What the heck is wrong with DH?

[NorthernDancer]

This has all happened in the last six months or so:

Fatigue
Feeling lightheaded or 'giddy'
Doesn't feel steady on his feet
Lower back/pelvic pain (maybe related to surgery in 2020)
Numb feet
Regular drenching night sweats
Blood pressure spiking and doubling meds (on GP's advice) has made no difference

Blood tests show:

Slightly raised PSA
Low white blood cells
Low neutrophils
Less than optimal B12 (332 range 211-911) and folate. I've got him on supplements, but again they are making no difference to symptoms so far.

Prostate is being investigated. Nodules were found on digital examination so MRI shortly.

I'm really worried about him - he's always been so healthy, but I'm not getting anything concrete from the online symptom checker, so any suggestions would be welcome, especiallyas the GP has only picked on one thing to follow up.

Thanks

Has he had his blood sugars checked? A few of the symptoms could be linked to diabetes.

I was thinking about checking for diabetes too. Maybe thyroid issues as well, although I would have thought the GP should have done full bloods already to check on those.

Make sure the B12 supplements are methylated. Try injections rather than oral supplements.

Sounds like silent or walking pneumonia. Fits with the spiking fevers and night sweats and the fatigue.
Ask for a chest xray and for them to do a blood test while he has a fever.

Sorry, I misread the BP as fever. Does he have a fever at all?

the nihjt sweats are a huge convern - some of the other symptoms ... PoTS?

Dang! wrote a whole long reply and lost it! Apologies, I appear to have inadvertently dripfed.

HbA1c was well below the cut off.
TSH was 3.5, so a tad high, but still well within range.
B12/folate supplement is methylated. I thought we would try the oral route and, if that didn't work, we might have a stronger argument for injections. I did suggest that our friendly neighbourhood beautician could give him an injection now, but he wasn't keen.
No fever as far as we are aware. He had a lung scan recently as part of a standard screening programme in our area and that was clear. When he saw the GP, she sent him for a chest X ray without telling him why, and that was also clear.
Yes, I am very concerned about the night sweats and also fed up of continually changing the bed and washing the linen.

I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea but have you tried asking ChatGPT? Obviously pinch of salt territory but equally might throw up some ideas.

Ooh, thank you. I'll give that a go

Does he drink alcohol a lot? Just thinking about the night sweats.

Is he overweight? How tall is he, how heavy?

What was his vitamin D levels like? Did they check his iron?

Rarely drinks alcohol, although tends to cane it when he does. Currently not had a drink for weeks other than three cans on Monday at a barbecue.

5'6 140lbs

Vitamin D and iron not checked. Hb good though and he takes a vitamin D supplement (4000iu)

A consistent TSH of 3.5 would get you a hypothyroidism diagnosis in some countries albeit, other than fatigue, his symptoms aren’t typical for hypothyroidism. Low vitamins can also be a sign of hypothyroidism as it affects your absorption. Personally though I’d want the thyroid checked further - GP can order a thyroid function test which includes FT4, and most common abs tests, or if you can afford it you can get a full test including both thyroid antibodies, FT3 and key vitamins privately eg:

https://www.medichecks.com/products/advanced-thyroid-function-blood-test?variant=43128660492525&country=GB&currency=GBP&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21340087630&gbraid=0AAAAAD9XHFw5UjWDAm9FDiP7wdsdn5yPf&gclid=CjwKCAjw6NrBBhB6EiwAvnT_rlroBKswbqpTXswrUR3yRF00lBKFekE7PfmmP3ZYpHCxLOajCQY5zxoCtQwQAvD_BwE

Sounds very auto-immuny whatever it is. Auto immune conditions like to hang out with each other which can further confuse the picture.

Have a look at POTS it's not just 15 year old girls that get it despite that being a popular belief.

Could also be coeliac disease, diabetes; thyroid issues etc. Mixture of them.

Sounds very like a family member who has 3 diagnosed auto immune conditions - most of the fatigue/dizzy/pounding heart stuff for them is blamed on the coeliac disease but I suspect they have something else as well which is undiagnosed - most likely thyroid/POTS related.

ChatGP's response was interesting. It basically says he may well have prostate cancer, which would explain a lot of the symptoms, including the night sweats, but he needs more bloods and a neurological evaluation. Hmm.

Night sweats and fatigue were a symptom of lymphoma for my DH. But it could be all sorts of things. With these symptoms he should be investigated urgently, to rule out the serious possibilities. I'd stay away from Google though, for now. Hard I know. 💐

Hypothyroidism and possibly adrenal insufficiency - although this is very rare. To rule this out he would need an early morning 8-9am cortisol blood test through the doctors. If it comes back under 300 he should be referred to an endocrinologist for further tests. It’s interesting his thyroid result is borderline hypothyroid because autoimmune issues (ie Addisons / adrenal insufficiency and thyroid issues etc) often come together - I have many.

Where were his nodules found? On his prostate? I think everything could be related to his raised PSA.