Eating makes me sleepy

[Helena877]

I'm on two grains of NDT and pretty symptomless other than the skin on the sides of my fingers is cracked. I sort of know I'm undermedicated, but as I'm transitioning across to T3 so have not upped my doseage.

I've not eaten breakfasts for 15yrs as it sets me off thinking what's for lunch, what's for dinner etc... so the earliest I eat is around 1pm and I'm not hungry before then.

Recently, I've noticed my fatigue and obligatory cat naps have vanished if I don't eat lunch and I'm not hungry either.

I eat a good all round dinner at 7/8ish.

Any one else have similar - eating at lunchtime puts you on an afternoon slump so much so that bed calls?

I'm very lucky that I'm self employed and have a place to sleep in work for this reason alone!

[Saggyuk]

Hi there, yes I had a sleep disorder so was brain foggy most of the day anyway but would always crash worse after eating. I skipped breakfast since a child and then started having to skip lunches in order to stay awake at work and later to look after my little one. Although you may not be as bad as me lol, I found the following things can effect this - something you're eating that doesn't agree with you or your sugar levels. My sugar levels were all over the place towards the end but it actually turned out to be gluten and my sugar levels stabilised after going Gluten free anyway.

Although it is normal for some people to get a little sleepy after lunch, it's not normal if you are wanting to go to bed or skipping meals because of it. It is usual to get sleepy if you've eaten something you're intolerant too so you could try gluten free or an elimination diet to work out which foods might be making it worse. You could also check your sugar levels with a cheap test kit from the pharmacy to check what happens throughout the day to see if these are okay and rule out possible diabeties/prediabeties. My friend does not have diabeties and is very healthy but has always been very sensitive to her sugar spikes but if this is the case, you can simply change what you're eating and the timing to help prevent it

Others might be able to suggest other things that can cause this

[Saggyuk in reply to Saggyuk]

ps - skipping breakfast actually doesn't help the sugar level spikes if this is your problem and my sugar spikey friend cannot control her sugar levels for the rest of the day of she does this

[Saggyuk in reply to Saggyuk]

And just to check, you mention the skin on the side of your fingers is cracked - do you get any kind of itching or tiny see-through blisters?

[Helena877 in reply to Saggyuk]

It can itch. I use steroid gel on it. When it first appeared I thought my psoriasis had infected a new area, but the cracked fingers do respond to thyroid medication increases!

[Mjm192 in reply to Saggyuk]

Hi I just wondered if you can advise me I see on a post where someone mentioned about sides of fingers cracks

I have just stated getting this and I do get bad itching and the blistering in the last 10 days it has got bad I have blisters on 6 fingers and between fingers the blisters itch so much and when they bust they are so sore and are not healing can you advise me please

[Saggyuk in reply to Mjm192]

Hiya - did it just start or has it been coming on for a while? If literally, could have been something you had on your hands. If for a while, mine was caused by gluten.

It could be deshidrotic eczema? Is it tiny see through bubbles that itch and burst?

If it is red or a little too warm or seeping, it might be infected?

[Mjm192 in reply to Saggyuk]

Thank you

No it's been going on for a while it starts of as itching then little tiny spots come up and yes warm like clear liquid comes out then goes all red and raised and goes into a big blister but in between my fingers at the bottom are cracking up and the sink goes hard but it don't seem to heal and also the skin goes hard that if I touch a little bit say like an hang nail feels like a bit of glass

Thank you

[Saggyuk in reply to Mjm192]

Have a look at deshidrotic eczema on google and see if the description/images match. This starts as small see through fluid filled blisters which turn to hard cracked skin. They would generally only ever seep if I popped them which seemed to relieve the itch. I never could do much with mine until I worked out what was causing it which turned out to be gluten. Maybe ask for referral to dermatologist?

If it's larger blisters and is seeping a lot more, maybe get a pharmacist/doc to take a look to check not infected.

I understand how bad that itching is, it's enough to drive you insane! Hope it improves soon

[Helena877 in reply to Saggyuk]

I just have so much energy when I skip both of these meals. I could go on and on and on. That is the attraction with it for me.

[Helena877 in reply to Saggyuk]

I'm gluten-free.

I know that potatoes are really bad for me at lunchtime - my joints literally seize up and I'm like "bed, bed".

Hope it's not diabetes. I will look and see if they tested for this in my standard blood tests.

[BadHare in reply to Helena877]

You could be allergic to nightshade plants. Tomatoes & aubergines are the same plant family as potatoes.

[Helena877 in reply to BadHare]

I'm pretty sure I am!

If I peel tomatoes my fingers itch.

I'll have to take antihistamine.... chillis and tomatoes are a big part of my diet.

[Saggyuk in reply to Helena877]

Potatoes are generally high on the glycemic index so will push your sugar levels but depends on what you eat with it and new potatoes are medium rather than high so better. Jackets are the worst by far!

Unfortunately, our bodies wants (needs) food to get energy, if you skip meals it will be forced to get energy from somewhere else - such as adrenalin/cortisol which is then putting pressure on your adrenals. It will also slow your metabolism down making it harder to lose weight and neither of these are good for your thyroid health and skipping meals will actually increase your chances of becoming diabetic

My friend got one of those blood sugar monitor things and checked them - only about £20 from pharmacies and her sugar levels just go too low to too high to too low - however, she has always been like this and is otherwise very healthy so really not diabetic as all been checked. It helps to eat smaller meals but more regularly and she grazes to keep them level - she always has a bag of fruit/veg/nuts etc with her lol. She wakes up with very low Blood sugar and has to have breakfast to prevent the swings throughout the day.

You can google a list of the Glycemic index (GI) which gives you an idea of how they will affect your sugar levels but eating things that have a low GI along with the higher ones will bring the total level down. For example, if you have half a plate of something high on the index and half a plate of something really low - it will have a medium effect on your blood sugar levels - if that makes sense. I tend to avoid the high ones anyway and have things like Basmati/wholegrain/wild rice rather than other types which are higher.

Plus you're unlikely to be able to get all your nutritional requirements met from only one meal a day.

I know what it's like though, I can still only manage a banana first thing

[DollyCon in reply to Helena877]

It took 18 years to get a diagnosis and treatment for my hypothyroidism and for the final two years before I was actually treated, I developed a serious reaction to potatoes in any form, including in soups. It was so severe that I would react by falling into a deep, anaesthetic-like sleep from which it was difficult to rouse me. Once my thyroid was correctly treated I was fine! Quite scary while it lasted.

[Helena877 in reply to DollyCon]

I feel I'm heading this way on potatoes so just avoiding all together now.

[unbelieved]

coffee

- keeps me going at work anyway - only taken in mornings - afterwards I get palps - I HATE palps... (also on 2 grains)

and I try to eat breakfast now - it's taken 50 years! - it's called "Break Fast" for a reason.. I notice a lot of us roidys skip this 'normal' step to wellness...

(just my humble opinion - I have to think and plan a b'fast - I usually fail as I can't get up for work on time)

[unbelieved in reply to unbelieved]

and I can't remember passwords or ID - or my real name for my real TUK account! A change of email doesn't help either! Flippin' 'eck!

[BadHare]

My skin prefers NDT (WP Thyroid) to T3, & noticed heel cracks forming again, & had dry lips on T3 alone. I currently take both. I had energy crashes at 4pm every afternoon, before I started TH, & feeling drowsy at 6pm, if I was undermedicated.

Starchy carbs make me sleepy, so I rarely eat a lot. Most days I stick to restrictive eating times, so don't eat till late morning, or later than 7pm. Inbetween, I prefer to graze, & have one meal with several snacks.

[Hidden]

Hi I am also on two grains of NDT. Most of the time I feel tired that is my only symptom.

I do eat breakfast but after lunch I notice a direct slump in fatigue. Sorry I can't help with your question maybe someone knows the answer?

[midge66]

Hi Helena,

I can totally relate to how you are feeling. Slow motility/Gastroparesis is a condition which I have been diagnosed with and I do not have diabetes.

When I ingested food I felt as though it took my energy away from me rather than the opposite.

May I suggest that you ask your G.P if you can have your food transit / motility time tested.

Good luck,

Midge.

[jamesal0]

Hi Helen , I'm the same some days, the way I deal with it is I take an extra 30mg of NDT and have a real coffee. But as a Hypo you really need to get plenty of quality sleep, eat small proper meals every 3-4 hours and get plenty of Thyroid (Real or Synth T3). Also get you Testosterone and Oestrogen Progesterone etc tested.

J

[LAHs]

I am also on NDT. I sometimes get sleepy in the afternoon and I put it down to the half life of the T3 (8 hours) in the NDT dropping below optimum for me. If I have had an energetic morning I think I use up my available T3 and therefore get tired earlier than I would expect.