Hi there, I'm new here. I have been suffering from so many symptoms that my doctor (GP) could not make sense of them. I visited my surgery three times in a year, mainly complained about fatigue, rhinitis, insomnia and noise sensitivity. The doctors did not diagnose any disease or agree to refer me to a specialist. I also saw a counsellor at my university, but medical help could only be sought at the GP. Is there an other way to get help?
At the moment, my symptoms include:
- feeling tired all the time, sometimes flushing on face and ears
- nose blocked with mucus, sometimes causing headache, eased only when startled or when exercising
- inability to stay asleep
- irritated by traffic noise that other people don't find disturbing
- arch pain
Most of my symptoms worsen when I move home, especially if the conditions of my home is worse than before. While being a doctoral student from abroad, I have to move frequently. Immediately following a move, I usually develop very strong psychological symptoms of depression and anxiety, because I feel that 'just sustaining life is so difficult that I can't do anything else.'
I have had these problems for many years. I only sought ad hoc medical advice a few times during 'bad periods'. But I think there must be an underlying cause that explains most (if not all) of them. I suspect that it is mild chronic depression (dysthymia), but it could be CFS or many others. Blood and other tests reveal nothing wrong, but I do have a slow heart rate (~50) and an overactive parasympathetic nervous system.
I hesitate to see a psychiatrist, because the negative emotions are usually absent until a bad period triggered by moving or pressure, and as the GPs told me, the only 'treatment' is to move to a better place and to avoid pressure altogether. I had some unfortunate experiences before, which make me think that I am among the unluckiest people. But these experiences do not seem to correlate to the onset time of my problems.