I've been feeling rubbish for months.

[Homemadewhine]

I have a very busy life, 2 children, a business, pets and I run regularly (to be able to get headspace and process everything going on).

For such a long time, almost a year now, I've had the following symptoms:

Constant overwhelming exhaustion
Periods every 21 days instead of 28
Spots
Irregular Heart beat
Muscle aches
Bloating/constipation.

I eventually booked in to see the doctor and all blood tests are normal.

I'm having a ecg done on my heart to check its ok, as I have a slow strong beat apparently.
I have been given medication for my skin.

The doctor told me I probably do too much. But I dont. I know I don't as I find it too difficult to do much more than bare minimum as I'm so tired!

I'm not depressed, I've suffered before a long time ago and know how that feels (this was part of the reason I started running in the first place)

My SIL has suggested I need more intensive thyroid tests as despite constant running (I ran 28 miles last week!) I am still carrying about 2 stone of extra weight, putting me just over my ideal bmi. I don't restrict what I eat, but I'm not an overeater.

What could this be?

What do you eat - typical day? What supplements do you take? Do you run outdoors?

Yesterday I ate the following:
Miller light yoghurt
2 slices of bacon

Wrap with chilli and rice
Corn on the cob

Slice of wholemeal toast and peanut butter

Mexican chicken with nachos cheese and sour cream
Ice cream

All home made. I drink enough fluids

I also ran 11 miles yesterday. Yes outside running always.

I take no supplements, though the doctor said I should take some? This was despite my blood tests being ok

What contraception (if any) do you use?
Do any of your symptoms match those listed on any other medicines you are on?

It also looks as though there is no veg in those meals! Chilli rice is with peppers tomatoes peas and kidney beans, and was in wrap with lettuce.

Mexican chicken was with roasted peppers, onion and courgette. Sorry! I didn't think to put all ingredients on list.

What thyroid test did you have? Were the results good or heading towards borderline?

No hormonal contraception, it makes my skin appalling and gives me the rage!

Only meds I'm on is the (just started) oxytetracycline for my skin

I'm not sure what they tyoid test was. He said it was the standard one and the range was 0.4 - 4. My results were 1.5

Thank you for replying btw, I thought this would be the most boring thread ever

You don't detail portions but that's doesn't sound like a lot of fuel for an 11m run! How often are you doing that and when/what constitutes relaxation? How is your sleep?

Apart from lack of veg, there's barely any good fat in that day's food - the only thing that comes close is the peanut butter which would be better switched to almond (or any other true nut in fact). EFA deficiency manifests itself in all sorts of ways, including some of those you list. I'd start an Omega3 supplement straight away and also start making sure you eat things like avocado, oily fish, olives, raw nuts, eggs, cold pressed oils, full fat dairy (ditch the muller light for ff greek yoghurt) every day.

Given you run outside you may not lack Vit D but there's no harm getting a supplement, though its less crucial now that we are starting to get a bit more sunshine. A good multivitamin may be better.

EFA's more info and food sources

Agree with whoever said OP needs a full thyroid test. TSH of 1.5 looks ok, but doesn't actually tell you what is going on. Only FT4 and FT3 can tell you that, but you may have to get tested privately because your TSH is within the reference range.

It would be worth posting on the ThyroidUK forum. With your symptoms and your TSH, it may be that you have secondary hypothyroidism, high many GPs, are not up to speed on.

I'm no expert but I do have hypo thyroid and a husband who runs a lot. From my own experience I'd say some things.
-If you had a thyroid problem worth medicating, it would come up in your bloods.
-You're eating next to nothing considering how much you're running. You need proper food in the morning and good carbs and fat (porridge, fruit, eggs). Stop eating processed foods (nachos, bacon, branded yogurt) and cut down on your sugar.
-Running is really tiring. My husband runs/cycles like you, comes home, eats, goes to sleep for an hour or more. Why don't you try, just for a week, cutting your run time in half, using the second 'half' to come home and sleep, see if you notice the difference.

Thank you, there's loads of advice there.

Right now I can't stop running as I have a half marathon in 4 weeks. I've never run this much in my life! I'm sure it must be contributing to the tiredness, but the tiredness was there before the running iyswim.

However I do need an overhaul of my diet. It's long overdue but lack of time in the day often makes me reach for convenient not always healthy.

I've just remembered the doctor said I was low in ALT. But that this wouldn't make any difference to anything. I'm off to google.