my guess. My teacher sister, who is your age, gets a wee jab from the GP. Hope you get it sorted soon x

Thyroid