Feet/hand/back pain and exhausted!!

[bw1990]

Hi,

I've not wanted to go to the doctors as I'm not sure what they'd be able to do and when I've previoously been I was advised "Your not 18 anymore". I just wanted to get your thoughts on the below symptoms. The sympotoms are continual and are just bringing me down everyday. I am a 24 yr old female, average weight etc. symptoms are as follows:

- Cramp in feet, if point my toes move in a certain way or I was to stand on my foot in a certain way I end up in cramp

- General toe/foot discomfort, paticularly on a night laying in bed, can't really describe the feeling other than uncomfortable, I'm constantly having to shuffle my feet around to try and make them not hurt

- Back pain, I have back discomfort most days and my back often cracks when I move around (not from me intentionally trying to crack it), also when I strech my arms upwards my sternum often  makes a big clunk/crack... well actually I would describe it more as popping -- sometimes I feel like I'm hunched up and sort of bent into myself and I know my sternum needs to be popped in the above manner. Also if I go swimming my sternum pops when I breathe after doing breat stroke (continually). I also sometimes get dull aching in my lower back, and sometimes it feels like the pain is in the top of my bottom area.

- Finger locking, my fingers in my hands lock up, for example if I'm getting a hot tray out of the oven my hands can lock up and I've been known to drop things due to the discomfort (this doesn't happen daily, just occasionally).

- I do also get clicking knees but this doesn't tend to cause me a lot of discomfort.

- Forgetfulness, I can say something and then 2 minutes later can't remember for the life of me what I've said. Also unable to recall what I've done the day/week before etc.

- The worst thing is my tiredness. I am constantly tited and feel like I'm "foggy". I feel physically exhausted even if I've only been out of bed for half an hour! I can have a sleep in, take the dog out for a 30 minute walk and then I need to nap or I'm just zoned out for the rest of the day. I'm so irritable and I feel like the tiredness is taking over my life. I never have the energy to do anything when I get home ftom work, I'm irritable, unsociable and I feel like I'm lazy but I just feel so exhausted all of the time. I ensure I get minimum 7 hours sleep each night through the week and I try to sleep extra on a weekend (9 hours).


Any thoughts/advice appreciated!!

Thanks,
B.

[DSH519]

Good morning. I would go see your primary care doctor.  You could have any number of issues, including getting older.  Out of an abundance of caution you might want to ask for a cr of the head/neck to check for unknown damage. Definitely ask for a complete blood count (CBC). Many of these issues could be because of a vitamin deficiency. Good luck

[TheLightSeeker]

HeyB, Sorry to read about all your suffering, you're so young!

Well, make sure you get a complete iron panel done along with B-complex,
specially B12 and folate, Vitamin D and thyroid. For thyroid ask for Free T3,
Free T4 and Reverse T3, since the standard tests do not test for type 2/
thyroid resistance which BTW is much more prevalent, Go figure!
If some of your levels are subclinical, meaning close to the low end of the range, you could be suffering the consequences, even if your doctor tells you you're within normal range.
Treating people only according to their labs, keeps many in limbo and suffering unnecessarily. So just be aware of this,
It will be good to check your cortisol levels. Ask for a 4 X cortisol saliva test
if possible. Cortisol (normally) follows the circadian rhythm.

Hope this helps,
Niko