Low thyroid function can be another cause of that "tired all over" feeling. Hypothyroidism is ten times more common in women than in men and thyroid dysfunction complicates 5-9% of all pregnancies.
Symptoms
The Thyroid Foundation of America notes:
With severe hypothyroidism, you may begin to feel run down, slow, depressed, sluggish, cold, tired and may lose interest in normal daily activities. Other symptoms may include dryness and brittleness of hair, dry and itchy skin, constipation, muscle cramps and increased menstrual flow in women.
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There is a simple way to determine if your thyroid function is low:
When you first awaken, before you get out of bed, place an ordinary oral thermometer in your armpit and leave it for 10 minutes. Do this for at least 10 days and, if you are still in your menstrual years, begin on the third day of your period.
Take the reading at the same time every day. If you plan to sleep in, set your alarm to take the reading.
If your reading is consistently below 97.8, it's possible you have a hypothyroid condition. However, when you are ovulating, a normal basal temperature can be as low as 97.0.
Then you can take your results to your doctor and ask for the following thyroid blood tests: TSH, free T3 and free T4 to determine if you have low thyroid function. Sometimes another test for T7, another aspect of thyroid function, can be helpful.
A condition that may have similar symptoms to hypothyroidism called Hashimoto's thyroiditis, is an autoimmune disorder that can be detected by testing for anti-thyroid antibodies.
In Hashimoto's thyroiditis, the immune system develops antibodies against the thyroid. People with Hashimoto's feel tired and this may be interspersed with periods when they feel anxious, unable to sleep and even have tremors. They may have inflammation and enlargement of the thyroid.
If you are found to be thyroid hormone deficient or have Hashimoto's, you'll need prescription medications. That's the good news about hypothyroidism: It can be diagnosed and there are medications that will address the symptoms, although they won't cure the disease.
Treatment
There are new developments in the treatment of hypothyroidism that your doctor might want to consider.
Three years ago, John V. Dommisse, M.D., a Tucson, Arizona nutritional, metabolic and psychiatric physician, presented a paper to the American Academy of Environmental Medicine that may be the wave of the future in the treatment of this disorder.
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For 11 years, Dr. Dommisse said, he has treated hypothyroidism with a combination of Levothyroid, Synthroid and Levoxyl (all containing T4) and Cytomel, which is pure T3. To find out more, you can check out Candida Yeast Overgrowth.