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Causes of extreme fatigue

I have a query for my father. He has been having an array of symptoms and we are still not able to figure out the exact cause. To make matters worse, I work in a different country and I keep getting updates from him through phone. There is nothing more I can do than trusting the doctors on his case. But its still difficult to not worry so I thought I might post it here:

My dad is 60 year old, still works and has been healthy throughout his life without any major illness. Because of the advancing age he does normal blood tests twice an year just to check if everything is okay. The last two 6 monthly test showed that his glucose values were a tad bit higher. So he consulted a doctor in April this year. The doctor dosed him with diabetic meds which made him feel hypoglycemic, to the extent he felt dizzines, very shaky and confused. That scared him so he went to another doctor for a second opinion, this other doctor also confirmed that he may have to continue taking diabetic meds because of the reading over past sometime and the results of the latest examinations.  So he started to take his medications, a little lower doses than than what the first doctor prescribed.

However he has not felt right since the day he has started the diabetes meds. He recorded some high blood pressure readings so he was given anti hypertensives. Again the blood pressure medication lowered his BP really low. So he was again taken off from the medication. He continues to take diabetes meds, but still complains of extreme tiredness. He complains that the tiredness is something that he has never experienced before. Its not painful but it saps him completely, to the point he feels to lay down on the bed and do nothing.

To rule out any other symptoms he has had his thyroxine levels checked, some heart related stuff checked, Renal function tests but nothing so far seems to explain the reason for fatigue he experiences. After another bout of bad fatigue today, the doctor seems to have requested him to get admitted for further investigations again. I am not sure what they are, but from what I gauge there is nothing more left to be investigated. I think they'd probably do some more scans

If there is anyone out there who has had or heard of any such symptoms and would be able to suggest anything, it would be really helpful.

Cheers,
PK
Best Answer
1415174 tn?1453243103
Hi and sorry about your dad. Did the doctors do a glucose tolerance test? This is where they do a fasting blood sugar and have you drink a sugary drink and they retest at a half and then at 2 hours, then every hour after that for about 5 hours. They can determine if you a diabetic or hypoglycemic. Usually, the blood sugar being high or low will make you dizzy or tired. It could be a side effect of the drug too. Perhaps they need to taylor the drug to his ability to tolerate it. Since he had the problem after taking the drug I would think that is the cause. I assume they are testing his blood sugar before giving him the medicine or that he pokes his finger and does it himself? The blood pressure meds will really knock you out if you don't hae the right one. My mother in law had the same problem with that med. She had to try different blood pressure meds until they got the right one for her. So this may be the problem. If the BP is very low you will feel exhausted.  
good luck,
mkh9
4 Responses
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144586 tn?1284666164
One of the most important things is for a patient to know how his/her system is responding to medications.

In the case of a diabetic this means that measuring blood glucose levels at home is an absolute must. These machines are relatively inexpensive.

In the case of hypertensives, it means regular daily monitoring of blood pressure with an home meter.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Thanks for your kind replies.. I think he has been asked to be taken off from Metformin. It was Metformin which was causing him the trouble.. The other thing that he had done was changed too many things in his lifestyle.. He had cut the sugar from the diet, cut down on the portions of his meals. He completely avoided rice. I think all these changes happened for the body in fairly short span of the time plus he wasnt going too well with the Metformin.. Which is why he lost weight in the past few months and felt miserably weak.

So for now the doctors have concluded, that he may be given milder drugs and he should continue eating the diet he had before he started with the meds. So I think one of you got it right.. It was probably the drug and undue over cautiousness he exercised. The doses of his BP meds have been decreased too. I will wait and watch how this develops further.

Thanks for your time.
Regards, PK
Helpful - 0
351246 tn?1379682132
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Hi
Welcome to the MedHelp forum!
There is a possibility that your father has picked up weight with his age, and this is causing him to have symptoms of borderline diabetes, and hypertension. In my opinion, eating healthy, going for walks, and taking up activities that interest him will bring down all these values.
Let him start this, and wait for 2 weeks without medications for anything, except a multivitamin pill. He should monitor his blood pressure, and blood glucose during this time. In all probability he should be fine. If he is not, then, he'll need to undergo tests to find out if his kidney, liver, adrenals, thyroid etc are working fine. Low testosterone could also be a cause.
Take care!
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