Feeling tired, odema, put in a stone in a month, breathless. Gp insists I am fine.

[IncessantNameChanger]

I have felt exhausted for years. 7 at least. I have been going to the doctors about it for years and I always get brushed off. I told them three years ago I thought I had sleep apnea but that was ignored four times before I was referred to a online insomnia course. Luckily the insomnia team quickly realised that someone who sleeps 12 hours a day, fell asleep in soft play and almost at the wheel dosent have insomnia. I got referred via them and diagnosed with apnea. I have cpap.

It made me feel much better but I was never 100%. So I keep asking the gp every few months, get poo poo'ed etc on a endless loop.

This month I have put a stone on. I wake up with legs that feel like they will split open from swelling. I went to the gp again but as I had all the symptoms of heart failure I was seen. Breathless, exhausted, arms burn just hanging out washing. Odema everywhere. Had bloods and a chest xray. But all the results have come back clear so its case closed again.

My odema is so bad I have been wearing surgical stockings and only drinking a pint of water max a day.

My pee is still light in colour so I'm clearly not dehydrated on the third day. I never feel thirsty. In two days I have lost 4lbs presumably of water.

I just dont know what to do. I'm seeing a neurologist as I have weird nerve pain / numbness and have just failed a nerve conduction study ( I'm presuming as I am carrying a extra stone or two of water. So I might beg him to re refer me to someone. I would at this point go private but they told me years ago on this matter I need to see a consultant ( but what type of consultant? I dint know what's wrong).

I have a disabled child and I cant properly care for him like this. If I kneel down I feel like my legs are going to split down the middle.

How do I deal with my gp? On paper things look ok ( not sure on these last tests as not seem them. Thyroid is 5.5 ish. Same for cholesterol. Almost pre diabetes but not quite. Iron low but in ok range). So nothing abnormal but nothing failing any of the tests either.

If a private gp said my thyroid was too high how could I convince my gp anyway? I feel so hopeless.

This is my hand. Its been this swollen for many years now

Is there protein in your urine ?
Do you have numbness or tingling in your feet/arms/hands ?
Don't want to be am armchair doctor 😁 Just wondering. Hope you're okay op

I keep being told that labetalol.is isnt ideal and I need to do a week worth of monitoring so they can swop me, but each time I'm told it's fine and I stay on the labetalol.

I think my iron is too low really. I have started taking multivitamins with iron so hopefully it will go up slowly. I was thinking about the coil to stop my periods too.

I dont know why but diuretics have never been mentioned. I'm on steroids for it now but it's not a difference so far. Can you buy them over the counter?

@Nandocushion

I'm pretty sure 140/90 is within the levels they would put you on medication for. And labetolol is okay, not amazing, but it is a beta blocker and it has the side effect of lowering your heart rate, in case that would cause any of your other symptoms. Diuretics are commonly prescribed for hypertension (often alongside other meds) so this seems an obvious first step and I'm quite surprised they aren't trying to get your BP down to normal - oedema is a sign it's too high (though of course it can also be a sign of other things).

It's borderline, and therefore is still acceptable - just on the high level of normal - and so we will usually want to see if it can be controlled with diet and lifestyle changes first before medication is given.

Blood pressure medication is not preferred in younger patients as it is very difficult to get people off, and all medications have less enviable side effects, so with a BP like this it would usually be diet and exercise / lifestyle changes first, then consider medication if that doesnt work.