Oprah battling thyroid problem

CHICAGO, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- U.S. television talk-show host Oprah Winfrey has been suffering from thyroid problems which caused her to lose sleep and gain weight, CBS reported Thursday.

"I was still feeling really tired, really tired, going around from doctor to doctor trying to figure out what was wrong and finally figured out that I had literally sort of blew out my thyroid," Winfrey said on her show Wednesday.

Winfrey admitted she had been working too hard, which lead to exhaustion and weight-gain.

"My body was turning on me," she wrote in the new issue of O magazine. "First hyperthyroidism, which sped up my metabolism and left me unable to sleep for days. (Most people lose weight. I didn't.) Then hypothyroidism, which slowed down my metabolism and made me want to sleep all the time."

Winfrey, who also gained 20 pounds, said she tried to take it a little easier by spending the summer in Africa and Hawaii. She says she tries to strike a balance so her health will no longer suffer from the demands of her busy life.