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No idea why I always feel sick

For several months I've been having a general ill feeling. Within the last 2 months it's gone from just feeling tired after a full night sleep to dizziness, fatigue, and nausea spells that come out of nowhere every day (my blood sugar is good, so it's not that). In February I started seeing a new doctor who decided to do a CBC just to check everything because my PCOS was "flaring up" again and causing unexplained bleeding. What came back was a WBC count of 17.1 and my HCT was low, I now have a vitamin D deficiency (which isn't rare, but it's annoying). I also had a very high blood pressure for the first time in my life, despite being overweight my blood pressure is usually normal. She decided to send me to a Hematologist who ran some tests but due to health insurance I wasn't able to follow up right away.

Two weeks ago I finally followed up with my hematologist and he ran more tests and suggest that I get a bone marrow biopsy. I'm scheduled to get it done this Friday, but I'm wondering what he may be testing for? He wasn't very specific. A few of my recent test results came back either below or above average, and that may give an idea of what's going on, but I'm having a hard time understanding what it all may mean. I've been doing the one thing I shouldn't - reading everything online. A lot of what I read points to an autoimmune disease or something, so I'm just trying to get a few opinions.

These are the test results that came back "weird":

WBC 14.5
HCT 35.5
NU#(ANC) 10.1
Iron, % saturation 10.4
Reticulocyte count 2.0
Alpha-1 blobulin   0.5
Beta globulin  1.4
ESR 61


Maybe I'm just overreacting, but any opinions would be appreciated.
6 Responses
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1530171 tn?1448129593
B12 at 422 pg/ml would be considered a level of deficiency in Europe and Japan.
For optimum health, I would suggest that you supplement on your own
with methylcobalamin B12, sublingual, minimum dose 1000mcg.

As for the other things I mentioned, I must forewarn you that doctors may not be very open to these suggestions-specially when they suspect that you got them off the internet, but please insist on the Free T3, Free T4 and Reverse T3, even if you must pay for these tests, or at least do the Dr. Barnes Test on your own.

You're welcome and have a good day!
Niko
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Thank you Niko, I will mention this to my doctor the next time I see him. I'm getting my bone marrow biopsy done by a different specialist, but I have to schedule several other appointments. As far as B-12 goes, I have my result from April, but not the most recent one. It was 422, but shows no range to compare it to.
Helpful - 0
1530171 tn?1448129593
Megmouse, I'm suspecting you may have undetected low thyroid function, due to flawed testing. Classic symptoms.
You need Free T3, Free T4 and Reverse T3 will show cellular thyroid function, including thyroid resistance (type 2 thyroid, just like diabetes 2).
Standard serum test T3,T$ and TSH only reveal serum levels!

Just do search to read all the symptoms of hypothyroidism.
It should be ruled out, otherwise, you're at risk remaining in perpetual limbo,
should this be the case.
All of your symptoms could be attributed to this, as thyroid effects all the cells of any body system or organ at the energy level, so in other words, cells when hypothyroid, lack the energy for repair, healing and all their other functions!

You may also do on your own Dr. Barnes Basal Temperature Test for low thyroid, the golden standard in the past.
Just follow the simple online instructions precisely.

Iron deficiency will contribute to low thyroid function and many other issues.

Vitamin D deficiency - there are vitamin D receptors throughout your entire body and vitamin D signals over 3000 genes (not a typo)
Two important things about vitamin D for you to note:

1. If you are obese, you may suffer from vitamin D resistance.
You may need to stay on higher dosing, if your levels are not increasing
substantially within a few weeks.
Let me know your levels next time you get tested.

2. If you're low in vitamin K2, calcium (metabolized by vitamin D) gets deposited in soft tissues (not a good thing!).
Vitamin K2 helps calcium get deposited in the bones and teeth.

Do you have the B12 levels? If lower than 500pg/ml, which is the lower end of the minimum lower range in Europe, you may be still deficient, despite what the labs indicate in the US.
Normally when D3 is low, B12 is low.

I will look at your results and ranges you posted and report later if I find something very significant.

Meanwhile, I should let you know, that when there's serious organ involvement, in unresolved ongoing deficiencies/imbalances as above, you're at higher risk of developing A/I conditions.

Please let me know if you need more details.

Oh, one more thing, I just thought about.
I met a baker in 2011 and he had suffered for many years, many symptoms the same as yours and I suspected gluten intolerance-even if he avoided bread, flour, wheat- from airborne flour particles at his bakery entering his body through skin and breathing.

For:Grains/carbs/gluten intolerance
Look into Gliadin test (urine), by Cyrex labs. They test 12 forms-not just the alpha ordered by most doctors- of gliadins regarding gluten intolerance (not necessarily digestive).
Now they can also test which part of the body is affected.
Most hypothyroid sufferers have gluten intolerance and don't even know it!
The gluten molecules-mainly from gmo grains- resemble the TPO(Thyroid Peroxidase - an enzyme necessary for the signalling Thyroid hormone production) molecules and thus the immune system in its response against gluten, attacks the TPO in the Thyroid also!

Gluten is in your shampoo, cosmetics, creams, envelopes, sauces, soups,
condiments, ketchup, soy sauce, stamps, play-dough... Everywhere,lol!

Blessings.
Niko
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I should also note that I was basically a "guinea pig" for my former doctors when it came to treating my anxiety and depression. I was on a lot of medications at different times for almost 8 years...including Seroquil, Effexor, Prozac, and Zoloft (which gave me night terrors) to name a few, but I've been off all medications for a year and a half.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Oops, sorry about that. I don't have a copy of my vitamin D levels or thyroid, but I've been on vitamin d-3 supplements for 5 months. Started with 50,000 units once a week and now on 4,000 units a day, My thyroid and B12 seem to be perfectly normal, they suspected my thyroid for years but it always comes back good.

Ranges for the tests are:
WBC 14.5  (no range given but it says "high")
HCT 35.5 (37.0 - 47.0)
NU#(ANC) 10.1 (no range given but it says "high")
Iron, % saturation 10.4 (13.0 - 45.0)
Reticulocyte count 2.0 (0.5 - 1.5)
Alpha-1 blobulin   0.5  (0.1 - 0.4)
Beta globulin  1.4 (0.6 - 1.3)
ESR 61 (0.0 - 20.0) <- this is the one that concerns me the most.

As far as everything else, I've been on Metformin 500mg extended release for 9 years, birth control as hormone therapy for my PCOS for 10 years without any complications, the vitamin D since April, and now I'm on an Iron supplement (but that started after my test results).

Weight: 280. I'm overweight, but I've actually lost 50 pounds in the last year.
Fittness: I walk and work a full-time job in a bakery lifting 50+lbs running around all day.
Diet: My nutritionist has me on a low carb diet. I don't eat bread, potatoes, or pasta often, usually just brown rice. Lots of vegetables, fruit, salads, and protein (mainly chicken, I try to limit red meat). I've also cut out most dairy because it seems to affect my stomach a bit. I try to avoid processed foods as well.

The only semi-serious medical problems I've ever had are my PCOS (which I was diagnosed with 10 years ago) and a gallbladder removal due to stones 6 years ago. I was missdiagnosed with Type-2 Diabetes for years, but recently my doctors have said that I'm not - my glucose level hovers around 89/90 on a range of 70-105.
Helpful - 0
1530171 tn?1448129593
Hi Megmouse.

Labs use different lower and higher normal ranges, so could you please include these in another post next to your results, so we can give you more accurate suggestions and remarks?

Could you also give us your vitamin D levels, fitness, weight, diet, meds, etc.?
Have you been tested for thyroid, vitamin B12 ? If yes please post what tests and results, including of course lab ranges.

Looking forward to your reply.

Niko
Helpful - 0
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