Does anyone else feel like this? What's wrong with me?

[AlphaBravoCharlieDeltaEcho]

I will start this off with some facts.
I'm 44 years old, female.
I have been diagnosed with depression due to physical symptoms - insomnia, low mood, lack of concentration, lethargy.
I am overweight by a stone and a half.
I cannot sleep through the night due to repeated toilet visits. I have headaches every other day and about twice a week these will develop into migraines.
I have asthma so I cough all night.
Im a walking zombie.
I get wet patches in my drawers due to slight incontinence. Pelvic floor exercises hasn't helped.
I feel heavy in my body - my bones if you know what I mean. I am forgetful, I am fuzzy-headed. I also get pins and needles in my feet upon waking, severe cramp in my legs and feet at random times and my fingers, hands and wrists hurt all the time and get stiff. I am so tired I'm struggling to care about anything any more. I have had thyroid tested - all clear. I have been tested for diabetes - all clear. I am so fed up. Does anyone else feel like this? Has anyone else felt like this and been diagnosed as a result. It's a cliche but I am sick and tired of feeling sick and tired. I have not always felt like this. It's been gradually getting worse since the birth of my DS , now five years eight months who is no bother at all - he sleeps like an angel so it's not him keeping me awake. Not pregnant afaik. What am I missing here? TIA.

Sounds like perimenopause to me. Listen to Dr Louise Newson's podcasts and it will all become clear! HRT patches and a Mirena Coil helped me enormously.

I'm on the pill so how would I know if it was perimenopause and thanks for replying @gettingalife

Your symptoms point towards it. Honestly listen to the podcasts and complete the checklist on her website: newsonhealth.co.uk then take it with you to go through with your GP.

Other things to look at are the NICE guidlines:
www.nice.org.uk/news/article/women-with-symptoms-of-menopause-should-not-suffer-in-silence

Get yourself some HRT sorted and I bet you'll feel a lot better. See pp guidelines from Nice and book in with GP, I started HRT a few months ago with similar symptoms, can't say I feel brilliant but I do feel a lot lot better. Good luck op!

Thanks both I'll go back to GP and talk specifically about menopause symptoms and see what she says.

Have the checked vitamin b? Low vitamin b can cause symptoms like pins and needles.

Also, have you looked at your blood results yourself? Very often they say everything's in range when thyroid and vitamins can be borderline

B12 is the pins and needles vitamin I believe. What’s your diet like? Perhaps try changing it to include many whole foods fruits and veggies if it doesn’t already. Diet plays a huge role in how you feel and moods. Check out what the health on Netflix.

I get pons and needles in my feet. My osteo told me it is due to a partially collapsed arches in my feet. I walk a lot and am also overweight.

Maybe check your calcium levels in case this is primary hyperparathyroid (different to thyroid). See link here for symptoms
www.nhs.uk/conditions/hyperparathyroidism/

Sorry you're suffering so much :(

Menopause check is a good shout.

If they haven't already, I'd get blood tests for iron/ferritin/b12 in addition to your thyroid, as well as vit d.

Cramp in legs can be down to low salts so I'd ask for an electrolyte test as well (also done via blood test)

You need an asthma review to adjust your treatment for it, enquire about changing up your inhalers to ease the wheezing and nightly coughing.

Heaviness in body can also be down to depression, I've had it before so that it's a struggle to simply put one foot in front of the other, so don't rule out your mental health contributing to these physical symptoms. Are you tense? If so - and you night be so used to it you don't notice - this could explain some of the pain in body and limb too.

I see no reason why you can't request a referral to a urologist re incontinence - women do seem to be expected to live it with it in this country. There is medication that can help which a urologist might feel is appropriate.

You could also look for a referral to a proper physio, or if you can afford it pay privately. Some specialise in women's core and pelvic issues following childbirth and they might be able to help you much more than standard pelvic floor exercises.

There are also electronic devices that help tighten kegles which are supposed to be effective, though I've not tried them myself. Think tens machine used internally.

Thanks for the additional replies. I am overweight but I walk a fair bit every day (about 15,000-25,000 steps on average). I'm veggie so maybe that is relevant. I do take supplements though including extra iron. If it is perimenopause how would a person know if they were on contraception that stopped their periods? You wouldn't miss them if you don't have them in the first place.

I would suggest you start taking some Vit D at a high dose start (I get awful pains when mine is very low, fuzzy head, fatigue) and Vit B.

I honestly couldnt believe that a vitamin deficiency could cause so much pain and tiredness before I experienced it myself.

Blood tests

Check
Thyroid again and get antibodies as well as TSH
Parathyroid levels
Vit B12
Vit D
Iron
Feretin
Complete blood count with differential
Diabetes checks (cant remember their specific names)
Discuss menopause
Discuss coeliac

Its probably a combination of several deficiencies

Thanks all! Managed to get a blood test for next week and hopefully that will rule out some things. In the meantime I'll get a vit d supplement although what's considered the right dose? I also think it may be anemia as my friend mentioned that it really can make you feel completely exhausted if you do not have enough and can make you have dizziness, circulation problems etc. Thanks to every one who has replied there's lots to look into. My plan is to start taking supplements, get the blood test results and ask for a consultation to discuss them. I need to remember to ask for a copy of the results too. And review booked to look at inhalers/dosage.Anything else? What else could I do? I shouldn't start any menopause vitamins unless I know I'm peri , surely?

I'm not a doctor but have experienced similar and this is what I did

I'd say your asthma needs some extra attention from doctors, to be better controlled

possibly amitriptyline for sleep and night wee-ing

check vitamin b12, folate, and vitamin d levels and thyroid, and iron

if need extra vitamin d it's very hard to get levels up and very difficult to overdose on, your doctor might suggest a superdosing shedule

if superdosing vitamin d is not required then vitamin d in oil is the easiest to absorb and keeping your levels higher than the average is generally a good thing, so just go for the highest daily dose out there

also look into taking calcium, magnesium and vitamin k2 with it as these help the vitamin d get to the areas where it is needed

It's surprising that you're overweight given the amount of walking you do so I'd want that further investigated.

I'd get your thyroid levels checked again and ask to see the actual results. The NHS have a different threshold for diagnosing a thyroid issue but if you can get the figures and do your own research on the correct levels you can push to be medicated.

I'd also want a CRP blood test to check for inflammation.

Aside from that, don't underestimate how very draining it is to have uncontrolled asthma especially if it's disrupting your sleep. I'd make this a priority to sort out. What medication do you currently take for it?

I think you have a number of issues as a woman of a similar age, similarly overweight and suffering from severe migraine and asthma.

Repeated toilet trips followed by headache - you are describing migraine prodrome. Migraine isn't just the headache, there is the prodrome, the aura (which not everyone has and may be so brief you don't notice it), the headache and the afterwards.

In prodrome classically you feel restless, can't sleep, monster the carbs and make numerous trips to the loo. You have given a textbook description. If you are having headaches so frequently you are probably spending a lot of time in the afterwards - feeling worn out and like crap.

Your asthma needs a sort out. If your asthma was better you wouldn't wake at night, migraine likes regular hours and as a knock on effect your migraine would be better.

Weight - you may well be eating to stave off migraine or in response to migraine symptoms as hunger is a major trigger. If your migraine was better controlled you probably wouldn't be driven to the carbs all the time.

Why do you have so many migraines? Possibly you just do but perimenopause is worth thinking about.

So there are 3 things to focus on for starters:

1. Sorting asthma
2. Sorting migraine - are you on a preventer? If so it isn't working and needs increasing/changing
3. Exploring whether it is perimenopause

Actually a 4th as you are veggie - are you B12 deficient?

@AnnaMagnani thanks so much for that helpful post.

I'm on ventolin and Clenil for asthma.

I don't have a preventor for migraines but I do have meds to take when they come on. They don't work though so that works is sleeping it off in a dark, cool room with an eye mask. Never heard of migraine prodrome and it's been been suggested to me. I do take supplements but could be B12 deficient and have no clue that I am.

With the exception of the asthma OP, I could have written this post a year or so ago.

I now use topical HRT which resolved irritability, mood swings and flushes, none of which you mention, but - an omega 3 and multi-vitamin supplement helped with brain fog and lack of energy.

But I still have 10-12 headaches a month, 2 or 3 of which will be migraines, I still have to wear a small incontinence pad, my wrists, hands and hips ache constantly and not ten minutes ago I had a dizzy spell.

So I'm not completely convinced it's 100% menopause. Worth a trip to your GP though - do mention, if you like, that your query/appt is menopause related, as some GPs don't "specialise" and claim to know nothing of such things. That's what one said to me anyway.

Good luck, I hope you start feeling better.

Thank-you for your kind comment.

So I would say you need to see the asthma nurse and step up your asthma treatment as your aim should be not coughing at all at night - I'm on montelukast, fostair and cetirizine but you need what works for you.

At your frequency of migraine you need a preventer especially as you aren't on one. How often do you use your triptans (assuming that is what you have?) It should be never more than 2 a week or 6 a month as more than that you can get medication overuse headache and trigger even more migraines been there, never again

Final thing - have you just done pelvic floor exercises by yourself or with a women's physio? Because if you have done them by yourself there is a good chance you have been doing them wrong, sorry. And if you have been doing them supervised and they haven't helped you need to go back to your GP for investigations as there are other treatments than pelvic floor exercises available - go and get it sorted out!

I'm awaiting GP call-back now. It's a lot to unpack but I'm determined to get there. I'm going to make a list of all the advice on here too and make sure I go thru each thing step by step. Wish me luck!

Good luck!

It is a lot but migraine is definitely like that and you have a few other things too. I was amazed the difference sorting my asthma, which TBH I was quite happy putting up with, made to my migraine and my general happiness as I wasn't so bloody tired.

Each little thing adds up.

Fingers crossed, op! Improvement in just one thing will give you a lift!

Jesus, no wonder you'd depressed getting 2 migraines a week, I'd be utterly miserable. Sounds like peri to me, I can relate to a number of those symptoms.

Call back from GP was so frustrating it made me cry. Male GP in his late fifties offered a strong sleeping tablet (but not one of the highly addictive ones, he noted). No advice, treatment, guidance or mention of anything else. Have a sleeping tablet and off you fuck. I said "That is a short term solution to one of the problems and I do not think that it's a good solution either" He asked me if I wanted to up the dosage on my antidepressants and I said no - I want to sort out the issues before upping the dosage as I'm only struggling due to these other issues. We went around in circles, he cut me off telling me he would be sending a new prescription for the sleeping tablet to the local pharmacy and we "we" should really try that before anything else. Nice use of inclusive language there given that it's me who will be taking them. If he doesn't agree with me and wants to persuade me he says "I" and if he wants me to agree then it's "we". Funny that. He then reminded me that all of the previous anti-depressants that had not worked and the last two meds given for sleeping problems propranolol and amitriptyline were no good as one didn't work and the other gave me a terrible groggy hangover in the morning which made me late for work and messed the day up. So I stopped it. I'm very close to changing surgeries after that phonecall. I hung up and cried out of frustration. If it wasn't for the blood test booked in I would already be registering somewhere else and I've been at my surgery for over twenty years so moving practices is a big deal to me. I don't want to be offered pills I would like someone to acknowledge these issues and help me work through them. Taking a sleeping pill wont stop me needing to wee eight, nine times a night but I could end up wetting the bed.

I think it's all connected but I can't work out how. I got off the phone to him and just cried out of frustration. And tiredness. And the futility of it all. I just want to feel normal again.