What do you think this could be?

[colinthedogfromaccounts]

75 year old mum.
Has always been anxious (lifelong).
Since 2020 (pandemic - may be relevant)

She has lost a LOT of weight (clinically anorexic)
Had a big lesion on a lung (benign and resolved on its own)
Has debilitating headaches at night
Has what she describes as fizzing in her head
She has been progressively anxious - now at the point she can't really function or maintain a conversation.
She is now saying that she has constipation and nausea.

She has had 3 lung CTs and a biopsy
2 brain MRIs
A colonoscopy with contrast

Scans / tests all clear.

She has very low iron and Vit D.
Can't tolerate any ADs

She is now under the very sporadic care of the Mental Health Unit.

This has been going on for 5 years and we are getting desperate. Does this ring any bells?

She has very low iron and Vit D.

Both of which can cause huge anxiety and depression. Are these being treated?
How are her B12 levels & folate? B12 levels in the U.K. are set really low and you can be symptomatic at the low end of the ‘normal’ range. This can cause tingling/fizzing along with loss of mental clarity/brain fog.
How are her thyroid levels? This can cause constipation and confusion.
What is her diet like if she’s now suddenly constipated?

I’d try and get a print out of her blood test results or ask for new blood tests if it was a while ago, and compare her levels to the labs reference range. If she’s low end of normal I’d try to get her levels as high as possible. If she’s very low iron would a private infusion be an option? It’s pretty difficult to get one on the nhs.
Iron tablets can cause constipation but iron bisglycinate has better bioavailability and no gastrointestinal side effects, available on Amazon etc.
Daily Dulcoease (not dulcolax) could ease constipation in a gentle way, along with eating 2 kiwi fruit a day, including the skin, or maybe the dr would look at prescribing Prucalopride (Resolor) to help.

Without knowing the full medical picture e.g. bloods etc it sounds as if a lot has been done to investigate physical symptoms. So I can see why they are exploring mental health. A lot of people manifest their mental health into physical symptoms.

My mum's dementia started really gradually and one of the early issues was increased anxiety and obsessing over her physical health. She went back and forth to the GP weekly. Numerous investigations and as fast as they ruled out serious conditions she developed new symptoms and we'd be off on another parhway of investigations.

Is your mum eating well?

It could well be a lifelong mental illness which has been tootling along but come into its own after lockdown and the isolation and worry. I see a lot of this sort of thing at work

Thanks for your thoughts. She was put on Vit D, B12 and meal replacements but they all 'disagree' with her. Her diet is good-ish. Dad keeps a close eye. She won't have any more blood tests now so all I know is that the last tests were all within normal range.

I will try to push for repeat bloods.

I am thinking dementia but the scans aren't showing anything. How was your Mum diagnosed?

Mum eats fairly well. She is very particular, so not what I would eat but Dad does keep a close eye on intake.

Thank you for responding 🙂

Is the anoxeria caused by not eating enough? That would explain the nausa, constipation, low vit levels and dizziness.

Yes, this is what the consensus is at the moment but I am concerned that this has been consistently going on for years - it's is very hard for Dad to live with as she is having fewer and fewer good days/hours.

Honestly they don't know why she is so thin, she eats enough. They put her on meal replacements but she says they are unpleasant and disagree with her.

Does she get attention when something disagrees with her? I mean anxiety would cause those physical symptoms.

When your anemic and vit d deficient you need large loading doses to build up reserves again a normal diet wouldn’t provide high enough levels.

She is not actively attention seeking. Won't mention anything unless asked. She is very withdrawn and spends a lot of time on her own. She won't talk on the phone for more than 2 mins. I don't live nearby - overnight visits to their house are not encourages and she refuses to come to me.

As people get older, they can't absorb B12 from foods/tablets in the stomach, so supplements are useless. My mother's B12 and folic levels were in the basement and she needs three-monthly injections for life. She has dementia anyway but her symptoms (fatigue, depression, confusion) got much worse when she was low in these things.

My mum's dementia was based on behaviour. There wasn't a test that proved it. It was gradual and started with forgetfulness (I worry about myself 😦) and then anxiety including getting worked up over social events, having people there etc. I think she was aware she wasn't functioning as she should and it scared her so she retreated. She had multiple health issues and I think subconsciously she and my dad both hoped for a physical cause rather than the dementia

Mum lost weight. She was BMI=obese for years and then gradually slimmed down. She didn't seem to enjoy food in the same way

Could she possibly have functional neurological disorder or fibromyalgia? Obviously highly anxious so all of these symptoms could also be due to severe anxiety

Very low iron and bit D, weight loss could also be due to not eating - because of the anxiety

A relative of mine had a complete loss of appetite and lost weight. Turned out to be acute leukaemia, was hard to diagnose.

Has she had her heart checked? Heart issues can be very hard to spot.

Could migraines be involved? Chronic migraines where the brain doesn't get a chance to recover can cause a lot of symptoms.

Try Metatone. Did wonders for DF when showing similar symptoms after a hip replacement . OTC but tried and tested.