How many hours of sleep a night do you need? - Now with Poll

Low thyroid hormone levels, particularly low T3, can prevent dreaming, or will dramatically increase the chance that any dreams are actually nightmares. (Based on my own experience, and anecdotal reports from others with hypothyroidism.)

 

If it's true that most people with ME have low or low normal T3, even without thyroid issues, could this be why a common symptom is frequent nightmares/intense dreams?

Edited for clarity.

 

I had many thyroid tests done before i was diagnosed, they never revealed much, though since then i have learned to get the results myself instead of assuming the doctor will interpret them correctly (which i didn't do back then). Perhaps i should try to get them redone?

 

We can get our lab results online now. From past experiences I learnt that my GP assumes that everything 'in range' is normal.

My ferritin and B12 were down so low years ago but she never suggested supplementing. I had terrible symptoms. She doesn't check my free T3 (only TSH).

When I was seeing my functional integrative doctor (he's retired) my free T3 at one time was below normal so took synthroid but didn't feel better after 3 months so discontinued. One year later I was tested over and over and my free T3 stayed within normal range.

 

Our bodies demands for thyroid hormones can fluctuate a fair bit. Not as much as, say insulin, but a lot more than a lot of docs seem to understand. According to my endocrinologist anyway.

I've noticed that I sometimes need to reduce my dose slightly in summer and increase in winter. Of course the timing of sunrise and sunset change too and that will have it's own affect.

 

Generally 8-9 (solid - no getting up in the middle of the night). During rough periods 9-10.

 

My natural uninterrupted sleep length is around 11-12 hours.

 

If thyroid problems are related to ME/CFS then I'd expect to see this turning up in the GWAS (Chris Ponting's) study. Don't know if you'd expect T3 (thyroid function) to be low due to sedentary lifestyle?