Undiagnosed Health Problems

[estellise]

Hi,

I'm not sure where to put this, if you think it should be elsewhere please let me know.

I’m a 26 year old female who has just moved to Leeds for a new job.

I’ve had health problems for about 6-7 years and around three years ago I was sent for a lot of tests, including a gastroscopy and colonoscopy, to identify why I was having problems with vertigo, nausea, constant migraines, and fainting spells. The Doctors decided these problems were due to problems with my ears / balance system (causing vertigo and fainting) and my birth control pill (causing migraines, silent migraines and nausea).

In the past year or two I’ve been having the following problems:

- light-headed and feeling faint

- nausea in the morning

- tired all the time

- low energy

- general weakness

- cold, especially in my hands, arms and legs

- aches, especially in my hands, arms and legs

- I sweat excessively

- my eyes go blurry / I struggle to focus on things

- inability to concentrate

- frequent outbursts of vaginal thrush

These generally have improved when I eat something sugary.

However, over the past few weeks I’ve found these symptoms have been much worse. The increase in the severity of the symptoms started when I started to exercise more (zumba and squash once a week + daily walks) and I tried to lower the amount of chocolate and fizzy drinks in my diet and replaced these with fruit, yoghurt and water. I have since retracted back to the old diet, but the symptoms are still severe, and eating sugary food/drink is no longer helping (it used to work as a quick-fix).

I’ve had to take some time off work and the symptoms are often unbearable.

I’ve had blood tests done for diabetes and other common causes of these problems and they came back negative. I’ve also been tested for diabetes previously (at my old Doctors).

I saw a new Doctor for the results today – I’ve only been at this practice for around 2 months and I’d never seen her before – and she was very unhelpful. She hadn’t read my file, didn’t know about the blood tests, and didn’t listen to much that I said (she kept interrupting me to talk about other things). She said that I need to learn to live with my symptoms and there are no further tests they can do (she listed four and said that if they were fine, I am fine – they were diabetes, anemia, liver function tests, and another I’ve forgotten).

Important info:

- I eat healthily, with the exception of being in the habit of eating sugary foods to prevent these symptoms. I have requested to see a dietician so they can help me lower my sugar intake.

- I’m happy, not overly anxious or stressed. I’ve just started a new job and finally living with my boyfriend & dog in a lovely new house.

- I'm not overweight. I'm a 24.8 on the BMI scale. However, I have been overweight in the past.

- I do also catch "bugs" etc. easily. If someone has a cold or a flu, I generally get it.

I know my diabetes test results came back negative, but is there anything else sugar-related that this could be? Has anyone had similar problems? Should I consider seeing a private GP – are they generally more helpful? Are there any specific tests I could request?

Thank you for any help, I am desperate to find the cause of these problems.

[bowler]

Try posting on the Pernicious Anaemia Site

Good Luck

[estellise in reply to bowler]

Thank you

[estellise]

Thank you. I'll take a look at those links and try work out if my diet is balanced correctly or not. I find this sort of thing sometimes confusing so maybe I'm getting it wrong! My usual diet is:

- breakfast: porridge

- lunch: sandwich (usually chicken/tuna/ham with salad) and a snack

- dinner: usually chips with meat (chicken or fish usually) with peas; except sundays I have sunday dinner

- supper: small sandwich, toast, or a muller rice

My dinner meals are usually about half a plate of food.

In case it's useful, the post made in the Pernicious Anemia Society is here: healthunlocked.com/pasoc/po...

Thanks again for the helpful advice

[mags4743]

Sorry you are having all these problems and I really do sympathise with you. Nobody on this site can give you any information as to what may be wrong with you (although some may try). I suggest NOT going to a private G.P but go back to your own GP surgery and ask to see another doctor. It sounds as if you have not been given the care/treatment you are entitled to. I know exactly how you feel. In my own circumstances I suffered for about 3 years with a, what was termed, an indigestion pain. I was sent for all sorts of tests, gastroscopy, endoscopy, heart tests etc. and nothing was found. In the end when I couldn't put up with this discomfort any longer I turned to the internet and what I found was quite amazing. As a type 1 diabetic with high blood pressure I am on various medication. One of my tablets (Indapamide) which I googled said....causes indigestion in females over 60..... THAT'S ME. I immediately stopped taking that tablet and, since, that day, I have never suffered with that pain. I am not suggesting this is the case for you as you may not be on any medication, but your post sounds desperate and you need to get your life (and your health) sorted out and I know you have tried to do this, but, please, go back to your G.P. There is nothing wrong with your diet.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[estellise in reply to mags4743]

Hi,

Thank you for this help & advice. I'm glad you found out what was causing your problems.

I went back to the doctors today and saw a different GP. They've booked me in for many more tests and he said if they come back negative, then they'll try some more tests. So it's looking a lot more hopeful than yesterday at least.

Again thank you for the help!

[mags4743 in reply to estellise]

YOU will get there in the end.

[Bemmyboy]

Hi,

I have a long term conditions also. Some of your symptoms are not too disimimilar to mine. If most of this started when you started zumba etc it could be down to circulation issues, get your heart checked especially if you are experiencing cold extremities. I would also suggest possible hormone irregularities, that may be contributing to vaginal thrush along with sugar, which feeds yeast infections. Good luck

Andy