22 yr old DS has fatigue, dizzy/lightheadedness, is queasy - what's going on?

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Has been complaining about these things over the last month - 6 weeks.
It's not constant, it comes and goes. Sometimes for a day, sometimes a couple of days. Occasional painful/tight chest, but he suffers from anxiety and thinks this is him worrying.

He had a full run of blood tests last month and all were fine. Cholesterol borderline high, but still normal.
He's 6fy3, strong, muscular, not overweight.

We did a two-hour hilly walk over the weekend and he was fine. Today he's exhausted and doesn't want to move.

I'm not sure what's going on. Current theories are:

• post-viral/ long covid, but he last had covid months ago (that we know of) and this is recent
• Low level worry anxiety about life changes etc - he's starting his first job in a few weeks
• general hypochondria! I feel bad saying this, but he does tend to get himself a bit worked up if he thinks something is wrong and it tends to spiral. Until he starts work he has nothing to focus on/ keep him busy.

Do you know what blood tests they actually did?

Many ‘normal’ levels are set ridiculously low as he could still be symptomatic if say his ferritin or B12 was in the lower end of normal. It would be good for him to get a print out of his results and see a) what was tested and b) how his levels compare to the lab reference range which will be included on his print out.

low iron & low B12 (amongst other things) can cause anxiety & air hunger/shortness of breath, along with tiredness.

I'm no doctor. But he sounds exactly like me at that age and it was 90% anxiety!

If you can afford it I would pay for him to have a private health screen. And get them to explain the test results.

Could be post viral fatigue. Exercise makes it worse. I’d take him seriously.

Another saying b12 deficiency/pernicious anaemia

Levels drop gradually and often don't get diagnosed until far too low.

Tight chest might be asthma brought on by something, if it's anxiety based could try beta blockers

Thanks - that interesting about B12 deficiency/pernicious anaemia.

He did get a print out of all the blood tests so I'll ask him tomorrow if I can take a look.

What are the relevant lines in the blood test report for ferritin or B12 levels?

Have you got a carbon monoxide detector?

Raised cholesterol could be post arterial repair and will drop once that's patched up.
Sounds like PEM post Covid too.

Very good question

Vertigo, I used to get that after a virus. Often when I hadnt even realised Id had a virus

In a young and fit male with those symptoms, I would want a cardiac screening just to rule out any undiagnosed heart problems.

Sounds like chronic fatigue to me. My son developed it some months after a nasty bout of tonsillitis.

Is he upping his protein? My son increased protein along with extra gym and sport training sessions and got it slightly wrong to start with. He was very tired and nauseous for a few days. His GP said he used to body build and recognised the issue. It doesn't take too much extra to make you feel bad. We're all more clued up about it now.

My son has Chronic Pain and Chronic Fatigue. He used to get very sick and is now prescribed Mbeverine, which has helped a lot, I think.

B12 normal levels in the UK are much lower than they are in at least one other country we have lived. It's impossible to take too much as the body naturally excretes any it doesn't need so I would start with taking 2000 + per day and see if it helps. You can definitely suffer all the effects of deficiency whilst not being deficient by UK standards. I can't remember exactly but if the normal range is 150 to 900, some people will experience symptoms of deficiency if below 500.

OK - I have a copy of his blood test results. Which lines in particular should I be looking at for Iron/ B12?

Hi platelet count is 192 and the range is 150-400, so that sounds on the lower side?

B12 will just say B12, same for ferritin.

Platelets look fine but I'm not a medical professional.

Which lines in particular should I be looking at for Iron/ B12?

If B12 and Ferritin aren’t on the report then they haven’t been tested.
Has thyroid been tested?

What is listed on the report?
Full blood count has definitely been tested, as it includes platelets along with RBC, white cell count, neutraphils etc, but what other bloods were tested?