Hypothyroidism?

Being always tired is reason enough to get your thyroid checked.

I agree with aggelikik. You do not need more reason. Hypothyroid is very common in women and even just a tiny bit off can really throw your system. I was diagnosed at 22 and all I said to my doctor was "Something isn't right. I just feel like crap." They took blood and two days later I was on Levothyroxin. If you are Hypothyroid, it is SO easy to fix. It just takes a little time to get the hormone replacement dose correct, but if that is what's up, you will feel immediately better.

I kept gaining and gaining and couldn't sleep, I was depressed, diagnosed as bipolar and I knew that wasn't right.

I was just fed up after about 5 years of gaining and misdiagnoses. I went in and demanded that something be done to help me lose weight. They ran the labwork.

Come to find out, my thyroid was off for YEARS before going in that day. The doctor that ordered the labwork then was not my primary and never told my primary, so I was never on meds. My TSH back then was 38. When I went in demanding to be checked, 216.

I've been diagnosed now for 2 1/2 years and I'm still struggling to lose weight, but have recently changed meds and it seems to be helping with the insomnia at least.

I had all the regular symptoms as well: 2:00pm crash, hair loss, weight gain, inability to focus and a sense of feeling just not normal. It ended up I had hypothyroidism and Vit D deficiency. The two are a terrible combination to have because it kicks you totally off mentally and physically. I have now been regulated for almost two years and feel great. Advice: go to an endocrinologist to have a full evaluation, don't let a general practitioner regulate your thyroid instability.

Where do I go from there?

how many calories do you burn on average?
how many calories per day do you eat on average?
how many hours per night do you sleep?
how much water per day do you drink?
how many weeks have you been following the above regimine?
what was your starting weight when you started the above regimine?
what was your body fat% or measurements when you started the above regimine?
what is your weight now? bf%? measurements%

What I'm getting at, is there's lots of reasons you might not be losing as fast as you want. That being said, no reason to not get your bloodwork done. You can find out all kinds of things with some simple lab work.

I was diagnosed a few years ago. I was always tired, very dry skin, thinning hair, very hard to lose weight, brittle nails... you name it. Worst of all, it changed my temperament. I got angry at the slightest things and couldn't control my outbursts, which was unlike me. Previous doctor wouldn't listen to me so I switched. My current doctor tested my thyroid on the first visit. Within a week, I was on meds and my mood had stabilized within a month. It's a ***** having to get your blood tested every 3-6 months to get your dosage right but it's worth it.

If you have blood work, I highly recommend having your vitamin D checked! If you are real low on D and become a bit resistant, you could be tired from that! I suffer from hypothyroidism and finally stabilized that with the tight levels and supplement, I take Armour brand, naturally derived from a pig. I could no absorb, convert the synthetic brands and finally figured it out be ordering a holistic integrated doctor sells out Michigan, USA. He pointed out situations that comfirmed what I felt was my synthetic medicine was not working and I was getting some benefits but not the most important ones! Like lack of T3/4 conversion to cells. I spoke to my doctor about Armour and she wrote my prescripts to get it and 3 months later I could not believe how my hair was growing back around my temples and I felt sharper in the head too! my D was low, real low at blood work check up, I felt tired, Then I got a 5000 IU one time a day from Costco, I feel 1000 times better! My doctor got me on 10000 IU for while and when check level I stated on the the over the counter!

I recommend you get your D levels and Iodine levels check! Cheers H

Hair falling out, fatigue, weight gain and I already had menstrual problems because of my PCOS but I'm sure it made it worse. I take Levothyroxine now and that helps a lot.

It took six years to get mine diagnosed properly. There are a number of symptoms you can find on-line: fuzzy thinking, low energy, weight gain. One quick test you can give yourself is to take your basal body temperature right when you wake up. Put the thermometer under your armpit to take your temperature. If your body temperature is in the 96-97 degree range there's a good chance you have hypothyroidism.

If you think you have it go to an endocrinologist because the standard thyroid test does not accurately test for autoimmune based hypothyroidism (Hashimoto's syndrome.) Standard test measures the T4 (hormone) coming out of your thyroid. With autoimmune hypothyroidism your body attacks the T4 before your body can absorb it into your cells and convert it to T3 which is what gives you energy.

There are other things it could be. What you are describing sounds like what I experienced when I tried to train for a half marathon. After seven weeks of training with no measurable improvement I went to my doctor and found out my allergy medicine (Zyrtec) was the most debilitating of the non-drowsey formulas. She put me on Allegra because it is a larger molecule that is not absorbed into the bloodstream. My one mile time immediately (two days later) improved by two minutes. See a doctor, it definitely sounds like something may be up.

The overwhelming tiredness. I was getting panic attacks as well, and when I walked around, felt as if I was going to sink through the floor, such was the overwhelming fatigue. I had also gained weight, though I did not end up overweight, in spite of not eating healthy at all, or exercising. But I reached my heaviest weight, regardless. But mainly, yes, it was the fatigue. The feeling I could just slip into a coma.
It has not affected my capacity to lose weight, however, since being put on levothyroxine years ago.

MFP has a Hypothyroidism and Hyperthyroidism group: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/770-hypothyroidism-and-hyperthyroidism