I'm a mystery! Dr wonders if i have fibro..

Hi everyone, i hope you are all keeping well.
Brief medical history of the definates, I'm 29, i have hypoparathyroidism diagnosed last May after being told by my gp i was stressed and so making myself ill for around 3 years...only, i was stressed because i was experiencing scary symptoms and being turned away, not the other way round. So basicly my parathyroid hormone is low, it is barely produced at all although the levels fluctuate. This leads to low calcium levels and low vit d levels, even if i've spent long periods in the sun! I'm on prescription meds, sandocal and alfacalcidol for this. It's quite rare and theres a question mark over mine being caused by an autoimmune disorder. I'm having blood tests next month for things like Ana and crp which are usually raised with autoimmune disorders apparently.
I have had endometriosis since i was probably 13, maybe earlier and this was confirmed with an op when i was 18/19. I've had 2 ops for it since then and the last one showed it was 'superficial' and i hadn't been in as much pain or had as heavy periods as before so had expected that was the case.
I've got ibs, had it around 9 years. Last year i had a barium xray and a few months later stomach camera and biopsy then same on bowel. They didn't see anything im told so confirmed ibs.

Well i have probably had around 70 symptoms. I kept a diary over a few months last year and counted 40 in that time. I've seen a neuro who did a brain scan to look for ms but i'm told it was normal. I know there is a calcium deposit from a scan 4 years back but they didn't make a fuss about it and said most people have them, especially as we get older. I've also had a lumbar spine mri as i've had saddle paraesthesia and that showed normal other than an ovarian cyst/enlarged follicle which has been there for ages!

Ok, some symptoms:
Skin-Tingles/altered sensation/pins and needles/burning with nothing there/feeling i have scratched myself and not a mark, skin sensitive to touch for no reason. The tingles are often in hands and face but also get them in feet, ribs and anywhere my body fancies at the time.
Pain-Anywhere! I get terrible pains down my arms and the feeling of having a needle stuck down my fingertip to knuckle. My wrists hurt and ache, all different pains, at once or separately. I sometimes get similar pains in my feet. I've had weird swelling in my wrists even with no pain and my palms go blotchy and it can swell and go down in a short time. None of it coincides with what ive been doing. I sometimes feel like i've got my jaw in a vice and the pressure and pain in my jaw and cheeks is crazy!
I have groin and bum pain which was thought to be sciatica as it went down my leg and i got the saddle paraestheia and weird like mobile phone vibrations in my legs but the lumbar scan ruled that out. Now theres a question over piriformis but the consultant said he doubts it and sent me for physio which doesnt start for about another month.
I get headaches all over my head, at the side and back and base of the skull sometimes. I kept being told this was tension headache which some of them might be but neuro said they could be basilar migraines. I've had aura where my vision has been affected and the headaches afterwards were awful.

Something extremely bothersome and worrying over the past few months is my lymph nodes being enlarged and painful. I had a scan on them in november and was told they are enlarged but the pathology looked ok. Sometimes i feel perfectly well then suddenly they will start hurting and i get this almost viral like ache in the upper body which just makes me want to lay still and sleep. Its a bit like ove overdone the weights at the gym and took the weights home hanging off me! Sometimes the ache starts before the gland pain. They usually go together though. I've heard that some people get an infection or illness which the glands react to and then enlarge and dont go down and then each time they get poorly they enlarge again. Whats odd is my bloodwork, other than the calcium issues was pretty much ok. I think in dec my white cell count was slightly low (odd if im ill right?) and crp very slightly raised but the ent specialist said nothing to worry over. I have regular blood testing for my calcium with my endocrinologist who i see every 3 months. Am due for blood tests in a couple of weeks as i see him soon. he is slightly baffled by all my problems so like i said above has requested a couple of tests for autoimmune. Also in December i tested positive for epstein barr! I had an igg level which meant i havent had it in the immediate past but he suspected it could be what started my glands enlarging.
I get a horrid pain under my arms, right armpit always being worse and there are no glands to feel and i have all movement there so its not muscular or tendons. I have palpitations sometimes, have started suffering anxiety and feeling down (think anyone would after this going on with no diagnosis for 4 years and being told its all in my head).
Sometimes my head moves on its own almost in time with my heartbeat and i can feel the pulse in my head and neck. Other times i have to move it quick, but its not really me doing it if that makes sense?

A few weeks back i saw my gp when this ache was really bothering me (for about the 5th time)  and showed her my wrists being swollen and told her about the aches and pains in my arms and fingers. She said she wonders if i have fibro. Do my symptoms fit what others have?

Going back not even 2 years i used to run and visit the gym up to 5 times a week and was so fit (even with the odd goings on) and i don't smoke and very rarely drink. Now i can't do any exercise wthout feeling shattered, and most of the time not even in a way i need to sleep, just my musces are tired? I'm 5ft and 9 stone 10 after putting on a stone in just over a year since stopping exercising.

I apologise for the long essay, didn't want to leave anything potentially important out.

best wishes to all xxxx

[Red_Star]

I had hypoparathyroidism from severe magnesium deficiency.  I could not get my calcium or vitamin D levels up until my magnesium levels were corrected. My doctor thought i had fibromyalgia however magnesium deficiency and vitamin D deficiency both mimic fibromyalgia. To add, many of your symptoms you mention are listed under magnesium deficiency such as headaches/migranes, pins and needles, numbness, jaw pain (TMJ pain), IBS, chronic pain, elevated CRP. Stress is one of the causes of magnesium deficiency.

Hypoparathyroidism causes:

1. Deficient Parathyroid Hormone Secretion

- Parathyroid glands were unintentionally removed at the time of surgery; parathyroid surgery or a total thyroidectomy.


2.  Inability to Make Active Parathyroid Hormone

- Congenital - born without parathyroid tissues

- Acquired - the immune system developes antibodies against parathyroid tissues

- Hypomagnesemia (magnesium deficiency)


3. Resistance to Parathyroid Hormone  (pseudo-hypoparathyroidism)

- In this condition, bones and kidneys do not respond to the parathyroid hormone.

[Red_Star]

I forgot to add magnesium deficiency symptoms include palpitations, anxiety and depression. I had over 50 symptoms of magnesium deficiency with no diagnosis. I had to eventually diagnose myself.

[ee849]

Hi Red Star,
Thanks for the reply. I believe ive been tested for magnesium deficiency, however i do take a supplement daily because i've read this can be a cause in my bit of research as well as multi vit pro biotics and acidophilus. I will ask at my next endocrine appointment to make sure and see if i can be tested again.

I baffled my drs with the diagnosis of pth first because my pth was normal level for ages and yet cal and vit d were both low (pseudo). In sept it started dropping and has been 0.17 at times (not sure where you live but i noticed usa and uk show the readings differently) which has led to the autoimmune question. Between sept and xmas i had about 4 blood tests for various things to see whats going on and my pth really jumped around. Theres a really good site if you type in hypoparathyroid uk that tells you causes and signs etc. I found it is so rare that theres little research on it. Ive even had experienced drs who dont know about it so it leaves us with no choice but to look into it.
I hope you are back to good health now xx

[Red_Star]

Magnesium supplements is the easy answer but if you are already taking magnesium then not a likely cause..well maybe the exception could be taking poorly absorbed magnesium oxide (4% absorption shown in one study!). Hope you find the answer. :)

[ee849]

I read up on causes of low magnesium after you mentioned as i wondered why it would happen. Malabsorption seems to be the main cause and when i was originally given calcium prescriptions (just the supplement prescription form), it didnt raise my levels so i wonder if there is some kind of malabsorption going on? I have a lot of bowel troubles/ibs so i will ask about it when i see the endo in march. Thanks for your suggestions and taking the time to reply to my post xx

[Nikodicreta]

Hi ee849.
Please look into the following possible areas for some of your answers:
1. Low calcium from lack of amino-acid transport.- other mineral deficiencies. Blood tests do not necessarily reveal these accurately.
You need also mineral tissue analysis.
2. Undetected underlying fungal and pathogenic infection(s).Some are EXTREMELY difficult to detect, as some pathogens are intracellular or disguise themselves as normal cells wrapped in cell membrane.
3. Heavy metal toxicity. Most tests fail to detect mercury. It "hides" in the nerves and fatty tissue.
4. Low glutathione. (Body's Master Antioxidant) Related to impaired amino acid metabolism.
5. Ideocecal valve malfunction-Dysbiosis-Leaky Gut Syndrome.
6. Hormonal/Adrenal and Neurotransmitter deficiencies.
7. Low sulfur levels.
8. EFA deficiency.
9. Impaired metabolism- amino acids and carbohydrates.
10. Low PH levels (acidic) related to diet and stress
11. High stress levels.
12. Inefficient Breathing pattern. (go to the normal breathing website for
details).
13. Prolonged JNK gene activation. (Associated with serious chronic conditions)
14. Unprocessed past traumas, stored in cellular memory.
15. Impaired Lymphatic function.
Correcting the ones applicable to your situation, would help restore your health to an acceptable level and most of your symptoms would vanish!
It is a long road, but well worth the effort. It is your Life after all!
My suggestion is to seek a Holistic Health Practitioner like a Naturopathic Doctor, as an overall health Couch.
Conventional Medicine  is not able to address all of the above.
If you need any details, let me know.
Cheers,
Niko
PS
Malabsorption is very likely! You are what you assimilate and what you eliminate!

[ee849]

Thanks Niko,
I will look into this. There are some things you mentioned there that i haven't heard of.
Im trying to treat myself for leaky gut syndrome (i had repeated thrush infections over more than a decade so think it could be likely) and i bought acidophilus from a health shop as to treat it a couple of weeks ago.I think that goes in line with candida? Candida im aware can cause hypoparathyroidism.
I have a fingal infection on my back. Its the tinea one that everyone carries but only sometimes it has a reason to spread i don't know why mine did but i guess it was from when i used to visit the gym so much and would sweat. So i suppose some kind of fungal infection is possible.
I know my breathing is very shallow, has been as long as i remember and ive done exercises for it which didnt improve my lung capacity.
I have been stressed on and off. Got a lot going on and have had over the past 5 years which probably played its part where my health is concerned.
My lymphatic system...i have enlarged lymph nodes and they arent really looking into why. I had a scan in nov and they said they were just very big but they are so painful sometimes and no painkillers help.
Ive heard of heavy metals causing hypo pth, think i read lead can be a cause? Not heard of the mercury one so i can ask about and the other things you mentioned.
Thanks for your time replying xx

[Nikodicreta]

Hey ee849,
I'll send you some useful links to some sites later when I get i chance.
For now look into the GAPS and The SCD protocols. A combination of those 2 AND a comprehensive Anti-Candida diet helped my daughter reclaim her health.
Cheers,
Niko

[ee849]

Thanks very much x

[Nikodicreta]

Don't mention it!
Here are some links:
a.Regarding Candida, yeast Infections and more.
  www.coconutresearchcenter.com
b. Dr. Lam's Adrenal Fatigue Center (great tutorial)
  www.drlam.com
c. The greatest health discovery!
  http://www.healsa.co.za/greatesthealth.htm
d. Free download of EFT manual (emotional freedom techniques)
   http://www.eft-therapy.com/
Hope you get better. Keep us posted.
Cheers,
  Niko
  

[ee849]

Thanks! Will have a good read there xx