To me it sounds like the onset of menopause. It can start as early as the mid-30s, so you aren't too young. Everything you described are the exact symptoms me, my mom, and my 4 sisters all experienced or still experience from menopause. The good news is the heat will turn into full blown hot flashes later, but they don't last nearly as long as what you're going through now. They last minutes or hours instead of days. I've found a tear-jerker followed by a good comedy help to relieve the depression more than anything else.
I feel your pain - literally.
Thank you for your advice. I think health professionals are some times the worst patients and we have a tendency to put everyone and everything else before ourselves. I have tried to rest today and started a new book this morning. I am feeling some better and since I have Monday off I am just going to try to relax as much as I can. I some times get scared with the thyroid problems and I over think things. I hope you have a wonderful holiday weekend and may God bless you and yours.
Dear Simplyme,
I, too am a health care professional, and I feel your stress! I know you don't want to hear the same hokum about taking time for yourself, blah, blah, blah. Sometimes that just isn't possible but your body is demanding it!
The concrete reason for your episode may never be exactly identified via blood test, etc, but what would help is to know that the body is an amazing thing, we abuse it over and over and it just keeps on compensating.
Well, sometimes it has just had enough, and after a long day, it was trying to tell you "Something's got to give, pay attention to me!" So take some time to slow down, call in sick if you don't have any time off coming, and try to relax for a day or two.
The body's natural way to compensate for imbalances is to get the toxins, poisons, and "dis-ease" AWAY from the vital organs, namely the liver, spleen and pancreas. So the farthest thing is the skin. That is why many things show up in the skin first, namely the heat you mentioned. The stiffness and headache are neurological, but your body got you to lay down, didn't it? The weepiness and mild depression are probably just a release of tension, built up over time.
I would find a good Naturopath, and take their advice. Sometimes they can even reverse mild thyroid conditions. I have also never heard anything negative about going vegetarian/vegan for a couple of weeks, just to cleanse the body and liver of toxins. You can always go back, but it seems to help a ton of people.
Also, if you happened to take a Women's multivitamin right after dinner, it could be the niacin causing a flush, although you probably knew that! The other thing is, it could well have been a reaction to something you ate, maybe even a pesticide on the vegetables, etc. People can develop new food allergies, even into their 40's.
Jenny