Sarah68

Ok. From everything that you have said, it sounds more like an underactive thyroid that you have and especially as you said that your mom and granmother have the same thing, this becomes more likely as a cause as it runs in the family. However, any doctor should not just put you on any kind of med, but should send off bloods to check for T4 levels, which is a thyroid function test and the drug of choice for this is normally Thyroxine. They can start at a dose of 0.25 mcg and go up to as much as 100 mcg, depending on the response.

The fact that you said you are tired, have acne and facial hair are all indicative of an underactive thyroid gland. The depression is also linked to this and poor memory and concentration can also be linked to this rather than ADD.

I don't know how much exercise you have done in the past, but is the exercise that you do aerobic rather than an-aerobic? Aerobic means in the presence of oxygen and includes things such as running and things that include a cardiovascular workout. Anaerobic exercise includes lifting weights in the gym? It is just that there is such a thing called an exercise induced headache, however, this is more likely to occur following cardiovascular exercise.

When you begin to exercise, your sympathetic nervous system comes into action and turns on what is known as the 'fight or flight response' and this increases your adrenaline output and diverts blood from your gut to your muscles, cardiovascular system and respiratory system. You release adrenaline, your heart rate increases and your respiration gets quicker in response to the demands that you are putting on your body during exercise. Your blood vessels also dilate - this means becoming wider to allow blood flow to increase through them and they become more elastic generally. It is this vasodilation that can cause the headaches as the blood flows better. Once you cool down, the blood vessels constrict again after a while and it is this process where the blood vessels constrict, then dilate and constrict again, with the variations in blood flow around the body that can cause the headaches after exercise. This is the same kind of process that is involved in migraines and headaches after exercise can be as intense as migraines. I used to suffer from these for a while after running and believe me, they were as bad as migraines.

This would be the cause of the post exercise headaches most certainly, however, I would go back to your doc and get your thyroid function checked out again. If this is not done properly, then get a second opinion from another doc. They need to check your T4 levels to be sure though and possibly once this is sorted out, your headaches could abate too.

Good luck