getting mentally tired of fighting

[Wes1970]

Hello all,

  I am new here and have been reviewing post for answers to my issues.
here we go.. sorry for the super long read, but I'm at a lose..


for several years I have been losing energy mild fatigue. found Low testoserone. was on patch for a while but didn't help my symptoms. they did MRI and I have a growth on my pituitary gland. very small 2-3mm.  I got upset with the endo practices philosophy about charging patients and never went back..
about 1.5 years ago I started getting neck pains radiating up to my neck.  plus overall body aches. Seen a pain specialist and they put me on tramodol.  worked great for like 3 months.. felt like a million bucks.  started working out, but then the fatigue and side pain started showing up again..  went to many many specialist and they found nothing.  kept complaining about my back and just under my rib hurting.  I felt like I had the flu all the time.  Called my sis in California and she said to have them check my gall bladder.  I went to an onsite doc and begged them to xray my gall bladder... I had to twist their arm...  that week I was in surgery getting it removed. It was broken.
A few days after surgery..I felt like a new person.. no more body aches or pain  I felt normal for the first time in years.. I needed no medication..life was great.. but 2 months later that all started fading.  The muscle aches came back.. but this time different...  my muscles feel like they are full...thats the best way top explain it.. they feel like they are on the verge of cramping, but not really cramping..if that makes sense.  The bottom of my feet hurt.. then my hands started hurting..it was as if I had slapped concrete and you have that slight tingle with some pain.  My feet feel a little like that.  then I would get fatigued.  I have missed so much work..I could not even go swimming with my kids without being knocked out with muscle pain the next day or that evening.  the pain meds were no working..tried cymbalta but got tremors on it.  the pain doc is treating me for fibro... but she thinks it may not be it.
had many many blood tests and all are normal except the T3 was high all other in normal range.. then they tested free T3 or whatever and it was normal so they said my thyroid stuff is ok.  SED rate was normal.  RA was elevated  26 ... prolactin was elevated 26   ALT was 77 (55 is high end)  all other tests normal.  Doc says none of them are to worry about.  I barged(well not really but sort of) into his office and said you need to fix this..I cant keep missing work...He was at a loss..  even my jaw started feeling crampy and would hurt while eating.
He threw his hands up in the air nad said.. how about you try some prednisone for a few days and see what happens.  I said i'll try anything.
I took 20mg that night...  hard time sleeping, but woke up and the first thing I noticed was that my hands did not hurt anymore.  My muscle pain was almost gone..I felt energized.. the fatigue was not severe.. the next day (20mg twice a day) was even better.. I felt like a new person.. I had my life back ?  what the heck ?  it's a bad drug, but it's helping.
I can still feel the muscle tightness/fullness underneath, but it doesn't hurt  the issue is stuill there, but the prednisone seems to help so far.

any ideas for me to bring up to the doc.   am I just one of those folks that will have normal tests but symptoms are killing me.  I have read horror stories of delayed treatment becasue of that  :)

I should be seeing my doc this week and see what he has to say about the prednisone.

fyi.. my sis called me and told me to ask them to test me for hashimoto's  it runs in my family.

[Wes1970]

Oh yeah..My throat feels like it's swollen all the time..harder to swallow just a bit..feels like I always have something at the back of my throat. I have been snoring like crazy lately..thats unusual for me.  It just feels weird.  The doc felt around my neck and said nothing seemed weird.  I quit smoking in January so I always kinda chalked it up to that.
thats how sick I have been some months.. I felt too bad to smoke...  crazy huh

[Wes1970]

Thanks so much for the replies.  I will put more info on the recent blood tests. It just seems to me that they do the basic ones to see if anything is way out of whack.  I have them at home and will post results.. I am only on high blood pressure medicine. Lisinipril/hydrocholorthyazide. 12/20mg once a day.  I take tramadol twice a day (lowest dose-50mg). oh yeah..prednisone :)     The past month I have been taking suppliments to see if it's just my elctrolytes out of balance due to the muscle soreness/tightness.  Taking calcium...magnesium..potassium.. b12.. and vitamin with a bunch of trace minerals.  I drink lots of clear fluids..especially vitamin water.  No effect.  I do have lots of stomach issues though..was in hospital a few weeks ago with a partial blockage.  my endoscopy came back clean.. doc said my inside looked very healthy for someone my age.  no signs of ever having any kind of issue.  the biopsy came back clean.  they are going to go the other end this month (gulp).   I keep telling all the docs that it feels like I am not absorbing my food correctly. they look at me like im crazy..  I'm told I must be absorbing food or I would be losing weight... I shake my head at that.. it bumbs me out.  after I had gall bladder surgey, I craved food..like I was tasting it for the first time and have not felt that good in ages, but it slowly went away.  now i'm worse than ever... I have even tried the digestive suppliments to help digest my food ..no effect...    something in my body is out of whack and playing havoc on a lot of systems.  Is it a digestive issue leaving my body in a malabsorption type of way.. or is it thyroid stuff..making my digestive sytem work half baked.
Your right about the prednisone.. thats a good toggle..    I work in research and development...  we would kill for a data point like that

[ChristineMP]

Prednisone isn't a bad drug but long term use can cause a variety of problems. That fact that it helps suggests that inflammation is an issue...could be autoimmune. Hopefully your doctor will take the positive result from the Prednisone as another piece of information to lead him to the cause of your problems

When was the last time they checked your Well Blood Cell Count?

Hashimoto's would cause hypothyroidism, which is not consistent with your T3 being high (it would be very low with Hashimotos)

[artfemme]

Wes, am I understanding you correctly ? You had a growth on your pituitary but never had it removed or treated ? Secondary hypothyroidism is caused by just such a problem, which interrupts the thyroid-hypothalamus-pituitary axis. This can possibly disrupt the transmission of TSH, which in a normal feedback loop, tells the thyroid to release the proper hormones.

Can you post your thyroid labs along with the ranges your lab uses ? TSH, Free T4 and Free T3 at minimum, but other results like Vit D, Ferritin, iron,TIBC, calcium, cholsterol, eGfr if you've got them ? That way and experienced member of the group can try to help you further. If Hashimoto's runs in the family you should definitely be tested for that, there are 2 separate antibody tests for Hashi's.

Please understand that when a doctor tells you your labs are "in normal range", it only means that they are within a wide Bell curve and may not be optimal for you. It is strange that your T3 is high, given that your symptoms certainly sound like a thyroid problem. If you are on both T4 and T3, it is very important NOT to take your medication before you have your labs drawn, or with T3 you will get a falsely high result.

All the best.