Depression over health problems, continued

Hey guys, I just thought I'd update.
For those who don't know, I've been having stomach issues, lightheadedness, and a bunch of weird symptoms since April. I've been to tons of doctors and none can diagnose me. It's made me very depressed because even though I don't look that sick and when I describe it to people it doesn't sound that bad, it's keeping me from my life. I can't go to school most of the time, I can't see my family, and forget about having friends.
I went to a walk-in internal medicine clinic again yesterday. The first time they weren't helpful at all but I saw different doctors this time and they were great. The first one I saw was a resident and I didn't like her at first but she brought in a doctor who was GREAT, and she must've done a good job explaining my symptoms to him because he seemed to understand perfectly.
He said he sees a lot of people who got a virus or some illness and developed lots of nonspecific symptoms afterward. He seemed to think it was something in the neighborhood of chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, etc. He said it also seems similar to chronic lyme but lyme disease is pretty rare where I live. He even agreed that mold exposure could be a possibility. He said that all of those things are very heavily debated and that's why I've been having such a hard time figuring it out. I was prescribed an antidepressant (amitriptyline) that apparently helps about half of people with fibromyalgia.
So that was (sort of) good news, and I was very happy after leaving the doctor's office, but yesterday evening I started feeling sick again and today I feel awful. I was feeling better for probably two weeks and then I got worse again, which was very disappointing. Today I feel sick, have no appetite, and feel short of breath and lightheaded. I'm really depressed because I don't feel like I'm ever going to get better, and I don't know what to do. I feel like that doctor was as good as I'm going to get... and he's not even my regular doctor, he was just the one who happened to be at the clinic that day.

Thanks. I've been talking to a friend I used to work with who has fibromyalgia and she has a really hard time with it. I don't have the pain but the doctor explained it in a way that kind of made sense... I can't remember exactly what he said but he said something about fibromyalgia overlapping with other issues and that's why some people get pain. But he definitely thinks it's something similar since it seems connected with the virus I had. I can't believe he's the ONLY doctor who's made a connection between my symptoms now and getting sick in April. Honestly, even though fibromyalgia is a terrible thing it would be good to at least have a diagnosis so I could learn how to manage it. And the way I see it, surely they will do more and more research with these diseases and we'll eventually have a cure. My doctor was explaining how not that long ago Celiac disease was debated and doctors didn't know much about it, and now it's widely accepted and treatable. And he thinks CFS/fibro, etc will be the same.

Do you ever have shortness of breath or lightheadedness with fibromyalgia? Or just weird feelings in your head that you can't really describe?

I hope the antidepressant he prescribed helps. He said if it was going to help I wouldn't know for a couple weeks.

Post Edited (lindsay0891) : 10/18/2012 4:33:16 PM (GMT-6)

Yeah, that's what I feel like a lot when I get short of breath, like my chest is just tight. Last night and this morning my back hurt and my lower chest felt tight, making my breathing feel constricted. But I think the back pain was just from the way I was laying on my side while on the computer yesterday.
He didn't actually diagnose me but that is the closest thing I've had to a diagnosis. It was the first time a doctor mentioned any possibility besides anxiety, which was a huge milestone for me. I was also grateful that he pointed out a lot of moles on my back that needed removed (my mom had skin cancer when she was only 36 so that's something I need to watch out for).
The way the clinic works is you have to have a primary care doc there to use the walk-in clinic, so I haven't even seen my new primary care doctor yet. But the good thing is I'll have things to mention to her that the other doc said and hopefully she can get on the road to a diagnosis! My appointment's just two weeks away, so I'm looking forward to it. Plus that'll give me some time to see if the antidepressants work.

Hi Lindsey,

I have a mag. def. and a Vit D. Def. there are many reasons for both. BE VERY careful diagnosising off the internet, it is not gospel!

If you want to be proactive, stay with the fribo information from Healing Well and follow that line along with anxiety. It is at the moment the most logical doctor diagnosed answer you have.

There are many things that you can do to counter act the symptoms of both and increase your good days.

I wish you much success towards that goal.

Keep posting we care how you are doing.

Trina

Feeling not so good again today. Also really depressed about missing my family who I don't get to see due to my illness.
It almost feels like I'm getting worse in some ways. Like, I'll get better for a little while, and then I'll feel worse than ever. Maybe not worse than ever but pretty bad. I just don't understand this and want it to go away.

I don't think I have fibro, the more I read about it. I don't have pain at all. It's almost like I still just have some kind of virus circulating through my body that flares up every now and then. It just feels like something toxic inside me.
Today I feel very lightheaded (or kind of like I'm detached from my body) and I can't eat much, although I've eaten enough that that wouldn't be causing the lightheadedness. I just feel so crappy.. it's so frustrating.

Well, it's hard to say. I definitely don't have as much energy as I used to but it's not like a sleepy kind of fatigue, it's like the out-of-it, lightheaded sort of fatigue. I have been sleeping more though.
I have some symptoms of IBS but I don't have diarrhea or constipation except rarely so I'm not too sure about that. The amitriptyline I was prescribed sometimes is used for IBS (not sure how) so maybe it will help that too.
I wonder if the lightheadedness could be a side effect of St. John's wort? That's the only different thing I've been taking.

Thanks. I'm afraid to go off of it completely because I ran out of my hydroxyzine for anxiety and they won't let me refill it yet. I don't think that's what's causing it anyway since I woke up lightheaded the other day before I'd taken it.
Not feeling so good so far today either. Got woken up early by my neighbors moving and they were talking and laughing and it was just a reminder that I can't do normal things like that anymore. I really just want my life back.

Lindsay,

For the light headedness. I remember before, you had problems eating. Are you eating regularly and staying hydrated?

Just checking.

Trina

Try not to project into the future. Take this one day at a time. I know that you probably don't have fibromyalgia, but when I got it, it started with a virus. I don't know if the two were connected, but it was like I never did get better. And that has been nine or ten years now. I don't want to make you feel bad, but was just saying...

I do hope that you do get better, but just incase, you should probably try to learn to adapt to it. It can be done, and you can get through things without it getting in the way. I sure do hope that you can continue to learn at school. And that you can continue classes. You might have to lighten up the load though. But don't give up... I know that it is hard...

Hey, Thanksgiving is my birthday!!! Not that I really want to have one, but it came to mind...

Keep posting... And going back to food. You should eat small meals four to six times a day. To keep your blood sugar levels even. And drink a lot of water. This will help you digest the food, and it is good to keep hydrated.

I do hope that you feel better soon.

Hugs, Karen...

I am sure in time you are going to figure out what is going on. Just know that doctors don't always have all the answers when we want them. I really hope that you find out what is going on and that you feel better soon.

Hugs, Karen

Feeling pretty good so far today although I haven't been up for very long (I've been staying up late and sleeping late). Last night was good too. Thinking I can definitely hang in there until my next appointment and hopefully I'll have more answers then. Very grateful that I'm feeling decent today because I have tons of school work to get done.
Also switching my St. John's wort for passion flower and GABA since they have no drug interactions and I found out SJW can interact with my antidepressant. So far those things are helping with the anxiety pretty well.

Post Edited (lindsay0891) : 10/21/2012 1:16:32 PM (GMT-6)

Thanks. Shortly after I posted that I started feeling a little lightheaded and anxious but I think it's just because I didn't eat very much when I woke up and probably haven't drank enough water. I find the anxiety comes a lot easier on an empty stomach!
I used to drink Sleeptime tea, I forgot about it but it is good stuff. I need to see if it's safe to take GABA and passion flower with the antidepressant because I feel like passion flower doesn't do quite enough although it does help.