Hello, my name is Shawn and I’m a 26 year old male. I have had generalized itching from my waist up to my scalp, oftentimes keeping me awake at night. It gets worse in the late afternoon and evenings. Oftentimes, it feels as it there are mites or insects crawling randomly around my skin, and sometimes in a repeated fashion in the same location, but never below my waistline. In addition, I have severe bouts of extreme fatigue every day, lasting anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours. During these moments, I feel extremely weak and heavy and must lay down and rest. My eyes feel tired and my body just feels like it’s shutting down, even in the middle of the morning or afternoon. It comes randomly and has been getting worse this week, scaring me very much.
In addition, I have recently been suffering from acid reflux and gastric problems, and have been treated for possible parasites with Albendazole a few weeks ago, which had no effect. I have been taking 2 150mg doses of Zantac per day ever since to keep my acid reflux under control, but am still suffering from poor digestion and chronic constipation.
I’ve had a series of CBC blood tests, liver and kidney function tests, and they all came back normal except for a VERY high eosinophil count (a “12,” said my doc). This is what made him think I had parasites, but wouldn’t the Albendazole have killed them off if that was the case? He eventually sent me to a gastroenterologist, who thought I had eosinophilic esophagitis, since food occasionally gets caught in my esophagus and takes 15-20 minutes to drop down into my stomach (dysphagea), and I also went to an allergist, where I found out I was very allergic to grass pollen and molds after an array of skin pricks. Living in Oregon, there is a TON of both everywhere, especially this time of year.
Do you think it’s most likely that my high eosinophil counts are due to parasites, allergies, or perhaps something like possible Candida/fungal infections, thyroid/adrenal/thymus issues, or something different? My father has hypothyroidism, if that makes a stronger case for it... Thank you for your help!