Odd collection of symptoms that last 1-4 days

[Bagrat]

I'll try to be brief. For many years I have from time to time had episodes at varying intervals and for varying lengths of time, of debilitating fatigue ( have to lie down to get relief) accompanied by some or all of the following:-Nausea, abdominal discomfort, lack of appetite, various chest pains, L ache, R ache, central retrosternal, sharp pains under R breast, going hot, occasionally shaking anxiety and catastrophic thinking.

These symptoms disappear as fast as they come. In addition my pulse rate and BP tend to be very labile, though I avoid taking them too often!! My pulse normally about 60 can get to 98 climbing one flight of stairs when feeling like this. Similarly BP 140/90 taken on arrival upstairs and 104/68 2 mins later.

Nothing to compare with when well, as avoid checking but will! It's difficult to know if symptoms cause anxiety or vice versa!!

I meditate daily and practice various relaxation techniques. Also feel this could fit with some vagal anomaly

My feeling is that this is anxiety related but every couple of years feel the need for reassurance and have got a GP appt next Friday. This goes back 20 yrs and I'm still here!! Life is a bit stressy at present as OH still waiting for angiogram pre referral for valve surgery ( 9 months on!) Now thinking of private consult and private angiogram.

Any thoughts??

[Buffafly]

Gallstones?

[Bagrat in reply to Buffafly]

Now there's a thought, don't think pain bad enough!! Nowyou are tempting me into a no go area - internet search!!

[Buffafly in reply to Bagrat]

I went to hospital because I’d had an abdominal pain and a temperature and though the pain wasn’t agonising something told me to go, just as well as it was a diverticular abscess and perforated bowel 😱 Other people have told me they were screaming in agony with the same thing, so goes to show pain isn’t everything. Best wishes in your search 😉

[Buffafly in reply to Buffafly]

PS Friend went to A&E with severe abdominal pain, nothing found, eventually consultant noticed she’d been diagnosed with gallstones years before, not followed up 🙄

[Bagrat in reply to Buffafly]

Thank you. many moons ago my GP about to retire and ever hopeful of making medical history investigated me for phaeochromocytoma(!) very rare adrenal tumour. The symptoms and signs of a phaeochromocytoma can include: headaches, heavy sweating, heart palpitations, high blood pressure, a pale face, feeling or being sick, feeling anxious or panicky, shakiness (tremor) none of which were a good fit apart from last two and then not always!!

[Cavalierrubie]

lt does sound like stress as you say. Looming medical appointments always cause me stress and until they are over, l can’t relax properly and this spoils the quality of my life. You could have a form of migraine. They come in many disguises and you can even have migraine of the stomach. You can have migraine symptoms without the headache. My poor mum suffered with them from a young age. Just a thought particularly as you have stress. You always help others on here, so hope you soon feel better and your tests are ok. Take care.

[Bagrat in reply to Cavalierrubie]

I'm fine now. I used to have migraines with headache and my son had abdominal migraine as a child and teen. After the menopause migraine headache went but I did have something similar minus the head!, That is a very good working hypothesis thanks.

[Cavalierrubie in reply to Bagrat]

I would imagine then, if you have suffered, that it is probably connected to migraine symptoms. If it was anything more serious you would have become much worse over time. Anxiety, which l suffer from,,can make you very ill. Adrenaline is a very powerful thing. Best wishes.

[Bagrat in reply to Cavalierrubie]

Thank you so much for your support. I have over the years come to accept it's 'normal for me' but 'bl***y annoying.

[Cavalierrubie in reply to Bagrat]

Bless you. Migraines are awful things. You take care of yourself and try not to worry (easier said than done, l know). I am sure you will be ok.

[opal11uk]

My husband had this, went on for quite some time, off an on, then during Covid he was taken as an emergency 3 times to hospital, he was treated for heart related, sent to a specialist hospital for stents, was told by the specialist that no, he didn't need stents, his heart was perfect, sent back to hospital. His discomfort went then, a week or so passed and again, hospital, still no formal diagnosis, home again, another couple of weeks off he went and this time diagnosed with Gall Bladder! In the middle of Covid there he was in hospital, in a ward on his own, his very bloody and inflamed Gall Bladder was removed and hey presto, no more episodes, no more pain etc.etc., he was 82 at the time. Yesterday he was gardening, he is still playing his beloved table tennis although this year he says he is giving up his place in the league (I'll believe it when I see it) and he is 84 with blood cancer and apart from tiredness he is doing absolutely fine, no heart trouble whatsoever! I should add to this, every medic has stated that Gall Bladder problems mimic heart so this could, maybe, be your answer. Good luck

[Bagrat in reply to opal11uk]

That's really interesting. Thank you

[pusillanimous in reply to opal11uk]

I am the only one in my family of females who have not suffered from gall bladder problems, My mother and 4 sisters. My mother drummed into me, to get medical attention for any pain on the right hand side of the body particularly under the shoulder blade, I still have time, as my eldest sister did not have hers removed until she was 85!. Sadly one sister died because of it. We all have AF as well (except for mother, that comes from father's side). She was admitted for a gall bladder op. was sent home because they could not get her HR down and not rescheduled for the gall bladder op. Stones from the gall bladder migrated to the biliary tube, became cancerous and inoperable, and she died.

[Bagrat in reply to pusillanimous]

There are times when I'm glad I was adopted! No family history to stress over.

[opal11uk in reply to pusillanimous]

That is really sad, and quite a history too. I am so pleased that eventually my hubby's problem was found and removed, the surgeon said it was a difficult surgery as the thing bled a lot and was very inflamed so guess my hubby was lucky as that could have taken a much more serious turn as you have pointed out x

[Qualipop in reply to opal11uk]

Gallstones are the bane of my life. I recently saw the GP about a persistent sharp pain near my navel. First she tested for pancreatitis ( It wasn't anywhere near bad enough for that; then sent me for an x ray and scan where of course they found my gallbladder packed with stones- a LOT of stones. They don't usually show on x ray unless there are a lot. I've known about them for perhaps 40 years and have never had a problem. Medics tell me that almost everyone has gallstones without knowing. However since then, any pain I get anywhere is attributed to this mass of gallstones which I know is not true. I do know one could decide to escape at any time but it 40 years that's not happened but I do worry that their insistence now on everything being gallstones could make them miss something else. I have friend who last year almost died from a severely infected gallbladder and sepsis. He was found almost unconscious, just in time. The infection was so bad his gallblader had stuck to his liver and couldn't be removed.

[Bagrat in reply to Qualipop]

I can understand how you feel about one diagnosis being used in a way that prevents others being made. Very annoying!

[bassets]

I hope you get to the bottom of this and feel better - let us know. Best of luck.

[Auriculaire]

Is there a possibility that you have in the past taken a fluoroquinolone antibiotic such as Cipro? All these symptoms along with tendon damage for some can be signs of being "floxed"ie having a bad reaction to an FQ antibiotic. This is not like a classic allergy to say penicillin. The symptoms of floxing can be delayed- eg the tendon damage often incurred can occur weeks or even months later. Recovery goes in cycles over many years whereby you can feel quite normal for months on end then suddenly all your symptoms come back. I have been floxed several times in my life and suffer from most of the symptoms you describe except lack of appetite ( I don't measure my BP or heart rate so I don't know if they are off) -plus I have widespread tendonitis . It is now 9 years since my last exposure to Cipro and the time between episodes is getting longer and the episodes themselves do not last as long but I sometimes think it will never go away! When first afflicted by this I had no idea what was wrong with me - I just knew something was wrong and worried I had cancer. I did not find out about reactions to FQ antibiotics until after what was probably my fourth exposure -25 years after my first. My afib started after my 3rd exposure.

[Bagrat in reply to Auriculaire]

Heck, I'm learning a lot. As far as I know the only antibiotics I've had are the ubiquitous amoxicillin (several cycles during lock down as had tooth abscess and no treatments on offer) fluclox and never to be repeated erythromycin. Don't know anyone who tolerates the latter well.My episodes are more spaced out now. but really started so long ago, 2005 ish not sure antibiotics were invented! 🤣

Thank you for your response

[Auriculaire in reply to Bagrat]

I can assure you that FQ antibiotics were in use in 2005. My first encounter was in the 90s. Before the problems with them were recognised ( which took a long long time and many patients were gaslit) they were actually very popular with doctors as wide spectrum and powerful so no need to do pesky testing to see what antibiotic would be best for the infection. The problem with them is that their mode of action in killing the bacteria is not like that of other antibiotics . They are more like cancer drugs which is why they can have delayed reactions. The only way you can find out if you have ever been prescribed one in the dim and distant past is to go over your medical notes. Most people cannot remember what they were prescribed donkey's years ago. The only reason I believe I was given one in the early 90s is because I know I had several courses of antibiotics for sinusitis in 89/90 and at the same time I got Achilles heel tendonitis- a classic side effect of FQs. I remember that because the treatment at the physio was so torturous I will never forget it! The UK has now forbidden FQ treatment except under very exceptional circumstances.

[Cavalierrubie in reply to Auriculaire]

That’s very interesting Auriculaire and confirms that side effects of drugs can be found out years after they were released as being safe to use. We know that all drugs have side effects, but it is worrying that, years after use, we find out how detrimental these are to the human body. All drugs, although they save lives. are toxic to the body. Even paracetamol is not without problems, with long term use. It is supposed to be the safest pain killer? Sorry to bring this up folks, but the Covid vaccination will also be in this category and there is much that will be found from this vaccination in the future. I have been ill with various medical conditions from my last vaccination, which has now been going on for 6 months. I am also aware of many people whose health has gone downhill since having these vaccinations. I think the virus is now under control, thankfully, but there is a huge aftermath of long term effects not only from Covid itself, but also the vaccine.

[Auriculaire in reply to Cavalierrubie]

I have side effect problems with all painkillers and avoid them . I have to be in really severe pain before taking anything. Even after my hip replacement surgeries I took the absolute minimum and the nurses thought I was really weird . I am very sensitive to meds in general and hate taking them. I only had one covid shot - the Janssen and refused all the boosters. My husband had none. It meant we could not go out to restaurants for weeks as we had no Passe Vaccinal but I have no regrets about it and wish I had not had the one shot . I felt I had to have it as I was going for my second hip op and I had heard that unvaccinated patients were treated badly by some of the medical staff. In the clinic I was at they were confined to their rooms and not allowed to exercise in the corridors.

[pusillanimous in reply to Auriculaire]

I'm so glad that you issued me with the warning about FG antibiotics,. I had one course which I now feel was unnecessary. Three days after starting the 5 day course the pain in my legs started, obviously tendonitis, fortunately that subsided after about 10 days. But I too, have been even more jittery and anxious since taking the drug. I was prescribed the drug telephonically, when I phoned to tell my doctor that I had recurring bouts of diarrhoea, which I thought was due to drinking tap water (I always boil it). However, coincidentally, the same morning as I drank the water, I started on a drug she had prescribed the day before during my routine visit, for my anxiety. That same morning the diarrhoea started. I stopped all my drugs except for the anti-coagulant and the low dose Bisoprolol. After a couple of days of a BRAT diet, I seemed better, and recommenced my usual routine including the Serdip drug, same result - diarrhoea! This happened three times, that is when I phoned to about the recurring problem and FG antibiotics were prescribed. Tests showed no pathogens in stool, Abdominal Xrays showed nothing unusual. I then put on my thinking cap and Googled the new drug, I found it contains Sertraline which is notorious for causing diarrhoea! Took one tablet again, result diarrhoea!! Never taken another and no problem ! I'm a little cross with my doctor of whom I'm very fond, but I suppose it was my fault because I blamed the water, I will never take an FG antibiotic again though !

[Auriculaire in reply to pusillanimous]

Obviously the message about the danger of FQs has not got to the SA medical authorities. The UK has now forbidden the prescribing of them except in very exceptional circumstances. You need to be very careful over the next few months as tendon rupture can happen months after stopping. They can also have bad psychological effects - anxiety is common - and even cause psychosis in some patients. My last exposure in 2015 was unnecessary. My GP prescribed them for a suspected UTI. I knew I did not have a UTI but a flare up of my diverticulitis which always affected my bladder but not with typical UTI symptoms. Luckily I only took one capsule and had some side effects that I recognised from when I was given it the year before when hospitalised with a bad attack of diverticulitis. I looked it up on Google and found out about floxing- Google probably saved me from a much worse reaction as each subsequent exposure can cause more damage . I took no more and when the results of the urine test came back I was right - no UTI. But a few days later I was bluelighted to hospital with afib!

[mjames1]

My pulse normally about 60 can get to 98 climbing one flight of stairs when feeling like this. Similarly BP 140/90 taken on arrival upstairs and 104/68 2 mins later.

Sounds quite normal to me. Is your doctor concerned about this?

Jim

[Bagrat in reply to mjames1]

I thought pretty normal too, was just for comparison. My BP pretty ok unless in hospital and twitchy when it can hit 200 systolic but cardiologist aware, I just do a weeks recordings to take with me, though was discharged Feb 23. I shall share with GP who I haven't seen for months? a year!!

[secondtry]

Pure conjecture but maybe an incompetent gallbladder or none at all affects digestion which in turn could be contributing to the potential for AF to be triggered.

I had bad pain and my gall bladder removed (whilst on holiday in Portugal!) and then started getting AF a few years later.

[Lenaropes]

Curious if you have any thyroid problems. I have had similar when my dose of levothyroxine is not correct.

[Bagrat]

Thank you for replying. I saw my GP yesterday and she said she would test Thyroid function, last done when I went to see her about similar symptoms in 2021. I've had them on and off since but rarely feel the need to see a doctor.She didn't offer any explanation and is doing usual blood tests as well.