To think SOMETHING must be wrong with me?

[BastardBiscuits]

I’m 39. Utterly exhausted 24/7. When I wake up in a morning I’m not just groggy, I literally can’t function. I feel nauseous, utterly exhausted, headache, body aches, stiff everywhere, I can barely walk properly as I feel like I could just collapse onto the floor.

I only work part time. No kids at home. No illnesses that I know of other than ferritin deficiency anaemia.

My last shift at work is tomorrow. I’ve had to resign as I literally cannot function properly.

Dr says nothing is wrong with me. I’m 39. I look on Facebook and see pics of people out for lunch or at the gym etc and it makes me feel depressed. I barely have the energy to go to toilet. My 87 year old grandma has more energy than me.

I know this is a wild guess but have you been tested for Lyme disease?

I went to The Iron Clinic as a private patient and paid around £700 to have an infusion that raised an iron level of around 15 right up to a figure in the hundreds. That should be enough for life now.

A HB in the hundreds would kill you.

GET doctors to give u a blood tear as i was anemic it’s sooo exhausting. Once your levels are right you will be fine.

I second using Thriva or Medichecks too.

OP, sre you actually taking the iron tablets?
Low ferritin makes you feel dreadful.
There are several different iron supplements. GPs always prescribe the cheapest first. These are ferrous sulphate and disagree with a lot of people.
There are better preparations. Go back and ask.
Also, you should take iron with vitamin C tablets and avoid tea and coffee. You will absorb 4 times as much by doing this.
Most people in this country are vitamin d deficient, so it is worth asking for yours to be checked. If they won't do it, take a supplement anyway.
Diet is really important. Read up about exclusion diets, keep a food and symptom diary for at least a month. It may be something as simple as dairy intolerance, or gluten intolerance causing your IBS. You won't know unless you approach it methodically and nobody else is going to do it for you.
It is really hard work having a chronic illness.

Probably but I have IBS also so the iron tablets play havoc with that

You should take the iron tablets with a small glass if orange juice. A pharmasist told me this as my iron tablets were causing terrible tummy issues. The vit C in the juice means the iron is absorbed v quickly and your tummy Isn’t affected at all.

It makes me angry that this isn’t more widely known. Drs/pharmacists should be telling everyone this.

Or liquid iron isn’t often prescribed because it’s more expensive to produce but if you ask for it, it really reduced the tummy issues associated with iron tablets

I have had fibromyalgia for many years, a lot of what you're describing is very familiar it can come with chronic fatigue. It took 8 years of me going to the doctor with no help. ( After speaking to a friend of mine who worked as a nurse and who suggested it may be fibromyalgia, in the end I paid to see a private rheumatologist who diagnosed it within 10 minutes. Crippling fatigue and a foggy brain can come with it.

If you have had it for 6 months or more it is classed as a disability under the Equality Act. Many sufferers ask employers for reasonable adjustments at work.

Of course, it could be other things but push, push, push your GP for a proper diagnosis through blood tests and referrals.

AlexanderHalexander I would suggest you research RA before spouting such ignorant shit

Fubbychucker
I have RA 😂😂😂

it’s a bit more than feeling tired all the time, ask my knackered hands

And funnily enough, when I went to my doctor and explained my symptoms I had no trouble getting the diagnosis.

You need an active b12 test as the standard one looks at how much you have in the blood but not how much of it is absorbed in the body. They should be looking at Pernicious Anemia.

Another possibility is your sleep quality. You might get enough total hours but not enough deep sleep. This could be due to stress, sleep apnea, the perimenopause (which can start before 40).

Pernicious anaemia is when the body attacks the area of the stomach that absorbs B12.

This means NO B12 is absorbed, and leads to rapidly deteriorating health and neurological function. It’s ‘pernicious’ as it’s serious and can even lead to death untreated. A blood test for someone with pernicious anaemia would show Very low B12 and megaloblastoc anaemia. If the B12 is normal it is NOT pernicious anaemia.

It’s important to know what you are talking about before you give medical advice.

@AlexanderHalexander

And funnily enough, when I went to my doctor and explained my symptoms I had no trouble getting the diagnosis.

I’m not going to speculate on the OP’s health because it’s not my place and she’s only given limited info but your experience with diagnosis is not universal. I am genuinely glad to hear you had a smooth journey to diagnosis but this isn’t the case for everyone.

And you know a fuck tonne less about B12 deficiency than you think you do.

As for the people saying: this private service are the best, they do cuz’ you are paying them, they will tell you whatever you want to hear and precise whatever you want. Doesn’t mean it’s the appropriate thing to do.

Bit like saying: ‘the useless NHS GP said there was nothing wrong with my breasts, but the private doctor I saw actually knew what they were talking about and gave me surgery for £7000 so now I’m a 30JJ, I KNEW there was something wrong with my breasts before, the GP should be struck off’

Those talking about B12 there are two tests. The standard B12 checks the total B12, but the HoloTC one checks active B12, which is the B12 actually available to the body. I know St Thomas' in London use it as standard now.

Current Nice guidance:

Diagnosis of anaemia caused by vitamin B12 or folate deficiency should be made through history, examination, and investigations, including taking a full blood count, blood film, and measuring serum concentrations of cobalamin and folate.
If vitamin B12 deficiency is found, serum anti-intrinsic factor antibodies should be checked.
If there are strong clinical features of B12 deficiency such as megaloblastic anaemia or subacute combined degeneration of the cord, despite a normal serum vitamin B12 level, serum anti-intrinsic factor antibodies should also be checked.
If folate levels are low, and the history suggests malabsorption, tests for anti-endomysial or anti-transglutaminase antibodies should be done (depending on the local laboratory) to exclude coeliac diseas

Here's your copy and paste star.

And here's your clinical experience one.

Since you're feeling so sassy Conquest, I'll sit and wait for your clinical expertise on the subject.

I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and those sound like what I experience. But my symptoms started after I had flu last year which turned into pneumonia. I’ve had long-term Covid symptoms this year, too. So in my case there is an obvious cause.

Have you had blood tests? It could be anaemia or thyroid problems.

Have you googled hyper mobility syndrome? One of the symptoms of it are exhaustion, there are a few other disorders it could be, fibromyalgia or M.E.

@Snaketime

Is there treatment for hyper mobility?

I'd second getting tested for RA. Especially if you have a family history. I appreciate a previous poster disagrees, but different people suffer different presentation of illness. I was exhausted and achy for years pre diagnosis of RA and was initially wrongly diagnosed with fibro. I have seronegative RA which doesn't easily show in bloodtests. I have fairly severe RA now and am on heavy duty treatment and often my symptoms are extreme tiredness and horrible pain in my joints that feels as though my entire body has toothache!

My most fatigued time was when the RA first hit and for a couple of years I couldn't even walk upstairs without sitting on them half way up for a rest. I remember sitting on the floor crying because I couldnt stand up long enough to peel potatoes for dinner. So do test for RA and if the results come back clear, still don't rule it out entirely as you could be seronegative.

@DonnaQuixotedelaManchester not really, all they have ever told me to do is exercise to strengthen the muscles, but when you read up on it it comes with a lot of other symptoms too, such as IBS, heart palpitations, extreme tiredness and depression.