Should the doctor really be turning me away without a diagnoses?

[sammyjayneex]

Hello

You might have read my previous threads about my health but im at the end of my tether now. I am planning to go back to my doctor tomorrow but i need some advice first.

I have been going to the doctor for 3 years with a number of complaints, I've seen a general medical consultant at the hospital but they all send me away with 'all your tests are normal, there is nothing wrong with you.'
so they send me away with no clue and one doctor said ' i will not put you on long term medication at your age' but if you cant tell me whats wrong with me why mention medication......i really really want the medication, anything they can give me because i cant live like this anymore. I have been ill since my baby was born 3 years ago. My body over heats really bad when im walking and i sweat excessively so now i cant go out unless my husband is off work so he can take me in the car, i spend my days at home until the school run. I find it difficult to recall daily memories and i have low sudden low moods. I have constant acid reflux that i have to take Omeprazole every day for but even that fails some days.
I have a slow heart rate and palpitations. I have anxiety periods where i dont want to be around anyone, everything irritates me. I get tired easily just buy walking around the shopping center. Periods have slightly changed in the distant apart that they are. My toe nails have a yellow tinge to them even though i very rarely use nail polish (once a year) and they get cleaned in the bath ect. I have periods where i cant breathe properly and feels like i have something swollen in my neck/throat. I feel worse after a cold.

I have told the doctor all of this but they tell me i have to just 'ride it out' and its just 'one of those things' should they really just be telling me this? do i really just have to spend the rest of my life living like this? I used to be happy once.

What can i say to the doctor tomorrow? Is this what my life is meant to be like from now on, its changed so much. I always suspected thyroid issues but doc said my TSH is normal (test results previously were 2.7, 1.54. 2.0) over the past 3 years....

I'm not under weight or over weight in in the correct weight range for my height why?

I don't think 6 weeks of supplements for vit D3 was anywhere near enough for a level of 7. You need to keep taking them.

I had a level of 39 in October and am still taking supplements now - if I stop, I ache all over within a couple of weeks.

It also took 6 weeks of taking 1000iu/25ug to feel any different.

I've just been to Holland and Barrett and bought 25mg of vitamin D3 will this help at that dosage?

Should I be concerned that I'm this extremely tired? Will i be ok?

Is it dangerous being excessively tired?

Google ' vitamin d protocol + where you live' and see what comes up.

I think you will find that a level of 7 requires a high loading dose initially, followed by a maintenance dose.

I'm incredibly fatigued when in a lupus flare but I'm also convinced that my thyroid is underactive due to the effect of Lupus . I have a lot of the symptons.
It really is impossible to stay awake, and I fall into a very deep sleep for hours, nothing wakes me.
I feel crap when I wake up so its not a refreshing sleep.

I still think this is some type of auto immune thing for you.

I'm so sorry OP.

As a starting point I think I'd want to know what tests have been done and the results. You should be able to ask for print outs. For example has b12 etc been tested? Esr etc? Ferritin?

I believe vit d should be much longer term than that but not a Dr. I have heard of maintainance doses.

You could then ask for referrals to rheum and endo. I was tested for addisons (not this) and then confirmed I had hypermobility syndrome, but for me it was all made worse by low iron (ferritin) and not getting the right thyroxine level. My ferritin was only borderline but I had extremely bad muscle issues.

Lastly, you could change gp. Ask for second opinion.

I agree some issues can be anxiety based. But from someone who struggled in till it was clear I was disintegrating, my anxiety was secondary to the physical issue. It's extremely difficult to live with symptoms that rule your life. This is just me of course.

My Aunt had YEARS of going to the gp, strange symptoms, struggling to cope, being told it was in her head, then a new gp arrived and she ended up being diagnosed with heamachomatosis. By now was badly affected.

After reading some more posts I do think you should push for an endo referral.

A good ferritin level is needed for anyone recovering from thyroid stuff, around 70-80. I speak from experience now on this. Low thyroid affects muscle, muscle needs iron to recover well (simplistically speaking).

I want to add - I was given sertaline initially - it really helped as it 'cured' the pain in my back and forced me to sleep. It was great. However slowly, my body started to pull apart, my strength gradually lessened, unfortunately it appears sertaline affects levothyroxine but correcting this did not help, as my ferritin wasn't at the right level to cope. I had delayed wound healing, bruising, and then was unable to lift my arm high due to weakness, and finally extreme rls and terrible muscle tightening where I seemed to be shrivelling up.

If my ferritin had been addressed from the outset (it was borderline) I may not have been through what I went through.

So I agree antidepressants help, but could also hide a real issue, as they did in my case. I now need to know about my back pain in order to fix it through physio.

Ironically, when ferritin levels reached around 80 I was suddenly able to sleep easily and peacefully, and my brain became clear and clever - exactly like it had on the sertraline.

Just my experience.

Yesterday I had a headache and was extremely tired and I had 5 bowl movements all in one day (sorry TMI!) but is who's worrying to have so many bowl movements with tiredness as well? They were not too hard or runny just soft and loose, it worried me whether I should just put this off as a one off.

I must say, for me, low thyroid tends to cause constipation, but I guess a tummy bug might do that.

Tbh the tiredness and tummy problems you mentioned in your last few posts sound like the bug a friend of mine had last week so it's possible that it's unrelated to any of your other problems and nothing to worry about.

Obviously that's not going to make you feel much better, but it might help you stop worrying that this is a "development".

Thank you for the reassurance from your posts. I was hoping it's just a big and I'll get over it in a few days

Vit D can cause changes to bowel movements in both directions (both constipation or more loose/ frequent bowel movements).

It stands to reason that if you are changing what you put in to your body, you may well have a change to what comes out...

D side effects

Oophs, 'Vitamin' was missed out

I thought I was getting better because my stools seemed to have gone to a normal consistency before but now I've just been to the toilet they are back runny again so I can't see it being a bug as it's been over a week now so I doubt it's a bug lasting this long. I don't know what to think.

What anxiety medicine has the gp given you? Because stuff like citalopram or sertraline can give you all sorts of horrid symptoms for the first couple of weeks. I couldnt keep my eyes open for a fortnight.

I've not started the medication yet as I went on holiday for a few days as I didn't want to start whilst on holiday do it can't be that but I will try now I'm back. I'm on omeprazole for acid reflux but I've been in them for a few months and have always been fine with them

Start taking the medication. Hopefully that will help with the over-analysing, and you can then consider things more rationally.

Analyzing every single stool for possible changes is unnecessary, really. (Even though in Germany they have lovely toilets specially designed to make it easier, with a nice flat shelf in them so that you can have a good look before you flush).

Once you have been on the medication for a month or so (longer depending on gP advice) reconsider the tiredness and other symptoms and see where you are, and book an appointment with the GP to go over everything.

You need a bit of distance. Your mind is in overdrive and you are actively symptom-hunting. It's very normal, and whether you are anxious because of your symptoms, or your anxiety is the cause of your symptoms doesn't really matter. If you can get the anxiety under control the symptoms will hopefully be less all-consuming and you can continue to work with the Gp to find the cause.

Think of it as taking a break from symptom hunting, charting, and researching. After three years, you need one. And you will be better equipped to discuss rationally with the docs once you given the medication a really good try.

Doctor has agreed to test my thyroid antibodies only because my
Weight has been increasing since last time I saw him (5-6 months ago) so just had that test today so if there was anything wrong with me on that front it would show something wounding it. What do I need to look out for with this test?

They need to test TPO and TgAB and you need to look for them being above range.

This test will pick up active auto immune attack on your thyroid. However, if you don't have that, it doesn't mean you don't have a thyroid problem. If you can get FT4 and especially FT3 tested, that will give you a better idea of what's going on.