What is going on with me?

[dawnder]

I am a 28 yo female.  Mother of two.  I first started to notice how tired I was after my first daughter was born.  I attributed it to having an infant.  Then as she got older I knew it had something to do with the depression I was suffering from.  That was six years ago.  I no longer have depression problems, yet I am so exhausted on a daily basis that I feel like I live in bed.  I have daily headaches, I see black spots and lines that float through my vision, mainly when I look at a white wall or the sky.  I have almost a constant pain in my eyes.  I also have muscle aches (to the point where my husband gives a daily back rub to help relieve the pain).  On a daily basis I have shooting pain in some body part.  Yet I don't have pain anywhere when you push on points of my body (fibromygelia).  Although I do have joint pain, mainly when the weather changes.  In the last two months I have had two anxiety attacks, where I know that is what is occuring yet I can do nothing to stop it.  Just recently I had a racing heart.  I ended up in the ER, where they said I have Grave's Disease.  Throughout my whole life I have been on the small side.  I am currently 5 ft 3 and weigh 95lbs.  Yet my weight does not change.  I have weighed this amount for at least the last ten years, except during my pregnancies and while breast feeding.  I am beyond cranky sometimes.  I eat until I feel like I am going to vomit sometimes to no effect on my weight.  I thought that this diagnosis was going to be it.  Finally, I could tell people that no I wasn't a hypocondriac, there really was something wrong with me.  Well since the ER visit, my doctor has order a lot of blood work, I have had a thyroid scan.  Everything comes back normal.  The only thing that was a little off was my level of T4 but it was only off by about .30.  My doctor says I had Grave's Disease and now I don't.  I know it is possible to get thyroiditis, yet I had no symptoms of this.  I think I was misdiagnosed, yet have no idea what other possibilities there are for my symptoms. I'm not anemic, have no skin issues that I have noticed.  Any body have any ideas?  Thanks in advance.

[KatEyes]

Wow, you've got a lot to deal with. I don't know what type of doctors you are seeing, but an endocrinologist and rheumatologist would be my first thought.

Have your panic attacks and racing heart occured during the day or night? If night, I'd get a sleep study. Even if not night, it wouldn't hurt to get one since you are not rested even after sleeping.

Also, have you seen an opthamologist (not optometrist) to rule out problems with your eyes that are not headaches? Maybe this should be first, and immediate, as some eye problems threaten ones vision.

You are right, there is something going on causing you to feel so bad. Maybe more than one "something" .  Someone your age shouldn't have feel this bad without knowing a cause. Tell your doctor you want to see any and every specialist who could possibly solve any piece of your health puzzle. Every time you are told, "well, that was normal" ask them, "then what's next?"

When my health was declining, I had to do that. Not that I had a bad doctor, he was very good. But sometimes they judge how sick you really are by how persistent you are. I had to finally say that I didn't want him to stop till I had answers. My symptoms were not all the same as yours, but were coming from multiple causes. That's why I encourage you to not try to make sense of the whole picture, but piece by piece. I can't help but believe that in today's technologies there are answers.

[kiminspokane]

Hi Dawn,

I've experienced many of the same symptoms as you, and we're still trying to figure out what is going on.  I do however know a bit about the pain and floaters in your eyes.

I totally lost vision out of my right eye at the end of March, and had very litte out of my left.  A MRI revealed inflamation of the optic nerves which had caused the pain behind my eyes (only when I would move them) and eliminated my vision.  I was prescribed a HUGE dose of mythlprednizone (sp) which is a steroid, and it shrank the inflamation, and slowly over the last few months my vision has come back.  I still see the black spots and floaters, and specks of light, but no pain and I almost feel the vision is normal.  Check out "Lyme's Disease"  many of your symptoms are associated with late stage Lyme.

Good luck.

[dawnder]

Thanks for your help.  I have been doing research online and I thought about Lyme Disease also.  Then yesterday I read that you can contract it and not have any symptoms until later stages.  Monday I am calling my doctor to get tested.  I'm an outdoor photographer so I never ruled that out.  My symptoms have only started to get to the point where I can't deal to well with them, in the last 3 months or so.  I did have my vision checked about two years ago.  Being a photographer, I really need answers about my eyes.  So that will be my next step.  My doctor wanted to wait two more months to do more blood work to see if my thyroid levels were going to stay around normal or change.  I don't want to wait that long so I am going to see an endocrinologist at the best hospital around.  I guess I just have to get a little more pushy with my need for answers now not later.  I mean who else would want to wait two months when they feel like this.  Anyways thanks again.  You both gave me a great place to start.
Dawn