Feeling ill most of the time

[Dixie29]

Hi

To start with I've never been someone that feels 100% well. I've never had a serious or chronic illness (I know I'm very lucky) and I don't get ill (infections etc) but I feel tired, drained, light headed etc and just accept it as normal.

Recently I've had additional symptoms which seem quite persistent:

• Tiredness ramping up
• Dizziness (either feeling slightly off balance or room spinning for a few seconds
• Muscle twitches
• Occasional tingling in body
• Recurrent mouth ulcers
• Sore joints in my hands and feet

I'm 33 years old, work 2 x13hr shifts per week and have 3 children 2,4 and 6.
I know I need to see a doctor (not expecting a diagnosis from Mumsnet) or I have been thinking of getting some private blood tests as I've heard they give a comprehensive profile of different vitamins etc.

I am very anxious about my health and I know the doctor may say it's stress and anxiety.

I'm just wondering if anyone has any reassuring ideas/experience as to what it may be as currently I am very worried about having a degenerative condition or cancer, and I don't think my symptoms are bad enough for a doctor to be overly concerned however obviously they are causing me distress. I also know there are plenty of people who live with much worse so I don't want to complain.

Thanks so much

Two things immediately spring to mind, both of which have affected me in the past, so these are what I'm thinking of:

You could be lacking in vitamins & minerals in your diet, or anaemic, and you might be one of those people with naturally low blood pressure.

Maybe a visit to the GP would be worthwhile, and they could check you over and do a full set of blood tests, to rule a variety of things out. Don't let them fob you off with 'Oh you might be a bit depressed' or some other such twaddle. In any case, if you are a bit down, it is likely to be because you feel so rough all the time.

Could be anything OP but sounds initially like vitamin deficiencies. You should really get a thorough check up.

Thanks for your replies, I am hoping it's something relatively easy to rectify such as a vitamin deficiency

@nomorehocuspocus what were your symptoms if you don't mind me asking?xx

Defo bloods at gp as soon as possible.

Nobody needs to feel miserable.

Definitely go to GP & mention all your symptoms. Ask what blood tests they are doing and check they are doing thyroid , iron studies , B12 & folate , magnesium, bone profile as well as the usual FBC , kidney & liver .
I was crying in the GP surgery about how tired I was and it turns out it was my ferritin ( we have a long thread on here !) but turns out my folate is low too .

Low ferritin came to mind while reading your post. I had all your symptoms, including constant muscle twitches in my legs, when my ferrtin was 9.

Definitely get a blood test as soon as you can. I put up with it for ages and didn't realise just how bad I was feeling until I took iron supplements and the levels came up.

B12 and Iron deficiencies could definitely cause these symptoms xx

Thanks so much. I feel like i do need to see someone and speaking about it has made me realise it's not normal

Too many to list really😂None of which were a real concern in isolation, but I had a whole bunch of them all together and it does drag you down, doesn't it?

My tiredness was down to anaemia caused by really heavy prolonged periods.

I never even knew about the low blood pressure thing until I ended up in hospital after passing out while suffering from d&v. They found out then that my bp was much lower than average for my age, and feeling dizzy with pins and needles was one of the symptoms of that - mainly if I went from lying down or bending over to standing upright too quickly.

These days it's too high, as is my cholesterol, and I'm borderline T2 diabetic and menopausal as well, so a whole different lot of reasons for feeling like shit!

Hope you get some answers soon.

Sounds diet related ie pcos, thyroid. Get tests done. In the meanwhile or after tests are done you could see a nutritionalist if you can afford it. It's not as expected as I thought and can make a huge difference.

There's so much good diet advice out there these days. Possibly I'd start there, but also consult a doctor. If I did pay to see a dietitian for advice I'd probably look for a registered BDA one.

I couldn't get a doctor's appt until Christmas Eve so I decided to book a blood test with Superdrug which seems to include advanced thyroid, iron, vit b12 etc. But yes I am up for trying to improve my diet as I don't eat particularly well despite being a healthy weight

Well done OP! Let us know the results pls xx.

Just thought I'd update incase anyone is interested.
Had the blood test on Weds, results back today. Very easy to understand with a summary written by a doctor.
All levels are normal except vitamin D which has come back low at 33 (normal is 50-200 I think). My Ferritin looked on the lower side of normal to me - 39.5 but it wasn't mentioned.

I do feel quite relieved that there isn't anything seriously deranged with my bloods, but also they have found a deficiency which could explain things (here's hoping).

They didn't suggest how much vitamin D I should be taking. From my reading my levels aren't dangerously low so I don't want to take too much.

Glad that everything was in normal range. If I were you I'd still supplement with iron. I didn't feel better until my levels were in the 50s.

I'm sure someone will be along to advise on Vit D!

I got a call from my Dr because my Vitamin D level was 7. I had to take emergency supplies over two days. Since then I've taken 5000iu a day of D3 and my levels are fine.

My Ferritin looked on the lower side of normal to me - 39.5
You need to be around 70 for healthy hair growth so start taking some iron supplements. NHS GPs don't even bother when it's in single figures despite how ill it makes us feel. Make sure you take it with Vitamin C (or orange juice). No caffeine, including cola and chocolate, within 2 hours either side otherwise it doesn't get absorbed.

They didn't suggest how much vitamin D I should be taking.
1,000 iu is for daily winter maintenance for a healthy person. Anything up to 4,000 iu daily to help build up a low level. I cant go in the sun so I take 3,000 iu daily. Make sure you take it with Vitamin K.

Do you have heavy periods?
I have endometriosis and it causes mouth ulcers, exhaustion, pain in the stomach legs and back, I have issues with absorbing vitamins so I feel undernourished.

Thank you that's really helpful. I have ordered 4000iu and also some Spatone to try for a few months and going to make a big effort with my diet too.

Wow that is low! You must have felt rough. Yeah i think 4000iu for me should be safe to take and see if it makes a difference

That's interesting. My periods do seem quite heavy but obviously it's all relative and they're not painful. Sorry you have Endo, it sounds like a horrible condition to live with