I feel drained all the time. advice/tips please?

I'm 26 years old.


I've quit the smokes and the weed (and dabbling in speed%26amp;coke) a dozen times in the last 3 years. About a month after quitting I've experienced a huge peak in energy levels. I've quit for the final time in the new year but feel as sluggish as I did when I was up to no good.





My diet is perfect. I eat a wide and varied amount of the best and most nutritious foods. Organic and locally sourced as far as is practical. I drink rarely. I exercise from time to time but not as much as I used to because of the low energy levels and corresponding lack of motivation.


I'm very tall, slim and lean.





I work about 70 hours per week, but my work is not physically demanding at all. It is not even that mentally demanding most of the time. I often work through the night so I get little sun, if any in the week, seeing as the days are very short here and outside of summer there is almost always complete cloud cover. (I have just started taking a Vitamin D supplement)





I have a history of thyroid problems in my family. My sister has an overactive gland, my mother an under. The men in my family have a history of heart, kidney and liver disease but this is mostly alcohol related.


I developed ecxema at 21 and it has stayed on my elbows and flares up occasionally in patches elsewhere.





I will soon go to a doctor for a full medical before you suggest it, but what I'm looking for is some cheap advice before hand like... oh I don't know,


eat a high GI diet,





take a certain type of suppplement (I'm not crazy about these and would like my diet to be as natural as is possible)





do a certain type of exercise





read a certain book





train my mind in some manner





take up meditation


or yoga





Or tell me briefly how the above affected your energy levels.





Any help would be appreciated folks as this is beginning to depress me and I was a fairly happy-go-lucky guy all my life. Am I just getting old???!?





taI feel drained all the time. advice/tips please?
I think you may already have your answer. The tendency to develop thyroid disorders runs in families. Though it's not sure yet what will trigger the onset of the disorder in an individual there is strong evidence that excess iodine intake contributes.





Addictive behaviors, such as smoking, drinking or drugs have been found to be used in cases of self treatment in folks that have been feeling as though something is wrong, but not quite knowing what.





That is not to say that having a thyroid problem will cause you to smoke or drink, or that smoking or drinking means that you have a thyroid problem. But, given family history AND the addictive behaviors it's a red flag to have things checked.





Low levels of vitamin D, with or without a thyroid issue, can also cause one to feel pretty lousy, so that would be wise to check into as well.





My suggestion while you are seeing a doc and having labs run anyway.... have some thyroid tests run.


Those that will be of most value in determining if something is wrong?


TSH


Free T4


Free T3 and


Thyroid antibodies





Add to that the Vitamin D that you've already planned on, as well as:


Ferritin


Iron and


B-12