Can anyone help? I'm new here.

[cshepp]

Hello all. I have been having ongoing problems for 2 years. They are getting worse. Besides joint problems such as TMJ, carpal tunnel, and knee problems (surgery on all), I have been having other issues.

 Feel like I’m living life in a fog. Awful concentration.

Cluster headaches/migraines. Muscles in the back of my head become inflamed.

Chronic fatigue.

Unintentional weight loss. Went from a size 9 to size 3. D cup to B cup. Lost 20 pounds. Feel full after eating very little.

Face flushes hot and red but dry. I get chills when this happens.

Body rashes come and go. Sun seems to aggravate.

Hands turn red and hot.

Dizzy when stand/short breath. Feel like I HAVE to suck in deep breaths sometimes to breathe.

Low Vitamin D (on prescription VitD). Low Potassium. Always mildly anemic.

High heart rate over long period (over 100 to 120 just from walking)

Can hear/feel my heart beat and "flip" when lying/sitting after doing nothing more than walking, although after a while, resting rate is usually around 85.

Pain beside belly button to the left and up into upper left abdomen. Will radiate into right side.

Back pain.

Blood and mucus in stool. No blood on toilet paper.

Chronic constipation with bouts of diarrhea.

Pelvic/groin pain and tenderness. Near constant.

Persistent pain in urethra. Pinching feeling in bladder/all of a sudden have to pee.

Urinate frequently but it takes a while to come out and then doesn't feel like it all comes out. If I stand up, I can sit right back down and pee again.

White, floaty cloud stuff in urine.

Drink water constantly but always thirsty with bad, metallic taste in my mouth. My eyes and mouth are always dry.

Tingly/numb hands and feet. Cramps.

Knees/legs always swollen/look bruised/spider veins/blotchy/poor circulation.

Bursitis/baker's cyst/torn meniscus/slight arthritis left knee.

Carpal tunnel in both hands. (Surgery on both). Still have problems with both. Swelling and stiffness.

Slight arthritis right knee.

Joint pain: fingers/wrists/knees/neck/toes.

Dry hair that falls out.

Kidney stones. (both sides)

Enlarged liver.

Ovarian cysts. (Recurrent. Had hysterectomy 2 years ago. Kept ovaries, everything else gone.)

GERD. (stomach ulcers)

TMJ. (surgery)

Recurrent UTIs.

Have had blood in urine over a 3-month period with and without infection.

Recurrent inner ear inflammation/tinnitus.

Yet, my doctor says my blood tests are "normal" and never wants to do anything else. I don't understand. I thought you were supposed to treat the patient, not the test. And who says everybody's body falls into normal ranges? You can't fake the symptoms I have. They are there and very real. I don't ask for pain meds, and I just want answers. Wanted to see if anyone could look past the "normal" and tell me what some of these borderline results mean.

Sodium Level 138 mmol/L

Potassium Level 3.2 mmol/L

Chloride Level 108 mmol/L

CO2 23 mmol/L

Anion Gap 7

Glucose Level 102 mg/dL

Osmo Serum Calc 286

BUN 11 mg/dL

Creatinine Level 0.6 mg/dL

BUN/Creat Ratio 18

Calcium Level 9.3 mg/dL

Corr Calcium 8.7 mg/dL

Total Protein 7.3 gm/dL

Globulin 2.6 gm/dL

Albumin Level 4.7 gm/dL

A/G Ratio 1.8

Bilirubin Total 0.7 mg/dL 8

GFR African 148.99 mL/min/1.73m2 1

GFR non-African 123.14 mL/min/1.73m2 2

Alk Phos Total 47 Int. Unit/L

AST 12 Int. Unit/L

ALT 10 Int. Unit/L

Lactic Acid 0.4 mmol/L 9

Procalcitonin Level <0.05 ng/mL 3

Hemoglobin 13.1 gm/dL

Hematocrit 39.3 %

RBC 4.11 x10^6/mcL

WBC 7.2 x10^3/mcL

PLT 180 x10^3/mcL

MCV 95.7 fL

MCH 31.8 pg

MCHC 33.3 %

RDW 12.7 %

MPV 10.4 fL

Auto Segs 69.6 %

Absolute Seg Ct 5.0 x10^3/mcL

Auto Lymphs 22.3 %

Absolute Lymph Ct 1.6 x10^3/mcL

Auto Monos 7.3 %

Absolute Mono Ct 0.5 x10^3/mcL

Auto Eos 0.3 %

Absolute Eos Ct 0.0 x10^3/mcL

Auto Basos 0.5 %

Absolute Baso Ct 0.0 x10^3/mcL

D-Dimer HS Assay <150 ng/mL D-DU 4, 5

vitamin b-12 643 pg/ml

RA Latex Turbid 7.0

ANA Direct Negative

Iron Saturation 27%

Iron, serum 87ug/dl

UIBC 237 ug/dl

Iron Bind Cap 324 ug/dl

WSR(SED rate) 7mm/h

C-reactive protein 0.3 mg/L

thyroxine free T4, Free 1.21

TSH (Thyroid stimulating) 1.07 uiu/ml

Vitamin D-25-Hydroxy 15.4

I am a 32 yr old female.

[kimbergram]

CShep,

Wow, sounds like you have a bunch of stuff happening. I feel your frustration, as I have been through something similar. It is so frustrating to know you have something going on with you, but not to be able to find anything on the test results. I am definitely not a doctor, but I do have a few insights to share. I hope they will help. 

1. You mentioned you are a 32 year old female. Are you under a constant amount of stress? Work? Kids? Relationships? Life? The phrase stress kills is true. Constant stress can lower your immune system, cause adrenal fatigue, and increase your risk of heart disease. The problem is that it goes undiagnosed until something major crashes in your body (ie: adrenal failure, heart attack, etc...) If you are under stress, and you can afford to, a homeopath/DO/or other holistic health provider might be a good first step. 

2. It also sounds to me like your endocrine system is giving you trouble. The problem is that many times this doesn't show up on normal tests. You might ask about getting an MRI with contrast of your brain and adrenal system. You could try seeing an endocrine doctor, but many times they don't want to see you unless your doctor has already made a preliminary diagnosis. 

3. Do you take a lot of prescription meds? I know it is a personal question, but this is what I ran into. My life was a chaotic mess, I was depressed so I got on anti-depressants, then I started having anxiety (really bad) so I started taking anti-anxiety meds. Mix that with the medication I already took for ADD and presto, my body freaked out on me. Medications can cause more symptoms than they treat and they can also mask more serious symptoms because they temporarily put a band-aid on what might be going on. Just something to think about. 

4. The biggest thing is to not give up and feel defeated. You know your body. You know how you feel now compared to before. Just because an illness might be invisible to others doesn't mean it isn't there. Keep advocating for yourself. Read up on the adrenal system and also neurotransmitters/ hormones and vitamin deficiency. Start mapping it out and make a timeline for your own knowledge and records. Also, don't be afraid to ask about specific things you have researched. 

Remember, at the end of the day, the doctor goes home feeling fine. You are the one who lives with this. Good luck to you and keep us posted. 

kimbergram

[hathi999]

A B12 deficiency might be a starting point, here is a full list of symptoms and there are a lot similar to your list difficulty-swallowing.com/s... my blog post is about swallowing but you'll find the list there.  Have you been tested with a methylmalonic acid test?  You have quite a good B12 level but if you have the MTHFR gene mutation you might not be able to methylate it (get the B12 in your blood into your cells where it is used).  Especially as you have mild anaemia.  Also the kind of B12 you use can impact your absorption, oral B12 (and/or cyanocobalamin) is unlikely to help you very much, especially as you have GERD.  Just a thought...

[Marz]

b12deficiency.info/signs-an...

i too thought B12 deficiency as I read through the results.  Sadly there were not any ranges but some still stood out.  Your calcium and adjusted calcium seem quite high ( from ranges that I have seen ) - it could be you are LOW in VitK2 - which distributes calcium from the arteries into the bones and teeth.  I am assuming it could be the cause of your kidney stones.  Also take Magnesium or use a spray oil by Better You.

Your VitD is on the floor and should be treated - again I am assuming your results were in pmol/L and not in ng/L.  I think you need loading doses before a good maintenance dose.

grassrootshealth.net

The above link will take you to a chart showing the doses required based on results.  Check the measurements.  I live in Crete so the ranges are different - there is a converter on the website.  VitD is a steroidal pre-hormone and needed in every cell of your body.  It is also anti-inflammatory.

i do think there is an issue with your B12.  Were you supplementing before the test ?  Even a multi-vit containing B12 can skew the result considerably.  Only 20% of the blood result is available to be utilised in the cells where it is needed.  On the PA Forum they suggest a B12 of around 1000.

Hope you soon find some answers .....  Knowing what other medications/supplements you are taking would also be helpful as some results can be skewed by various pills and potions.

[Hidden]

Do nervous system problems show up in blood tests? Don't think so. Ask to be referred to a neurologist and google autonomic nervous system dysfunction on the NHS website.

I have regular blood tests that show absolutely nothing, but have mild versions of much of what you report. My GP has suggested a neurologist, but you need to align these symptoms to the typical symptoms of a disorder to be taken seriously.

They can test for issues with immunity and auto-immune disorders I think.  I had that test done and it came back with a helpful result.  My issues were thought to be thyroid related, but it was my nervous system.

Your symptoms sound pretty nasty.  Perhaps you could ask for the gastric emptying test, to see if food is staying in your stomach too long? The results from this - subject to you having symptoms at the time of the test - would be difficult to refute if this is causing the diarrhoea/constipation and sickness.

It is easy to be regarded as a nuisance and hypochondriac isn't it. I have faced similar issues! I feel for you.

x

[Marz in reply to Hidden]

B12 deficiency can be a neurological condition if not diagnosed and treated.  A result < 500 can present with symptoms - often missed by the GP.  Take a look at the video on the link I posted above - second one down I think - under the heading Films on the menu .... and how a Doc suffered not knowing it was B12D ....