EXTREME Fatigue, Polycythemia, Gallstone, What's WRONG?

[SpaldingNahi]

Hi,

I'm a single, full-time father to three teenaged sons, a successful, work-from-home freelance writer. My life is grand, full of love and happiness.

However, about eight months ago, it was like the light's were just turned off on me -- massive fatigue set in, a significant loss in my ability to focus and concentrate, body aches, an occasionally racing heart. I'd never had any problems like this before.

I went to a doctor, who ran a series of blood tests, which revealed an elevated hematocrit -- not severely elevated, but well above normal. That yielded the diagnosis of polycythemia which, if you know anything about, is a condition almost always caused by something else. A CT scan of my abdomen revealed a 3-cm gallstone, a 2.7-cm hemangioma on my liver, but everything else looked good. My EKG was good. Everything else was normal. I'm set to do a sleep study in a couple of weeks to rule out sleep apnea, a condition I am doubtful that I have.

But I feel terrible almost all the time -- severe fatigue, tremendous difficulty concentrating and focusing (and, of course, getting my work done), body aches (especially in the left shoulder), etc. My doctor last week prescribed Vyvanse to help boost energy levels and focus, and that seems to help a little bit, but only a little bit. I'm doing my very best to keep it all together for my sons, who have no idea I'm feeling this way.

In 1992, I had a congenital blockage removed from my right kidney, resulting in function of about 15% on that side. In 2010, I was diagnosed with Chrone’s Disease, but have had no problems – and taken no related medications – since that initial illness. I have suffered for several years with erectile dysfunction, which is treated, usually effectively, with Viagra. I am on no other medications, have never had any troubles with depression or anxiety.

I am absolutely determined to feel better. I have far too much I want and need to do in this, not least of all raise three good men. By the by, I'm a 43-year old male, in good shape, practice yoga regularly (or did, until the last couple months). I would DEEPLY appreciate any thoughts or comments on what the heck might be happening here. Thank you so much.

[mkh9]

I hope the info helps. Let me know what you find out. BTW, a benign arrhythmia can make you feel pretty yucky too. I have one and didn't know it but felt the symptoms I was talking about. Plus  I was always out of breath and light headed, tired. My blood pressure was low normal. My EKG was normal but the 24 hour monitor showed the arrhythmia. Lucky for me it was benign as most of them are. I quit coffee and tea and cut down on sugar. I was also on Flexeril for my back pain and my doctor said that may have been the original cause. You never know, but some arrhythmias are not benign. The echocardiogram looks for structural problems such as mitral valve prolapse and so forth. They sometimes do a stress test as well.  
take care,
mkh9

[SpaldingNahi]

Thank you for your kind and informative response. I deeply appreciate it.

[mkh9]

Well, you do need to find out what kind of polycythemia you have. If it is genetic or due to sleep apnea etc. There are rare types that are due to leukemia or malignancy. Have others in your family had it? If it Is genetic it is usually benign. Also,, if they can find the cause such as sleep apnea or other cause that would explain it other than genetic flaw in the bone marrow then it would be good. Are they having you get regular blood "letting" or blood draws to remove blood? If not this could cause fatigue and other symptoms. So the first thing would be to find the cause of the polycythemia. I am sure since they probably did a complete blood count they would have seen leukemia on the smear and/ or on the automated blood count. So, I wouldn't worry about that But there may be some other underlying cause that is the root of the fatigue that may be related to the polycythemia.  Do you know if you have an arrhythmia? The EKG doesn't always pick this up. Do you feel any faintness when you stand up or any fluttering of your heart or pulse skipping? You could get a echocardiogram and a 24 hour monitor to check and rule/out these things. ED can be a sign of artery blockage, despite your age. You might ask your doctor if having one kidney with polycythemia would cause fatigue. It is hard enough for your body to process all that extra blood and hard on the heart  without having one kidney with low function.   These are just some things to think about.  A whole plant based diet low in fat would be helpful. Watch the DVD forks over Knives. I still think the polycythemia is the key to this.