*This post was written in 2013 with everything recreated from my forum posts, Facebook updates and written notes I had from doctor’s visits.

Beginning in the summer of 2012, after a car accident where we were rear ended, I started with symptoms that couldn’t be explained.

Excruciating fatigue was the first symptom I experienced and it seemed to come on very suddenly. I began nearly falling asleep at my desk at work. I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open, particularly in the afternoon.

I started coming home from work and going directly to bed. I was in bed before my toddler nearly every night. When I woke up in the mornings, I still didn’t feel well rested.

My other main symptoms at the time were hair loss and low body temperature. Mainly, I just flat didn’t feel good at all. I felt as if I had a flu that just wouldn’t let up.

I had been on a low carb diet for several months and was down 30 pounds. On August 3, I made a post on a low carb forum and told everyone about this unrelenting fatigue. I explained how I just couldn’t get over it and did they think the low carb diet could be to blame? Many answered no as low carb tends to give you more energy (and that had been my experience as well up until this happened). They rattled off several other causes – thyroid, low vitamin D, B12 deficiency, anemia, etc.

I spoke to the doctor who recommended low carb to begin with and he suggested I add carbs back at a normal level for a week and see what happened. Maybe a carb re-set was what I really needed. So I did that beginning on August 15th.

A week later with no changes, it was time to go to a doctor and figure this out. My mistake was in my choice for a doctor.

Read more about that here: My next doctor visit