The Walking Tired
It happened about three hours ago. She was a pretty blonde-headed gal whom I noticed sitting in a vintage oak rocking chair about 15′ from where I stood in a store. When she saw that I noticed her, she asked “Is it OK if I sit here?” “Of course!” I replied cheerfully.
And then it struck me. What is this 50ish, pretty, vibrant looking gal doing looking tired in a rocking chair?? So I asked “Tired?” “Yes!” she mouthed, with more explanation about not having stamina since she entered menopause.
Bingo. I walked over to her and asked “So you don’t have the stamina you used to?
“No!” she exclaimed with her brows furrowed.
“Tell me then” I continued. “Do you have hair loss?”
“Why yes!” she replied, surprised. “I see them on the floor constantly now”
“Do you have chronic low grade depression?”, I asked tentatively, since that’s a personal question.
“Yes”, she replied quietly, and her eyes getting wider. My questions were hitting the bullseye of her symptoms.
“Do have high cholesterol?”
“Well yes, it’s getting higher than it used to be”.
And after more affirmations about dry skin, constipation and tiredness, I asked “Have you had your thyroid tested?”
“Yes, and it was normal”.
So….I proceeded to tell her that I have NO doubt that she is hypothyroid, and that doctors do the WRONG tests. I grabbed a two-page handout, which is identical to the T4 Only Meds Do Not Work page, and explained that she needed the free T3, and if it’s low in the range, THAT is the clue she needs labwise. I also explained Armour as compared to Synthroid, etc.
The fun part of the above was that she looked at me like I had repeatedly hit the bullseye and had practically made her naked. lol
And as she left, she said “I can’t begin to thank you for this information. For once, I have HOPE.” And oh was she smiling.
And that encounter underscored to me that because doctors are BLIND to obvious hypothyroid symptoms and overreliant on ink spots on a piece of paper, there has to be MILLIONS of the “Walking Tired” out there.
How long did you walk tired before ANY doctor had the vision to see what was going on??
I have been suffering for 10 years on levo. Last sept my adrenals completely crashed was housebound for 13 weeks with extreme light sensitivity headaches. Now i have improved a little with HC cream 2ml a day and loads of singular vits but still i cant exercise and several times a day i need to sit or lay down and get post exertional malaise, daily headaches, sinus infections, sore throat, Endo thinks its dampening of the pituitary due to any virus, yet he wont test anything, i have been palmed off to cfs clinics and clinical psychology
I ‘walked tired’ for 5 years after having my 2nd child. Drs told me I was ‘borderline underactive’ but not bad enough to treat. I struggled desperately to function for 5 years on a daily basis. Then I struggled still for another year, after the new GP believed me, as the Dr took me from 25 to 100mcg Levothyroxin. I’ve been on that for 4 years, bringing my ‘walking tired’ total to 10years & I still don’t feel like ME! Now I’m hitting the start of an early menopause& all my symptoms have got worse again& Drs don’t believe me that the root cause is my thyroid….! UK Drs only want to use Levothyroxin not NDT. I feel like my life is on hold until someone believes me… And through all this time, my children are growing up with ‘half a Mum’ as I just don’t have the stamina& energy to be the Mum I’d like to be….
Sorry to read what you are going through, Lorna. This is exactly why this entire patient movement began–because Levothyroxine doesn’t work. There are ways to get NDT in the UK, or at the least, add T3 to your T4. See the UK or Europe groups listed here http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/talk-to-others They can explain how they get either.
It was a Crossfit coach who encouraged me to pursue medical help. I thought I was just getting “old.” Thanks to my coach’s encouragement, I did not give up in my quest to find the answers I needed. Thanks to all those who give us the messages that we need to persevere and get real help!
I took synthroid twenty years and really saw no improvement in my energy levels. So I discontinued it. Recently I have began suffering rhe whole myriad of Hypothyroid symptoms and went to a general practioner. I lucked out and got a doctor who prescribed me the Armour thyroid and the difference is amazing. It’s like a light had been turned on. It’s almost like a miracle drug for me.
I do not even remember how many years it has been. I do remember going to an older doctor someone had recommended. I was soo tired and cold. My blood test came back normal. Someone mentioned Wilson’s Disease. So I bought their packet of info. The Doc put me on .05 of Cytomel which did noting for me. I finally stopped seeing him.
In late 2003 I went to Rhumatologist who did a good examination of my throat and neck. He found a small lump and referred me to a good endorcronolgsit. It turned out to be too late. I had Papillary cancer. He told me I would have my whole thryoid removed and have the I-131 Radiation Iodine test.
After many weeks on nothing, I was put on a low dose of synthroid. I was still very cold and very tired. I also have RSD, and blamed everything on that. I was severely depressed, and in a high level of pain.
I met a nurse who lost part of her thyroid to cancer. She asked me what my numbers were…. I didn’t have a clue. She told me she was getting on the natural Armour, and I should check it out also.
Recently my PC finally put me on 30 mg of Armour with my insistance. It was like a light went on. However, I now also have OBstructive Sleep Apnea, and will be trying the forced air on my 2nd sleep study this Friday night.
I am now self treating myself and now am on 120 mg of Armour as of this morning. My basil temperature is reading 94. I’m still cold, and am trying not to be mad, because I have finally found out what has been going on with me, and hope to get better. The medical community is not on top of this problem at all. I would not be on the Armour and would still be a sleeping dead person if I hadn’t bumped into that almost thyroidless Nurse.
I met with my pain management paychiatrist this morning and he is willing to treat me with the Armour at a proper dosage. He did not believe my basil temp has been reading out at 94. he said I would be in trouble at that level. I said I am in trouble. That is why I started self treating!
So we will see where this leads me too. But when I am awake, I read books on this, and am on the websites and educating myself!
It has been 10 months since I figured it out and started hounding doctors, but at least 3 years of gradual misdiagnosis–my daughter is almost 5. A lot of it was masked by arthritis and a herniation–but when fatigue became the main symptom I finally got the tests. Ten months and seven doctors later I went to the second endo asking for Armour, and I got it. It has only been a week, and I feel 10 years younger, and ready to jump back into life! Thanks to this place, the Armour list of doctors, and other holistic sites!
I’ve been tired for the last 5 years I think. Finally, I found a doctor who thinks I have thyroid issues. Everybody else thought I am crazy, because my blood tests are “normal”. I have a friend with hypo and she has very bad complications. We go to med school together, and when I asked her about her free T3 and free T4 she said that there is no such thing, and so on. I was scared when I heard that because it looks like she is not educated enough about the thyroid, and trusts her doctors. I gave her this website’s address so she can read more and learn about the condition, and about the treatment options. I am so happy this site exists.
I was “walking tired” for at least three years…the first year was when my thyroid was crapping out on me (Hashimoto’s), and the next two years I was kept undermedicated on Synthroid. I finally found the Yahoo thyroid forum and discovered Armour. I’ve been on it for three (maybe more?) years now and feel NORMAL!
No thanks to any doctor I’ve seen, though.
What a wonderful story! I hope the result of your chat with this woman, is that she will find help she needs and wake up, thanks to you and a few minutes of your time!
Fern, your story really hit home with me. I feel the same way. I have no passion, no motivation, no stamina…I feel like I’m just pretending and going through the motions, awake, and that’s about it. I want to get that back before my kids are grown. I want to play with them and enjoy their childhoods, not worry about when or if I’ll be able to get a nap. Not get frustrated because they need me, again. They won’t be little much longer, and I’ve already lost too much time!
I’m hoping to wake up soon too. Thanks to this site, there is hope for us, all of the walking tired!
I too was the walking tired – still having it sorted out. My daughter is 9 years old, my son 6 years old – after both I suffered depression and moodiness. I asked for tests – my thryoid came back borderline (the high end of TSH – 4.0 Um/L Australia)I was offered Zoloft, which I never took. Same thing occurred after my son was born. My symptoms seemed to have abated after years of seeing a naturopath, but I would still suffer bouts of highs and lows. I found a GP into integrative health, she found Oestrogen Dominance, Low progesterone, and so I started HRT with a natural progesterone cream, and a product called indolplex (the latter I don’t take anymore – for reasons I don’t know, my doctor wanted me to come off it). Well that was two years ago, and just three months ago, I had enough I was just crying and crying, I couldn’t hold it back anymore. I had no passion for life, everything I did was forced, I had no motivation, no get up and drive, and nothing was exciting – libido (what was that?) Somehow I had reached my limit, I just felt like i couldn’t hold it all together and pretend for any longer, I thought there has surely got to be something else. I asked for thyroid tests again, and she said “do you mind if we do antibodies as well?” – and bingo, hashimoto’s. (My Anti-Thyroid peroxidase Ab were 14500 U/ml) (I just wished I knew what antibodies where 8 years ago – to ask for them?) So four weeks ago started Thyroxine Sodium and began to feel better at about 2.5 weeks the anxiety began, strange feelings inside my chest, increased mood swings, still hair coming out, hot and cold, etc….An online frined mentioned to me the words dessicated thyroid, and a 24 Hour Urine test, and get a good Endo. Well thank the heavens for google, after some searching I have found you here. Soon I hope to have this settled. Blood test tomorrow, and then a follow up to the doctor to ask for cortisol levels and dessicated thyroid, and a referral to a decent Endo.
I was part of the “walking tired” for 2 years before dr’s found that my thyroid was the cause. That’s not a long time but it’s 2 years of my life i’ll never have back.
Hi guys. My thyroid experience was completely different. While I was pregnant with my first child, I was constantly dizzy. My doctor said “its just because you’re pregnant.” I got pregnant again three months later. (I wanted my children close together). Well, the dizziness got worse and the doctor gave the same reply. Four months after my second child was born the dizziness had not subsided. I could not even drive my car because of it. I got a new doctor and he put me on thyroid meds (synthroid) but all of my symptoms just lessened. I just found this site a week ago, and I am very excited. I have an appointment with a new doc who prescribes armor and i am very hopeful. I just wanted to say thanks.
Thankfully I only suffered for about a year – which is a mercifully short amount of time compared to many, many others who seem to have had a much harder time finding out the cause of their physical decline and then an even harder time finding a doc who would treat them properly. I catch myself looking at people, thinking – “she’s hypo”. I think I’ve sent practically everyone I know to get their thyroid tested. And then told them to bring me their results after their doctor has declared them “normal”. It baffles me how some are still willing to go with their doctor on their lab results when it is plainly obvious to me that they are hypo. All we want is for our doctors to listen to us, not to the big drug companies, who seem to have the medical community in their back pocket.
it’s amazing that so many doctors have forgotten how to make a clinical diagnosis based on symptoms. i would love for all doctors to have thyroid problems even for just a little while so they can see how horrid thyroid patients feel, and can see how horribly they’ve treated patients when they get the horrible treatment from their own gp.
keep up the good work and hopefully the walking tired will get the help they so desperately need.