Another Diagnose My Illness Thread - Severe Fatigue

Thyroglobulin Antibody, S

This is a completely random shot in the dark, but have you ever tried testing for celiac disease?

t94bell wrote:

This is a completely random shot in the dark, but have you ever tried testing for celiac disease?

I had tried to go gluten free for a month during the spring, and didn't seem to make a difference. All symptoms still there. Sorry, my original message keeps getting cut off. Apologies for the wall of text.

Thyroglobulin Antibody, S

Epstein-Barr Panel

EBV VCA IgM Ab Negative Negative (Ref. Value)

EBV VCA IgG Ab Positive Negative (Ref. Value)

EBNA Ab Positive Negative (Ref. Value)

EBV Interpretation: Results suggest past infection.

The conclusions that I have drawn so far... possibly a reactivation of prior EBV infection, although the low blood pressure, low pulse, and low body temp don't seem to match up with that. I thought that maybe those symptoms are attributed to a mild and early case of pericarditis. I have considered ME/CFS, but the fact that I have these lesions seems to suggest that I may have a primary infection. Also considered some form of parasympathetic overtraining, BUT from what I've read it sounds like you would experience sympathetic overtraining symptoms first and I never had any. Just straight to the above symptoms. My Heart Rate Variability is very high at rest as well as during light activity, and I would think this would rule out any type of chronic overtraining. I'm stumped. Thanks for reading and any suggestions.

No idea but you need to rest completely and not just from running, take a couple of wks off work sick and laze around all day

mononucleosis

aghaeh wrote:

mononucleosis

This is the simple conclusion that I came to as well, but the antibodies for an active Epstein-Barr infection came back negative. Other antibodies suggest that I've had a past infection which would align well with the illness I contracted in summer 2011.

Hang in there man. I can't help you but am going through a similar crisis myself with different symptoms. Running is the only stable thing in my life. My experience with doctors in the last 2 years has been eye-opening. There are some cases that completely baffle western medicine.

dbfnfgn wrote:

Hang in there man. I can't help you but am going through a similar crisis myself with different symptoms. Running is the only stable thing in my life. My experience with doctors in the last 2 years has been eye-opening. There are some cases that completely baffle western medicine.

Thanks dude. Just thought I'd see if LRC had any opinions. Some of the fellows over on the "diagnose my girlfriend" thread seemed to have a bit of experience. Maybe some will weigh in on here.

Your blood calcium levels are on the high side of normal. You should have serial blood calcium levels measured and a PTH test performed to rule out primary pArathyroid dysfunction. Also, what vitamins/supplements are you taking? I'd suggest you cut out any calcium supplements if you take any.

Google parathyroid And look at the symptoms of hyperparathyoidism.

Seriously, OP if you care about living and aren't a professional athlete:

Stop running entirely.

take a break, start sleeping in every day, stop stressing about everything. You have adrenal fatigue. Likely from your illness your cortisol levels spiked in addition to your life, and you haven't gotten back to square one. Your DHEA, Testosterone, and HGH hormones likely crashed and you are burned out.

Stop eating starches and grains in high quantities. Start eating more fruits and vegetables and lean meat. Also include some healthy fish oil, olive oil, avacado/coconut or other healthy fatty food in your diet. Be sure to drink at least 3 quarts of filtered water a throughout the day.

Then when you are ready, start working out but focus on increasing strength before you run, lift weights, do yoga, swim, nothing strenuous thats longer than 10 minutes or fatigues your aerobic system.

And finally, after several months of healthier living return to your old routine refreshed and rejuvenated. You have to take serious breaks, you can't just go full steam every day all year long.

Then after a few months

Another random guess and sorry if I missed in in all the lab work but have you had your ferretin levels tested? When I was anemic, all my bloodwork came back fine (even hemoglobin and hematocrit) but my ferretin levels were really low and I felt like I was going to pass out anytime I exerted myself.

I also have low body temp, low bp, low pulse (despite no exercise) and suffer from CFS/ME, which started as a mono-like condition that came back on me and I was never the same again. Your orthostatic intolerance is another indicator and may be a result of diastolic dysfuntion. The pseudo-appearance of pericarditis is not an uncommon feature in the early going.

I can't tell from the picture, but it looks like you have crimson crescents, which are commonplace in ME and indicative of generalized immune activation. Your tongue also looks thrushed, like your immune system is down.

See Martin Lerner's page on CFS and the heart, though I don;t like his one-size fits all approach, which is toxic drugs - maybe only in the acute phase.

Look at Paul Cheney's most recent work in the field, as he is very familiar with abnormal cardiac physiology in CFS patients, many of whom seem to have diastolic dysfunction with a preserved ejection fraction, which run-of-the-mill cardiologists simply don't understand.

To Gk234, I did have my ferritin tested. It was just one of the first things that I had looked at when my symptoms began so I forgot to include it. Ferritin of 69, so I don't think that is an issue.

As for adrenal fatigue - I am at the point that I will consider anything. However, I am uneasy about writing it off as adrenal fatigue because of the lack of peer-reviewed research in that area. My symptoms do match up with what many consider "adrenal fatigue," but I'm not so sure that those symptoms are not manifesting as a result of another underlying condition. I have lost muscle mass, and my testosterone is obviously very low (know this for reasons I am sure you can guess), and my lack of any improvement throughout a short spring track season all lead me to believe that there is an endocrine component at play.

As of right now I am eating a pretty well-balanced diet. Plenty of protein, enough carbohydrate for my level of activity (60g per hour of exercise to replenish glycogen), and some healthy fats. When illness struck, I began taking a multivitamin, fish oil with Vitamin D, zinc, L-lysine, and Vitamin C. Also of note - when my doctor noticed the redness in my throat, he prescribed a 10 day course of Bactrim to be safe. I noticed a pretty immediate decrease in the size of my tonsils (that I didn't realize had been enlarged in the first place) and stopped producing tonsil stones that I had previously produced very frequently. The puffiness in my throat underneath my jaw also went away. This is around the time that I began feeling better for a couple of weeks and felt like I was getting a normal response from exercise (albeit the extremely high HR during normal paces). Soon after about a week of light jogging I relapsed and feel back to how I had been feeling - although, now my neck isn't puffy and tonsils look normal. The spots on the back of my throat have stayed there throughout - I am sort of think that I had a concurrent bacterial infection to whatever virus I may have?

To running antelope - this is what I am afraid of. The stories from CFS/ME folks sound like something I DON'T want to find out I have. I am just hesitant with this as well because I don't really notice crimson crescents, but rather the sores in the back of my throat look more herpes-related. Is it possible to have a reactivated Epstein-Barr infection despite testing negative for EBV VCA IgM Ab (the active EBV antibody)? I do agree that their is thrush as well - so definitely something is amiss with my immune system.

I will look into the links you posted, as well as some of the parathyroid issues one of the posters above mentioned. I looked up some of the hyperparathyroidism symptoms, and it sounds like there is a slight possibility there, but might be reaching a bit for that one. As said before, I am willing to consider anything though.

Thanks for all the responses guys.

Also to note, for those that have advised to stop running - I haven't run in about a week, and that makes about 4 weeks of zero activity in the last 5 weeks. Felt pretty great there for a few days before seemingly relapsing again. Don't plan on running again until my symptoms have alleviated.

have you taken flouroquinolone antibiotics lately?

they can really destroy some people.

whirledpeas wrote:

have you taken flouroquinolone antibiotics lately?

they can really destroy some people.

I haven't. In fact, before the Bactrim and recent alleviation of some of the symptoms, I hadn't been on antibiotics in a very long time and had one of the healthiest years (aside from injury) of my life - no head colds, fevers, sore throats, anything.

Interesting point made in one of the CFS links by Martin Lerner regarding Valtrex (Valacyclovir)therapy. Apparently this anti-viral drug has been very effective in treating CFS patients. Also, after reading a study on the effectiveness of Valacyclovir in cases of recurring EBV, it reduced shedding of the virus by 82% in saliva. Maybe worth a shot.

It's depression, I had the same thing in my 20's.

OP, PLEASE take the advice above. About 8 years ago I was a freshman in college. At some point just after arriving to campus I started feeling similar to you. I ended up having a pretty bad xc and bad first track season. Over that year I got blood work done over and over and saw multiple specialist. After a year and a half I finally took the advice a MUCH older family friend (an damn good runner) gave me...REST.

It was April and I was transferring to a different university to run in the fall and was redshirting track. So I took 6 weeks OFF. I didn't run a step for the first 4 weeks, not a foot. That meant no playing ultimate Frisbee, no biking, no nothing. The 5th week I ran 3 times, the 6th week I ran 5 times, and from there started building my mileage back until I was at 80-90mpw.

After the first race at my new school I knew I was back to the old me. It took almost 2 years of struggles. To this day I credit taking those 6 weeks off to my comeback. Freshman year I couldn't break 27mins for 8k. I was HORRIBLE! Junior year after I transferred I didn't not break 25 ever again.

Do yourself a favor, take a break. A long break. Your fitness will return.