Inflamed all the time. Is there a test that can help me figure out what's going on

[pinktreetops]

I've been to GP. He just writes me off over the phone as my surgery are still not doing face to face app. Unless you really push them and I just don't feel up for fighting at all.

I'm happy to pay for anything that will work out what's going on but don't know what to ask for.
I basically am swollen all the time. As in my body is inflamed. Very often things like Saturday will be fine but by Tuesday I'm so much bigger I can no longer fit into any of my clothes. I've had to buy 'fat' clothes to fit into when I'm inflamed. My face is extremely puffy noticeably so. My dh always knows when I've swollen up so it is noticeable to others as well.

Would like to work out what's going on.

Inflamed or swollen? Is there any redness, heat etc? If you push a finger on your skin is it hard and tight or does it sink like in dough?

can you take photos and email them in if it’s as obvious as you say?

inflamed would suggest an infection. Prolonged, intermittent whole body inflammation would be odd. If it’s swollen I.e fluid retention kidneys would be a good place to start.

you could start with a blood test. You can get them from Superdrug and the like, £130 for all basics like liver, kidney, white cell count, vit b12 etc?

Tell ur gp you want a blood test , if he try’s to fob you off just repeat it
if he is not actually seeing you , then the results may give a clear result as to what is going on

How odd they aren't doing f2f? Definitely push for this. I agree take photos before and after. This doesn't sound right at all. Good luck.

I have asked for blood test and GP has said no need sounds like intolerance to something, try cutting out foods. I have done all of that and actually cba to eat anymore in case it's food that's inflaming my body. I'm so tired of feeling awful and waking up several sizes bigger. It's my whole body. The inflammation feels hard, my legs feel like weights have been attached to them. I can physically feel how much heavier they are when I'm swollen. My jeans don't fit me on these days.

Photos are a good idea I am so tired of trying to find out what's wrong I've phone 3 times. Our GP is massively understaffed so I suppose they're trying to manage people with worse problems than me.

My face is noticeably round when I'm swollen. It's not round normally. I recently graduated and my face was so round I've actually had the pictures photoshopped to look more like me on a normal day!

I graduated a month ago. I wore the same dress yesterday and it hung off of me so the inflammation does go down as well. It lasts for days at a time and happened at least weekly.

It sounds more like swelling than inflammation you’re describing.

Are you drinking enough fluid? If you’re dehydrated your body could be holding on to fluids to protect itself.

Do you have any other immune/auto-immune issues? Bad hay fever, allergies, IBS?

Perhaps take comparison photos of your face, legs, torso to send to the GP pointing out the difference between eg day 1 and day 3. TBH I am slightly shocked that they will not even do basic blood tests. I would persist in asking for these, eg full blood count, inflammatory markers (sorry not sure what those are).

Really? If you are swollen you have fluid retention for some reason, you need blood tests to find out why. It could be your renal function is abnormal or it could be to do with the sodium in you body which causes water retention and you may need to be on restricted fluids, but without blood tests you won’t know why. My GP are not doing f2f appts and I spoke to someone who said he was a doctor who appeared to not know what he was talking about. He soon change his tune when I told him I’m medically trained. Push for bloods and say you will be making a complaint about the surgery. All this working from home has gone mad. It’s an excuse to not do a job properly but get paid anyway!

What other symptoms do you have?

I am similar to you but also have regular diarrhoea, gas etc. After cutting out diary, I am a clothes size smaller and when I now eat it I have severe cramps. Cutting out diary doesn’t relieve all of my symptoms so there’s also something else going on.

Yesterday I attended a private allergy clinic. I was tested for food allergies including milk and egg, and these were all negative. I’ve also had blood tests to see if I’m likely to have coeliac disease and/or lactose intolerance.

Yes, really. Dehydration is one reason that people can retain fluids. Your body does it so that your vital organs get enough fluid.

I take potent diuretic due to fluid retention, particularly in my lungs, so I understand there can be serious issues that cause it. I was suggesting that as a simple thing to consider, as a first step.