Celiac & post-thyroidectomy - fatigued ALL the time :)

[sdlane]

I have been gluten-free for 13 months since my Celiac diagnosis via blood test & endoscopy...like freakishly good about things.  I'm a changed my makeup & hair products, google-the-crap-out-ofeverything-before-I-eat-it kind of compliant gal. Anyhow, I had Graves Disease and had my 7" long dead thyroid removed in 2010.  I also have gastritis that was found during my endoscopy.  My problem is that I feel like @#$* All.  The.  Time.  From massively debilitating fatigue to an acutely high CRP.  I just got my labs back and my B12 is near the bottom, as well as my D3, which isn't surprising as it has been raining for the past 9 months.  lol  I try to eat low processed foods, but have still put on 25 lbs in the last year!  My triglycerides have dropped to like 70 and my overall cholesterol is 141....that seems to mean I'm eating properly.  My TSH is low (.01) but that's normal when you don't have a thyroid.  I'm on 200mg/day of Tirosint and 25 of Cytomel.  My A1c and glucose are low, so no issues with being diabetic.  I am a moderate exerciser, mostly walking and scuba diving..I did buy a punching bag but haven't used it yet.   I suppose I could become a gym rat, but that isn't realistic for me.  I have a very stressful job, that I love, and I travel a lot.  42 1/2, no kids and a great boyfriend, who is literally the most understanding guy ever!  Unfortunately, the sex drive has become pretty much non-existant too.  

I hate to sound like a sob story, but the OCD control freak in me can't seem to "fix" me.  Has anyone else had any luck overcoming all this?  I am an insomniac as well, getting perhaps 4-5 hours per night, even when I have 10 hours to sleep.  I use a mask, ear plugs, lavender oil on the soles of my feet, hot tub before bed, writing down my to-do list so I don't worry about it all night, Headspace meditation app (that cute-sounding British guy can actually put me to sleep!), drink chamomile, etc.  Anyhow, there you go.  I'd love to hear what may have worked for you.  I'm tired of going to bed wide awake and waking up so tired I can't function all day.   Love to you all!  xoxo

[Ennis-TX]

Yeah I do swear by supplementing, I would suggest looking at various B vitamins, magnesium, iron, vitamin D, E, and perhaps some others.  I use a liquid form by Liquid Health called Stress & Energy and the Neurological Support from them for b-vitamins, half a serving each 3 times a day. And a rotational use of Natures Vitality Calm and Doctors Best Magnesium Powder for my Magnesium. I will link a life of everything I use for supplements.   Hopefully it can give you some idea of where to go, we are all different about how stuff effects us.    To help sleep I take a few tsp of pumpkin seed protein powder with a tiny bit of almond milk before bed, really seems to help me sleep.

https://www.celiac.com/forums/topic/116482-supplement-and-foods-you-take/

 

[Gemini]

2 hours ago, sdlane said:

I have been gluten-free for 13 months since my Celiac diagnosis via blood test & endoscopy...like freakishly good about things.  I'm a changed my makeup & hair products, google-the-crap-out-ofeverything-before-I-eat-it kind of compliant gal. Anyhow, I had Graves Disease and had my 7" long dead thyroid removed in 2010.  I also have gastritis that was found during my endoscopy.  My problem is that I feel like @#$* All.  The.  Time.  From massively debilitating fatigue to an acutely high CRP.  I just got my labs back and my B12 is near the bottom, as well as my D3, which isn't surprising as it has been raining for the past 9 months.  lol  I try to eat low processed foods, but have still put on 25 lbs in the last year!  My triglycerides have dropped to like 70 and my overall cholesterol is 141....that seems to mean I'm eating properly.  My TSH is low (.01) but that's normal when you don't have a thyroid.  I'm on 200mg/day of Tirosint and 25 of Cytomel.  My A1c and glucose are low, so no issues with being diabetic.  I am a moderate exerciser, mostly walking and scuba diving..I did buy a punching bag but haven't used it yet.   I suppose I could become a gym rat, but that isn't realistic for me.  I have a very stressful job, that I love, and I travel a lot.  42 1/2, no kids and a great boyfriend, who is literally the most understanding guy ever!  Unfortunately, the sex drive has become pretty much non-existant too.  

I hate to sound like a sob story, but the OCD control freak in me can't seem to "fix" me.  Has anyone else had any luck overcoming all this?  I am an insomniac as well, getting perhaps 4-5 hours per night, even when I have 10 hours to sleep.  I use a mask, ear plugs, lavender oil on the soles of my feet, hot tub before bed, writing down my to-do list so I don't worry about it all night, Headspace meditation app (that cute-sounding British guy can actually put me to sleep!), drink chamomile, etc.  Anyhow, there you go.  I'd love to hear what may have worked for you.  I'm tired of going to bed wide awake and waking up so tired I can't function all day.   Love to you all!  xoxo

Hello sdlane!  

As another with thyroid disease (Hashi's) and Celiac, I wanted to mention that you have only been gluten-free for 13 months so you may not be absorbing well yet.  Your cholesterol is still a bit low, like mine was for a long time after diagnosis, and your vitamin levels are in the toilet, which would indicate you are still not healed well yet.  Don't worry......it took me a long time for the symptoms to go away (3 years in total) and 10 years before my cholesterol started to go up noticeably.  I always had trouble digesting and absorbing fats and it took me forever to normalize that but I was diagnosed at age 46.

What that all means is that you may not be absorbing the thyroid meds well yet so that might explain the fatigue.  I know thyroid fatigue well and it is such a b%$@#.    Four years into the gluten-free diet, I went seriously hyper and didn't sleep for almost a week.  All of a sudden, the dose I had taken for years was way too much because my absorptive powers were so much better.  It took a while to re-figure a correct dose and I was messed up from all of it.

Have they done a full thyroid panel or just the TSH?  You need to see what the hormone levels are. You can have suppressed TSH and not have normal hormone levels.  You have gained weight too so I don't think what you are taking is the amount your body is actually utilizing.  Do you swallow your thyroid meds whole or can they be chewed and broken up in your mouth?  I chew my Nature-throid so it dissolves in my mouth and then I swallow with water. It helps to absorb it better.

To give you a better picture of how you can tell if you're absorbing better, my cholesterol started out at 125 pre-diagnosis and never got above 160 for 8-9 years after diagnosis.  Then bammo!  At year 10, it went to 200.  How many people are happy when their cholesterol reaches 200?  I was, because my good cholesterol was responsible for most of the increase....it went up 25 points in 2 years!  My HDL was only in the 20's before my diagnosis and now it is 82 so yes, it can take quite awhile for fats and harder things to be absorbed well. 

I also still have some trouble with getting a lot of sleep. I go to sleep without problems because I exercise but am a life long night owl and don't get to bed until midnight, most nights.  I am not tired enough to sleep until then.  I work so have to get up by 6:30 but am slow in the mornings. It takes about an hour before I am really awake and feeling energized.  This has been for my whole life so I am beginning to think it's in my genetics. It's not always easy to balance the thyroid, is it?

Lastly, don't worry too much about your CRP right now. Having these 2 AI diseases and needing more healing time for Celiac will keep that number higher for awhile. It will take longer than you like but it is what it is. Keep checking it but only once a year because, otherwise, you'll drive yourself crazy with worry.  The numbers will improve, over time.  Is it possible you are driving yourself too hard?  You have the same lifestyle I do.....no kids, work full time but you said you travel a lot.  I travel but not a lot....just for vacations, not work. That is a busy schedule for a newer Celiac with no thyroid that is being 100% supplemented with replacement hormone. I got tired reading your post!     Have you taken any real time off lately to recharge your batteries?

[sdlane]

I appreciate the input...thank you!  Never head of the pumpkins seed powder...gives me something to google while waiting for my doctor to grace me with his presence.  He's always about 2 hours late for my annual appointments.  lol  Have you seen CeliAct before?  They stink and are hard to swallow, but I thought it might be worth a try.  It seems to have almost everything you mentioned above.  Open Original Shared Link