Constantly feel drained...?

[PatsyJ]

Hi

Am thinking of making an appt to see GP but wanted to sound out first before I go as I don't want to get fobbed off!

My DD is 15 mths a very active. I usually get 7-8 hrs sleep a night though as she does sleep thru. Can never bring myself to go to bed really early as always have 101 things to do in the evenings and see it as 'my time'! I also find I am knackered by mid/late afternoon but then by 10 pm I am wide awake! I do try and get the odd hr sleep during the day if DD sleeps but not every day (she doesn't sleep v well during the day!).

For a few mths now (since about Jan) I've been feeling very drained - some days it's hard to put one foot in front of the other. My hair is falling out in clumps (it did this around 5 mths after pregnancy then stopped - quite normal) but recently it's started again which is odd. I just feel soooo tired all the time - which I guess is kind of normal. Have just come down with a cold and I feel like death which isn't helping.

I bf'd DD until beginning of July but I did gradually wean her off from about end May time.

Used Sanatogen multivit thru pregnancy until I stopped bf'ing then went onto normal multivit. Have to say diet not wonderful during the day (no time or energy) but have a good meal in the evening with DH.

DH also away a lot with work and family 100s of miles away which doesn't help. I do however have a few good friends so make sure I get out and about with DD during the day most days - soft play/toddlers etc.

Early Jan time I thought I might be suffering with PND as I did have a bit of a black time but now I feel fine in myself but just sooo drained.

Any ideas - could it be anaemia or thyroid? Should I ask for bloods to be done? Or is it just plain old looking after toddler and never stopping! (Incidentally, DH has been off for 2 wks so I've had quite a bit rest and feel worse than ever?? - esp now I have this cold).

Thanks for any advice.

you sound EXACTLY like me.... ive found drinking water throughout the day has helped, and snacking on fruit. Im still anaemic following DSs birth 20 weeks ago... did you have alot of bloodloss during the birth and no iron tablets? I too am drained all day, but yet feel awake at 9/10pm... might be bloodsugar levels going haywire?

you are exhibiting symptoms of an underactive thyroid
make an appointment with your GP tomorrow, ask to have your thyroid functions tested. Play up the hair thing
It is a chronic but managealbe conditon. You take a thyroid hormone replacement tablet daily for the rest of your life and
FEEL HUMAN AGAIN!!!!!

Please take it seriously and go to the GP

would blood tests during pregnancy show up an underactive thyroid?

Thanks v much - I did wonder about thyroid. However, I have had this on and off before (even before I had DD) and I did have thyroid checked and it came back OK?? They tried to diagnose depression then (about 4 yrs ago) but I am positive it's not and was not that - although I did feel a bit 'under the weather' but who wouldn't feeling drained all the time!

I am also a 'cold' person temperature wise (when others around me are OK) and I've read this can be a symptom.

Quootiepie - interesting what you say about bloodloss - they did tell me it was 'moderate' and my periods are heavy. I had iron tabs for the last 6 wks or so of my pregnancy (hospital picked up borderline levels but my community MW did not!). I only had enough to take 2-3 wks supply after birth and when I rang up my GP to see if I needed more I was told I didn't (no repeat bloods or anything?). So it could be that.

Will make an appt. Just want to feel vaguely normal again

Thanks again.

your supposed to take them 3 months after a blood loss to re-stock supplies. I havent because they make my poo green (sorry if TMI!) If your periods are heavy, then maybe long term iron supplements might help? Get your levels re-checked at GPs and maybe they'll check thyroid again?

Hi Patsy, sorry you're feeling so crappy. Tiredness does tend to go with a toddler but hair loss is concerning. It can be a side effect of anaemia as well as underactive thyroid and it wouldn't hurt to try and address that - though I would go back to your GP to discuss it. I'm 'borderline' anaemic on the charts but feel really badly tired and short of breath if I don't take iron, vit b complex and folic acid - I reckon there's 'medical' anaemia and 'real life where you NEED energy'! If it's going to be long term and you want to avoid constipation there's a good supplement available from health food shops called fluoradix that you put in your morning juice. It also sounds like you could address your daytime eating - one good meal a day isn't enough, especially if you are ill. A diet (I don't mean weight loss) that controls your blood sugar well may help you get through the low point in the afternoons and have more energy in general - there's the GL (not GI) that's quite prescriptive or just google it to get some advice - generally though it's breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack. Don't go more than 3 hrs without eating and have breakfast when you get up (don't wait till mid morning watching gmtv!).

Hope I don't sound too preachy and all that helps. Do go see your doc though for some general blood tests, some medication might be able to help too.

Patsy, I agree with others here, definitely go to the GP; had to reply as you described ME about January this year, the extreme tiredness, hair loss, going down with bugs etc. I so know what you mean about it being hard to put one foot in front of the other, that was how I felt EXACTLY.

I was diagnosed with underactive thyroid and given the thyroxine tablets, and a few months down the line I feel like a different person and haven't had a cold in months! I would definitely ask your dr to re-test the thyroid as you sound so like me. Best of luck with it.

Thanks Morethan1 - I can't remember the exact number but I do seem to recall that when I had my TSH checked it was over 2.0 so maybe I did have problems then. I know all about 'arguments' with GPs - while I agree they do a fabulous job 99% of the time, sometimes they are just not experts in some areas and still seem to preach that they are! Sorry don't mean to offend anyone but have had a fair few run ins recently - won't go on.

I fortunately have private medical but getting a GP to refer you to a specialist at my Docs is liking asking to learn to walk on water! Without that referral you can't get private care.

Have an appt for Weds am so will keep you posted.

The more I think, the more I believe it is thyroid and has been going on for a good few years. Always had a lack of energy/felt tired v easily, felt cold, had a fair loss of hair and it's obv got worse since having DD (the tiredness that is).

Hi again

Have just found my test results (don't ask!) from Nov 03 when I last had bloods done and my TSH then was 2.50. According to the GP scale 0.27 - 4.20 is normal. I have read somewhere that 4.2 is too high - anyone any advice on this. Morethan1? You seem to know a little about this.....

I can feel a battle with my GP about to commence - haven't got the energy really

In some ways I hope my TSH has worsened just to make it a bit easier to get some help!

I am NOT going to sit there and be told I have depression (like last time) as I know I do NOT!

Some things you can do now are take Echinacea and Iron supplements, I used Feroglobin. They really helped me when I was run down.
Good luck with the G.P.

Patsy - I hope you'vce got an appointment now

I just wanted to add to my previous post that I was only suggesting an alternative cause for your symptoms. Because underactive thyroid is quite a well known condition it can be esay to attribute your symptoms to it but there are many other conditions that can cause you to have the symptoms you've described - anaemia is just an easy one to address without specialist referral. If your blood tests for that and thyroid function returned as normal then your doctor may look into other conditions like lupus, hormone imbalance, etc.

Also do hold your ground on the depression thing, the doctor is right that depression can cause your symptoms, but if you don't feel depressed all other possibilities should be looked into carefully.

From a personal point of view I was diagnosed with chronic migraine 4 yrs ago and have had very successful treament with the right medication. However, the doctor I saw before the one who diagnosed me actually told me that all my pain was as a result of my obvious depression and anxiety (I was crying in the apt because I felt so hopeless after 5yrs of not knowing why I was in pain all the time) - sometimes doctors need gently reminding that depression can be reactive, ie as a result of a situation, rather than the cause of it.

Hi Patsy I just wanted to add that I have suffered from an underactive thyroid for several years, which was only borderline low, and well managed with the smallest dose of thyroxine.

Throughout pregnancy I was carefully monitored etc, but post partum I was not monitored regularly and I spent the first 18 months or so of DS' life really struggling, mostly with tiredness, also hair loss and very dry skin.

Since then I have been back to the GP and had my thyroxine upped twice and am now feeling more human again!

I definitely think you need to be re-checked and also for aneamia.

Good luck!

Sounds similar to symptoms I had 18m ago. Mainly symptoms of anaemia, tingling in hands and feet, feeling down for no reason, no energy, difficulty getting my breath, loads of hair falling out, heavy legs, inability to remember simple things, no real interest in anything to name a few. I had a blood test and my B12 levels were low. After a course of B12 I was amazed at the result. Yes I still get tired but it's normal tiredness now. I would say it would be worth getting your B12 levels tested. It can't do any harm and it might do some good.

i had one of those executive health screening thingies and mentioned my extreme tiredness. apart from the obvious (a dd 22 months) they said i was severely dehydrated (i drink tea all day but not water) and should do more aerobic exercise. i hate drinking water - but must admit it has helped. am also taking iron tablets. exercise - well i amble to the station every morning.

Juuule-Was your course of B12,tablet form? Just wondered as I have pernicious aneamia and have B12 jabs every 3 months to help with it.I've also been feeling "extra tired"lately,and I'm having all sorts of tests done tomorrow to hopefully find out why.

Bubbaloo - yes, they gave me a course of cyanocobalamin which upped my B12 levels. They didn't consider my levels low enough for the injections and they wouldn't do the test for intrinsic factor,etc because they said the fact my levels went up proved that I was absorbing B12. However, I don't know why my levels were low in the first place and need to go back to talk with GP about that. But because the effect was so dramatic I've carried on taking a B12 supplement (methylcobalamin, which I've been told is better absorbed than the other type). Really must make that appt. with GP though. Good luck with your tests - hope you get sorted out soon.

Ahhh that makes alot of sense.My body isn't absorbing the B12 sadly so I need the jabs,which is a pain but at the end of the day it's only a jab.Hope you get on ok at your gp's too.

Hi everyone

Thanks for all your replies. Just to let you know had bloods done yesterday - GP checking for TSH, glucose, anaemia.

Didn't ask for T3/T4 as he said TSH is the best inital indicator (have since read that T3 is v expensive and therefore not offered on NHS that much - !!!).

I can tell though from the questions he asked (and my answers) that he thinks it's depression rather than anything physical which is a shame. I told him I don't feel depressed and he said that people often don't feel that they are when they are so that I could just have something which is a 'mood change' - sorry begain with M but can't remember the word, rather than depression itself.

I don't know what to think now - don't feel depressed and get myself out and about lots to keep sane. Just feel exhausted etc. Guess I'll just have to wait for bloods back next wk.

Any advice in the meantime. I do have private medical bit without a GP referral they won't cover me. I doubt with OK bloods I'll get my GP to refer me to anyone - should I just ask anyway and who would it be best to see - an endocrinologist?

Thanks.

Bloods now back - all normal Good obv but am shocked as feel that something is underlying how I feel.

Appt week on fri with Doc - I know he is going to say it's depression. I just do not feel depressed.

Not sure where to go from here - any ideas gratefully received.

HAven't read whole thread, but just wanted to add support. I felt exactly as you describe. also went to docs. spent fortune on blood test etc . all normal. very depressing 'good' news, isn't it? anyway, I am now, months later feeling miles better. Don't know if I did anything to make it pass, it just very very slowly did. still not 100% but certainly heading slowly in that direction. It is your time, but working hard of squeezing in more sleep would be good idea