SO tired

kkauz42

Hey all! My name is Kayli, I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism about 3 years ago and I'm on 75mcg of Levothyroxine! I was wondering if any of you with hypo have ever had issues with being really tired. The past 2 months or so I have been way more tired than usual.

I work swing shift so I get off at 11:30pm, get home around 12am and then I lay down in bed and fall asleep probably around 12:30am. I used to get up at 9-9:30am with zero issues and go straight to the gym. Lately I have been struggling to get up at 10:30 sometimes or I am just extremely tired! For example, on Sat I went to bed around 12:30am and got up Sunday morning at 9:30am, wide awake. After about an hour of being up I was tired again so I laid down about 10:45am and woke up at 12:45pm before I had to get ready for work. In those 2 hours I slept HARD like I would at night, I was completely out! I haven't had any troubles sleeping at night either.

I am however having a tough time distinguishing if this is from potential thyroid issues or if it's from lack of working out. About 5 weeks ago I was rear ended (nothing major) but my lower back and shoulder were very sore so lifting wasn't really an option. I did some jogging 3-4x/week to get something in and at times THAT was a struggle (in terms of waking up) I am feeling way better now so I decided to start lifting again but I have been having a tough time even getting out of bed to get to the gym! My last TSH levels were at .722 and the "normal range" is .3-3.0 so I am within the normal range.

Has anyone experienced being tired like this with their thyroid issues??

Leeann1979

Yes! I am going through this right now too. It sucks. I was diagnosed with Hashimotos 2 years ago. I am now on 125mcg of Synthroid. I was starting to feel better a couple months ago. I started taking selenium, coconut oil and B100 complex on top of a multivitamin, so I don't know if they helped, but I was feeling much more energetic. Now they have run out, and I am dead tired again for a couple weeks. I get quite a bit of exercise, I play lots of tennis, and ive recently joined a gym, but for the last 2 weeks, I have been so lazy. I have been going to bed early, and on the weekends, napping lots. It is so frustrating. It actually depresses me because I want to do stuff, but I am too tired. So I will be getting more vitamins ASAP. I totally know how you feel. My levels were all around the normal range, dr didn't give exact numbers, but I am due to get blood work done, so we'll see how that goes.

Maybe see your doctor soon and see what they have to say? Perhaps try supplements that are supposed to benefit the thyroid??
It is so annoying when the doctor says everything is fine, but why the heck are we so damn tired?!??!

kcvance

Yes - Levothyroxine/Synthroid only did not alleviate any of my symptoms. It got my TSH to 4.9 and my first doctor announced I was "cured". I was still taking 3+ hour naps whenever I could, sleeping 12 hours a night, and sometimes having to pull over and nap in a parking lot during work hours because I was literally falling asleep at the wheel. This would always be markedly worse for me after a flare up of my hashimotos...

Your thyroid dosage will likely need to be upped over time if you have Hashimoto's (autoimmune) thyroid disease. Do you have other symptoms on this dosage (intolerance to cold, constipation, etc.)? What are your free T3 and T4 levels? Does your doctor only test TSH?

kkauz42

Yes - Levothyroxine/Synthroid only did not alleviate any of my symptoms. It got my TSH to 4.9 and my first doctor announced I was "cured". I was still taking 3+ hour naps whenever I could, sleeping 12 hours a night, and sometimes having to pull over and nap in a parking lot during work hours because I was literally falling asleep at the wheel. This would always be markedly worse for me after a flare up of my hashimotos...

Your thyroid dosage will likely need to be upped over time if you have Hashimoto's (autoimmune) thyroid disease. Do you have other symptoms on this dosage (intolerance to cold, constipation, etc.)? What are your free T3 and T4 levels? Does your doctor only test TSH?

So far I have only had tsh tested as far as I know. I HATE being cold and I am cold more than my friends are but since it's summer it's been better. I have been feeling kind of depressed at times. Not super deprssed but definitely a "blah" feeling which is SO not like me!

ashleyapplewhite

You most definitely need your free T3 and T4 levels tested. You may need, like many, the addition of Cytomel to your therapy. Also, how's your diet. Diet, surprisingly, has played a huge role in getting my energy back.

kkauz42

You most definitely need your free T3 and T4 levels tested. You may need, like many, the addition of Cytomel to your therapy. Also, how's your diet. Diet, surprisingly, has played a huge role in getting my energy back.

I am emailing my Dr. Today to suggest a T3 and T4 test and/or suppliments to work with my hormone that I'm taking right now. I'm tired of feeling "blah" and being so tired!! It's so not me!

kkauz42

You most definitely need your free T3 and T4 levels tested. You may need, like many, the addition of Cytomel to your therapy. Also, how's your diet. Diet, surprisingly, has played a huge role in getting my energy back.

Oh, and my diet is usually pretty good. Recently it hasn't been that great but it is generally good

ELEANOR43da

Tired is me all over.I am up from 7am til 9 am. Then sleep until 1pm.....Cold all the tme also.

ashleyapplewhite

You most definitely need your free T3 and T4 levels tested. You may need, like many, the addition of Cytomel to your therapy. Also, how's your diet. Diet, surprisingly, has played a huge role in getting my energy back.

Oh, and my diet is usually pretty good. Recently it hasn't been that great but it is generally good

I've written about my recent diet change other places on these boards, and I'm not being preachy AT ALL because I know what works for some does't work for all, etc etc, so just take this with a grain of salt, BUT, 3 months ago I started eating a whole foods, plant-based diet, with no dairy and no gluten. I feel FANTASTIC, I'm off half my PCOS meds so far, and my hypo symptoms have disappeared. Maybe try it for 2 weeks, and see how you feel. (PS: I was taking levo and cytomel all along, but only started feeling better when I drastically altered my diet).

kkauz42

Tired is me all over.I am up from 7am til 9 am. Then sleep until 1pm.....Cold all the tme also.

ELEANOR43da- I totally feel you! I found some very interesting and helpful things while I was browsing info. I did a little post about it here http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1049437-more-than-a-tsh-test?page=1#posts-16113556

KCtoCapeCod

I was crazy tired ALL THE TIME until my TSH was finally under a 3. That plus working out really helps to liven me up. It can be an infuriating and a vicious cycle. Good luck.

trimom10

It sounds like maybe you need to have your thyroid levels checked again. If something doesn't feel right or normal, let your doctor know. It's interesting that you say that you were in an accident recently. I had thyroid problems after my car accident last summer. For me, I had been hypothyroid for years and on Synthroid. About two months after the accident, I started having hyperthyroid symptoms. After visiting my endocrinologist, he determined I was indeed hyperthyroid and started cutting back my meds. While my doctor said he couldn't be sure that the accident was the impetus for the change in my thyroid, a chiropractor friend of mine said it's possible. She said if the spine/back is out of alignment, it may be affecting body systems, such as the endocrine. I hope you feel better soon!

fiberartist219

I believe the lack of exercise and working the swing shift is what's tearing you down. That sounds awfully familiar. I used to work retail hours, which varied from day to day, and my sleep patterns got so jacked up that I just felt tired all the time, and I had terrible migraines, and at some point on all of the migraine medication, I even hallucinated.

All of that got WAY better when my neurologist told me to quit my job and find a M-F 9-5 gig. I freaked out a bit, because I liked my job, but it was the absolute best thing I ever did for my health. I was still a little sluggish for the first few months at my current job and my hair was falling out that summer as I got adjusted, but once my sleeping habits fell into place and working out became a habit rather than an attempt, my overall health got so much better. I feel awake all day, because when I sleep it is so much harder than when I was trying to get a different 8 hours each night.

If you go to bed at the same time every night and wake up at the same time every day, you are giving yourself a much better chance at being healthy than if you try to work with a wonky schedule.

The hormones also play a role, but I firmly believe that if you're not in a good sleeping and exercise routine, then your hormones are just going to bounce around up and down until you find some stability.

I could be wrong, but that's how I started to feel better. I truly believe that you need both the medication and a normal sleep schedule to find what being completely awake feels like. To be completely awake, your body needs to learn how to be completely asleep, and it just doesn't happen unless you set a regular routine for it.