Unanswered Symptoms

[JustinBell]

I have come here with a very odd case, and I would appreciate some help. This happens to be someone I know very well, and they are fed up with the answers they have gotten lately. Most of these have been happening for quite a few years now, and they just want answers at this point.

The patient was diagnosed with valley fever approximately nine years ago, along with a paralyzed right diaphragm in the last three years. The following are a list of symptoms. They include, but are not limited to;

Fatigue
Body/Muscle aches and pains
Chest pains
Headaches
Difficulty focusing and concentrating
Blurry vision
Dry mouth in the A.M
IBS type symptoms
Sleeping problems
Throat spasms
Toenail discoloration on the right side
Flush skin on face (red when not feeling well)
Numbness in fingers while sleeping
Spot/Rash on the skin (left area of head)
Liver/Kidney test out of range
Hair loss
Constant burned out feeling
Increased forgetfulness
Decreased mental sharpness
Depressed
Irritable
Nervous
Anxious
Decreased stamina
Decreased muscle size
Sore muscles
Increased joint pain
Decreased flexibility
Neck or back pain
Weight gain
Slow pulse rate
Constipation

Along with those symptoms the patient just recently having lower back pain which the doctor said was caused by prostatitis since his prostate is enlarged. And after a few attempts, and months later the medication still hasn't knocked it out. If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask. I have almost every test result at my finger tips. I am eager to hear from everyone that can help. Thank you.

[umadam]

Hello,
I am not a doctor but let me tell that sometimes it's enough to have one undiagnosed illness can lead to other illnesses.

Fatigue and many other symptoms can be due to depression AND depression might got him because of his situation!

I think it could be helpfull if he can tell you what was the very first symptoms because I beleive that to be left all this time undiagnosed has been triggered and caused other symptoms / illness.

wish all the best and may God help him to find the good answer and to feel well soon.

[JustinBell]

See he has been to quite a few doctors in the past 9 years. And had almost every test done. And every road is a dead end road. So that is why I decided to come on here looking for answers. But once I sent that last one, I realized there is no lab for diagnosing it, since it is a syndrome, not a disease.

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi
Thanks for keeping me posted!

It is really difficult to comment for sure without examining the patient. I know you understand that. Together we can only narrow down the causes and try to eliminate one by one with the help of your friend’s treating doctor.

Chronic fatigue syndrome has no lab basis for diagnosis. You can go through this link for the steps in diagnosis. http://www.prohealth.com/library/showarticle.cfm?id=2817&t=CFIDS_FM&b1=CHWEBO

There are many reasons for vitamin deficiencies. It is difficult for me to pinpoint what it could be in your friend’s case.

Do discuss this with your friend’s doctor. Please let me know if there is any thing else and do keep me posted. Take care!

[JustinBell]

Thank you so much for your response as well. It means so very much to me that you both are thanking your time to assist me. As in the first post I went over his sleeping test. I did just go over the symptoms of multiple sclerosis, and it's odd of how many similarities there are. He has had quite a few medical test done. So any that would assist you, just ask me. And I will take a lot. At this time I am trying to go threw his medical file to make some type of sense out of it. He seems to be getting worse lately. And he did mention to me that in the winter he felt worse. Which seemed odd.
The thing about the combined deficiency of Vitamin D and Vitamin B12 is he takes a drink called FRS which claims to have alot of B12 in it. So do you think that could be a problem still? The only thing I could see it being a problem if he had a tapeworm. Which he did a whole body cleanse, and had a colonoscopy.  But out of pure interest, how could those two vitamin deficiencies be connected?

Also about the depression with chronic fatigue they claim one of the symptoms for CFS is sleep disturbances, which I found ironic. Do you know what test is used to diagnose that? And about the Guillain-Barré it's an autoimmune disorder. When the immune system attacks part of the peripheral nervous system. Which sounds like something he could have. Considering he is having alot of neurological problems. The right diagrahm is do to that, and probably the shaking at night. Or possibly that is from not getting enough oxygen to the rest of the body.

What do you think the chances of anemia?

Thank you for everything! Talk to you soon.

[JustinBell]

First of thank you for thanking your time. It is greatly appreciated. It is interesting that you took that approach to sleeping. I only know alittle bit about sleeping, I did take a class on it. He did have a polysomnography test. Which revealed quite a bit. I am not too sure on some of the stuff on there. But here are a few high lights of it:
Sleep latency: 16.5 min
REM latency: 67.5 min
Wake after sleep onset (WASO): 33.5 min
Sleep efficiency (SE): 70% (which I believe it should be in the low 90's)
Time/Percent in stage W: 33.5 min
Time/Percent in stage N1: 32 min/ 27.4%
Time/Percent in stage N2: 47 min/ 40.2%
Time/Percent in stage N3: 37 min/ 31.6%
Time/Percent in stage R:   1 min/ 0.9%

Number of arousals: 36
Arousal index (AI): 18.5/h

He is also on oxygen at night due to him only having on working lung. It's to assist him with breath.

He is also a white male, 44 years of age. I failed to mention that before. Sorry. Thank you so much!

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi
Thanks for writing to the forum!
That’s a lot to deal with!! I read through your post carefully. I tried different approaches to the diagnosis. Without examining the patient, it is difficult to reach a diagnosis.I am not sure what tests were done, hence am enumerating the possibilities that come to my mind right now.
First is multiple sclerosis. Another is a combined deficiency of Vitamin D and Vitamin B12. Third as KatEyes pointed out is sleep disorders. Depression with chronic fatigue syndrome is another possibility. Guillain-Barré syndrome is another possibility.
Hope this helps. Do let me know if there is any thing else and keep me posted. Take care!

[KatEyes]

That's quite a list - it's likely that his symptoms will be related in clusters. Hopefully some will reply with a variety of experiences. My question is on the symptoms that could be related to sleep - has he had a sleep study? Depending on the diagnosis, the symptoms that could possibly be related to sleep are:
Fatigue
Body/Muscle aches and pains
Chest pains (If happening at night)
Headaches (Especially if in mornings)
Difficulty focusing and concentrating
Dry mouth in the A.M
Sleeping problems
Constant burned out feeling
Increased forgetfulness
Decreased mental sharpness
Depressed
Irritable
Nervous
Anxious
Decreased stamina
Sore muscles
Increased joint pain
Weight gain