Constantly ill - any ideas? :(

[AllIWant85]

I seem to feel constantly poorly at the moment to the point that I'm feeling really quite fed up with life. I have a doctor appointment on Friday but was just wondering if anyone had any ideas? I eat fairly well, drink loads of water, take a multi vitamin, don't smoke or drink alcohol, not overweight and walk everyday. The main symptoms are headaches with nausea but other symptoms include (may not all be related);

• stomach cramps (mainly left of belly button)
  
• irregular bowel movements
  
• blurred vision
  
• tingling arms (nearly always left arm)
  
• swollen eyelids and fingers
  
• always tired (but sleep very poorly)
  
• palpitations
  

I've had my eyesight checked and it's fine. I really don't know what is wrong but it's starting to affect my mental health. I don't want to go out as I'm worried about feeling ill when I'm out.

[cocolepew]

Under active tyroid springs to mind.

[ZipItShrimpy]

I think the first thing you need to do is go to your Gp and start finding out what it could be so that's great you have an appointment.

No wonder you are feeling crap with all those symptoms. I think you need to go with this list of symptoms and make sure you get bloods taken as well.

It could be thyroid problems so make sure they do a thyroid function test in your bloods.

Hope you feel better soon.

[HeathRobinson]

Sounds awful. No idea, sorry. But might be worth keeping a symptom diary to show your doctor on Friday? Ie, when they happen, what makes things worse/better, what foods you're eating etc.

I hope things improve for you soon.

[AllIWant85]

Thanks, blood tests terrify me after a very bad exprerience once. Guess I'll have to suck it up though if I want to get better. :(

[ZipItShrimpy]

Hopefully the bad experience is just a one off. I take bloods every shift I work and I promise that they are usually very, very straight forward.

Don't leave without a blood test, it will be worth it in the end.

[JuliaScurr]

food intolerance?
wheat, dairy, citrus, coffee are the most common
I had a Vega test which confirmed coffee and identified wheat
cutting out wheat has been great

[AllIWant85]

I very rarely drink coffee, maybe once a fortnight. I do also suffer from indigestion which gets worse with bread, pastry, citrus etc so I limit these things.

[newestbridearound]

Definitely go and get your bloods done. They should do checks to rule out lots of things like problems with thyroid and anaemia. I would take a list of all your symptoms to show your gp so you don't forget any of them.

Do you know when you first started feeling ill? Do your symptoms seem to get more severe after you've eaten certain foods or at certain points in the day? Maybe you've had some sort of virus that has knocked you for six?

I hope you can get some answers soon. I know from experience that when you feel ill frequently but can't find an explanation it can make you feel like it's all in your head and you start doubting yourself, or it can make you anxious to go anywhere. Take care, I hope you feel better as soon as possible.

[AllIWant85]

Good idea about the list, thanks! Knowimg me I'd go in and forget most of it.

Have been feeling ill for 3 months I'd say. Headaches usually come on in the afternoon and either remain or increase in intensity until I'm sick, dizzy and my vision distorts. It doesn't seem to be connected to a particular food but I guess without a symptom and food diary it would be hard to tell for sure. I woke up this morning headachy and dizzy. I obviously haven't eaten anything since last night. Quite often I will have my evening meal and then get stomach pains, indigestion and feel sick 3 hours later. Sometimes the pains are just niggling, other times all I can do is curl up in a very tight ball and wait for it to subside.

What you say about wondering if it's in your head is exactly right. My DH will now often roll his eyes at the mention of a headache but when you have them 5 days out of 7 it becomes draining. I can understand his frustrations, I don't want to live with me somedays either!

[AllIWant85]

Well my GP has booked me in for bloods next week.

She thinks the cause is lack of sleep though due to my DS. He is nearly 12 months and still wakes multiple times a night.

[horsetowater]

Tingling fingers and stomach cramps due to lack of sleep? Quackitis perhaps. Find another GP.

[milktraylady]

GP visit.
Plus find a person who is a herbalist & nutritionist.

Between the 2 people you should find out why you are under the weather.

Fwiw I was always getting ill. Took beta glucan supplement & never got sick! My immune system was v run down.

You could try cutting out refined sugar, it's actually pretty toxic if your body isn't that healthy.

Good luck on your health quest!

[kalidasa]

You don't mention your stress levels OP. Is anything particularly stressful going on? You mention a young baby. Stress can come from good (but disruptive/significant) changes as well as negative ones. Or is anything making you unhappy? It's sensible to have the blood test to rule out anything obvious, but most people who see GPs with these sorts of symptoms won't have anything show up in a blood test. Personally whenever I have had patches of chronic ill health like this it has always (in retrospect) been associated with stress/unhappiness, even if I couldn't see it at the time. It doesn't mean you're not "really" ill, a headache and nausea is just as unpleasant whether it's caused by stress or dehydration or a virus or whatever.

[AllIWant85]

Yes it's all due to my lack of sleep apparently.

She's booked bloods for next Tuesday, has suggested counselling (because of me feeling anxious at always being ill) and is going to contact DS's health visitor who will teach me how to make my DS sleep.

I got home and cried :(

[SingSongMummy]

Poor you. It could be food intolerances (different to allergies) - I was very ill and mis-diagnosed as having ME, but when I went for food intolerance testing it turned out to be that and I got better in 3 weeks after months of misery. I think I spent about 50 quid to be tested but it was totally worth it for me and could be for you too.

[horsetowater]

So that GP made you feel great then!

Having said that, she did book the bloods for you, so to be fair she didn't make the assumption that it was entirely due to lack of sleep. Go for the counselling, go for the health visitor support. Every little helps.

[AllIWant85]

My stress levels aren't too bad. I don't feel stressed anyway. I'm more anxious at the moment since becoming a mum and that sometimes concerns me due to previous episodes of depression. We are selling our house but again that isn't really stressing me, I want to move. I have a yound child but I'm still on maternity leave so again I have no work pressure!

The GP didn't make me feel awful. I was just upset as I want answers and thought I'd get them today but instead it's not something I can just fix.

[newestbridearound]

Sometimes stress can manifest in physical ways even if you don't actually feel it- that's not to say that this is happening to you, but you never know. Feeling anxious about constantly feeling ill will be making things seem worse and harder to cope with though; all of my symptoms get a million times worse when I get stressed about them. It's a vicious cycle! The counselling may help as a result

I sympathise about coming out of the doctors and feeling disappointed. I came out and cried and cried when I first got ill and they couldn't find something to 'fix'. I was so upset that they couldn't just diagnose and cure me there and then! Wait for the bloods, see if they flag anything up- it may be a problem that is treatable, and you may get the answers you desperately want. If not then they may make a diagnosis by exclusion which is what happened to me, and you can then always look into whether it is down to food intolerance or allergies, sleep deprivation, issues with mood etc.

In the meantime I would try and find ways to manage your symptoms as well as possible, like over the counter remedies, heat pads or cool flannels, tens machine for pain, plenty of rest if you find a headache coming on. If you ever want to rant then just give me a shout, good luck in the coming weeks- I hope you can get some answers.

[AllIWant85]

Thank you, it helps writing it all down. I guess I just have to wait until the results come in and then go from there.

It just feels so limiting at times. I never make plans as 9 times out of 10 I'm ill for them.

[newestbridearound]

I can relate to that as well. It really does suck, there is no other way of describing it . But it gets easier to come to terms with over time. You learn to appreciate the nice moments you do manage to have.
Plus hopefully the gp will be able to find some answers for you, and your blood tests will show something treatable. Then this will all just be a bad blip. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

[milktraylady]

I had all your symptoms (other than nausea) then I cut out wheat & gradually they all went.
Headaches, itchy skin & achy bones all disappeared.

Obviously this might not be the culprit for you, but if it is, adjusting your diet isn't as difficult to do as you might think.

Hopefully the tests will give some clarity.

[milktraylady]

And if the go tests come back ok then I would recommend (very carefully and for a limited time only) doing some excursions of the usual suspects ie wheat, then dairy then gluten.

It is a bit of a hassle but you can still have a healthy diet, you just need to do a bit of meal planning. (And food shopping takes ages as you read ALL the ingredients)

I assume you are being tested for coeliac disease?

[AllIWant85]

I don't know what I am being tested for with the blood tests. I will ask that on Tuesday.

I could try cutting things out. I have some food allergies so I'm already checking labels regularly!

I can't just accept this, I can't live like this, I don't want to live like this. I'm sorry if that's selfish but I'm tired and I hurt and I've had enough.

[newestbridearound]

Make sure the gp tells you what you are being tested for; last bloods I had I asked for a list and they printed one off for me. I expect that with symptoms like stomach issues, headaches and tiredness things like coeliac, anaemia and thyroid issues will all be on there.

It's not selfish in the slightest to not want to live like you are at the moment. Being constantly knackered and in pain is hard and debilitating and depressing, and no one wants that long term! Especially if it is interfering with your daily life. If they can't find a specific problem or there is no quick fix then I can promise it does get easier, but like milktraylady commented hopefully the tests will clarify some things and offer a way forward.