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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

What the fuck is wrong with me

129 replies

sleepymcsleepface · 19/03/2023 17:57

I’m unsure if there’s something wrong with me or not.

I’ve been horrifically exhausted recently. It probably started roughly a few months ago and has been getting worse ever since. I used to be fine with 8 hours of sleep a night (I would feel a bit tired but not exhausted) but now I’m getting even more sleep than that and I permanently feel so so tired. My typical schedule now is to come home from work or uni and nap for at least 3 hours. Then I wake up and get ready and go to bed and sleep through. I cannot go a day without napping or sleeping or else I can barely keep my eyes open and I just feel so drained and tired

i don’t understand why I’m so tired recently. I’m not stressed or anxious or depressed. Im not sleep deprived or over-slept, I’m not dieting or eating badly, I’m not otherwise unwell and I recently had a full blood test which was fine. I’ve had some other bizarre symptoms but this is the worst. I permanently feel like I’ve been hit by a car and I’m so tired. I even got the train home from uni and was so exhausted from doing that and walking 10 minutes to the house from the station that I was falling asleep as I was barely in the door.

anyone else ever had this? I recently met up with my friends and was so tired I could barely stay awake over lunch. I slept on the train home then again when I got home then I woke up and went to bed for the night because I was so exhausted. I’m really struggling with this and I can’t explain why but I have a horrible feeling something isn’t right with my body but I don’t know what/why. It’s just a gut instinct

OP posts:
Unsure33 · 19/03/2023 22:51

Can you check if they did a full thyroid panel not just TSH ? Because it sounds like thyroid . If you are in uk you can get a full panel check on medichecks .

neitherofthem · 19/03/2023 22:52

sleepymcsleepface · 19/03/2023 22:35

I can’t remember the exact number off the top of my head for folate, B12, vit D, thyroid etc and I’ve lost the printed copy, but they were NOWHERE near low, I remember the Gp being surprised at how high some of them were. They weren’t on the low end of normal or anything like that. I’ll call the GP again tomorrow and ask for another print out but it’s definitely not low b12, folate, vit d or thyroid or anything like that x

Your Gp was surprised that some of them were so high?

Hmm... just how high were they, and which ones?

Original poster
sleepymcsleepface · 19/03/2023 22:55

neitherofthem · 19/03/2023 22:52

Your Gp was surprised that some of them were so high?

Hmm... just how high were they, and which ones?

Show quote history

I don’t remember the numbers but I’ll call tomorrow and try to get another copy of it.

they weren’t too high, they were normal but the GP was just surprised as they expected from my symptoms them to be low or the lower end of normal

OP posts:
Nowhereelsetogo90 · 19/03/2023 22:56

I was like this during my last year of uni and it was Epstein-Barr. Took months to recover fully but it got better.

mariabs · 19/03/2023 23:04

You sound like me right before I developed an autoimmune disease🤔

cleowasmycat · 19/03/2023 23:10

How old are you OP?

SweetSakura · 19/03/2023 23:12

"Blood tests fine" does mean you are not ill.

Please go back to your doctors and push for more tests.

I let them bat me away too easily because my blood tests were fine. They made me feel it was in my head. I struggled for years before an optician finally realised I had myasthenia gravis. I have fewer treatment options because it took so long to diagnose. And my daughter (9) doesn't remember a time when I wasn't ill.

They don't test for everything. And not everything shows up in blood tests

SweetSakura · 19/03/2023 23:13

And I would say definitely pay privately for a full thyroid blood test

Original poster
sleepymcsleepface · 19/03/2023 23:16

cleowasmycat · 19/03/2023 23:10

How old are you OP?

I’m in my early twenties x

OP posts:
SweetSakura · 19/03/2023 23:17

mistermagpie · 19/03/2023 19:35

What are the other bizarre symptoms?

I ask because I had some bizarre symptoms that nobody could explain, the usual blood tests etc came back normal but I felt so tired and weak and I just knew something was wrong.

Long story and about three years of back and forth and pushing for answers and I've recently been diagnosed with a rare autoimmune condition. The symptoms of which are varied and can be a bit odd.

My diagnosis was made via a blood test but you have to be actually testing for it, so nothing showed up on a standard blood test from my GP.

I'm saying all this to say three things - one, don't ignore the bizarre symptoms, two, just because your bloods came back normal it doesn't mean there isn't something going on, and three, trust yourself- if you think it's not right then it's not, you know your body best.

Agree the bizarre symptoms , even seemingly minor ones, may be the clue. For me it turned out my droopy eyelid (ptosis) and the fact my throat went all heavy if I did too much were the key clues to my rare condition, yet they seemed like minor inconveniences compared to other symptoms!

Mamai90 · 19/03/2023 23:17

Have you had liver bloods done? Anything playing havoc with your liver can make you exhausted. Wait gain could possibly be water retention rather than fat. I'd get your liver and kidneys checked just to rule both out if you haven't already

keeponandonandon · 19/03/2023 23:19

I felt like this and was working or sleeping that was my life. After some bloods done, it was found I was borderline for under active thyroid so sent me for thyroid antibody blood test and my antibodies were really high. I was prescribed levothyroxine and I feel so much better now and I'm not sleeping all weekend anymore.

LanaDelRaybans · 19/03/2023 23:20

I've never read anything in my like that screams thyroid and pcos more than this post. Absolutely baffling that all the tests have come back fine, what a mystery.

If you have the funds, I would absolutely be looking at private testing. You're far too young to have to put up with something this debilitating.

FacebookFun · 19/03/2023 23:20

This reply has been withdrawn

The OP has privacy concerns and so we've agreed to take this down.

ECN73 · 19/03/2023 23:23

You need to have further tests on your thyroid. The standard one they do with blood tests is not enough. I have hypothyroidism and hashimoto's thyroiditis and it went undiagnosed for decades :( It took an endocrinologist doing the proper tests to show it. Google it - if your GP won't refer you ask him to do the full tests on your thyroid.

Could it be diabetes? Did they do a fasting glucose test? Maybe buy a glucose monitor (they cost about £15) and check your glucose when you wake up and keep a record.

I hope you find out what is going on soon - don't give up and don't let the doctors fob you off with 'well your bloods are ok'. You aren't ok so they need to keep trying.

neitherofthem · 19/03/2023 23:23

A pp mentioning long covid got me thinking. Have you had glandular fever?

SweetSakura · 19/03/2023 23:24

LanaDelRaybans · 19/03/2023 23:20

I've never read anything in my like that screams thyroid and pcos more than this post. Absolutely baffling that all the tests have come back fine, what a mystery.

If you have the funds, I would absolutely be looking at private testing. You're far too young to have to put up with something this debilitating.

I agree. I have these symptoms and purportedly "normal" bloods and have finally managed to persuade GP to do endocrinology referral after being diagnosed with another autoimmune disease. I just don't think the blood tests are anywhere near accurate at diagnosing all cases. I am seronegative for my other automimmune disease (myasthenia gravis) but was diagnosed through symptoms plus SFEMG.

Blood tests fine does not mean the patient is fine.

Soakitup37 · 19/03/2023 23:26

swingthatsass · 19/03/2023 22:47

These posts end up so annoying because people continually suggest things without reading the OPs posts.

the OP has already said (several times) that it’s not low vitamin D. Or low thyroid hormones. Or low folate. Or low iron. But 72 posts in and people are still suggesting it could be that. Bloody hell, how many times does the OP need to say it isn’t that?

OP- it could be nothing but did you mention the night sweats to the doctor? That can be a symptom of many things, some of which are serious.

Yes but diagnosing thyroid issues is notoriously poor with gps. The range of normal thyroid function is so wide ranging that what is normal for one person may be debilitating on another. So the doc will look at the results and go yep fine, in range without questioning if it’s a range suitable for the individual, furthermore they dont routinely test all the thyroid functions, which can often flag the issue of the range being out of whack.

i had every single symptom op is presenting with and then some- and took me a year to get proper diagnosis and levels in MY range.

id encourage op to go back and insist on further tests and or a referral to and endocrinologist. I’d put money on this being thyroid related.

ohfourfoxache · 19/03/2023 23:28

How many times have you had covid?

sounds suspiciously like long covid tbh 🤔

keeponandonandon · 19/03/2023 23:29

Lockeddownagain · 19/03/2023 22:27

Get them to check your thyroid antibodies range not the thyroid function

This was my problem and it absolutely floored me and affected my life.

CrunchyCarrot · 19/03/2023 23:33

I became exhausted when I developed autoimmune thyroid disease. The exhaustion is terrible. So your thyroid labs should be very revealing, please let us know the numbers.

Hillsmakeyoustrong · 19/03/2023 23:36

You describe the exact tiredness I felt when I had glandular fever. I would fall asleep sat up revising for my gcses. It was preceeded by shingles and a bout of sore throats and then accompanied by swollen glands. First blood test came back normal, the second test confirmed glandular fever.

SweetSakura · 19/03/2023 23:37

swingthatsass · 19/03/2023 22:47

These posts end up so annoying because people continually suggest things without reading the OPs posts.

the OP has already said (several times) that it’s not low vitamin D. Or low thyroid hormones. Or low folate. Or low iron. But 72 posts in and people are still suggesting it could be that. Bloody hell, how many times does the OP need to say it isn’t that?

OP- it could be nothing but did you mention the night sweats to the doctor? That can be a symptom of many things, some of which are serious.

Because it is fairly well known that the tests the GPs do for thyroid issues are totally inadequate.

RememberNancyDrew · 19/03/2023 23:40

Do you use Botox, Dysport or another botulism toxin product? If so, there is a Facebook group devoted to the side effects - same for breast implants.

user1469354986 · 19/03/2023 23:42

Did you have a blood test for TTG/ coeliac screening? Weight gain can result from malabsorption and extreme tiredness and skin issues are all symptoms I suffered from. The exhaustion was relentless!
if you’ve not been tested for this I’d encourage you to request this blood test.

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