To bother the GP again?

[LemonadePockets]

Hi folks,

I’m not one for asking strangers on the internet what I should do (but grateful for those who do as I’m more of a lurker than a poster) however I need a bit of advice and there’s nothing quite like MN to let you know if you’re being a head case or not.

I’m late 30s, single, self employed parent who works a lot. I’m also rather short for my weight. Over the last while I’ve had lingering issues with my health that I don’t know what to do about. I visited my GP due to constant and quite awful fatigue, tingling hands and feet, constantly being freezing cold, losing grip of things where my hands basically chucked whatever was in them at the time. Intermittent slurry speech and generally just being exhausted. Bloods showed nothing too exciting, examination showed low blood pressure that didn’t worry anyone, I was advised to carry on with folic acid supplements and the rest has been put down to migraine phenomenon - I’ve been a sufferer since early teens.

I made some lifestyle changes, increased vitamins, cut out sugary drinks and tried to do better with sleep but things are getting worse - my whole body hurts & I mean my whole body from my scalp to the very soles of my feet, my bum cheeks even! My back, legs.. you get the picture. I’m on my feet all day every day, I have never been in this level of pain before. I’m also going dizzy at times.

AIBU to go back to the GP with this sorry list of woes and ask for help or am I moaning for nothing?

I have no medical anxiety, I’m just fed up of being tired and sore.

thanks for reading

Oh and a new strange numb pain in my left abdomen - how can I be in pain and feel numb at the same time?

Yes, of course you need to go back and keep going back you get to the bottom of it and get treated.
Have you had vitamin D checked?

Of course you aren't moaning for nothing. Go back to your gp.

I would go back to GP, write all your symptoms down so you don't forget anything. I can understand the numbness and pain. My thigh is numb, yet when anything touches it it's painful. I should probably take my own advice and see my GP about it.

Did they check your b12? A b12 deficiency can cause neurological symptoms and high folate can make symptoms worse.

I'd definitely go back.

I’ve had all my levels checked, only my folic acid was low but they suspect my body doesn’t absorb it well which is why I take the supplement to top me up. I also take a multivitamin including vitamin D. I’m so tired but life needs to carry on so it’s not like I can just down tools and sleep as much I would love to. I hate pain killers too so I try not to take them unless the pain is unbearable. Thanks for your replies, I know the nhs is under huge strain and I wanted some opinions before I went back and took up their time.

Please do go back to your GP. I had just some of your symptoms and my GP sent me straight to A&E for a brain scan. Apart from finding out part of my brain was missing, it was all clear so reassuring. You really need to push until you are taken seriously as you do have concerning symptoms.

The GPs are paid for you to bother them. Get yourself back there as soon as possible. Don’t be fobbed off, you need answers.

Thanks so much everyone, I’ll phone in the morning. Feeling like I have a bit of back up after this post 💪🏻

A multivitamin only contains maybe 30% of the daily requirement of some vitamins. You need something stronger. You can’t rely on blood tests, sometimes your blood levels look ok but you’re still deficient.

I had a lot of muscular pain and a specialist told me to take magnesium, he said it’s a common deficiency and your blood levels are meaningless, you can still be deficient. I also took a B vitamin complex and a super strength vitamin D. I’m not cured but I’ve improved.

Was there anything that could have triggered your symptoms? An illness or stressful situation? Did you take medication for anything else which could have caused a side effect? Depending on age this sort of thing could be caused by peri menopause too.

That sounds like nerves are being impacted somehow and worrying so definitely see GP again, it makes me sad that past experiences of not being listened to by medical professions can leave with fear of being told have 'anxiety' and reluctance to seek help when this clearly isn't normal at all. Take written notes so that you can convey it all fully as it's easy to get flustered and miss a load out when feeling unwell.

Just a B12 deficiency can cause major issues with your nerve function and can be down to an absorption issue ( Pernicious anaemia) and think the general test can look in range but body isn't able to absorb to make use of it, they can treat and see if symptoms resolve as excess B12 isn't stored to cause problem. A deficiency of B12 or B9 folate which are both needed to create red blood cells can cause megaloblastic anaemia where blood cells end up abnormally large and burst/poor carrying oxygen so can lead to fatigue and feeling more out of puff than usual too.

Good advice here. Write it down and go back

there has been some rather stressful times over the last 2years including a marriage break up then losing 3 family members within a few weeks. I’m very much a ‘just get on with it’ kind of person so I don’t ever think about how these situations actually affect me.

thank you for the advice, I’ve made a note of what you and others have said on here and I will phone up this morning. Thanks everyone

I'm sorry for your loss, that sounds a lot to cope with, definitely see the GP but grief can cause physical symptoms, I've seen it first hand.

Go @LemonadePockets 💪👏

Did GP do thyroid blood tests? What were results/ranges?

You can’t rely on blood tests, sometimes your blood levels look ok but you’re still deficient.

Yes, I think sometimes you have to be really deficient for it to be flagged as a problem, when you could actually benefit from an increased level. I would get a printout of any blood test results and do your own research!

Are you certain they did B12? I only ask, as I wasn’t rested for B12, was diagnosed with iron deficiency anaemia, but wasn’t getting much better with treatment
Follow up bloods included B12 and I was very deficient, so much outside of the reference range.
I had similar symptoms, it sounds dramatic, but I felt like I was dying!
I don’t absorb B12 (pernicious anaemia), so dietary supps were never going to work.
Echo to do your own research too. Family friend has B12 deficiency, but was just above the ref range, so GP wouldn’t treat her, even though she had neuro symptoms! She ended up with a private referral to a neurologist, who instructed GP to give her B12 jabs ASAP.

DEFINITELY go back and IMMEDIATELY ban the word "bothering" from your vocabulary!

You are not bothering someone, you are asking them to do their job.

I get so angry on your behalf reading your post. The assumption seems to be that if your bloods are basically fine then there can't be anything wrong. Erm, no. It just means they can't figure it out via bloods, time to do more and different investigations.

It sounds like you've had an unbelievably rough time recently. It could be a combination of psychological and physiological issues even - although unless you believe in souls the mind and the body must logically be one and the same. I say this because I think there's a real tendency to downplay anything that might have a psychological element to it, but that is as much a part of our health as anything. Your doctors need to keep doing their job until they figure out what is going on. Don't accept anything less.

Do you remember when you started feeling fatigued? Was there a trigger? Did you have an infection/virus/covid immediately prior to feeling fatigued?
If your GP thinks that migraine is the culprit, you need to be referred to migraine specialists (usually part of neurology department). They can also investigate whether you have neurological causes for tingling, numbness and loss of fine motor skills/dexterity.
If neurology clears you, I would ask for a referral to a chronic fatigue clinic for an assessment. You may not have a chronic fatigue diagnosis but the specialist clinic will do a thorough assessment and may be able to pick something that GP missed and make recommendations for further investigations. The waiting times in my area are about 46 weeks for neuro and 26 weeks for chronic fatigue so may be worth to get the ball rolling ASAP.

Ffs it's not 'bothering' the go. You have symptoms so you go and see a medical professional until they are resolved. It's what they're there for.

Absolutely this, OP.

Change your mindset from "being a bother" to "I'd like to know what's wrong, please"

Hope you feel more normal very soon!

Any chance it could be a tick bite? Those symptoms are similar to how Lyme disease presents itself.

Hope you managed to get an appointment OP.

You are not “bothering”the GP. It’s their job to try to find out what’s wrong with you and investigations are not limited to blood tests.

Don't be fobbed off.
If the GP doesn’t know, they should refer you to a specialist.

The lasting damage done from the media’s “never, ever dare to bother the precious, sainted NHS” narrative during Covid is truly frightening. There have been so many people on here recently with really worrying symptoms, who are genuinely terrified of being labelled an “inconvenience” and getting the help they need! OP, you have symptoms, you are worthy of feeling better, and it is the job of a GP to help you work out how to get better. Yes the system is under pressure, but it is also their LITERAL JOB to help sick people, so never feel like an inconvenience for asking for help if you need it! Hope you feel better soon!