To be worried about daughters mysterious illness

[Whatisgoingon16]

She has a doctors appointment tomorrow but we are all absolutely stuck. Hoping somebody here recognises what is going on.

My daughter is 16 and physically has always had some problems. Nearly died of an asthma attack as a toddler, also had mono and got sepsis from it as a baby. Very close to death.

Physically she is thriving now, slightly overweight but so am I, think she gets that from me as she loves her veg.
She has been on fluoxetine for three years now.

For the last few weeks she’s been seemingly hit like a truck by this mysterious illness and none of us have any idea what’s going on. Seems to be getting worse, especially in the past few days.

She has been saying she feels lightheaded and tired all the time. Sleeping much more than usual, hours after going out or just from light activity.
She said she gets headaches, light stomachaches around under her ribs and aching legs and arms. She has lost some weight, not a significant amount, I think it’s because of her appetite going down.
She has now started to throw up, especially in the morning when she said she feels worse which made me wonder if she could possibly even be pregnant but I am not sure as she is not in school (starting college) and only ever goes out by herself when she wants to get some clothes/treats. Has no boyfriend and I’m the one who picks her up and she seems fine.

All of this is concerning enough but it’s when I noticed she was constantly eating salt (putting it on everything, eating from the salt shaker) and drinking water I took her to the doctor as diabetes runs in her dad’s family.

Blood test came back fine, no thyroid problems either (my mother and sister have issues) assuming everything else is okay as they haven’t said enough but it did come back as slightly low iron. No anaemia, just slightly low so she is on a small dose of iron tablets.

Now we are thinking perhaps pcos as it runs in the family as well, she did say her hair has been thinning.

Help would be appreciated we are flabbergasted.
She has changed as a person as well, so angry all the time. Said her vision is wavy and she sees patterns. Her depression has become unbearable for her just always in bed.

When I talk to her about her day or what she does she takes about five minutes to even come up with a sentence. I’m worried about my daughter, she said it’s hard to think.

I am going to the doctor as I mentioned with her tomorrow and I want to know some questions/tests to ask about. I’m bloody worried

Also forgot to add her doctor is now stopping her medication to get her onto a new antidepressant as this one isn’t working for her anymore. ☹️

Has she ever had a tick bite- these symptoms with seemingly no answer to them can be a sign of Lyme. It won't be picked up on ordinary blood tests but may be worth asking them to do a test if she's had a tick bite/ or you live in/visited a high Lyme area?
Sorry she's so poorly. As I read that, Lyme was the first thing to come to mind.

Just on the stomach aches under her ribs - could it be gallstones? I unfortunately suffer from them and this was the tell tale sign for me. They completely take it out of you, might be worth checking!

That sounds horrific. I'm not sure what to suggest if her blood tests have come back normal though.

Addisons disease causes salt cravings and many of those symptoms. Her cortisol level needs to be checked.

Are her thyroid results actually fine or is that what the doctor has told you?

Usually if it is even slightly under or over/borderline they will say it's fine when it really isn't

Have you got the numbers?

Go to the optician ASAP. Headaches, craving salt and vision issues can be things that lead to raised pressure in the head and this can sometimes be seen by the optician. Or could be chronic migraines with the wavy lines. But you’re doing the right things. Write down everything in bullet points, like the feeling sick in the mornings and the salt so you tell the doctor all of it.

To be honest I would tell her the doctor will want to do a pregnancy test, and if you get one and do it at home and tell them it’s negative then they will move on quicker to other tests and investigations. If you phrase it that way then you’re not saying “are you sexually active/I don’t believe you”

Severe depression can absolutely make you feel this way physically.

POTS

We do live in an area with a high prevalence of Lyme, I will ask about this thank you. Will also ask about the thyroid this is all helpful. Gallstones sounds horrific ☹️.
Would cortisol had been detected in a blood test?
Writing all this down I will have a private chat with the doctor as I don’t want to worry her too much. Told her to take it easy till tomorrow. x

A few thoughts

• migraines/aura or "silent" migraines
• depression or anxiety (can have very physical manifestations sometimes)
• vision issues/needs glasses

Definitely needs investigating. You may need to ask specifically for a cortisol level.

This very much sounds like what happened to me in my 30s. I had abdominal migraine

I know someone with Gitelman syndrome. Before they were diagnosed they were constantly exhausted and I was shocked by the amount of salt they'd eat! Apparently symptoms often appear in the late teenage years?

Is there a big event coming up soon? Could it be acute anxiety?
How does she feel about starting college? Is she awaiting exam results.

Could also be "silent" migraine attacks. The vision issues sound like migraine with aura.

This. I have hemiplegic silent migraine, causes visual disturbances and patterns.

If you can log into her nhs account you can usually see blood test results on there

Worth checking for POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome). Ask GP to check heart rate sitting then standing. See Dysautonomia International website for info.

postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. massively under diagnosed and may be a possibility

This sounds like it could be long covid, with the fatigue, aches, nausea and post exertional malaise.

Any chance this has happened after a virus?

What’s happening with tapering off the fluoxetine and starting a new medication? Fluoxetine is really hard to come off (from bitter experience)

Pituitary Tumor which can cause Addisons Disease.

That is really worrying. I would write a list of all her symptoms and make sure her doctor has it before the appointment. I hope everything goes well.

The presence of visual disturbances, headaches and sickness first thing in the morning would be a red flag for me to refer for a head and neck scan. This would purely be precautionary to rule more sinister things out, as the prevalence of other symptoms means it is likely going to be more of a puzzle to piece together.