Bucaro TecHelp Newsletter Maintain Your Computer and Use it More Effectively to Design a Web Site and Make Money on the Web. ~ ~ ~ January 11, 2006 Volume 6 Number 1 ~ ~ ~

Chronic Fatigue and Why Am I Always So Tired?
Part 9: Fatigue Caused by Hypothyroidism

By Stephen Bucaro

Are you always tired? Everything takes so much energy. When you wake up in the morning you're tired. You tried to get more sleep, but that didn't help. The fatigue just won't go away. If this describes you, read on ...

In Part 8 of this series of articles, I explained how anemia, or "iron poor blood", can make you feel tired and eventually result in chronic fatigue, and how changes in diet can help you get your energy back. In this article, we'll explore the possibility that your tiredness is caused by a thyroid gland that produces too little thyroid hormone, or "hypothyroidism".

In previous articles, I explained how the hemoglobin in your blood carries oxygen to your cells, where it combines with glucose like a slow burning fire that creates the energy of life (your metabolism). The thyroid is a small gland in the front of the neck that produces hormones that act like a thermostat to regulate that fire.

Thyroid hormones are released into the blood stream which transports them throughout the body where they control your metabolism. Every cell in the body depends upon thyroid hormones for the regulation of their energy. In hypothyroidism, the thyroid produces too little thyroid hormone, resulting in a slow metabolism. You feel sluggish, tired, and and experience muscle weakness.

Hypothyroidism may cause symptoms like muscle aches or cramps, pale skin, hair loss, being chilly even when the temperature is warm, and uncontroliable weight gain, It's associated with high levels of LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) which raise your risk of heart disease, which can cause death.

More than 20 million Americans may be suffering from hypothyroidism, which often goes undiagnosed because the symptoms resemble general tiredness. It is eight to ten times more common in women where it can reduce a woman's chances of becoming pregnant, and if they do becoming pregnant, there is a higher risk of a baby born with a birth defect.

If you suspect your tiredness may be caused by hypothyroidism, see your primary care doctor, who may give you a blood test for TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone). If the TSH test results are high, your doctor may refer you to an endocrinologist for further tests. If hypothyroidism is diagnosed, the usual treatment is to take a Levothyroxine pill once a day. Levothyroxine is synthetic thyroid hormone, is relatively inexpensive, and causes practically no side effects when dosed properly.

Take the correct amount of thyroid hormone replacement daily will usually make the symptoms of hypothyroidism disappear within a few months. There is no cure, so people with hypothyroidism will most likely have to take the hormone replacement daily for the rest of their life. If you have hypothyroidism, regular checkups to make sure you are receiving the correct amount of thyroid hormone are important.

For more information, visit the American Thyroid Association Web site

When you eat carbohydrates, they are broken down during digestion into glucose (sugar). In response to this increase in blood sugar, the pancreas secretes insulin. Insulin activates the cells of the body to absorb glucose to metabolize for energy. Diabetes is a disease in which the pancreas can't effectively produce insulin. Without insulin, your cells cannot absorb sugar. They become energy starved, causing you to feel tired. In the next part of this series of articles, we'll explore the possibility that your tiredness is caused by diabetes.

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