Hi ladies, having suffered with endometriosis since teenage years, I'm now 56, I have been diagnosed with hypothyroidism (auto-immune type).

[sk291]

I'm looking for advice on coping with the fatigue and hot sweats which are preventing me from sleeping. Anyone any ideas? Thanks

[Impatient]

Are you on HRT? or are the sweats part of you drifting gently through menopause?

If you are not on HRT and are menopausing then HRT could be worth trying for a while even if it is to allow you catch up on quality sleep for a few days every other week or so. HRT does tend to feed the endo when the ovaries hve shut down or been removed, so while not ideal after a natural menopause when you hve got endo - it can certainly ease some of the side effects and give you a break.

Fatigue wise I am in the same boat. haven't a clue how to combat that and wish to goodness there was a quick fix, but I don't know of any if there are any.

[sk291 in reply to Impatient]

Hi, thanks for the response. I've been advised that HRT is not a good option for me. Have been having problems for 8 years now, but have got worse. Just had thyroxine increased but after a month no improvement. Have been reading the two conditions may be linked.

[Immunewolf21]

Oh I definately know they are linked just because of family history, my mum had hypothyroidism once she went into real menopause, she was on Hrt for years after her hysterectomy. I had been on one contraceptive or another since 13 years if age. When I came off depo in 2010 everything started to speed up and I felt well. When looking into this it looks when progesterone dominant the endocrine system stops and slows everything else down, the thyroid probably gets exhausted trying to make enough thyroxine. That's my theory anyway! My mum complained about symptoms I'd had all my adult life when she had the thyroid problem.

[Hidden]

Hi there, I am so sorry to hear about your long term suffering and newly diagnosed illness. Endometriosis is enough and I feel for anyone who has to have a heavier load ontop of it. I am 17 years old and have the same as you. My hot flushes/sweats are so awful I faint half the time, I nap like my 80 year old grand mother, apart from my 8 hour sleep each night, I do another 4-6 hours throughout the day and it really gets in the way of my studies. You need to keep yourself hydrated unlike any other time you've been told to do that, I mean sipping cold fresh water every minute of the day, restoring electrolytes with some hydralyte products are helpful to, I usually carry a tiny esky lunchbox with a ice pack inside for when I need to cool down immediately. As for the fatigue, other then overdosing on caffeine (which I do not recommend) is all I have found to help, if you find any way of helping the fatigue side of it, please get back to me as I struggle with this too. I am again so sorry that you are suffering.

[sk291]

Hi Meganfaithfull, thanks for the tip about electrolyte replacement, just hadn't thought about that! As for the ice pack......I use a frozen hot water bottle, lasts longer!!!!!!!

I also wonder if you should ask about getting your thyroid antibodies checked too. Have a look online about the correlation between endometriosis and auto-immune hypothyroidism.I'm sorry I'm an old **** and don't know how to post links!!!!! Looking back I wonder if I didn't have thyroid symptoms 20 years ago.

I am now wondering if it might be worth talking to my GP about depression, there are also some interesting articles on that subject.

Now I'm beginning to ound like a hypochondriac (so what's new) so I'll sign off.

Yours in fatigue and good luck with your quest too!

Kate x