There is something wrong with me and I’m scared

[Spottyphonecase]

A brief history - I am obese 18 stone. Before covid I was 22 stone. I have been very fortunate that I have never had any health problems due to my weight. I am 37. I have a job that I love and I enjoy going to. It’s not stressful at all. I only have a 30 minute commute each way. I eat healthy and drink 2 litres of water a day. I don’t drink alcohol or smoke. I hit my 3 rings on my Apple Watch each day and I stick to my calories. I do on average about 12k steps a day. My weight is coming off slowly. My children are late teens so I don’t have the stress of working and trying to manage home/childcare. Everyone at home helps out. I have no stress at all. I spend at least an hour on self care - yoga/meditation/journaling. I do have anxiety and have been on medication for 4 years.

Since January I have felt like crap. Getting up for work takes everything I have. At work is fine. I’m active, happy and have no complaints with how I’m feeling. When I finish work I feel like I have nothing left to give. I struggle to cook dinner or do anything. I go to bed about 10ish and my head hits the pillow. About 5am I wake everyday with a hacking cough. I have no cough throughout the day at all.

Weekends are awful. I wake up naturally about 7 and feel like I have been in a boxing ring. Every bone hurts and my head feels heavy and fuzzy. I get up and hurt so much I make it to the sofa. I then go back to sleep. Today I slept on the sofa until 6.30pm! Everyone is living their lives and I just sleep. I struggle to even lift my kindle to read. It’s 9.30 and I’m back in bed already as I can hardly lift my head to keep my eyes open.

My Dh is very concerned and I took two weeks leave at Easter as he was concerned it was work. I struggled to even get in the shower most days in that fortnight. Everything just ached.

I don’t understand why I’m okay at work. Is it because I have to do it? I can 100% say my job isn’t too much or stressful. When I leave work I don’t think about it until I go in the next day.

I have called the doctors and I can’t get seen. It’s not classed as an emergency and there are no appointments or telephone consultations to be had. Today I cried about it. Everything is open up, the weather is glorious and I just sleep. I just wanted to plant some flowers in the garden.

I have had my first dose of vaccine- Pfizer 7 weeks ago. I have been feeling like this a lot longer so it’s not linked. I haven’t had covid and due to my job I take a lateral flow test twice a week which is always negative.

I know this isn’t a medical forum but does anyone have any ideas of what could be wrong?

Hormones? Can I recommend acupucture?

Vit D deficiency
Thyroid deficiency
Type 2 diabetes
Sleep apnoea

And that's just for starters

Insist on a telephone consultation at the very least.

I was like this for months after my first child. Turned out I had hasimotos under active thyroid disorder. Still not back to normal but I'm so much better

Maybe ME or chronic fatigue syndrome (are they the same thing?) or fibromyalgia? Go to the doctor OP

@QueenPaw

I would say vitamin D. My worst symptom was aching shins/bones but I just put it down to one of those things. Turns out my level was 9

Agree with @QueenPaw - first thing is a full bloods check including vitamin d, b12, iron, thyroid etc.

Push for a gp appointment and if its getting to the point where you're needing to take considerable time off work then its absolutely fair to say you need an urgent appointment.

Don't worry about crying to the receptionists. If it was an emergency you'd be at a&e, you're debilitated by this and it's having a significant impact on your day to day life, your gp needs to see you

Good luck, op!

Your symptoms sound very similar to my own OP. I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and I'm awaiting referral for ME / CFS. Please push for an appointment.

How many calories are you eating? Might be too low?

Or nutrient deficiency. Iron deficiency? Are you taking multivits?

I had similar symptoms to you and turns out I have a Vit D deficiency.

My levels were 14 and the lower limit was 40. My iron was also low.

It sounds like generalised fatigue which could be a nutritional issue, any kind of viral, autoimmune or other illness with fatigue as a symptom. It could also be depression, which can manifest with physical symptoms. The only symptom that does not fit with that is the morning cough, which the only thing I Can think of is sleep apnea

If it is Fibromyalgia or ME/CFS then all the bloods will come back clear, have you got a rash on your cheeks & across your nose? One of the blood tests you should be having is for ANA which if it is positive could mean you have Lupus. I have Fibromyalgia & ME/CFS, your symptoms do sound very familiar, have you had any trauma recently? It could be physical or emotional, mine started after I nearly died having ds, within 3 months I was exactly like you, I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia 7 months after giving birth, I was diagnosed with ME/CFS after my marriage ended.

I'd be asking to be checked for diabetes also.

Why no GP appointments? Surely they must be doing phone appointments, otherwise what exactly are they doing all day?

It does sound like it could be something in the home if you're fine at work, so yes spend a few £ on a carbon monoxide monitor and have your boiler serviced.

I think you should see a doctor and not let them fob you off with long covid or being overweight until they've ruled out a few things first - such as under active thyroid and vitamin deficiencies. I should warn you that you might need to ask for copies of the blood test results and a lot of internet reading if they say you're normal and it's nothing to worry about. Because the doctors say that quite often to women on their knees with symptoms like yours and leave them to get on with it.

I am sorry, but this could be far too many things to even begin to suggest a diagnosis. The issue here is not your symptoms - it is the refusal of your GP to deal with your medical needs. There has never been any point in the pandemic when GP's were told to deal with emergencies only. Some may have struggled to adapt in the early stages, but at this point in time everyone should be able to get, as an absolute minimum, a telephone consultation. My own GP, for example, has telephone appointments, online consultations (message them and they will respond with advice or an appointment), face to face appointments and - as a fall back if you can't get anything else or it is out of hours - a subscription to PushDoctor for all patients on their lists.

Normally I would say that you need to stand up for yourself, but on this occasion, I think perhaps your OH needs to do it for you, for not other reason than it simply doesn't sound like you have the energy to do so. Contact the practice manager, tell them that you have serious symptoms that are seriously impinging on your quality of life on a day to day basis, and that you require a GP appointment now. Every surgery is (still) required to maintain a number of emergency appointments for each day - make them give you one. Make it clear that if you do not get an appointment there will be a formal complaint to the commissioning body (that varies from country to country) before the practice manager has hung up the phone!

It does sound like it could be something in the home if you're fine at work, so yes spend a few £ on a carbon monoxide monitor and have your boiler serviced.
I did wonder about severe allergies - the waking up coughing every morning at a specific time could be nasal / throat irritation, and beds /bedrooms are notorious for allergens. People often forget that in a very few people, allergies can be life-threatening and result in very serious symptoms. It isn't all "a bit of hayfever". But she really needs a doctor.

I felt like that recently.

Just felt 80 years old. Crawling around. Was better at work because of adrenaline I guess. At home was exhausted similar to how I felt during the 1st trimester (am not pregnant!), just that bine crushing exhaustion. Was cold all the time. Felt really tearful about it. Felt like life was passing me by.

My GP tested me for absolutely everything. Including cancer. A chest xray and everything.

But thought it was most likely to be a) Vitamin D deficiency, b) Hypothyroidism, or C) Perimenopause.

It turned out to be a). I'm now 4 weeks into a major Vitamin D regimen (one super-dose weekly) and it's been transformative!

You need to get a chest xray because of the cough. But it's interesting that it's only when you wake up so it may be just asthma or post nasal drip. But it needs to be checked out regardless.

Get. Your bloods done!!!!

Could be under active thyroid, low iron, low Vitamin D. I take prescription iron supplements, Vitamin D3 with K2. I used to cling on hand rail going downstairs in the morning due to achy feet and legs... now I can spring down it no problem.

Thank you everyone for taking the time to reply. I have spoken to Dh this morning and he told me that he was going to go to work later tomorrow so he can help me get a drs appointment.

I’ve been down a rabbit hole of google this morning, checking out deficiencies and everything you have all suggested. I seem to have so many symptoms for the deficiencies. Another thing I came across was diagnosing illnesses from tongues. Mine has teeth marks and cuts which also means lack of nutrients.

To answer a few questions.
We do have a carbon monoxide alarm and I don’t use many chemicals in the home. Bi use natural products for cleaning.

Sleep apnea- I have an Apple Watch that monitors my sleep - would this not pick it up if I stopped breathing?
Someone mentioned GERD - I do have to take rennies before bed often

Thank you all so much. I will let you know how I get On tomorrow.

My first thought was magnesium deficiency -

www.healthline.com/nutrition/magnesium-deficiency-symptoms#TOC_TITLE_HDR_5

Good luck op. I know you shouldn't have to, but there are services that do online bloods such as thriva, if you are desperate and have the cash.

@Spottyphonecase

What you're describing was me not so long ago;I'm nearly 37,have been losing weight over the course of lockdown losing 4st taking me from 22st 10lbs to 18st 10lbs.

Like you I was exhausted all of the time and could fall asleep at the drop of a hat.My energy levels would hit their lowest from 4pm onwards and I'd be useless.

I then got reoccurring thrush;it would not go away.After 8 months of this the GP finally decided to do some blood tests:I have type 2 diabetes.

If this is the case then with the right management of it then you can put it into remission.I had a diabetes education course which was very informative;if you carry a lot of extra weight especially around the middle then excess visceral fat cause insulin resistance in the body meaning your body isn't breaking down the sugar in your body.

@thenewduchessofhastings

Sorry to sound ignorant, but does the weight loss in some way 'trigger' the diabetes?

@Cuntryhouse

Not a trigger but can be a symptom.

I have anemia and GERD alongside my T2 diabetes;it's not exactly fun.Weighloss will help the diabetes and GERD in the long run.

Whatever the OP has will hopefully be run of the mill and treatable.

Your GP needs to see you, you need to be a bit of a pain in the arse and keep calling until they agree to see you. It could honestly be something as simple as a vitamin deficiency, I know I felt like I’d been hit by a bus when I was severely anaemic. Could be something more sinister, definitely needs checking.

[quote thenewduchessofhastings]@Spottyphonecase

What you're describing was me not so long ago;I'm nearly 37,have been losing weight over the course of lockdown losing 4st taking me from 22st 10lbs to 18st 10lbs.

Like you I was exhausted all of the time and could fall asleep at the drop of a hat.My energy levels would hit their lowest from 4pm onwards and I'd be useless.

I then got reoccurring thrush;it would not go away.After 8 months of this the GP finally decided to do some blood tests:I have type 2 diabetes.

If this is the case then with the right management of it then you can put it into remission.I had a diabetes education course which was very informative;if you carry a lot of extra weight especially around the middle then excess visceral fat cause insulin resistance in the body meaning your body isn't breaking down the sugar in your body.[/quote]
This is me.
I am prediabetic but I think have a lot of symptoms of diabetes. I know I need to lose weight. I eat very healthily and exercise a lot. Still 4 stones overweight.

What did you do to reverse your symptoms apart from
Lose weight?