Can worry do this to you?

[SmileAndNod]

Not sure this is the right place to post, but I've been to the doctor this morning as I asked for a check up. I'm knackered - beyond tired, my hair is falling out in handfuls. I've been having dizzy spells, hot flashes, my heart pounds, am increasingly anxious (but have always been a worrier). I had a baby last year and I do have untreated but diagnosed PND. I feel I've been dismissed as all of these things are in my head, and because I'm depressed apparently. I'm 42 btw and she didn't seem overly worried about my weight just that it was 'probably ok as I'm quite tall'.

So can worry literally make your hair fall out and give you the other symptoms? I was hoping (that's not the right word I know) that I might just be deficient in something that would be easy to fix. They reluctantly agreed to do a basic blood test. I feel I'm running on empty.

I'm not really going to be able to change fundamentally who I am, nor are the doctors going to be able to make my life better, so am I destined to be ill forever, just through worry?

I'm afraid it is possible, it happened to me when I had anxiety depression.

I had therapy and all my physical symptoms cleared with the mental ones.

Are they checking your thyroid as part of the blood test? Your symptoms sound like an over active thyroid to me. I was diagnosed a year after birth.

They didn't mention thyroid - is that part of the normal set they take? That's all they did. Wouldn't that make me lose a lot of weight though? I'm still over my pre pregnancy weight (which is another thing that worries me!)

Oh and she said hair loss after birth is normal. I do know that, but I thought it was around the 4 month mark?

Was going to say thyroid too. Make sure doc asks for Free T3 and T4 as well as TSH. Ask for anti thyroid antibodies and antinuclear antibodies too. Often they only check TSH which isn't enough. Hope you get an answer soon.

I can very much empathise with your post! Am on a similar position and I keep getting lots of viruses too which my GP said was probably down to low immune system and not enough sleep. My hair seems okay, but years ago pre-DC when I was going through a very stressful time my hair did fall out and break off - I even got a little bald patch near my temple - was panicking about alopecia but my then GP did say it was a known reaction to stress - sounds very much like it's the same for you. My hair did grow back BTW but the GPs I saw were never much use apart from saying I should get more sleep and go swimming (FFS why do GPs think all stress, depression, chronic aches and back problems can be alleviated by swimming? I bloody hate swimming.)

I also wondered about the menopause and she just smiled and did a tilty head at me . I suppose I'll have to wait for the rest results. I love the way they suggest more sleep - without any real solution as to how you're going to get it. I'm just bloody fed up with hoovering up hair every couple of hours do hope it's sorted soon!

Yes, depression can cause these symptoms, but so can so many other thing. Low iron, low vit d, low b12, thyroid, and more. I had low ferritin which caused my hair to keep falling out and tired all the time, yet the gp kept telling me I was depressed. If you don't feel that you are depressed the keep going back to the gp until they listen. Taking a multi vitamin and mineral tablet every day might help, and is unlikely to do harm.

I had diagnosed myself with postnatal anxiety. Ended up at GP surgery with resting heart rate of 140. Bloods confirmed hyperthyroidism.
Meds had me feeling 'kind of normal' within 2 days.
It's quite often a postnatal thyroid blip that can resolve as fast as it appears. The treatment is really fast acting, and allows you to function/sleep.
They need to get yours checked ASAP.

Just to update, blood tests have come back. One is 'normal' and one is 'satisfactory'. So it must just be all in my head and the stress is taking its toll on my body. Not sure whether to keep the appointment with the doctor next week, as not actually sure if it will help