Full sports health check/blood tests. Broken wife.

warrior4life

My wife started cycling around 10 years ago and was doing fairly well, won her first race. Soon moved up to 2nd cat on 5-7hrs a week training.
She was getting a few wins in road, CX and hill climbs and all was good.
She got glandular fever 6 years ago and ever since has struggled with energy, she gets super tired after and fast or hard training. Currently 5 easy hours a week and she’s totally drained.
Basic NHS blood tests say everything’s all okay but it’s obviousky not.
Does anyone know of anywhere in the UK, preferably Derbyshire area that does sports specific testing and blood work?
It’s really frustrating at the moment and we keep going around in circles. We’ve tried resting and time off the bike but that doesn’t seem to make any difference.
Any help is much appreciated.

imafatman

I asked my wife who's studying medicine, she said it could be Chronic Fatigue Syndrome which is linked to Glandular Fever.

* this is not medical diagnosis.... you should mention this to your doctor and see what they say. She's quite surprised this hasn't been mentioned yet by anyone at the hospital as it's an obvious one.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/chronic-f ... drome-cfs/

warrior4life

Many thanks, I’ll let my wife know. We’ve tried doctors but they haven’t been the best.

kingrollo

Are you dealing with the GP ? I would try and see a specialist consultant

jeatsy

Hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) is a possibility. My partner started to tire easily and it turned out to be this. It improved for about a year and then got worse again, so her dose of artificial thyroid hormone had to be increased. That was about 5 years ago, and since then it's stayed pretty stable. I think she gets re-tested on the NHS every 6 months.

Another possibility is a vitamin B12 deficiency. Over-the-counter supplements can help here.

photonic69

I'd second the hyperthyroidism theory too. Wife had this a while back. Just went really downhill for a few years until diagnosed. She had so little energy she'd often fall asleep. Eventually had it removed and replacement therapy. Now she does half marathons and cycles loads.

Get her tested for this.

tonysj

Im in Derbyshire and dont know any testing companies etc but have you thought about asking at LBS as some have ex racing cyclists and they may know some one who knows someone type of thing. I know JE James in Chesterfield have Andy Bishop working occasionally in store, he may be able to point you in the right direction.
The B12 deficiency mentioned could be a cause as I'm low on B12 but thats due to having Crohns and missing some intestines lol.

warrior4life

TonySJ wrote:

Im in Derbyshire and dont know any testing companies etc but have you thought about asking at LBS as some have ex racing cyclists and they may know some one who knows someone type of thing. I know JE James in Chesterfield have Andy Bishop working occasionally in store, he may be able to point you in the right direction.
The B12 deficiency mentioned could be a cause as I'm low on B12 but thats due to having Crohns and missing some intestines lol.

Andy Bishops a nice guy but just a middle of the road 2nd cat-3rd cat amateur, the area has a wealth of way better cyclists and people with genuine health qualifications. I wouldn't trust his knowledge on a subject like this but I will check out B12 deficiencies.

warrior4life

PhotoNic69 wrote:

I'd second the hyperthyroidism theory too. Wife had this a while back. Just went really downhill for a few years until diagnosed. She had so little energy she'd often fall asleep. Eventually had it removed and replacement therapy. Now she does half marathons and cycles loads.

Get her tested for this.

We've paid for private testing at Nuffield. All signs say Hyperthyroidism. Many thanks.

photonic69

warrior4life wrote:

We've paid for private testing at Nuffield. All signs say Hyperthyroidism. Many thanks.

That's great that you now have a diagnosis so you can move forward from here on. Not so great that it is a Thyroid problem. It depends on the severity of the condition. The treatment can often make the sufferer feel worse, put on weight, become anxious and jittery and feel sick all the time!!! It's no walk in the park I'm afraid.

There are various treatments. One is radio therapy to help shrink the gland. We couldn't have this as we had small children at the time and she'd have to be in isolation for three weeks. Block and replace - that's the one that made her feel really unwell for ages. She was on that for about 18 months and felt crap. The finally decided to remove it totally and put her on a daily Thyroxin dose. That's what works really well for her and feels back to full strength and fitness now.

Hope your wife's journey is not too stressful/painful now that you know the issues. Good luck with it and hope she gets back on track soon.

Best wishes.

slowbike

hyper or hypo ...

hyper is overactive = until treatment means weight loss, massive apatite, can't sleep - along with others.
hypo is underactive = until treatment means weight gain, tired all the time, sleep easily, loss of memory.

I don't know much about hyper - I know some options are surgery, but I also understand there are some drugs they can use to stop it working too - that may just be a short term fix though.

Hypo is relatively simple to medicate - the output of the thyroid is replaced with levothyroxine - which the doctors will vary and test to stabalise the levels. The effect is pretty quick - and the drugs can be used long term (free prescription!).

webboo

Slowbike wrote:

hyper or hypo ...

hyper is overactive = until treatment means weight loss, massive apatite, can't sleep - along with others.
hypo is underactive = until treatment means weight gain, tired all the time, sleep easily, loss of memory.

I don't know much about hyper - I know some options are surgery, but I also understand there are some drugs they can use to stop it working too - that may just be a short term fix though.

Hypo is relatively simple to medicate - the output of the thyroid is replaced with levothyroxine - which the doctors will vary and test to stabalise the levels. The effect is pretty quick - and the drugs can be used long term (free prescription!).

I would beg to differ, wife got diagnosed with Hypothyroidism last year. Thyroid glad had completely given up, despite numerous blood tests and being told she is on the correct dose of medication. She struggles with energy levels and is always fatigued. Also despite trying to lose weight and being very strict with her calorie intake she hasn’t lost any weight.

jeatsy

My (hypothyroid) girlfriend recommends http://www.thyroiduk.org/ as a good resource.