Never been so upset to get good news...

[Food4Thought]

I would at the VERY least try a gluten free diet. It isn't as hard as it sounds, and it might make a huge difference. They recently did some studies where up to 1/3 of the population has a gluten sensitivity of some sort. (not all celiac). Get rid of grains for a few weeks and see if that doesn't help.

 

If it doesn't, go to another doctor.

 

:iagree:I know you're getting a ton of great advice, but I just want to be another advocate for testing food allergies.

 

I lived my entire life almost exactly as you describe in your OP. It was terrible. I despised myself. I never had energy, I never understood how others could live their lives the way they did. I went in for test after test after test - I gave vials of blood for everything in the book. I took medicines for IBS, gastritis, reflux, and depression. I took double doses of iron and vitamin D and I had vitamin B shots. Nothing helped.

 

Then I had my quirky son with Asperger's. I decided to try the gluten-free diet with him, almost as a last resort, and as a show of solidarity, I gave up the gluten with him. In three days my life was CHANGED (as was his - very much so). I was free. I've been gluten-free for 2 years now - no more depression, no more digestion problems, no more bad PMS, no more rages, no more fatigue. I feel like a normal person now. I have hope.

 

I only share this because it is worth a try. And I hope if you read how much it helped me, you might do the hard work it takes to try it. It just might be what's affecting you so deeply. Any sort of elimination diet will be helpful. It might be something other than gluten. Soy, or corn, or dairy. Something. Food affects us in incredible ways.

 

:grouphug::grouphug:

[Stacie Leigh]

Some thyroid issues will only show up on the TPO test, I think.

 

Anyway, the tests are TSH, thyroglobulin antibody, and thyroid peroxidase (TPO) antibody. If you didn't get all of the tests I would go ask for the ones you didn't get.

 

I'm contacting a PCP now to see if they will run these as well.

 

I'm praying for you that God give you His divine clarity and wisdom to know what is really going on with your health and that He will guide you as to what steps to take to handle your situation. "In quietness and trust is your strength." I also pray that He will help you to still the voices that are not from Him...all the thoughts that may be circling and causing you confusion, even words from others that were meant in love but have caused more burden.

 

Thank you so so much. That is just the prayer I need right now and I think, the one I wish my mom had prayed for me.

 

I agree something is wrong - they just haven't done the right test or interpreted the results right.

 

Age really doesn't matter when it comes to menopause/perimenopause. It could be. It could also be some other hormone issues. It could be a lot of things from allergy to autoimmune disease. It could also be effects of the ED. Sometimes it takes the body a long time to recover from an ED, and sometimes when you are getting better you feel worse. My sister has struggled with an ED.

 

You need a more thorough work up.

 

Look for a Functional Medicine doctor. You can find a practitioner and learn more at this website. There are quite a few in PA.

 

I've been in recovery for 10 years now... It hasn't gone perfectly, but I haven't had any major slip ups in that time. I have had an arrhythmia since then, so that follows me, but I can't imagine the symptoms kicking in after 10 years, though who knows?

 

 

You actually want TSH, Free T3, Free T4 and the Antibody tests. There are others as well but these are the main ones.

 

Yes, ok... those are the ones my friend's MIL mentioned.

 

:iagree:I know you're getting a ton of great advice, but I just want to be another advocate for testing food allergies.

 

I lived my entire life almost exactly as you describe in your OP. It was terrible. I despised myself. I never had energy, I never understood how others could live their lives the way they did. I went in for test after test after test - I gave vials of blood for everything in the book. I took medicines for IBS, gastritis, reflux, and depression. I took double doses of iron and vitamin D and I had vitamin B shots. Nothing helped.

 

Then I had my quirky son with Asperger's. I decided to try the gluten-free diet with him, almost as a last resort, and as a show of solidarity, I gave up the gluten with him. In three days my life was CHANGED (as was his - very much so). I was free. I've been gluten-free for 2 years now - no more depression, no more digestion problems, no more bad PMS, no more rages, no more fatigue. I feel like a normal person now. I have hope.

 

I only share this because it is worth a try. And I hope if you read how much it helped me, you might do the hard work it takes to try it. It just might be what's affecting you so deeply. Any sort of elimination diet will be helpful. It might be something other than gluten. Soy, or corn, or dairy. Something. Food affects us in incredible ways.

 

:grouphug::grouphug:

 

Thank you so much and thanks to all the others that mentioned this. Obviously, food has been an issue for me my whole life. I'm Italian... we live on pasta and bread, lol... My sisters and I have a lifelong dream of opening a restaurant together so the idea of giving up gluten sounds like a death sentence, but with the way I am now, I guess it's worth a shot.

[Trish]

I've been struggling for months with a slew of miserable symptoms including very irregular periods, weight gain that will not budge no matter how little/what I eat, severe PMS, greasy hair/skin + breakouts, total exhaustion (I'm usually a night owl and I can't stay awake for anything in the evenings.), etc...

 

All my friends have insisted that I get my thyroid checked and I put it off for months, but after a particularly miserable week, I bit the bullet and made an appointment. My OB/Midwife's office was concerned about a number of things so they drew 5 tubes of blood and tested me for a slew of issues including thyroid problems, hormonal imbalance, PCOS, anemia, etc...

 

I just got the call that there is absolutely nothing wrong with me... physically. Apparently I'm just profoundly depressed... and since I've obviously made up all of these symptoms in my head, completely insane as well. :001_unsure:

 

On one hand I totally dreaded the idea of being on Synthroid for the rest of my life, but on the other, knowing that whatever is wrong cannot be fixed with one little pill is upsetting.

 

I feel like such an idiot that I don't even know myself well enough to know what's real and what's made up in my head.

 

I talked to my mom about it and her sage advice was "The question is whether your marriage is making you depressed or whether you being depressed is messing up your marriage." Great. Now I have that on my shoulders too. She ended the conversations by suggesting that it would be good for me and the kids if they went to school. :sad: (She was not trying to discourage me at all.... She was just worrying about me and trying to love me in her own way... but, ouch.)

 

I've been depressed in the past and during those times, I was secluded and things around the house fell apart. Right now, I'm keeping up with everything and adding to our schedule... outings, swim lessons, picnics... The laundry is done, the meals are cooked the organizational stuff is getting plowed through, curriculum is ordered, charts are checked off and I'm still working with the music team at church on an active basis, plus I added voice lessons for myself which start on Wednesday. So what is this? "Walking Depression"?

 

*If you wouldn't mind not quoting as I may feel the need to erase this after today?

 

Stress or depression can cause actual physical symptoms. It isn't "all in your head." In my husband's practice (G.I.) a LOT of the symptoms are caused by stress and/or depression. That doesn't mean people aren't symptomatic and aren't suffering.

 

I remember getting weird symptoms before I got married! It was happy stress, and I didn't "feel" stressed, but obviously my body knew better than I did. I wondered if I was coming down with something weird (I'd get dizziness, numb sensations, etc.) I actually saw a neurologist, who couldn't find anything wrong with me.

 

The symptoms disappeared at "I do."

[Amy in NH]

I had the exact same symptoms which had been worsening between last July and this May. I'm not depressed; in fact my mood is good - the symptoms are purely physical. I finally went to my PCP in April to get thyroid testing done, which came back low normal. My PCP wrote me a letter with the test results suggesting that my "weight gain is making me feel sluggish". I was quite angry when I read that, as I've not been feeling sluggish - I've been feeling abnormally, debilitatingly exhausted. I made an appointment with an Endocrinology specialist at a well-respected medical center. I started to feel slightly better during the two months I waited to get in to see her. She did some more blood work and ruled out anything thyroid or adrenal related. So, now I am at a loss as to what was/is wrong with me. I still have days when I am totally exhausted, but other days I feel well. She told me that I could possibly be dealing with chronic fatigue syndrome, which can only be diagnosed by ruling out everything else.

 

Now I am stuck with $750 in fees for lab analysis, which my insurance company says they won't pay because the authorized/preapproved doctors didn't send the blood to the right labs for analysis. Ugh. I'm appealing.

 

I hope you'll share if you make any headway on a diagnosis...

 

:grouphug:

[Mom-ninja.]

As others have said, get second or third opinions. Drs can miss things.

 

I'm afraid of being in your spot later today. I also have something wrong, and so far the blood tests have all been normal. I go in today to discuss the latest test results. If I'm not satisfied with what they tell me, I will make an appt with an internal medicine Dr. This Dr. already tried once to tell me my symptoms were anxiety/stress related.

[Denisemomof4]

I've been told that thyroid results may be normal for a regular doc but definitely wouldn't fall into the normal range for a naturopath. Maybe take your results and get a second opinion?

 

Then stop being so hard on yourself! Take one step at a time and work through this. Continue to do all you're doing, add in a walk every day, make sure you're eating well, and have this every morning: http://www.navitasnaturals.com/products/cacao.html It's natural, extremely healthy, packed full of antioxidants, and WILL help your mood improve. Someone on this board recommended it to me when I couldn't get out of my slump after my mom died.

 

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

[HiddenJewel]

I've been told that thyroid results may be normal for a regular doc but definitely wouldn't fall into the normal range for a naturopath. Maybe take your results and get a second opinion

 

Yep! One person's optimal thyroid results may not be right for someone else. There is a big difference in the "normal" range.

[OH_Homeschooler]

I didn't quote you by pushing the button, but this part caught my attention:

 

"since I've obviously made up all of these symptoms in my head". I truly hope that you don't feel this way!

 

The physical symptoms of depression are quite real. They are no less real or true or irritating just because they stem from depression.

 

Three years ago I had an MRI and a slew of other medical tests. Wanna know what the root cause was of my headaches, sleeplessness, inability to take a deep breath,etc. ? Anxiety due to grief. We had a death in the family and instead of taking the time to grieve I jumped right back into life thinking,"THIS is how I will deal with it!", but instead I just got 'stuck' in that phase of the process.

 

:grouphug: It's not all in your head. Those physical symptoms are REAL and dealing with the depression can very likely mitigate the symptoms and their hold on you.

 

:iagree:

 

Not only can depression CAUSE physical symptoms, there is a very real chemical reaction going on in your body that CAUSES the depression. This is why antidepressants work, they restore the chemical imbalance. It's not always just a matter of just being sad, it's not something you can just talk yourself out of. There is no shame in looking into antidepressants. It's the same as someone with cancer taking chemotherapy. Really.

 

And there is such a thing as "walking depression." Not all depression is completely debilitating. I've managed to stay really productive during times when I was most depressed (I had been very depressed for a year give or take before my initial diagnosis, but I still managed to live my life and do well at my job and everything. I just cried a lot in my office alone and didn't sleep.) I have had a few random days where I went on crying jags, but it was just a day and not a long-term bed-ridden kind of thing. This most recently happened last fall when I decided to go off my antidepressants because I thought I was over it. Turns out I wasn't. Things are much better now that I'm back on Zoloft.

Edited July 12, 2011 by OH_Homeschooler

[birchbark]

I've been EXACTLY where you are, same symptoms, same tests, same results and disappointment.

 

We messed around with regular doctors and more natural healthcare until we finally went to see a reproductive endocrinologist when I couldn't get pregnant. She took one look at my records and said, "PCOS." She was able to positively identify it with a transvaginal ultrasound, which the other docs had never tried.

 

My life has been transformed with some medication and lower-glycemic diet. I have SO much more energy! Oh, and babies too. :001_smile:

[JudyJudyJudy]

Thank you so much and thanks to all the others that mentioned this. Obviously, food has been an issue for me my whole life. I'm Italian... we live on pasta and bread, lol... My sisters and I have a lifelong dream of opening a restaurant together so the idea of giving up gluten sounds like a death sentence, but with the way I am now, I guess it's worth a shot.

You have to go gung-ho with it. You can't just do it half-way, or you won't see the good results. Good luck!

[catholicmommy]

Thank you so much and thanks to all the others that mentioned this. Obviously, food has been an issue for me my whole life. I'm Italian... we live on pasta and bread, lol... My sisters and I have a lifelong dream of opening a restaurant together so the idea of giving up gluten sounds like a death sentence, but with the way I am now, I guess it's worth a shot.

 

We have been totally GF for 5 years now, and although it seemed CRAZY at the time and SO HARD, it has become so incredibly easy. There are so many GF foods available now and it leads to eating a much healthier diet if you replace the gluten with fresh fruits, veggies, alternative grains etc..

 

There is a wonderful message board for celiacs and those with gluten intolerance here. The members are so helpful with ideas, research, hand holding etc... i learned so much from them when we first went GF. Also there are millions of fun GF blogs to search for great recipes on.

[Food4Thought]

Thank you so much and thanks to all the others that mentioned this. Obviously, food has been an issue for me my whole life. I'm Italian... we live on pasta and bread, lol... My sisters and I have a lifelong dream of opening a restaurant together so the idea of giving up gluten sounds like a death sentence, but with the way I am now, I guess it's worth a shot.

 

If you offer gluten-free pasta and bread at your restaurant, I bet you'll make a lot of food sensitive customers very happy. :D

[missiemick]

You sound like me last November -- it was possibly the most miserable time in my life. By February, I'd gained 15 pounds and things seemed to be getting worse. I went to see a Chiropractor that also does nutrition (couldn't afford a naturopath) and he did energy readings on several parts of my body. He ended up giving me nutritional supplements for adrenal, kidney, and one that was supposed to help all my energy work better together (it was the best one.) I couldn't afford to do more than a month or so but it helped give my body the push that it needed to get over the hump and start to heal itself. Since then, I've changed my diet quite a bit and stopped eating flour and sugar -- I feel wonderful and have lost the extra 15. I don't ever want to go back to that!

BTW -- my regular doctor told me I was fine (jerk!)