- Messages
- 5
- Location
- UK
Hi everyone,
I’m hoping you kind people might be able to offer some advice.
I have been told I have M.E. by my doctor, but I’m not entirely sure that I agree (because I also have an under-active thyroid).
My problems with chronic fatigue started 2.5 years. I woke up one day feeling utterly depressed, like I was consumed by it, yet it passed quickly within about a week. After that, I started to feel tired all the time. It was fairly gradual. As the months passed, I felt so weak and exhausted that I had to sit on the bathroom floor to clean my teeth. I struggled to shower; afterwards I would sit on the shower floor wrapped in a towel for about 30-minutes before I felt I could stand up and get dressed.
I went to see my doctor and, because my mum has hypothyroidism, I asked for a thyroid blood test. My TSH was 7.55. My doctor said that was not bad enough to cause my symptoms. She told me there was nothing she could do for me; just wait and have my TSH tested in another three months.
As the months passed, I got worse and worse; I hardly left the house because going out was just too much effort. I had to stop working because my arms were too tired to type at my computer, and my head felt so slow and foggy that I couldn’t concentrate anymore.
I had lots of other symptoms too (which my doctor dismissed as non-specific)...
Needing to sleep during the day.
Weakness (even holding a cup/glass felt too heavy).
Muscle aches / heavy legs.
Back pain.
Breathless with even light exertion.
Heart palpitations throughout the day.
Skin problems (acne, dry skin).
Stomach pain, IBS, constipation.
Cold all the time.
Sore throat / hoarse voice.
Brain fog / unable to concentrate.
Mild depression & changeable moods (my mood can change dramatically within a single day).
Pins & needles / tingling in my legs (this is a new symptom within the last month).
After eight months of feeling like my life had more or less ended, I was eventually given levothyroxine 25mcg, although my doctor still didn’t believe I had a thyroid problem.
Within a couple of weeks, I felt slightly better, and then had a burst of energy for a few days. Straight away I noticed that I no longer felt cold, and I found it easier to do basic things like take a shower. However, the improvement lasted less than a month and then I gradually declined again.
After another 3 months, my dose of levothyroxine was increased to 50mcg (when I happened to see a stand-in doctor who thought 25mcg was a pointless small dose). Again, I started to feel slightly better for a month or so. Still tired, but slightly improved. That was short-lived, however, because of a stressful period in my life, followed by a week of intense physical activity (moving into a three-story house that needed thoroughly cleaning from top to bottom - I felt like it almost killed me).
Over the past year, I’ve continued to struggle with my energy levels, even though I take 50mcg levothyroxine. I’ve never been as tired as I was 2.5 years ago. But my energy fluctuates. Sometimes I can do nothing for an entire week. Some days I think I feel ok and so I attempt to do something (like shopping or cleaning.) The following day I’m utterly exhausted again and it can take me 3 − 4 days to recover.
My TSH is now 3.2 (which my doctor thinks is good.) She says that all my blood tests are normal and that there is little point doing anymore because they will be normal too.
So, she has diagnosed me with M.E. and says there is nothing she can do to help. The diagnosis has left me feeling hopeless. Will I be like this for the rest of my life? (I'm only in my 30s.) Do I really have M.E.? Did I never have an under-active thyroid in the first place? Or is my tiredness still caused by under-medicated hypothyroidism? I just don't know.
I would be so grateful if anyone here can tell me if my symptoms above sound like M.E. ... or just offer some general thoughts or advice about where I go from here.
I feel lost at the moment
Thanks so much.
I’m hoping you kind people might be able to offer some advice.
I have been told I have M.E. by my doctor, but I’m not entirely sure that I agree (because I also have an under-active thyroid).
My problems with chronic fatigue started 2.5 years. I woke up one day feeling utterly depressed, like I was consumed by it, yet it passed quickly within about a week. After that, I started to feel tired all the time. It was fairly gradual. As the months passed, I felt so weak and exhausted that I had to sit on the bathroom floor to clean my teeth. I struggled to shower; afterwards I would sit on the shower floor wrapped in a towel for about 30-minutes before I felt I could stand up and get dressed.
I went to see my doctor and, because my mum has hypothyroidism, I asked for a thyroid blood test. My TSH was 7.55. My doctor said that was not bad enough to cause my symptoms. She told me there was nothing she could do for me; just wait and have my TSH tested in another three months.
As the months passed, I got worse and worse; I hardly left the house because going out was just too much effort. I had to stop working because my arms were too tired to type at my computer, and my head felt so slow and foggy that I couldn’t concentrate anymore.
I had lots of other symptoms too (which my doctor dismissed as non-specific)...
Needing to sleep during the day.
Weakness (even holding a cup/glass felt too heavy).
Muscle aches / heavy legs.
Back pain.
Breathless with even light exertion.
Heart palpitations throughout the day.
Skin problems (acne, dry skin).
Stomach pain, IBS, constipation.
Cold all the time.
Sore throat / hoarse voice.
Brain fog / unable to concentrate.
Mild depression & changeable moods (my mood can change dramatically within a single day).
Pins & needles / tingling in my legs (this is a new symptom within the last month).
After eight months of feeling like my life had more or less ended, I was eventually given levothyroxine 25mcg, although my doctor still didn’t believe I had a thyroid problem.
Within a couple of weeks, I felt slightly better, and then had a burst of energy for a few days. Straight away I noticed that I no longer felt cold, and I found it easier to do basic things like take a shower. However, the improvement lasted less than a month and then I gradually declined again.
After another 3 months, my dose of levothyroxine was increased to 50mcg (when I happened to see a stand-in doctor who thought 25mcg was a pointless small dose). Again, I started to feel slightly better for a month or so. Still tired, but slightly improved. That was short-lived, however, because of a stressful period in my life, followed by a week of intense physical activity (moving into a three-story house that needed thoroughly cleaning from top to bottom - I felt like it almost killed me).
Over the past year, I’ve continued to struggle with my energy levels, even though I take 50mcg levothyroxine. I’ve never been as tired as I was 2.5 years ago. But my energy fluctuates. Sometimes I can do nothing for an entire week. Some days I think I feel ok and so I attempt to do something (like shopping or cleaning.) The following day I’m utterly exhausted again and it can take me 3 − 4 days to recover.
My TSH is now 3.2 (which my doctor thinks is good.) She says that all my blood tests are normal and that there is little point doing anymore because they will be normal too.
So, she has diagnosed me with M.E. and says there is nothing she can do to help. The diagnosis has left me feeling hopeless. Will I be like this for the rest of my life? (I'm only in my 30s.) Do I really have M.E.? Did I never have an under-active thyroid in the first place? Or is my tiredness still caused by under-medicated hypothyroidism? I just don't know.
I would be so grateful if anyone here can tell me if my symptoms above sound like M.E. ... or just offer some general thoughts or advice about where I go from here.
I feel lost at the moment
Thanks so much.