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[britmom]

I'm on thyroxine, 75mg. My TSH has just been checked and is at 2.6. My GP doesn't plan on increasing the dose.
Had fasting blood sugar checked - fine. Had full run of blood tests - all fine.
I'm getting a reasonable amount of sleep, and certainly more than I would usually as my husband has been taking care of the baby during the night as I'm just so exhausted. I haven't changed my diet significantly. The one thing that has changed is that I'm drinking a lot more coffee.

What on earth is going on? I feel completely worn out, and have no energy at all. I know it could be depression (I'm on 3 lots of medication to deal with postnatal depression), but I don't feel low and I really don't think it's that. It's possible that one of the medications has started making me feel tired, but I'm now on a much lower dose of the most likely offender than before when I felt well.

This tiredness has been going on for 6-8 weeks now and I'm getting desperate. Does anyone have any ideas? My GP seems to have pretty much given up.

[testingthewaters]

I'm sorry, britmom- that's really frustrating.

Just to start with the obvious- I assume you've ruled out pregnancy?

[britmom]

Hi TWT.

I'm definitely not pregnant (not much chance, given I'm asleep by 9pm every night! Sorry, possibly TMI there.)

The only thing I can think of is the coffee. (It just struck me as I was typing my OP). I'll cut it out, but I find it hard to believe that drinking a coffee a day can make such a difference. (I previously just drank tea, but I drank a lot more than I am now. I'd hazard a guess that my caffeine consumption is roughly the same as before.)

Also, I'm slowly gaining weight - I can't seem to stop it - and I'm ridiculously bloated on an evening.

[lab_gal]

Depression can take the form of tiredness. I've gone through this a few times in my life. I don't feel sad, exactly, just overwhelmingly exhausted. Like, all I can think about is sleep, and I spend my waking minutes fantasizing about when I might be able to close my eyes and crash. During those times, I probably could have slept standing up, and the tiredness followed me no matter how much I indulged myself with sleep and rest. All of that without feeling sad.

At the time, I convinced myself I wasn't depressed, but looking back, it seems obviously. Tiredness was my body's way of coping with stress and shutting off my too-active mind. Self preservation mode, I guess.

How old is the baby, are you breastfeeding, and have you recently returned to work? Those issues alone can take a tremendous physical toll. Having a little person occupy your mind (not to mention ask things of your body!) 24/7 is exhausting, even with your husband to help out. When I returned to work, I had a good two months of complete and utter exhaustion before things started looking up.

So sorry you're going through this. I hope the exhaustion gets better soon.

[antiphon1]

Here are some things you might want to think about:
Are you getting any exercise?  
How much water are you drinking?  
Have you started a new contraceptive?

I'd say most of what you are experiencing is stress and your hormones getting back to normal.  I know the doctors say 9 months is the magic number for getting your body back to it's prepregnancy normals, but that wasn't true for me.  I'm not sure my body ever completely bounced back.  It's not a better or worse state of being, mind you, just different from the way I felt before having children.  

Hang in there.  

[krisanthe]

Sorry to hear of this, britmom.  Anxiety and stress can certainly be physically exhausting.  I was experiencing this myself a few weeks ago due to very long and demanding hours at work.  During this time, I was in bed as soon as I ate dinner (around 8pm) and I'd sleep until 6am.  I could have slept much longer if I didn't have to get up so early to head back to work.

The long hours are finally over and I've had a few weeks to recuperate.  I took a few days off work to shop and travel to visit family.  I now feel physically and mentally much better!

If you think that anxiety and/or stress is what is making you tired, perhaps a change of scenery may be in order.  This is probably not easy (or relaxing) with a little one, though.  Exercise can also help reduce the feeling of stress and increase your energy.

Good luck!

[wildwest]

Okay, so I'm on the gluten-free bandwagon these days, but it's something to consider.

Gluten intolerance or sensitivity, or even full-blown Celiac disease, can be jump-started suddenly after a pregnancy, childbirth, traumatic event, stress, etc.  It is also related to other auto-immune issues, and also to thyroid disorders.  Most doctors don't make the connection.  And sometimes a blood test will show up as negative when you do have a sensitivity.

Has your doctor tested you for Vitamin B or iron deficiency?

Try cutting out all wheat, barley, and rye for about six weeks and see how you feel.  Be careful of hidden wheat in condiments, sauces, and packaged foods.  Eat lots of protein, veg, fruit, and carbs such as quinoa, rice, and beans. 

It's just a thought . . .

[anon78]

britmom, I've been on synthetic thyroid hormone for 15 years.  What I've found is that I feel best when my TSH is closer to 1.0 (.8-1.2).  I'm currently at 2.7, which is high for me.  I had some other health issues and didn't take my thyroid meds consistently (first time in 15 years) for a bit in the winter when my TSH skyrocketed to 19.7.  I'm back to daily dosing, but I now can't convince my docs (endocrinologist, general dr, and/or cardiologist) to up my thyroid meds, so that I can get it closer to my normal.  I'm still tired, and always have been when my TSH is on the edges of what most think is "normal" by the lab standards.

I do remember reading, years ago (so no link), that the .5-5 range of TSH "normality" was too large and that some people only responded to feeling less tired if TSH was in the .5-1.5 range.  I'm not a doctor, but I believe that this was based upon research studies in the field. You might want to try to find an Endocrinologist who specializes in thyroid, as most have expertise in diabetes and primarily see diabetes patients.  They might be more receptive to finding you a dose to where you actually feel better. 

[collegekidsmom]

Sorry you are not feeling well, Britmom. Do you know for sure that you are actually sleeping well, quality sleep -not just hours in bed? Do you have sleep apnea by any chance?
Also, I don't like your doctor's attitude. I would persist in asking for a reason for your constant exhaustion. If your GP has "given up," ask that person for a referral to someone else or insist on continued attention to this. If it is medication, and/or depression-or thyroid, you need to still keep trying to find out what is going on.

[britmom]

Thanks for those replies.

The baby is really a toddler - she's 18 months. I've been back at work 6 months. I also have a 4 year old. If anything, life is starting to get easier with them.

Antiphon - I was exercising quite regularly, but I stopped about 6 weeks ago when this tiredness got really bad. I've been thinking that I should get back to the gym. It's just doing it that's the problem.
Nothing has changed medication wise, except for the fact that I'm reducing down a medication that's used to supplement antidepressants. (I've already added in a different medication to replace it.) It's well known to cause excessive tiredness so I find it hard to believe that reducing it is causing these problems.  It should be the other way around.

labgal/krisanthe - it could be the depression causing this. What I find strange is that I was feeling really well through March/April/May, ie right at the most stressful and tiring time of the academic year with all the extra work that comes with it. My mood and energy levels were remarkably stable, and I really felt like I was through the worst of the depression. Work is calm and stress-free at the moment. My concentration and focus is reasonably good; it's just this feeling that the life is being sucked out of me. I'm reasonably OK in a morning, but some evenings I just don't have the energy to look after the children. I collapse down on the floor for half an hour before I can drag myself up.  Even in the depths of the depression, when I was in hospital, I didn't feel this tired.

Wildwest - as it happens, I've just started to cut gluten out of my diet on the suggestion of a friend. My family history is riddled with auto-immune diseases. My diet as a whole could be better, but I just don't have the energy…it's a vicious circle. 

Scansculpt - Regarding TSH levels: I've read about that. Now that all my other blood test results have come back fine, I might go back to my GP and ask about that.

Collegekidsmom - good point about the quality of the sleep. You may be on to something. I'm in N. Scotland where it doesn't get dark until around 11/12pm and it starts to get light again around 3am. We have 2 blackout blinds and blackout curtains on our bedroom window, but the light still manages to find a way in. I've always struggled with this - I crave darkness at this time of the year. (In fact, I was just thinking about how much I'm looking forward to the nights drawing in again. Of course, there's the opposite problem in the depths of winter. ) I didn't think about that as the extent of the tiredness is far, far worse than anything I've ever felt before, but perhaps my current history of PND and this lack of darkness are combining to make me especially tired. That would fit with the fact that this tiredness hit in June. Short of finding a cave to sleep in, I'm not sure what I can do about that. (Linking to what I said above, the medication I'm reducing down is known for causing tiredness, but it's also known for messing with your sleep cycles. )

The only other explanation I can think of is that this is somehow my body recovering from a year or so of grinding depression. My husband's actually said that he thinks my body's in some sort of shock from all the stress and torment of the postnatal depression, ie my head is finally in a stable and fairly happy place so now my body's getting over it. Is that possible?

[scotia]

The only other explanation I can think of is that this is somehow my body recovering from a year or so of grinding depression. My husband's actually said that he thinks my body's in some sort of shock from all the stress and torment of the postnatal depression, ie my head is finally in a stable and fairly happy place so now my body's getting over it. Is that possible?

This sounds entirely plausible to me. I find that my end of semester tiredness tends to hit a couple of weeks after the stress ends, not so much during the stressful time when adrenaline gets me through. One of my GPs once likened this to my body operating at maximum revs when I need it to, and the engine coping because the human fight or flight mechanism needs it to do so. Once the stress is removed the engine conks out for a while (he used some analogy about cooling down) to recover. If there are any underlying health problems the conking out can be a little more severe.

Another possibility is a virus. I had something pretty grim during exam marking but just had to battle through. I thought I had got away with it, but suspect that I am now paying for not taking any recovery time then: yesterday I got my admin scut out of the way early in the day so I could do some writing. In the remaining six hours, I wrote one paragraph - and struggled to achieve that.

[lemonbar]

I am exhausted too, uncharacteristically so. I have some similar problems (i.e. a 16 month old and a 3 and a half year old), depression.... I just feel so tired. I cannot work an entire day without taking a nap. This is not the norm for me.

[prytania3]

(I'm on 3 lots of medication to deal with postnatal depression), but I don't feel low and I really don't think it's that. It's possible that one of the medications has started making me feel tired, but I'm now on a much lower dose of the most likely offender than before when I felt well.

This tiredness has been going on for 6-8 weeks now and I'm getting desperate. Does anyone have any ideas? My GP seems to have pretty much given up.

If you are taking SSRIs, it could very well be *that* medication. I never could take that s*** because it made me so tired.

[collegekidsmom]

SO many medications cause this side effect.

[alto_stratus]

If lack of darkness is a problem, try making a sleep mask out of folded soft knit or percale cotton.  In a pinch, a pillow case can be folded over a few times the long way and cover both your eyes and ears.  I don't find the sleep masks you can purchase to be nice at all (bad material, weird-smelling foam, too tight, often irritating to the eyes), so I don't recommend those.  But a few layers of cotton seems to work, blocking out the light without irritating my eyes.