Saw the doctor who shares the office with mine, which was nice, because it was a second opinion.

Turns out they did more with the blood tests that I'd done before then I'd realized.

Blood Sugar=normal (As someone who had gestational diabetes, and was told I should consider myself pre-diabetic, that's a yay!)

Thyroid=normal (they did three different tests, including checking on how the hypothalamus is doing)

Cortisol=normal

I talked to him about how I've been feeling,explained that I've been spotting ever since my (early, looong) period, and told him about how over exertion makes me very pale, breathless and shaky, not to mention tight in the neck and chest, muscles aching, etc.


I also asked him right up if a vitamin issue (D, B, Iron, etc) could cause my symptoms, and mentioned something I'd forgotten: when I had my daughter, I had a full genetic panel, and something on there had had to do with B vitamins.

Turns out there's a form of Anemia caused by B12 deficiency that is a good match for the problems I'm having...it shows up on a good genetic panel because there's a genetic condition that means that the portion of the intestine that collects B's doesn't work properly...so if that's the case, I could take tons of B's orally, and have it do nothing.

So now I'm waiting on three different blood tests tied to anemia: B count, Iron count, and red blood cell count.

He also wants me to do a stress test, because I have a family history of young heart disease, and he's worried about that tight feeling.

I'd pray for you, vasalissasdoll, but with my bad luck juju, I'm afraid of doing you more harm than good. 'Tho I am following your reports with hope that you'll be well soon. :o)

I'm glad you're getting answers and tests.

When a Dr. can't initally point and say it's [this one thing], they often say wait and see or it's nothing.

Hahaha...Given everything I've seen, wine country girl, I don't think you have bad juju.

I'm just glad it feels like we're heading somewhere. Worst case scenario for me has been a "we don't know" diagnosis, like Chronic Fatigue...as long as their are still logical options to explore, we have progress.

hope they figure you out! :)

Good luck with the tests and I hope you get to feeling better and they get to the bottom of it.

I've been following your journey, because I too am in weird symptom limbo, and feeling kind of similar to you, actually.

I did find the root of some of my problems a few years ago, and the tight chest problem for me was related to food intolerances. That cleared right up for me when I eliminated gluten.

Have you done an elimination diet? Have I asked this before? I've been repetitious in the past. :)


I still have a lot of problems, and am having a cyst removed from my thyroid in a couple weeks. All my thyroid tests are "perfectly normal", and yet... There's a big ole cyst in there! So something's up.



Anyway, I'm also off dairy, and a lot of replacement foods like coffee dreamer are made of soy. So. Currently I'm challenging soy in my diet. I'm on two days with none finally, I found some soybean oil in my favorite carb source, now I'm totally soy free, and already today I don't feel as weak and heavy-lethargic in my arms and legs.

Two days... Too soon to know for sure, could just be a good day. :p

Just wanted to say, I'm listening.

Oh, wow, WinksWinks....my dad was diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome ages ago, and recently figured out it was a soy sensitivity. It's hard to cut...it's everywhere!


If this isn't the cause, an elimination diet is next on the agenda...if nothing else, then for the bowel problems, as they seem to predate my current problems, but have been made worse by them. He asked me to keep journaling, and pay attention to whether there's a possible link to dairy.

As is, we tend to eat very healthy...before all of this, I found that following the advice for the diabetic diet helps me, and so we eat whole grains, a lot of veggies, some fruit(more my kids then me), and the healthiest cuts of meat we can manage. I cook from scratch a lot...very rare for us to have processed foods, so no soy to speak of, except for the occasional fermented products like tofu during Japanese meals.

In a more recent push, when I really started feeling mucky in August, I cut out white flour and refined white sugar. It didn't seem to make any difference, I just keep feeling sicker.

Thanks for the ideas...I hope that makes sense!

You're welcome! :)

I can suggest why going low flour made you feel less well, or just no better. IF, big if here... If it is a result of gluten sensitivity, part of gluten's bad effects are actually soothing to your body. So if it is a problem, by cutting out some of it, you are getting less of the protective effects, while damage is still being done.

I had to be very strict in the beginning. Now that it's been four years, I can handle a slip up without quite as much misery. It's still not pleasant, but doesn't feel quite as deadly as in the early days for me.

I can link you to some stuff later when I can use a real computer about why gluten soothes while damaging people who have a problem with it.

Also, if you need a doctor to confirm your sensitivity to it via blood tests or endoscopy, DON'T quit eating it for an elimination diet just yet.

I quit before testing, which meant I had no antibodies left to show up on a celiac blood test. I still don't know if I have true celiac's or just gluten sensitivity, but the way I feel was enough confirmation for me.
Some people might cheat once in a while without a doctor's confirmation of damage, I don't know if you need doctor's orders like that or not.



I could talk your ear off about it. It was such a help to figure it out for me, I don't like thinking people are out there potentially hurting because of it.
But you can tell me to shut up or decide it's not your problem and I'll drop it. My mom is queen of unwanted dietary advice, so I know how that can suck too. :D

My mom's like that too...No worries, and I still appreciate it.

If I need to do a test like that, I'll be doing it in cooperation with my doctor. Cutting things by myself had been a bit of a last-ditch effort to feel better before I finally got professional help!

Sounds like you are being taken seriously, and hopefully, they will have the answer soon.

You just never know what they will find. Not to scare you...
We got a surprise when hubby had an EKG -- he'd had a "silent" heart attack, only left a tiny bit of damage, nothing to be concerned about. He didn't have a clue.

Hope you get some concrete answers soon!

It sounds like you're on the right track. I hope you find your answers.

Wow, SusieQ#1, that's pretty scary! Right now all we can do is wait and see what happens...but at least we're checking things off the list.

Thanks again, everyone!!!