To put up with feeling this crap

[amidsummernightsdream]

Sat here fed up after another day of being bone tired. And I mean tired to the actual bone. I feel ill I am that exhausted.

Backround, I have for the last 18 months been experiencing the following symptoms:

Forgetting words/ saying wrong words continually throughout the day (this symptom is concerning me the most)
Extreme exhaustion
Extreme irritability, anger, low mood.
memory/ brain fog/ difficulty concentrating
Significant increase in migraines
palpitations
Dizzy when standing up from bending down
sickness with movement / had to give up my pilates class

Doctor just not interested and basically eye rolled me and told me to take anti depressants. Im not depressed, I physically feel terrible!!

This has all started within this specific time frame and I rightly/ wrongly believe there is an underlying cause, whether that be vitamin deficiency, perimenopausal. Dr disagrees

Had bloods done and show no sign of perimenopause. Bloods show all ok but low folate and ferritin was 11, which they said was fine but i know that to be low, so been taking folate, high strength iron, b12, magnesium, high strength vit d and omega 3
My mood has actually improved considerably in the 3 months ive been taking the supplements but the physical symptoms persist.

Doctor said no more blood tests needed.

I literally cannot carry on like this. I’ve been moody and irritable today but BECAUSE i feel horrendous and still have to carry on life with work and a 3 year old.

I just cant enjoy anything at all. It’s mine and dh anniversary tomorrow, we have childcare and a meal booked and ive been looking forward to it so much but feeling like this it just seems like a waste of money

What are my next steps, what can I do?

I’m nearly 39, work part time, dont smoke or drink, heathly bmi, dont do formal exercise but active. Diet could be better but honestly isnt full of crap and just average

No, that's not normal and honestly, there could be various causes!

What I would do:

1. get copies of your blood results & check whether you were actually in normal range for things or at the low end of a normal range
2. seek a second opinion - see a different doctor, possibly female because the dismissal you've been given smacks of medical sexism
3. keep a symptom diary. It's the single best thing you can do to aid a diagnosis and help you be taken seriously.

Keep it for at least 2 weeks, record hours slept, track diet (just so you can prove calorie intake / balanced diet) and activity as well as symptoms.

This will do two main things: it will help highlight patterns and add weight to your claims so a doctor can see how debilitating it is.

Make notes on the debilitating effects - what are you now unable to do that you could before? What adaptations have you had to make to function?

And keep pushing - don't give up. Good luck!

How are you sleeping? Are you getting your 8h with no interruptions from children, partner or screen? Are you drinking enough water? Would you be constipated? Are you happy with your life? Have you noticed if there are certain thought patterns that you have and leave you feeling drained? How long is this going on? Is it linked with a time of the month? Have you any other symptoms? Are you breastfeeding?

Did your onset of symptoms coincide with a Covid booster? Your lists of symptoms is almost identical to a friend of mine who had a bad reaction to a booster and still doesn’t feel quite right several years later.

Have an orange with an iron tablet as the Vit C helps it absorb.

any positively triggers if you look at the days/weeks/months before you started feeling really ill.

Sleeping around 7/8 hours. 3 year old sleeps through 95% off time

drink lots of water
not constipated
happy enough with life, no major stresses, although I do have stress with work and find parenting difficult
It started 18 months ago
Not linked with time of month but i do get horrendous pmt on top of this

only other symptoms i can think of is i have been getting spotting for a week before my period which id never had before and started around the same time, which is what initially led me to consider perimenopause but dr has ruled that out

If you can, go to a private menopause clinic. If not that, could be me/cfs but you'll need a more engaged GP to get a referral. Sending love and solidarity

@AceOfCups im not sure actually but i could look that up

I think you need follow up bloods to see if you are correctly absorbing the supplements. If your gp refuses I would try to budget for them privately. A panel including the ones you mention is about £70 at onedaybloodtests.

If you are concerned about peri menopause blood tests are not a reliable test for this as hormone levels fluctuate widely. You should be prescribed hrt based on symptoms.

I had similar and it turned out to be low thyroid.

I had to specifically ask the GP for the test as they just pushed antidepressants

My understanding is that peri isn't clear cut to diagnose & that generally dx is through assessing all the symptoms and ruling out any illness.

Seriously- symptom diary will help, it's key.

OP, I had all of the symptoms you describe when I had an under active thyroid. Ask to have your levels tested and ask what your TSH is. Normal in the UK is 0.5 to 4.5 but in reality if mine goes above 2.5 I start to feel terrible.

What did the dr say about the spotting? I thought too about a covid jab, or long covid, did you have a cold or anything in recent months, or did you get a tick bite or anything? Could you be pregnant? I think @Collywobblewobbles is good advice.

@Thegreatgiginthesky that was my thinking that i wanted to ask for a follow up blood test to see if supplements are working as how do I know how long I need to take them for otherwise

I think I am going to have to go back but I’m just dreading it after last time. Honestly the dr i saw couldnt have been more disinterested. I will see someone else this time, it’s just really put me off. I dont think im great at explaining how much this is affecting me and as soon as you mention low mood, they just jump on it

So don't mention low mood.

Be interesting to see responses to this because my dad has had the same, along with pins and needles.

He had bloods tested last week but doctor says they came back clear. However I've looked at vitamin b12 deficiency symptoms and they look similar, but normal blood tests don't test for active b12 apparently.

I'm encouraging him to get private blood tests done. And no it didn't coincide with a covid booster.

To answer a few things TSH is 2.3

Spotting they did take seriously and referred me for exam and scan which were all clear, so they just put down to normal hormonal fluctuations

Just checked and last had covid jab in winter 21 and this started winter 22

Definitely not pregnant

@Collywobblewobbles yes thats probably a good idea not to

@sunhasgothishat i have had pins and needles in my hands/ arms too but that has gone away since taking the supplements

Hope your dad gets sorted x

Ask for a second opinion, you know your own body and know you don't feel right. I was back and forth with my GP for a couple of years and he did nothing. I asked for a second opinion, the second doctor was great, listened to my symptoms, examined me and referred me to a specialist. I'd had a diagnosis and surgery within a few months (10 years ago, probably would be longer in these times).

That aligns almost exactly with my list of symptoms when I was peri-menopausal - although it took a good while to realise that's what the problem was!

I went to the GP, he did blood tests and said my hormone levels were fine, but I pushed for HRT (apparently hormone levels aren't the only indicator that you're in peri-). After a bit of resistance he finally prescribed them and I haven't looked back! All of those symptoms have pretty much gone.

Admittedly, though, I was 50 when I went to the GP so, although he initially wasn't keen because I was still having periods, I stood my ground and he eventually prescribed them.

Dr Louise Newsome is a menopause specialist with a large social media & media profile - might be a good place to do some research.

There are so many conditions that have similar/over lapping symptoms that it can be really difficult to diagnose, particularly when diagnosis isn’t done via a test but by ruling out other things and tracking symptoms.

Was there anything you can recall happening before the onset of symptoms such as being unwell with a bug/virus, a stressful event, being on a diet or having any type of vaccine?

I understand that you aren’t experiencing these symptoms because of depression but having any long term illness can cause a significant deterioration in mood over time. Although depression isn’t the cause it seems to now be that low mood/short temper are contributing factors to your overall reduced wellbeing and you may find taking a low dose of antidepressants might aid with at least alleviating this symptom.

As others have suggested I would keep a record for a couple of weeks of all your symptoms including the following: sleep pattern, temperature, weight fluctuations, menstrual cycle, daily activity level, and food/water intake. With this I would then go back to the doctors, you will have clear evidence of how your day to day life is being impacted and potentially may have been able to highlight anything they might consider concerning or a trigger.

I have a chronic health condition for which there is not test so this type of record keeping is useful in helping to identify this type of illness. Fingers crossed it’s something less serious and you can get to the bottom of it soon.

Google pots or postural tachycardia syndrome

Could be this

I too, felt like shit. No energy, couldn't get warm. Bloods were taken and it turned out I had a chronic infection somewhere in my body. Inflammatory markers were sky high. Several scans and a whole armful of blood taken, two courses of antibiotics later, then I was urgently referred to Hospital for 4 days of intravenous antibiotics. I had a kidney cyst.

Have you had/how many times have you had Covid? Sounds typical of long covid from what I’ve read/heard from friends. Covid will affect iron, thyroid, insulin, brain function, and pretty much everything else you mentioned - and it can last for a long time. Here in oz we have long covid clinics, not sure if you have similar in uk? If so I’d be asking for a referral, they will hopefully take you seriously.
Hope you can get some answers soon.