Hypothyroidism symptoms - Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome-- Ask any husband and he will say accordingly to his mother his wife has it. Ask any wife and she will say according to her father her husband has it! Is that not true? Just wanted to start a rather heavy post on a lighter note. But jokes apart what is Chronic fatigue syndrome and is it related to thyroid disorders? So let’s first begin with understanding Chronic fatigue syndrome and then we can go ahead and establish the relationship to whys and how’s of its related disorders. Okay so now we know the chronology in which the knowledge is going to flow, let’s start.

 

 

Chronic fatigue syndrome is a complicated disorder characterized by extreme fatigue that can't be explained by any underlying primary medical illness. The fatigue may aggravate with physical or mental activity, but doesn't improve with bed rest. Experts believe chronic fatigue syndrome might be triggered by an amalgamation of many factors. The sad part being the majority population that is inflicted by this disorder is women.

 Women are somewhere close 7-8 times more prone to thyroid disorders resulting in CFS. The age group that shows the highest prevalence would be between 20-45. With this age group being the major hit, you can imagine how badly it affects the overall wellbeing of a person and his personality get dented in a very bad manner for a long time.

There is a very good established connection of CFS with Thyroid disorders. And not only the thyroid disorders but the overall group of autoimmune disorders could be at the helm of triggering these, add to this the hormonal changes that a women sees in the this age group and you have the answer for higher prevalence.

I know many of people who would be reading this would feel “ Oh this is me, they are talking about me”. So just for the benefit of this group I am adding a small quiz that can probably help you understand your symptoms better. Remember this quiz is not a replacement for  a visit to doctor or a pricky blood investigation. Probably this should act as a alert that makes you proceed to a medical practitioner for better diagnosis and medical help. Remember sooner we realize that we need help, sooner we will be able to get out of the shackle of any disease and prevent any long-term impact on our wellbeing.

So from the list below if you have been experiencing four or more symptoms for more than six months coupled with unexplained, persistent fatigue probably it’s time for some action now.

• Loss of memory or concentration
• Sore throat
• Enlarged lymph nodes in your neck or armpits
• Unexplained muscle pain
• Pain that moves from one joint to another without swelling or redness
• Headache of a new type, pattern or severity
• Unrefreshing sleep
• Extreme exhaustion lasting more than 24 hours after physical or mental exercise

 

But then listing problems never made anyone’s life easy or better. So let me quickly list a few to-dos that will definitely help you help yourself.  Basically we can broadly classify  them into three large ways to help you feel better.

 

Best ways to cope-up with CFS: 

• Reduce Stress
  • Try using some non-prescriptive pain medication if that helps reduce stress and mental agony.
  • Try and find a support group.
  • Speak to someone who understands and supports you.
  • A solution is not always an answer, letting go and accepting a situation helps relieve stress.
• Improve Sleep habits
  • Take some power-naps of 20-60 mins, but avoid them late in the evening.
  • Use a nice firm mattress.
  • Use a neck support pillow.
  • Let the room be of comfortable warm temperature, not too cold nor too hot.
  • Try sleeping in a dark and silent room. To avoid disturbance.
  • Avoid simulants life alcohol, coffee or tobacco near bed time.
  • Try to have a fixed bed time. Try and get-up at the same time every day, irrespective of you feeling rested or not.
  • If not able to fall asleep for more than 10-15 mins, get out of bed. Try being lightly active, until you feel sleepy.
• Pace yourself
  • Get light, gentle exercise regularly.
  • Keep a balance between being active enough to benefit from it.
  • Usually light aerobic exercise like walking, swimming is recommended.
• Lifestyle changes/Scheduling
  • Try and have a balanced diet, include more fresh and organic produce in your diet.
  • Add proteins to your diet in form of poultry, lean meat, fish and low-fat dairy.
  • Try and maintain a dairy to help find pattern of your energy levels and fatigue through a day.
  • Try and plan priority stuff for high energy level time of day.
  • Don’t exert too much on good days.
    

But all in all the best way to live with any illness is to first accept that you have it and then patiently try and find the best ways to work through it. Hope the information provided here, which is in an outcome of my google research helps you understand yourself better.

Till the time I write again…happy healing!

Happythyroidism!

Hello all, I know all of you are wondering what the hell is Happythroidism. We all have heard of hypothyroidism and also of hyperthyroidism, but this sounds something new. Just to clarify I have not invented any new disease, I know I am a doctor but I am not that  good girls. In fact this post talks about the patient in me and not doctor.  Also I am not trying to tell you the disease that I am diagnosed with but here this post talks about my state of mind, post my diagnosis. Normally after a series of pathological investigation when we zero down on a illness, we are sad to endure a long term treatment. As most of us are aware that any kind of thyroid hormone related imbalance calls for a lifelong external supply of  hormone with the help of oral pills. But then why do you think I an happy and why do I term my illness to be anything but Happythyroidism.

So basically let me begin with what caused me to go for those needle prick investigation when I am so afraid of needles. Lets say I am a classic textbook version of hypothyroidism so I had all the classic symptoms. For those lucky unaware readers first let me list down to long list of symptoms associated with hypothyroidism. Now since the list is made by me , so it will be a list of my symptoms. See you rule when you have your own  blog!

Ä      Depression

Ä      Hair fall

Ä      Weight gain

Ä      Dryness of hair, skin and eyes

Ä      Cracking nails

Ä      Forgetfulness

Ä      Fatigue

Ä      Mouth ulcers

This is not  an exhaustive list, but the biggest problem was that I was sad and miserable all the time. Didn’t feel like doing much or even trying anything new. I didn’t like talking to people and was most of the time in my own capsulated world. So basically I was feeling pathetic, and I had to do something for it. A sudden bout of Gastroenteritis triggered a series of pathological investigation. Also I was so tired of being what I had become and wanted to overcome it any cost. So finally the results arrived and I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism and severe deficiency of vitamin B12 and D3. But this brought such relief for me, because now I knew the reason for my problems and finally I could see light at the end of the tunnel. So I had a broad smile after seeing my reports and the doctor exclaimed, “I think I made a wrong diagnosis, its not hypothyroidism but Happythyroidism” And I totally agreed with him, I was happy after a long time and knew the reason for my various ailments. Also I knew it was real and not something in my head. So here I begin my journey of Happythyroidism. This post is just the beginning it will continue. I know it is a long struggle and I will slowly conquer every fight. So this series will continue an will have all little special things that work for me and will work for other also. So cheer-up girls …lets make it Happythyroidism..and a motivating factor for a better and healthier life!

Hypothyroidism symptoms - Hairfall

As we all know hypothyroidism exhibits its presence in a lot many ways. It reduces what needs to grow and grows what needs to be reduced. So for the ease of people let’s take one of it. For this time let me choose one of the things that we all need to grow and hypothyroidism puts a halt to it. I am taking about your tresses here. Hair fall is  very closely associated with hypothyroidism. Hypothyroidism not only affects the density of your hair but also its quality. So from adjectives like thick, dense, long and smooth you moves to thin, scanty, dry and rough. But where there is a will there is a way. Let’s first identify the main reason behind the mask called Hypothyroidism, that actually cause you hair loss:

·         Low levels of Ferritin

·         Low levels of vit. B12 and D

·         Low Calcium levels

·         Side-effects of Thyroid medication

·         Sex Hormone levels

These are the most prevalent causes of hair loss in patients with Hypothyroidism. Firstly if you are losing out a lot of hair and were recently diagnosed with hypothyroidism , I would say just rejoice! At least you know the  cause and can go ahead and work on the solution. So basically what happens when you have hypothyroidism is that your thyroid hormone levels are too low and that affects your body in many a physiological ways. So basically you start  to experience low levels of various macro and micro nutrients and so the body as a turnaround event diverts the available reserves of those now depleting nutrients like ferritin, Vitamins and minerals like B12, D3, magnesium, iodine and zinc from hair follicles to heart and other vital organs including muscles. For the body a heart functioning well, muscle tone to maintain overall wellbeing is of much more importance that having long lush tresses or lovely nails adorning your slender fingers.

So to begin with it is not always necessary that all of the above cause are contributing to your particular case of hair loss. For treatment firstly we need to find the exact cause. So the first important step would be to start investigating in the right direction. So the few basic investigations that you will need to have would be the following:

·         Serum Ferritin

·         Vit. B12

·         Vit. D3

·         Sex hormones like Estrogen, Progesterone and also Testosterone.

·         And obviously TSH, T3, T4 and antibody test.

Once we have the results we can add the required supplements and have some HRT(Hormone replacement therapy) to balance out the deficiencies. The results however will take time, as the hair has it’s know cycle. Also if the hair fall is found to be thyroid medication induced we will probably have to look at alternative medicines. Mostly it is seen that levothyroxine has these effects, so check it for yourself and accordingly get your meds altered by your medical practitioner.

So for now be a little more observant and you will definitely see results!

PS: People please share with someone who you think might benefit from this.