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Original poster

I’m sick of being not quite right, what tests do I go for?

39 replies

bettybiggestballs · 14/08/2018 21:56

I’ve been feeling under the weather now for 18 months. Very low energy, really aching muscles from minor excertion, joint pain, headaches and brain fog. My gp has been shit over four visits. It’s just life according to them. I need a hive mind to understand what the problem could be, I KNOW I’m not quite right even if my GP doesn’t buy it. I’ve been looking today at private blood tests but overwhelmed by the choice. Any ideas what I can do to help myself outside the NHS? I eat quite well, am fairly active and on the face of it healthy but something isn’t working properly.

OP posts:
tectonicplates · 14/08/2018 21:58

Can you go to another GP for a second opinion? I think it would be worth it.

silver1977 · 14/08/2018 22:02

This is how I have been feeling too OP. Except that mine seems to come and go more. My GP sent me for blood tests and turned out I had low Vitamin D levels so have them prescribed now. I can't say I feel completely better though and can't help wondering if theres something else. I was also sent for x-rays on my hands and feet as the joints hurt a lot sometimes but all looked normal.

Ask for another GP ( I never see the same one at my surgery anyway) and demand some further investigation.

Original poster
bettybiggestballs · 14/08/2018 22:02

It’s tricky tectonic (love your username!) I’ve seen two different ones over four visits. I understand, they are really busy, I don’t have anything tangible to share with them. Feel like im banging my head against a wall and would rather be proactive before seeing them again iyswim?

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Original poster
bettybiggestballs · 14/08/2018 22:06

I might get a vitamin blood test done silver, I have another GP appt in three weeks and might to have something done off my own steam before then. I need to do something, am literally stumbling and snoozing through life at the minute

OP posts:
lollopy1 · 14/08/2018 22:07

I think speak to another GP too if you can.

I am currently suffering from Parvovirus B19... which can present very much like your description... and can go on for years. I posted it about it here:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/general_health/3304848-Slapped-Cheek-Parvovirus-B19-in-adults-so-ill-has-anyone-had-this?watched=1&msgid=79389347#79389347

I am in week 8 now of joint pain/brain fog/aching muscles but luckily have a pretty good GP practice... who although didn't listen at first when I asked them to test me for Parvo (both my children had slapped cheek around the same time)... finally did and when it came back as positive, are now very involved and trying to find the right path for referral etc.

They did a full workup (and more than once) of every test they could think of it seemed to me including B12 and D3 (which also made me think of your symptoms).

You need to go back and ask for more tests.

iVampire · 14/08/2018 22:09

Do you bruise easily? Or get a lot of infections which can be slow to clear?

If so, one test to include is a full blood count.

M0reGinPlease · 14/08/2018 22:10

Thyroid perhaps?

WerewolvesNotSwearwolves · 14/08/2018 22:13

Thyroid can affect a lot of things.

MoorMummy · 14/08/2018 22:14

I was going to say thyroid too! I was diagnosed approx 5 years ago, I felt awful for ages.

QueenOfMyWorld · 14/08/2018 22:16

That's what I was like before I found out my thyroid was under active Flowers

dovegrey18 · 14/08/2018 22:19

Sounds like me and I've just been diagnosed with fibromyalgia after a visit to the rheumatologist. My bloods showed slight inflammation but that was it. They ruled out other auto immune diseases.

I suggest writing a list of symptoms and keep a small diary of how you feel each day / flare ups.

He also told me coeliac and vitamin D can present in this way.

KateMcD451 · 14/08/2018 22:19

Please go to your GP and ask for a thyroid test. I was feeling very similar to you for about 18 months as well and my GP thought I was just stressed/burnt out. It was only when I saw a locum she put me in for a thyroid test and I was diagnosed with an underactive thyroid. I was dismissed for so long I started to doubt myself but you know your body, go and ask for a test Flowers

dovegrey18 · 14/08/2018 22:20

Good luck Op it's horrible feeling unwell and it's even worse when you feel you aren't being believed / taken seriously

FrayedHem · 14/08/2018 22:21

I had similar symptoms and my results came back showing Vit D deficiency and slightly anaemic. It also came back positive for Thyriod antibodies but that just requires monitoring.

FluffyMcCloud · 14/08/2018 22:23

I was also going to say thyroid. Having an under active thyroid can make you feel completely dreadful all the time!

waffledoggy · 14/08/2018 22:24

I've been diagnosed with fibromyalgia and I have the same symptoms as you. I have been to the doctors repeatedly, it's been very difficult to get them to look at the whole picture, not just one symptom at a time.
Keep going back.

Moonflower12 · 14/08/2018 22:34

Easily bruised could be Gilbert's Syndrome. It fits your symptoms too. It's hereditary but not too scary at all.

Faez · 14/08/2018 22:57

iVampire I had the same symptoms at the OP last year and also bruise very easily and have recurrent infections. My white blood cells are consistently sub par but they don't know why or what caused my initial "crash" which left me bed bound for weeks with severe anxiety and panic attacks. Do you have any idea? Oh also my free T4 was right at the bottom of range for about a year but has suddenly shot up.

Faez · 14/08/2018 22:58

sorry OP for hijacking, just desperate! Also - drip feed - finally managed to get my hormones tested after years of very rare periods and all were extremely low.

tigercub50 · 14/08/2018 23:08

Anaemia? Or depending on your age, possibly peri menopause?

TomHardysNextWife · 14/08/2018 23:12

Have you been tested for type 2 diabetes? The brain fog was something I had on a daily basis and could never understand why, plus dreadful aching muscles. It wasn't until I got my sugar levels under control that I clocked how utterly dreadful I'd been feeling for years.

Can you book an appointment with a private GP? Our local Winfield and Nuffield hospitals offer them for around £50. You get a 30 minute appointment for that so at least they have time to listen.

PlantsArePeopleToo · 14/08/2018 23:52

Have you had any blood tests at all? Or has the GP just completely robbed you off every time?

PlantsArePeopleToo · 14/08/2018 23:54

I also agree with whoever said vitamin d. The last time I felt crap like the way you describe I was diagnosed with low vit d which was easily fixed with vitamin d pills.

9amTrain · 15/08/2018 00:21

Ask your GP to do a full blood count as well as a full thyroid panel (TSH, FT3, FT4, both antibodies - not just TSH and FT4 like they always do), vitamin D, B12, folate and ferritin, morning cortisol, and a coeliac test.

Good luck!

9amTrain · 15/08/2018 00:24

And I'd get them all done at the same time instead of slowly weeding out possible causes and wasting more time feeling bad. :)