Is it fairly normal to feel this knacked and drained in this situation?

[knackeredoutmum]

I am permanently deeply tired, I wake up tired. Maybe once a fortnight I cannot stay awake and have no choice but to go back to bed in the afternoon for an hour. My body feels sluggish and wont obey me. I currently have an extremely short temper and just to get the kids ready to go out somewhere sends me into a spin. A 2 hour outing and I am knackered and usually very bad tempered.

Pre-kids I would need 8 hours of sleep a night to be good and normal. For the last 3 years I average about 5 to 6 hours every night, and a rare maximum of 7hrs. In fact I have probably had 8 hours sleep just a handful of times in over 10 years.

I never ever have an unbroken nights sleep, I wake up or get disturbed at least twice (sometimes 4 or 5 times).

I have 3 children at home who you might say were "high maintenance" . They require a lot of attention and energy, and the behavioural issues we are facing are very very wearing and demoralising.

I take multivitimins, hardly get any exercise, eat fairly well, no iron, sugar or thyroid issues. Just started St Johns Wort a few weeks ago but not made any difference so far.

I have had worrying and stressful health concerns with numerous hospital visits over the last 12 months but that finished a few months ago and I now have the all clear. Marital problems have worsened over the years and are worse over the last 6 months than they have ever been - husband is completely unsupportive and uninterested in anything in my life, we never talk about anything, mostly he just ignores me.

Any ideas of how to get on top of this feeling of exhaustion?

Do you think its fairly normal to feel like I do in this situation, especially the sleep deprivation?

ahh, quick google and it seems the key number is 5-10 is considered borderline (so I know my surgery probably wouldnt do anything) and 10+ would require treatment

Twice a week I go to bed at 8 - this saves me! Could you?

gah, google isnt my friend. I have also been having having heart irregularities and acidity digestive problem investigated separately over the last year. Plus every day when I wake my body aches especially my joints and Im only 40 with no arthritis.

These symptoms were listed when I looked up about the tsh.

No hair or skin or weight or total cholesterol problems though.

I COULD go at 9pm but dunno if I would all asleep then. Actually I dont want to go at 9pm but I think Im going to have to try it.

Whats your story bigkids, how come you need to go at 8pm?

Just work full time an alone with DS mon-thurs. I've always needed a lot of sleep to function!

He goes to bed at 7.30 so twice a week I put him to bed, throw the toys in the box and brush my teeth then have 10 hours in bed :)

I think early nights might be more common than I think, like a house wifes secret or something.

More symptoms - I have a severe problem with being ravenous to the point of feeling sick every 2 hours. I can keep this under better control when I eat a lo carb diet.

My hair is dull and lost its shine and glow about 7 years ago, no shampoo or conditioner has pepped it up, no hair loss though, although it is always broken where I wear a hair bobble

I am similar. I've got a history of ME-cfs but right now I don't know if its cumulative exhaustion from broken nights, lack of exercise (I'm exhausted though so not happening) or being overweight or depression. It's hard to separate. I want to wake up not -tired and go through a whole day without zoning out and waiting for bed.

Thyroid problems are treated disgracefully. In th usa you would be treated once tsh got to about 3.5. That's because it makes you feel like crap and it's not normal. Here you have to suffer until you are above 4.5 and have antibodies (you need to get them to test for this - you can get treatment if you have high antibodies)
You said the gp said your levels were going up, so going up from a 3 or 3.5 previously? So if you phone and find out what the tsh was and the reference range, you will have an idea of how close you are to the edge of 'normal'. Then you ask for another test, it is quite possible for levels to change in 6 months. Winter is a good time to test as tsh is often a bit higher.
Please also ask for ferritin and b12 and vit d. The vit d could be causing the body aches for example.
Just don't get the bloods done in spring. Tsh is at its lowest naturally then

I was average, 7 hrs or so I suppose? Rereading your OP, maybe my sleep isn't quite as disturbed... I generally get to bed around 12 (I know I should go earlier, but I need to unwind a bit) sleep till around 4, and if I'm lucky I'll get another 2 hrs or so after I settle DS. sometimes I do collapse and go earlier, but I havn't had an unbroken night in 7 yrs!

OMG, I dont believe it, you lot are free health service!!!. I just contacted surgery and my TSH level in April (Spring!) was 4.8

Anyway, what can I do now without the doctors support?

I have ordered a kelp supplement, but if a deficiency isnt the cause then it wont help will it?

I really doubt doctors will offer medication even if I pester them as they are generally (rightly) not keen on prescribing things unless necessary.

Any other ideas? Is diet or exercise relevant to thyroid if this is what the problem is? I am only about half a stone overweight but my body fat is very high at around 32%

You need to get the thyroid problem sorted. If you get another blood test done, it will show the way things are going and you could already by 'over' the normal range. Probably you have hypothyroidism so your thyroid is under attack from your own body. It won't stop or go away.

I recommend you buy/borrow a book called 'understanding thyroid disorders' by dr a toft. He is a consultant endocrinologist and ex-head of the british thyroid assoc. The book is part of a series by the bma

Pgs 37-44: outline of symptoms and test results. P40 says borderline results should be confirmed by testing for antibodies. P44 mild hypothyroidism - if you have raised tsh it is better to 'nip things in the bud'. P92. GPs would be suspicious of low-normal t4 and high-normal tsh (say 3.2) and most would treat you with thyroxine in order to prevent more severe hypothyroidism in future

You may need to try more than one GP but it is very important to get this treated early. I didn't and was very ill and it took a year to recover. This is your chance to get treatment

Also point out pg 38 - b12 and vit d are often also low with this condition.

ok, so Ive posted for more info over here

Just an extra thing, you are not on the contraception pill are you? Not because of tiredness but st John's wort stops the pill working and it sounds like another dc is the last thing you need.

What time does your toddler nap? Just that we do naps 1-3 here ( up 3pm latest, to get to bed at 7pm. But we also use the afternoons as excercise for everyone.

Could you try letting him sleep at 12.30/1 for an hour or two, then wrapping everyone up and go to park/ wintertime torch walk/ feed the ducks/ let them run with a ball? Also does toddler still use buggy? Try to walk them everywhere, and you and them will be getting a bit of excercise and fresh air. This afternoon walk/ run should help get the children tired quicker ( especially now cold air so need to wrap up), and you could all try bringing bedtime forward)

Not sure of children's ages but I would aim for 7pm for toddler, next at 7.30, next at 8 ( or 7.30 too if similar age). You can always say the eldest ones can read quietly for half hour in bed.
Then it would help bring your evening forward. Reduce computer maybe to half hour, short tv/ read and aim to get to bed by 10pm latest

well, step one is I have put my phone charger downstairs and bought a bedside clock instead, so no more MNing in bed - its a start at least

You could almost be describing most of my symptoms! Except that I don't have three DC, I've got a thyroid problem, had these symptoms for around 12 years (before two DC came along). I have been back to the GP and been prescribed amitriptyline (10mgs each evening) to help settle me to sleep. I do not often sleep well, up at the toilet a lot. Can drop off to sleep and then wake again a few hours later...Have been told I may have M.E.

One thing that really stands out in your posts is that you're going to be extremely late, and your children's bedtimes seem quite late too. You're needing to help yourself more by putting them to bed earlier, so you can get a decent amount of respite each evening yourself.

Good luck.

I remember you posting a little while ago (not about this) but just saying what you'd been doing and I said to you then that your name was no surprise, just thinking about it was making me tired!!

You could have been describing my symptoms until recently too. Although I put it down to severe sleep deprivation, I felt deathly tired too much of the time until I found out a) I was gluten intolerant and stopped eating it and b) I had a ferritin (iron) test and discovered that although my result was well within the "normal" range (33) it wasn't normal or OPTIMAL for me and I am now raising my level using prescribed iron and feeling MUCH better. I am also taking a strong multivitamin and mineral.

OP, get your ferritin levels tested again. For some people anything under 50 may be sub-optimal.

Doing blood tests on Monday so I will report back to you all. I'm also going to do a straw poll over on chat, so you can all join me there if you like!