I'm at a dead end with diagnosis before I've even started :( advice please re: fatigue...

[KeepsAwayTheNargles]

I've been excessively tired for the past few months. If I have a busy day, the next day I'm totally wiped out. I work from home and can barely focus on it most days so that's suffering. I have basically zero sex drive - I can look at DH sometimes (or Kit Harrington...) and go "oooh, nice" but there's no motivation to do anything beyond that. I want to be able to focus on a book, I can't most days. I want to be able to do some yoga, I can't most days. I've dramatically improved my diet and started taking vitamins, which has made a marginal difference but not enough.

I had bloods taken last week which came back as normal, except for low vitamin D. When I had my initial GP appointment she said they'd test for everything physical via bloods, and if they were ok then we'd see if it was depression. I don't feel depressed, I feel frustrated and miserable that I'm so fucking tired. My work is suffering, my parenting is suffering (less patience) and my relationship is suffering - DH is lovely and patient but I want the energy and motivation for sex again!

I feel like because my bloods are normal I'm going to be given a choice of antidepressants or nothing. I'm not depressed. I'm frustrated and want some bloody energy to enjoy my life!

Does anyone have experience of this? Any ideas how I can avoid being fobbed off with ADs? I really thought the bloods would show something that could be easily fixed and now I feel like I'll be stuck like this forever :( any advice would be much appreciated! Thanks in advance for getting through reading my mini-essay

Oh god, DH has just discovered a bald patch on my head slightly smaller than a 5p. I've never had that before, makes me think it may be related to whatever is going on?? I'm so upset :(

low vit d can make you feel that way op. I've had months of not even being able to load the dishwasher without needing to sit down and rest and feeling completely exhausted and not myself. Blood tests showed very low vit d so was given a supplement and ten weeks later I actually feel human again.

OP I'm sorry you're feeling so rough, and the hair loss sounds upsetting.

You are going to have to be assertive with the doctor, I know it's hard when you're exhausted, but get a print out of all your blood results, with the ranges they use. Check out all of your levels on line, anything not slap bang in the middle of the normal range could be causing problems.

Once you know exactly what you've been tested for, come back and tell us. You will get loads of help and suggestions for other things that might need testing.

You will have to be your own advocate, and not be afraid to tell the dr what you want to do next.

Also, think really hard about any other symptoms you have, no matter how random they seem, and write them down for your doctor, it could help them diagnose you.

Really sounds like it could be a thyroid problem to me (history of it in my family)

Good luck!

Definitely get a print out - do you have online access to patient info? I can see all my blood test results there.
Vit d, thyroid and b12 deficiency could all be culprits. B12 isn't routinely tested for, afaik, so if that hasn't been done, I'd ask for that too.

I was like this in January post shingles, and had bloods done to check platelet levels, which are always low for me, but it was the non existent Vitamin D levels that were the problem. I am abroad, so things are measured differently...the minimum vit D level should have been 20....mine was

you could email the surgery to ask for a copy of blood tests, then GP can discuss with you if necessary

It will be the vit D. GP should prescribe it. If not buy otc, Boots value are fine - but you will need several a day. I learned this when I ran out of the ones from my GP, and thought Boots ones would do until I sorted that. It didn't occur to me that the dose would be much lower, until I wondered why I was tired again prescription ones were an 8x higher dose. Just to let you know. But there's no reason your GP shouldn't prescribe.

B 12 needs checking. I have fatigue as a symptom of MS - don't panic, fatigue means your body is working extra hard to deal with something. Post viral fatigue especially with flu is similar. It's not exclusively an ms thing and is common for all sorts. I have b 12 jabs and they help. Also eat as much energy giving food as I can. Brown rice;brown meat on chicken etc.Hope you feel better soon.

Just logged into my Patient Access, B12 is very much fine.

For those interested, relevant results are...

Vit D - 29.5nmol/L - normal range 80-150nmol/L (so very low)

The two others on the lower ends of normal are...
TSH - 1.42mIU/L - normal range 0.35-4.94mIU/L (probably fine I guess)
Ferritin - 34ng/mL - normal range 20-204ng/L (definitely on the lower end)

I assume then that I'll be given mega-doses of Vit D? Hopefully like a few posters on here it will help :) but wanted to post these here in case anyone has relevant insight. Everything else (and they tested tons!) is resolutely normal.

I started a similar thread about a year ago. Your symptoms are almost identical to mine. I took a lot of the advice given (similar to all on here). I had to push and push and push. GP insisted I was depressed. I told her I felt fine inside my head, was still me and quite happy. She told me I could be happy and depressed. I wrote down all my symptoms, she threw the list in the bin without looking at it. Eventually, she very rudely agreed to test for various physical causes. My Vit D was non existent. I feel a bit better now. My thyroid is borderline and they just keep me on the same dose, despite me pushing to see a specialist. My iron levels are low but GP (different one) contradicted herself, I questioned it, was waved away, she was pissed at me because I was pushing against her insistence it was menopausal. She eventually said she would send me to a specialist. I asked "specialist in what?" "Menopause" I laughed (reflex as I had been trying to tell her no, this is more) and she told me she couldn't help me. I cannot go back as I have real problems with confrontation. I have accepted I have undiagnosed CFS and anaemia and diagnosed thyroid, low vit D and endometriosis. So basically Op, take no crap. Push for every test you can. I am in my 8th shitty year of this. Don't be fobbed off. You know yourself best. Get sorted now.

Vit D tiredness is kind of in the back of your skull. It's not like being tired from physical exertion. You feel tired in your actual head. Or at least it is for me. I don't know if anyone else knows wtf I'm on about!

I'm definitely brain-tired more than I'm than body-tired... I struggle to focus on anything, hence struggling to read a book etc. I do have a history of depression-stuff, though, and I don't know now whether to believe its the vit d or not how long would it take for my levels to get back to normal? I'm so confused about whether that's it or not!

I guess give bit d supplements a go and see if I'm better in a few months?

*vit d, stupid phone!

You'll need to take a high dose of D3 with K2 and magnesium to which will help get your levels back up. If you don't take magnesium with D3 you may stay to feel achy all over like flu as low vitamin D means you can't process magnesium so your probably different in both.

They can't really test for magnesium definitely. It's more to do with how you feel.

wally that is a good description. It's astonishing how being tired in your head interferes with everything you try to do. Sadly, vit d progresses to sore body so tackle everything now Keepsaway

The sore body is lack of magnesium you can't process it without vitamin D, therefore being low in one makes you lie in the other.

this is interesting re the magnesium as I also have vit D deficiency and havent felt better with supplements but am starting to feel a bit better with Magnesium too.

I'll ask the GP about magnesium too... My appointment is tomorrow at 4.20, so I'll be sure to report back how it goes!

I feel the same.

My Dr did the same routine with anti depressants. She told me she can't do any other testing looking at CFS/ME etc unless I take the anti depressants. I'm not depressed, I'm tired and fed up!

I need to go for another set of tests really, but I just can't be done with the hassle. I did start taking some Vit D, just 'over the counter' stuff but it didn't seem to help. Perhaps I was too impatient & didn't take enough. I'll start taking them again & get some magnesium too. Can't hurt.

Thumb. If I take 3000iu Vit D, how much magnesium should I be taking?

You can get you magnesium through Epsom bath salts. You can't store magnesium IMU

Did they test for Coeliacs? If there is any chance you have a thyroid problem, they should be testing for Coeliacs too.
I saw my GP today and we got that added to my next regular bloods -my GP is good, but that hasn't been tested before.

B12 is a fairly standard test, as it's often done in conjunction with full blood count, iron and ferritin levels.

Vit D less standard - glad you had one done.

Magnesium and other minerals can be tested for but I wouldn't presume to suggest a dosage for supplementing (sorry ExtraHot ) - what I would suggest though is that, in general, unless your Mg is particularly low, it's inadvisable to take large doses of single minerals, you're better off taking a multimineral to avoid competitive loss of other minerals. This is a good read about magnesium www.ancient-minerals.com/magnesium-sources/absorption/