brainfog,weakness,eye issues,shaky and more

[mikewaterfall]

hi

i can't believe you lot are having these problems too, i been suffering for nearly a year, whats even more worrying is,
its all under undiagnosed symptoms. I'm suffering from the following symptoms:

Brainfog, feeling as if im half asleep constantly
pressure in the sinus areas which disappeared after a few mnths
body lethargic and weakness, exhausted alot of the time
the tingling feelings on my eyebrows, face, arms lasted for 3 months but they slowly disappeaered, i believe it could have been anxiety not sure.
gas,bloated stomach, gastritis
my eyes are having a problem, had pains on my eyes, burning and very bloodshot, still under investigation

anyways all this started in june for 2 weeks i felt tired and sleepy then one night my right eye lid was drooping down,so i exercised thinking must be a circulation issue, i woke up the next morning with body tingling face arms, weakness, panic attacks, couldnt breath wel, went to drs that whole week and was told it was nothing, maybe a virus and panic attacks,

i had been suffering for a whiplash accident i had over a year ago, ongoing pains affected my lower and upper right . anyways a year later i began physio and the therapist who stretched and made cracking noises in my back.
2 weeks later i got all these symptoms.

i dont know if this could be the related but anyways, i have had a ct scan of the brain whci was normal

alot of people on here say its a ear issue or candida, could this be the case with me? could it be the neck or spinal discs? anyways would love some replies/advice on this

cheers

[LivingInHope]

They should have given you something to get your blood sugar up... AND investigated your hypoglycemia further.  Sugar levels can drop, but they should NOT go below the normal range or there is something wrong.  

You should fast for eight hours without eating or drinking and then, if you are going to wait until you get shaky, at least be AT the hospital lab so that if anything happens, you can quickly get help.  Also, you'll want to bring maybe some orange juice or perhaps a chocolate bar (if these are on your diet)- something sugary with you to the lab to partake of immediately after they take the blood sample.  Or you may just wish to see how your blood sugar level is after the prescribed number of fasting hours they tell you and wait for those shaky moments you don't purposely induce, then take it yourself randomly with the machine you bought, immediately followed with something that will get the level up if it is low.  You would keep a record of those numbers and report them to your doctor.  I don't know too much about hypoglycemia, and PLEASE, check everything I'm saying with a doctor to see if this would be a prudent plan for you! But I know I've experienced that shaky feeling myself when I don't eat in a timely manner and have gotten migraine before from it as well.  I hope they will pursue the sugar angle, because it's important & sounds like one they should have already been looking into.  I hope that nurse informed the doctor about that low blood sugar level and didn't just treat you on her own!

[mikewaterfall]

hi

thanks i;l have a try, a point though, when i fainted few months ago, my weakness and vertigo was immense,i was taken to hospital, the nurse took my blood pressure and sugar level before i could see a dr, she gave me buscuits because my sugar level was lowh she said its showing 2.5

if that was the case they should have investigated further rather the giving me buscuits to get it back up?

cn sugar levels drop somtimes though?just like temorary thing or does it indicate somthing serious, rather then just a drop needing some food to raise it up?

drs given me a bloodtest note for fasting glucose, should i fast over night, wait till i get shaky abit then go to a clinic and get it done? sounds crazy lol

thanks a bunch i will try this out out,

[LivingInHope]

Got this from Cigna's website.  Normal values may vary from lab to lab.  Fasting means not eating or drinking for eight hours, so if you do that one, you'd likely want to do it before breakfast in the morning.  Random means any time & is likely the one you will utilize when you are feeling shaky.  Here's what they say for normal values:
"Blood glucose Fasting blood glucose:
70–99 milligrams per deciliter (3.9–5.5 mmol/L)

2 hours after eating (postprandial):
70–145 mg/dL (3.9–8.1 mmol/L)

Random (casual):
70–125 mg/dL (3.9–6.9 mmol/L)"

[mikewaterfall]

hi thanks again for the information, i need to get the free t4 and t3 tests done
the drs here only do the tsh blood test, will have to speak to a private dr.

i have got a sugar blood test machine from the pharmacy was very cheap lol, so then if i get shaky again, what am i looking out for in the results o the sugar levels, high?low? and what can they mean.

thanks a million

[LivingInHope]

What did the hepatologist have to say?

  TSH is an excellent test (if you don't have something like an adenoma of your pituitary messing it up) to see how your thyroid is functioning, because your pituitary gland emits it or not like a thermostat for your thyroid- it turns up the hormone if your thyroid is sluggish and it can just about turn off if your thyroid is overactive.  Since you've been having diarrhea for years, you much more likely would be having hyperthyroidism if thyroid were a problem.

Do you have pharmacies there that sell blood sugar testing machines like they do here?  If so, why not get one of those and any time you are feeling weak and dizzy, etc. when it's been some hours since you ate, you could test your own blood sugar and see what it is... whereas you might not want to induce they symptoms prior to your doctor visit to see what it is doing!

[ChickenBoo]

Forgot to say intolerance to heat is a classic hypothyroid symptom that not a lot of doctors really acknowledge.

That said you could just as easily be over-active (hyperthyroid) as a lot of the symptoms do over-lap - that's why it's important to get the full set of bloods for the full picture.

[ChickenBoo]

Hi Mike,

Glad the neurologist put 'thyroid' on your notes and I am pretty sure that's your problem.

Usually in the UK the labs will only test the TSH level (or perhaps an unknowledgable doctor will only request that one test) which on it's own does not tell the full picture.

Also it seems to depend which part of the country you are in as to whether or not the labs will test what's needed. With your symptoms of feeling shakey and needing to eat frequently I think it's worth asking for a cortisol test to check the function of your adrenal glands too.

Yes, it's usually a larger percentage of women with thyroid disease but men get it too and suffer just as much (but usually do a lot better on the meds from what I read - I think the rest of the female hormones seem to play a big part in this).

You need to ask the GP to test you for the following:

TSH
Free T4
Free T3
Anti thyroid peroxidase antibodies
Anti thyroglobulin antibodies
Cortisol (fasting at 9am)
Vitamin D
Vitamin B12
Ferritin

Make sure the doctor requests to test the 'free' versions of the thyroid hormone and not the 'total' version - The free reading willl give you a more accurate take on what's available to use in the blood.

The autoimmune antibodies will tell you what kind of thyroid disease you have and sometimes can clinch the diagnosis if the bloods are low normal in general.

I've added the vitamins there too as sometimes deficiencies in these can mimic thyroid problems.

I think, given that all this started after a whiplash accident it would be wise to request to see an endocrinologist as they have the 'power' to request all the tests needed and may know of other ones to assess the function of your pituitary gland to make sure it hasn't been damaged.

Good luck - let us know how you get on!

Cindy :)

[mikewaterfall]

hi

i was refered to a neurologist for my symptoms, they did a physical and sent me back with a CT scan of the brain saying it could be tyroid and discharged me, on the notes sent back to my Dr it said to get my thyroid checked even though i have had a TSH test before, had it done again and was told its normal. Im in the UK do they do this test as standard, unless i have to get it checked privately

Sorry but i dont know much about thyroid problems, i had always thought it effects women mainly more then men, plus i was reading some of  the symptoms, i get fatigue, but the rest of the symptoms dont fit in as when im in a warm room, i feel as if im goin to over heat and i sweat too, then again i don't know much about thyroid symptoms.

so the free t4 and t3 test are the ones that should have been done to cross the thyroid out, will keep that noted to ask the dr on the next visits.

i have also got other symptoms that keep comming and going, i try to ignore them, i have to eat food, after a few hours, if i don't i get very very shaky,sweaty,dizzy, it just makes my symptoms worse they they are, i have had diabetes test and was fine, they seem typical hypoglycemia symptoms.I have heard hypoglycemia is a symptom of somthing else thats occured or about to like diabetes. so will be discussing this with Dr too.

[mikewaterfall]

thanks for the reply, basically the treatment for this is to reduce the symptoms and wait for the body to recover, you could be right, will have a look into this thanks

[CHRISTYDRAKE]

Please look into dysautonomia.  It is the dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system, which runs everything that is involuntary in the body.  My son has it and it took us 3 years to get the right diagnosis.  He also has heat intolerance, since the autonomic nervous system regulates body temperature.

Go to www.dinet.org   It lists all the symptoms and information.  Sometimes people get this after trauma or sickness, or for no reason at all.  My sons was caused by a 7 inch growth spurt in 15 months, throwing his system out of whack.

Can't hurt to look into anyway.

Thanks,
Christy

[ChickenBoo]

Get your thyroid checked PROPERLY - doctors in the UK are notorius for not checking it properly.

You need to have your Free T4 and Free T3 numbers looked at and not just the TSH reading. Don't accept readings that are within the 'normal' range because that leaves a huge margin for error. One person's 'normal' may not be the same as the next.

The accident may have damaged your pituitary gland, which controls the signal to the thyroid gland to release hormones (even having the blood supply temporarily cut to it and cause it to go wrong).

Good luck.

[LivingInHope]

Since I think you said private pay, if you want to be most specific in magnetic resonance imaging of your head looking for signs of blood vessel abnormalities that may have caused your stroke like symptoms, you might ask for an MRA/MRV, as if they saw anything on the MRI they wanted to further evaluate, they might go on to order that.
I don't know really if a doc w/colonoscopy would pick up on malabsorption like celiac sprue or what have you.  You'd have to check with a GI expert on that one.  You mentioned mucous in the stool- if I remember correctly from about 20 years ago in nursing school, that can signal fat in the stool and I believe that was called steatorrhea.

[LivingInHope]

Are there herbs that are good for GERD?  I have taken various herbs in the past and occasionally take valerian root capsules currently for helping me get to sleep (they also tend to loosen the bowels).  I take 300 mg ranitidine twice daily and have been told to take liquid antiacids for breakthrough acidity.

I once had a doctor on the radio tell me to take vitamin B 50 time release for hair loss I was having... at one point I though I noticed it helping with the IBS.  You probably know that B 12 is good for memory.  

You very well may have a lactose intolerance- I used to get diarrhea with milk in my cereal as a teen.  Lactose free milk doesn't give me the diarrhea, but I recently noticed it makes my GERD worse so I stopped having it, and I had to stop the soy milk due to interstitial cystitis, so now I use vanilla flavored rice dream milk with my cereal- had to get used to it.

I have a couple of hemangiomas on my own liver & did a lot of research, seeing that MRI with contrast was the most accurate way to diagnose that, much more than ultrasound or cat scan.  But they fouled up with the first MRI, using the wrong kind of dye... the radiologist was careful enough when I was asking a lot of questions and giving an old ultrasound report to re-scan using the right kind of dye & confirmed two hemangiomas & wants to do a follow up to make sure stable this summer.  Hope your hepatologist sees your concern & is willing to co-operate in your search for answers!  

There's this lady at church who said she had terrible numbers with her liver and it wound up that she had a wheat gluten intolerance, so it's interesting you should bring up wheat!  She says it's so bad she can't even use the same toaster as her husband because of the crumbs left in there!  I know diet can really be a challenge & I eat wrong things a lot.  It's difficult when you have GERD, migraine triggers, IC, IBS & soft diet due to TMJ arthritis & all telling you things not to eat.

I have a second cousin who died last year of a stroke that happened with a faulty heart valve & a tooth infection.  He had been going through a clinical trial at some point, taking niacin trying to reduce very high cholesterol.  (Not to encourage niacin usage for high cholesterol, as I think some doctor told me niacin is hard on the liver.)

Don't want to forget to get your own cholesterol checked.  And it might be of interest, with your inflammation of eyes and liver, etc., if you got cortisol (natural steroid your body produces) testing.


While blood you can see in the stools can be a sign of hemorrhoids or a fissure, it can also be a sign of a polyp, best cut out in the pre-cancerous stage, next best if cut out in early cancer stage, mostly deadly if discovered too late.  And with colon cancer in the family, even more reason to get that colonscopy done!

[mikewaterfall]

hi

thanks again for the reply

Have you tried hebal treatment for the GERD?


Before i was to visit the hepatologist, i had the blood tests and ultrasound done my Dr
blood test for U an E believe potassium level are checked in this too/kidney,neg fr all hep viruses, neg for autoimmune. the ultrasound checked the pancreas,liver and gallbladder, liver shows inflamed and fatty now,  where it wasnt fatty a year ago even though ALT was raised. The hepatologist phoned and blamed it on the fatty liver causing the raise in ALT, been told to lose weight, but my argument is, the ALT was raised for many years, only recently its become fatty. Will be seeing the hepatologist on  the 30th april.

The long standing Diarhea, i do recall having seen mucus in the stools when i was in school around 16 yrs old, i've had it for ever, even blood in stools again that could be due to the hemorroids, i do remember nervous times would make me go many times, only holidays at home i wouldnt get cramps/spasms as much and would go once a day, so you must be right. Stomach issues,diahhrea, colon cancer, highblood pressure, high chelestrol (more then 2 family members have died of stroke not long ago and at young ages) has been seen in my family,crohns dasease and ulcerative colitis almost seem perfect to fit my symptoms, they also can cause rashes and EYE inflamation on flareups, aint that interesting. so will be looking for a colon scopy to cross alot out soon after the carotid ultrasound.



The other thing i wanted to add is, its day 4 on vitamin B complex tablets, they are helpin me with brainfog, feeling some difference also the steroids have began to work too for my eyes they dont feel as inflamed. I stopped milk for 2 days and i believe my stools arent as soft as they were. I'm finding it hard to stop wheat as thats the main thing we eat at my house. but will try wheat free diet for a few days, need to look for alternative foods. Spicy foods, certain fruits like plums i know make my diarrhea worse.

So far its,  corotid artery test, colonscopy and MRI scan, i think malobsorption would be confirmed in a colonscopy?

will be asking the hepatologist to have a deeper look at my ALT result.

thank you for the help, i almost have a clear picture/direction of what to test for.

[LivingInHope]

An MRCP would tend to give a much clearer picture than an ultrasound. But I would ask a doctor about if it would be indicated for you, because you say your bilirubin was low, and my understanding is a blocked bile duct would cause a raised level of bilirubin.  Lab tests online says that low bilirubin levels are not typically a cause for concern & are not monitored.  But, according to an old book I have, A Manual of Laboratory Diagnostic Tests by Frances Fischbach, 2nd edition, mild elevations of ALT can be caused by, in addition to obstructive jaundice/biliary obstruction- mild to moderate in that case (which my guess -I'm not a doctor- is not the issue, since your bilirubin is low):
active cirrhosis, metastatic liver tumor and pancreatitis.  And the MRCP would take a look at your pancreas as well.  How did your appointment with the hepatologist go?

  I believe H. Pylori can be a cause of  ulcers.  When you go on the antibiotics, you'll want to be sure and try and counter it with some acidophilus capsules (or equivalent), because antibiotics very well could make your diarrhea problem even worse, since they kill the good bacteria with the bad.

If you are eating an unhealthy diet, that might be a cause of plaque build up, but you may want to look at your family tree and see if others tended toward high cholesterol, because heredity can also be a factor.   Our bodies all produce cholesterol, but some produce much more than others.

You mentioned they did a CT scan of the brain, which would check for stroke, but wouldn't necessarily pick up a TIA or trans-ischemic attack.  Another factor you should get looked at is your cervical spine besides getting those carotid arteries checked, because if the blood supply is being pinched off back there or that extremely vital top portion of your neck is somehow affected, they really should be looking at that as well, particularly because of your car accident with whiplash.  

Diarrhea can be caused by IBS, which can be aggravated by anxiety, which it sounds like you are describing you struggle with.  I don't see diarrhea listed on mayo clinic's website as a symptom of H. Pylori.  But have you ever been tested for malabsorption problems, like celiac disease- I see online it causes diarrhea?  I recently was told that anxiety can also increase acid levels (I have bad GERD but no H. pylori).

[mikewaterfall]

would a ultrasound of the carotid arteries be sufficient to check for blockage?

[mikewaterfall]

Hi

i had the H pylori test in novemeber, and i had been chasing it up, i just was called by the labs and advised My Dr should havce had the results and given them to me, i didn't really look for the results because normaly Drs contact you if they are positive, anyways, it was positive.

Could this be the route cause of all my problems? even though all my problems began in a day, including the eye inflamation. i will be going to Drs tomorrow about removing this nasty bug, unfortuantley since i have it, means antibiotics.
i do suffer from diahhrea,duodenal ulcer and acid reflux so this obviously explains these symptoms i hope. But i have had chronic diahorrea for many years since i was 16, im 31 now, so it could mean i've had this bug for most of my life.

Anyways thought id give an update on this

[mikewaterfall]

Again thank you very much for the reply and plenty of usefull information

MRCP im not sure if we have that here in UK, i did have an ultrasound of the liver,pancreas,gallbladder and they seemed fine, the liver just shown inflamation,
i believe the only abnormal result was the ALT was raised (in the 60's and 120's normally defined as mild elivation) the bilrubin was low. I have a appontment with an hepatologist on the 30th of this month so will get the ball rolling.

i'm almost afraid of asking Drs here for the tests as they begin to think you're depressed or hypochonriac. I will speak to a Dr tomorrow.
the direction  will request for the metabolic panel,
will have to see what i can do about the
carotid arteries ultrasound
CT or MRI scan of your neck and back

may go abroad soon to get for private treatement, one more odd symptom i do get is, i can't tolerate heat, gives me breathing and panic attacks, but i think you have put me on the right direction as during the initial begining symptoms my right side of my head was heavy behind my right jaw for many days, And i did have chelostrol checked it was fairly high, must be my diet.

Thank you very much, just going to make a list of what tests i can have done, so i can get them done privately.

[LivingInHope]

Cracking the back I believe has fallen into disfavor by many chiropractors.  You might check with a more modern method licensed chiropractor to see if any of your symptoms could have been brought on by the cracking, since your symptoms occured so close to when you had that done.
Now, back to what I was talking about before.  Potassium (K), one of your electrolytes I believe they would check doing a metaboic panel: if it is depleted in your body to a low level, you can have symptoms such as weakness, tiredness, tingling or numbness, abdominal cramping and bloating amongst other symptoms.

Regarding the doppler for your carotid arteries- your concern was circulatory and since you had a drooping eyelid and brain fog amongst other symptoms, I think perhaps they should make sure there wasn't a lot of plaque built up in one or both of these important blood vessels supplying your brain that could be impeding the flow of oxygen, etc. to your brain.  High cholesterol, high triglycerides and inflammation can be key factors in plaque build up in blood vessels.  Some people have naturally high cholesterol while others clog their arteries with unwise food choices... and I believe you don't have to be old to clog your arteries.  A friend of mine in his 30s had to have heart surgery for two arteries that were clogged with plaque.  However, if you were having TIAs, you likely would notice one side or the other affected from them rather than both at the same time.

Regarding your liver function tests being abnormal- is your bilrubin high?  If so, did they only test you for hepatitis?  Did they not do an MRCP to check and see if any bile ducts were being blocked?  I'd really want to ask the doctor about my liver problem if I was in your shoes.  You can't live without your liver the saying goes.  I met a lady at church who had a lot of problems with her liver and it turned out a gluten intolerance had something to do with it, I believe.

I would think if you had a CT or MRI scan of your neck, that could rule out nerve encroachment by reason of bone spurs, arthritic changes, etc. and check for disc herniation.  And if you had any injury lower down to your back, I believe it should be investigated.

I'm hoping national health care is repealed before our health care quality diminishes to rationing, like I've heard is happening in the U.K..  I'm glad if you have the means to go private and try to really get help for yourself.

[mikewaterfall]

hi

thanks for the reply, the iron was checked and was fine, not sure of the details.
what is the Potassium test known as?
i never had doppler for the carotid artery, can it affect somone young as 31? can it cause symptoms on both sides of body? would the CT scan cross out many causes if it was normal?

my lft test results have been abnormal for many yeas was negative for hep viruses and autoimmune dasease.Drs are now pointing fingers to this I know my problem/symptoms is all in one as they all started together in one day, not at seperate times.

the steroid drops worked instantly and my eyes are getting better, but i have floaters which are annoying, was told by the eye MD he could see them and my brain will get used to them soon.

i'm thinking of going private as NHS in the UK is all about budget and saving, So hopfully soon thats my next step.

so i could be looking to do the following tests:

1 doppler for the carotid artery check up
2 potassium test
3 scans such as ct or mri of the back and neck?

just need direction so i can finally get to being treated.

thanks

[LivingInHope]

You might consider nerve impingement/encroachment in your neck... did no one do a doppler of your carotid arteries to check for blockage there?  Did they check your potassium and iron levels?