Hormone levels and fatigue

[MiraM]

Good morning Ladies and Gents.  I'm not looking for medical advice, just just wondering if anyone else has had any similar experiences.  A little backstory on my medical issues first.  I have been on HRT since January 2018.  In March of 2019, I was diagnosed with Hurthle Cell Carcinoma of the Thyroid, and as a result, I no longer have a Thyroid gland and have to take synthetic thyroid hormones.  In about June or July, I developed severe insomnia, and began experiencing crippling fatigue.  Blood work in August showed that my thyroid hormone levels were too high, so my synthroid dose was reduced.  The labs also showed that my estrogen level was way down as well. 

 

The insomnia is now somewhat under control, but the fatigue is now constant.  I had more labs done last week and my thyroid hormone level is under control, but my estrogen level is still extremely low even though I am on the maximum dosage for the patches.  My testosterone level has also increased, but is still considered very low for someone AMAB.  My endo is putting back on estrogen injections in hopes that it will bring the levels back up.  I am also going in for a sleep study this weekend to determine if I have sleep apnea that is contributing to the fatigue.

 

Anyway, I am just wondering if anyone else had had very low hormone levels, and experienced chronic fatigue, and did the fatigue get better once the hormone levels were taken care of.

[Charlize]

After about 6 months after starting HRT i had a blood test which showed a low level not thyroid.  I now take a thyroid supplement first ting upon rising.  This treatment has seemingly been helpful.  My energy levels are fine now.  I am glad you are under the care of an endo.  That professional advice and vigilance can make our journey safer and our lives so much better.

 

Hugs,

 

Charlize

[Jani]

I was on a steroid for quite some time.  After weening from it a year ago I experienced terrible muscle pain and tiredness.  I was put back on and the pain abated.  I'm off again and experiencing pain again, but not like before.  I get tired easily.  I would think your thyroid levels may be off.  Time to recheck?

[MiraM]

Thanks for the feedback @Charlizeand @Jani.  When the fatigue first started, I thought it might be my thyroid hormone levels being low, since my synthroid dosage had been increased twice since my thyroidectomy, and it seemed logical that it may need to be increased again.  When they were checked in August, my TSH was almost zero, which indicated I was severely hyper-thyroid which has it's own problems, and my dosage was lowered.  Last weeks labs included thyroid levels as well.  This time the TSH level was at .4, and free T4 was good, indicating slightly hyper-thyroid and suppressed TSH at the level for a thyroid cancer patient.  If anything, being hyper-thyroid should give more energy.  At this point they have ruled out thyroid levels as the culprit.  Hopefully they can eventually figure out whats wrong.

 

I'm hoping that going back on the estrogen injections will straighten out that whole mess, and we can see if that was part of the problem.  It's weird because I was on the patches for over a year and my levels were fine, and then all of the sudden they bottomed out to almost pre-hrt levels.

 

I'm mainly just venting and thinking out loud in this thread because I am tired of feeling so bad all the time.  Thanks for listening.

[MiraM]

**Update**

We now have a target to shoot at in trying to deal with the fatigue.  Last Saturday I went in for a sleep study and I have been diagnosed with severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Periodic Leg Movement Disorder.  There are also signs of Restless Leg Syndrome.  They recorded an average of 42 apnea/hypopnea events an hour and 30 involuntary leg movements per hour.  The data showed an overall arousal index of 59 times an hour and a sleep efficiency of 54%.  They are pretty sure that this is a major factor in the my fatigue.

 

I am being referred to the Sleep apnea/C-PAP clinic to get set up with a C-PAP machine, and they may consider putting me on medication for the PLMD/RLS.  I guess time will tell if the fatigue gets better once I begin the C-PAP therapy.  They also said that the sleep apnea is likely contributing to my high blood pressure that is difficult to control with medication, and may also be a factor in my insomnia and weight issues.

 

I will post another update after I have been on the treatment.

[Charlize]

Good luck with that Mira.  Hopefully the therapies you mention will help you find good sleep.

 

Hugs,

 

Charlize

[Jani]

Good news that you have a diagnosis.  I hope the treatments that are prescribed work well for you.  A good sleep is so important.

 

Jani