What is wrong with me? Why haven't I gotten an answer?

[viajustjoe]

Hello everyone,

Joey here. I am a 24 year old male who has been sick for many years. I have been visiting every specialist possible, and no one has been able to give me an answer yet. My symptoms are debilitating, and simply put, are ruining my life. If someone could give me some insight, suggestions, anything to give me an idea of what direction to go, it would be appreciated. My symptoms include:

-Brain Fog/Cloudiness
-Unable to concentrate
-Fatigue
-Muscle weakness
-Headaches
-Insomnia
-Memory Loss
-Heart Palpitations
-Heart Burn?
-Loss of interest in sex
-Frequent Urination
-Anxiety

I could go on for a while with the symptoms, but this is it for the most part. My main concern is the brain fog, lack of memory, and the fatigue. I have gotten a ton of labs done, and not much has came up. The two things that came back was a low hemoglobin level of 12.5, and a low monocytes level of 197. Also, my TSH level went from 4.06 to 1.05.

I have a hard time getting out of bed in the morning, and it takes a while for me to wake up. At the end of the day, my legs are always sore. My work performance is decreasing. It is getting harder for me to keep my place kept clean, because I spend all my energy getting through the work day. I have become anti-social, because I don't have the energy to go out and socialize. I was previously diagnosed with sleep apnea, and got surgery to open up my airway. This was well over 6 months ago, though. I am feeling worse and worse everyday.

If there is any other information that I can provide to help, please let me know. I need to get this figured out, it is causing me to become extremely depressed and hopeless. I just want to feel normal again so I can actually have the energy to do things. I no longer participate in activities that I used to, because I am so exhausted. I.e. going to the shore, six flags, anywhere. I rather just stay at home and be lazy all day. I will be extremely grateful for any input.

Thanks,

Joey

[TheLightSeeker]

Hi Joey, while everyone's contribution is reasonably helpful, not much will work, if  your nutritional intake is inadequate, if your body is not digesting foods properly, not absorbing AND  not delivering macronutients, micronutrients, vitamins and minerals.

You may have low gastric acid, low enzymes, low circulation....
Any of these conditions are enough to continue to chronic deficiencies
and imbalances
So yes it is important to optimize diet, fitness and activity -while respecting your limitations, but I think you need to dig a little deeper than what your conventional medical doctors have explored so far.

Your TSH has dropped dramatically, your Hemoglobin is low and I'm
totally surprised  that this has not been pursued further to get to the bottom of it !

Thyroid function depends on a good iron status (among other factors)
Low Hemoglobin is associated with anemia and the causes must be investigated and consequently corrected.

Your health will NOT improve if hypothyroid and anemic conditions remain.
If you find your doctor is not addressing these, consider switching to one you WILL!  ( I would go to a holistic or naturopathic doctor)

Hope this helps.

Best wishes,
Niko

[jemma116]

You need to take this slow and easy and pace your day so that you do not overdo things.

Gentle exercise that your physiotherapist has given you to do still should be carried out. Otherwise you will lose muscle mass (if you haven't already) and will end up less mobile.

Do not walk around all day.  Do a little, stop and rest  (if there is a seat a bench, then sit down for a short time and then move on).

Your migraines, may be related to the spine, or your body needing something to eat.  Eat small meals and eat more frequently with a healthy snack in between.

Do NOT exercise too much. And don't forget that before any exercise, you should do gently warm ups and stretches.  But generally you should not be doing too much exercise in one go. You need to pace yourself.  If there is a hydrotherapy pool at a leisure centre or a hospital nearby that you can go to, this will help.  Ask your physiotherapist to refer you for hydrotherapy.

You may find massage, acupuncture and the use of a TENS machine helpful.

When you say you stay and home and be lazy, seems that you may have depression.  With chronic pain every day, it is common to feel down and not want to do anything.  

[viajustjoe]

I was surprised the doctor didn't prescribe anything for my low hemoglobin, either. I try to eat as health as possible, and drink plenty of fluids, mainly water. As for exercise, my body is very resistant to any type of physical output. By the end of the day, my legs are sore from just walking around all day. I used to run everyday, but as I got worse, it became difficult to run. If I exercise to much, I will generally get a migraine, my whole body will ache, etc. I don't understand this because I used to have a very high stamina. I will have the doctor right for a urine test. Thanks for your input.

[viajustjoe]

I have taken all different kinds of SSRI's. For the longest time, my doctor was convinced that I was depressed, and not sick. However, none of these treatments even helped me feel a bit better. I haven't started getting depressed until recently because I still have not found an answer.

Right now, I am taking Vyvanse 30mg for ADHD, Sumatriptan 100mg as needed for migraines, and Neurontin as a preventative measure. The Vyvanse I started a year ago, and the migraines medication was started a few month's ago.

[AndRynne]

Have you ever been on SSRI medication or finasteride. I would need history of all prescribed and recreational drugs that you have ever taken or are now taking.

[jemma116]

The symptoms you have could be caused by a number of things.
I am surprised that the medical provision hasn't found an answer to some of your problems.

Having a low haemoglobin level means that you are anaemic and this will make you feel tired and not want to do things.  
I am surprised the doctor did not put you on a supplement of iron to rectify this unless he did not feel the levels were low enough.  I do not know what the levels should be.

I do not know about the levels of the other things you mention and if you want to know what they mean, you should discuss this with your doctor.

Make sure that you eat a healthy and well balanced diet with plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, leafy greens, meat - offal (liver, heart) contains lots of iron.  

Drink plenty of fluids, especially water - about 2 litres a day is usually recommended.  Being dehydrated will make you feel "foggy" as well as being anaemic.

Frequent urination, could be due to a urinary infection, diabetes, prostate problems, drinking too much diuretics, eating diuretic foods.

It is not uncommon to lose interest in sex and social events when you feel unwell and also when you suffer from depression.

If you have been inactive for a long time, you will need to build your stamina back up again slowly, by going out for walks, doing some type of gently exercise and increasing the amount of time and distances if you go for a walk.

Make an appointment to see your doctor and discuss the results and what should be done about getting the levels corrected.

Discuss the possibility whether your symptoms are related to a post viral infection, being anaemic, having depression.  Take a mid stream urine sample to be tested for any infections.

You can help yourself with regard to heartburn by not eating any fried or highly spiced.  Eat little and often and follow the advice with regard to your diet that I wrote about above.  

If your dietary changes do not help with the heartburn, the doctor can prescribe stomach remedies and you can also purchase these without a prescription from the pharmacy.  

If heartburn persists, tell your doctor as sometimes a helicobacter pylori infection cause stomach problems.