Waves of Exhaustion

You may not have celiac but could be sensitive to wheat still. It makes many people tired. And while a single vitamin may not fix everything, I do know B12 did me a lot of good.

Have you had your thyroid checked?
Have you had your iron levels checked?
Have you had your Vitamin B (to include B-12 and all those in that category) checked?

I would keep a diary of how I'm feeling, when I'm feeling...what I've had to eat...sleep, etc.

Don't take any supplements until you have your blood and hormone levels checked...taking too much of a supplement - B-12 Complex, Iron, etc. can hurt you.

Good luck!!

Diane B has some great information, make sure to read her response!

My personal experience is with Fibromyalgia, which can manifest itself in many different forms. I tend to have manageable pain symptoms (if I don't take my meds, or if I overdo exercise, I will feel the consequences for days afterwards until I get back into homeostasis with my body's receptors), but a key symptom in Fibro that I haven't figured out a way to prevent is the overwhelming fatigue.

This is more than "oh I'm tired because I didn't sleep well/did too much/etc." It is a crushing, "gotta find a place to crash NOW" fatigue, where my body feels like I'm trying to move underwater, & every step is too much energy draining activity.

It is possible to have Fibro with symptoms of fatigue, & without the chronic pain symptoms. Some people don't realize the pain they feel is actually Fibro related (attribute to age, etc.) or they just have low/no levels of pain manifesting itself, but a doctor can "trigger" it by evaluating the pressure points on the body. (when pressed with a light force, they hurt at a disproportionate rate, with pain that can exceed the area affected, & long lasting).

Unfortunately, Fibro is often a diagnosis of last resort, when other issues are screened for & eliminated. Keep in mind, a positive screening for some issues may not result in a lack of Fibro diagnosis, & sometimes treating other issues does not eliminate the fatigue.

Wild Woman's suggestion of keeping a journal is VERY helpful to getting the right diagnosis. You should log what you ate at each meal, & the activities you engaged in (intensity/duration), for 1 week - 1 month. Make it useful, such as "1/2 grapefruit with 1 tsp sugar, ham/cheddar sandwich on rye, non-sweet iced tea" as opposed to "fruit, sandwich". For activities, "2 hours shopping @ mall, 1/2 hour brisk walk with dog, hiking with friends in rough terrain for 2 hours", and don't forget to log stress in your life, such as large projects @ work, family illness/deaths, etc.

Then, also record how you felt. Include things like joint soreness, fatigue, muscle weakness, thirst, hunger, digestive upset, diarrhea/constipation, muscle cramps/twitches, dry/itching eyes, skin rashes, dry/scaley skin, etc. The more specific you can be, the easier your doctor will be able to identify ongoing triggers, see patterns, & diagnose overall conditions.

I just attended a lecture from a nurse who helped her husband through his colon cancer treatment. He was told to document side effects of his chemo treatments, & given "the big 4" to report on. He instead devised a tracking system to record all the changes his body went through, including length of time & intensity. His doctor was amazed, & was able to work with him to devise a schedule of chemo treatment that allowed him to continue his quality of life - spending time with his family & teaching @ the School of Pharmacy. He knew if he had chemo on Monday @ 4pm, he would feel horrible until Thursday @ 11am, & have only "lost" 2 days of his activities.

Just a little backstory in case you are wondering why I am recommending going so in-depth with your documentation, it really helps you be proactive & a partner with your doctor in diagnosing & determining the course of treatment!

Best of luck. T. :)

Definitely have your thyroid checked.

Also, if the hormones help you feel better, then why not continue to take them?

Exhaustion can be a part of peri-menopause.
Sleep is interrupted with night sweats and the sleep you get isn't as deep as you are use to.
Could be a thyroid thing - hypothyroid can make you feel really tired - have your thyroid levels checked.
Check your iron levels and a vitamin B supplement might help.

I was also going to suggest thyroid testing. But, make sure you don't just have the TSH level checked, but also the T3 and T4 and get the complete test. Ask the doctor what he or she is going to check.

And you say you cut out some foods, but how about others? Like other kinds of artificial sweeteners, regular sugar, processed foods, etc. Are you eating pure food, real ingredients?

You also might check with an endocrinologist or ob/gyn doctor about menopause support.

Or, speak to a nutritionist, a registered dietician. They can evaluate your eating habits, diet, and see why those waves of exhaustion come, if there's a food correlation.

Sorry, I know this can be frustrating.

I was in the same boat a couple years ago. Exhausted all the time. It turned out to be low vitamin D which was confirmed by a quick blood test at my dr's office. Please have your doctor check your thyroid level, vitamin d, and iron. If it turned out to be vit D watch the strength of the supplement you choose. Unlike more vitamins vit d is stored in your fat instead of excreted in your urine so you can end up with a toxic level of vit d in your system (which is not a good thing).

Have your thyroid checked.

Have your vitamin D levels checked, maybe thyroid levels also. I would also consider the foods you eat, most processed foods are filled with preservatives, sugars, etc. that will make you feel crappy (GMO's will also effect your body).

I had an ablation too and I don't think that would be the problem.

When I became exhausted walking up my home's stairs, and my arms ached when I washed my hair, I asked my doctor to do blood work (I thought I was anemic). Turns out I am very low in B-12. Regular B-12 make a huge difference in my life.

Seems pretty basic, but have you had your iron level checked?

I have very low iron, and if I miss taking it (along with colace...lol) I can really tell!

I would explain to your doc just what you have stated here.

Hope you find some answers!

Have you thyroid checked. You could also have sleep apnea. Good luck!!

hello
I am 50 and I know that wave of tiredness you are speaking about... You may be low on iron.. which in my case, with heavy monthly bleeding due to fibroids, it's only been since the fibroids (a few years ago) that I now have these deep fatigue spells.. I feel like Dorothy in the wizard of oz when she fell asleep in the field of poppies.. it just knocks me out... although you don't have a period, as you say, you still do have a cycle...and any fluctuation in the ratio of estrogen vs progesterone (even if in smaller amounts) may cause a high low effect in energy levels. at least for me.. That said.. I started taking Black strap molasses (un-sulphured) because it's super high in iron. I've only been taking it for almost a month, but with this month's period, whether it's all in my head or not, I felt a little more energetic and not as lightheaded. Additionally, the other reason I am trying to amp up my iron intake is because I crave carbohydrates more than I ever have in my life..I read that low iron levels can contribute to cravings and even pica... so IF you also have cravings, coupled with low energy, could be your iron levels.. maybe you should have them checked..
whatever you do, I wish you the best..

Have you had your thyroid checked?

Have you been checked for diabetes?

Have your thyroid checked. Also, this could be sleep related. Even though you are getting 8 hours of sleep, it may not be quality sleep. Folks who have sleep apnea or other sleep issues will report feeling very exhausted during the day.

That happens to me if I have a meal heavy in carbs and sugar. Serious food coma. Other thoughts are sleep apnea or narcolepsy. Hope you figure it out and feel much better.

I had gastric bypass a couple of years ago and slowed down on taking my vitamins. I was tired ALL THE TIME. I had all of my vitamin levels checked and I was low on Vitamin D (always have been even with higher doses of it daily), iron, and B12. I take all of those now daily and notice a big difference.

I would ask for a full and complete blood work up, more than the typical things they check at your annual physical. I have a new doctor (military docs change a lot) and she put in my lab orders. I normally get 12-19 tubes taken, and she only had 3. I had to get stuck again a couple of days later once I called to ask her to read my chart, stating I needed a lot more checked. So ask for everything...thyroid, vitamins, etc.

I also agree with possibly sleep apnea. That's a simple sleep test to answer that for you.

Chronic fatigue syndrome or mono have those symptoms. They can be associated with peri menopause, or not.

You can have your blood levels checked but if a doctor recommends a single nutrient (iron, B12, anything like that), ask some very serious questions about that. (When was the doctor's last nutrition course, where are the clinical studies on that, etc.) Most people are suffering with some form of inflammation which is at the root of most diseases - if you get into some inflammation reduction especially with non-pharmaceutical approaches, you may not need to eliminate so many foods. You tested negative for celiac, and giving up aspartame is probably a good idea for many reasons, but the other things haven't helped you much. Most people should be able to have a little caffeine, moderate alcohol, and dairy without problems.

There are very few experts on the cutting edge of nutrition who recommend individual nutrients - that's very old school and it was the basis for the explosion of vitamin stores in the last 30 years. The only people who benefitted enormously were the vitamin companies. While there are a few people holding on to the old ineffective way, including doctors who never took a nutritional class and aren't up to date, food scientists moved past that a long time ago.

Comprehensive formula supplementation is very much the new way of doing things, especially with the awareness of epigenetics and the changes that happen in the covering of your DNA. Stress, lifestyle choices, nutrition, disease, heredity, trauma and even emotions can affect that, so genes don't turn on and off properly. So even if someone is low in iron, it doesn't make any sense to just take iron, because it doesn't function in a vacuum and it needs many other nutrients for full functioning and proper absorption into the cells. Standard multivitamins don't have enough either. So the formula approach makes more sense and has much more in the way of clinical trials. There's also a well-studied dietary ingredient from plants that is proven to affect gene expression and helping the cells function efficiently. It also is a powerful anti-inflammatory - if you have inflammation in the digestive tract, you may not be absorbing nutrients well even from healthy foods. I work with so many people who had some or all of the symptoms you describe - whether the cause was hormonal issues, adrenal exhaustion, thyroid, anemia, menopause, chronic fatigue, Lyme, or something else, they all found relief with a whole food supplementation approach.

I am concerned about your driving when you feel this tired - it may have nothing to do with the sleep you're getting at night, but something else.

I used to get waves of crushing exhaustion too. 3 things helped me.
1) I switched my allergy meds. I used to take zyrtec, and I switched to allegra.
Also, my Dr ran a bunch of blood tests and found that I am sometimes anemic and have low vitamin D levels. So, I also
2) take vitamin D
3) take extra iron

I feel so much better now that I do these 3 things. I would encourage you to have your Dr test your vit D levels and iron levels (you don't want to just take these without knowing you are low. Too much iron in your diet is also bad for you.)

Have them check your thyroid- mine was only slightly in the "hypo" range, I didn't have the extreme tiredness you describe but I was more tired than usual. I decided to try taking a low dose of levythyroxine (generic syntheroid) and I've never felt better

Other symptoms of thyroid being off, is your hair dry or brittle?

Have some bloodwork done. That's where I'd start.

Could be sleep apnea.

How long since you took hormones after your ablation? If it has been six months, get a blood test done again. You need to know what your real hormone levels are. Six months after no hormones (including BC pills), there is a true picture. You will know if it has crossed the threshold of peri-menopause to menopause.

You need to get to the bottom of this.

Have a complete blood work up done. Definitely have them check your thyroid. But also have them run a diabetes test. I take thyroid meds which keeps mine at a good level. But I had the same exhaustion & just not feeling well. Come to find out I am diabetic. Not fun but at least I know what's going on and can work on feeling better. Exhaustion can be a symptom even with no other symptoms.