Hey guys... so I'm hoping you can shed some light on what I have been experiencing lately. To start, I have been experiencing the following symptoms for the last six months. They are gradually becoming worse as time goes on. Tiredness: I am sleeping about eight to nine hours a night. By eleven in the morning, I'm becoming extremely tired again. I usually take a two to three hour nap in the afternoon. Some days when I have nothing to do, I could sleep upwards of ten to eleven hours at night. Depression: I have been feeling quite down lately. I feel fuzzy in the head, dizzy, and having headaches a lot. I have been taking advil to get rid of the headaches, but I still have that fuzzy feeling and dizziness. I'm not finding pleasure in really anything anymore. Poor Concentration and Memory: During lectures, I find I am not paying attention like I used to. Sometimes I come so close to actually falling asleep. I am having a hard time remembering what I've learned in class and what I study. Sensitive to cold: My parents have been complaining that I am turning the heat up too high because it's too hot. I wear a coat around the house all the time now. I am constantly cold. Sex drive: I have absolutely no sex drive. Heart rate: I feel like sometimes my heart is beating so fast that it is coming out of my chest. I'm not doing any physical activities to cause this. It could happen if I'm just laying in bed. I have scheduled an appointment at my family doctor for Monday, but I was hoping someone could help me pinpoint some things before I go. I have talked to my parents about what I have been going through and my mother mentioned that she experienced similar things before she was diagnosed with thyroid problems. I know there is no definitive yes or no answer without being tested, but do you think that I am quite possibly experiencing issues with my thyroid as well? Does depression exhibit the same type of symptoms? Are family doctors usually good at being able to test and diagnose thyroid issues or should I see a specialist?
Well, I think it's very important that you get it checked out. I experienced a lot of the same issues. I, too, went to the doctor and had a full work up. However, nothing came back. But Family Doctors can do it - they will just order blood tests. Then, if needed, you would go to a specialist. Since your mother has had issues, it's important to get this checked out. But my only comment is that there's other symptoms with thyroid problems that you might not have. Like, weight problems? I'm no doctor - but I think it could be depression. However, I would love to hear more. I have a lot of the same symptoms (minus the cold/sex drive - but that's not even as big.) Best of luck!
Well there are two types of thyroid conditions Hypothyroid Hyperthyroid Hypo runs in my family- actually all the women in my family have it... Every appointment I have the doctors check it, right now mine isnt to the point where i need to take medication though (cheers) you said your mother has it, and it does run in families so it is very likely in my opinion Does depression exhibit the same type of symptoms? Depression has most of the same symptoms - minus the temperature and maybe the heart rate thing but most of these are common symptoms in most cases... for me, they always check the neck/throat area - feeling it with their hands they can get a good idea if you have it by seeing if the area is swollen... They may also take blood - they check mine once a year... I don't know if theirs some kind of specialist, because mine is minimum my primary is all i've ever seen regarding it... Hope everything goes well! (*hug*)
When I have patients who mention that they're having symptoms of depression and fatigue, the first place we start is with a physical and some lab tests. Often these symptoms that seem mental can have a physical cause that can be treated. Fortunately, common causes like endocrine disorders (diabetes, low testosterone, hypothyroidism, etc) are easily diagnosed with a blood test.
