Tests came back negative but don't know what else it could be...

[Mikef25]

Age: 26
Weight: 173 lbs
Height: 5'10"
Lives in Connecticut

Symptoms:
Brain fog, fatigue, lightheaded, extreme thirst, reaction to foods (inconsistent) and agitation

Timeline/Description:
I have had these issues for over 4 years... When I first started my job out of college, I would have random bouts with fatigue where I would have to go to my car and nap because I was so tired. As the years have gone on, this has grown more and more constant, to the point where I always have fatigue, brain fog, light-headedness and sometimes feel so "out of it" that I am afraid to drive.

Over the past two years, I have begun experiencing excessive thirst (on top of the fatigue/fog) daily, which leads me to drink well over the recommended daily water intake.

There are many times where the brain fog increases drastically following a meal but this is not always consistent. I find that when I am having a really bad day with brain fog, I am very agitated, fidgety and moody as well (not because I am not feeling well, seems more like another symptom).

More and more I have been having reactions to foods/alcohol, to the point where I turn bright red, get itchy, face gets hot and I start to have a little trouble breathing which tends to go away within an hour or so. I spent over two years getting immunotherapy for external allergens, with no relief. I was also tested for food allergies but nothing came back positive.

Other random issues that I have had over the past 4 years include increased sinus infections, ear aches and back drip, which never used to be issues for me.

I take a multivitamin daily, vitamin b-complex and a probiotic.

Doctors and Tests:
I have had appointments with my primary care physician, ENT, Allergist, Naturopath, Endocrinologist and Pulmonologist. I have been tested for mono, Lyme disease, anemia, diabetes, thyroid and what seems like all of the "go to" tests when a doctor hears fatigue. I tested negative for diabetes and negative for all other initial endocrine system tests, with the doctor feeling confident that it was not an issue within her realm.

The ENT did not see any issues with the sinuses but recommended immunotherapy. The allergist could not figure out why my two years of immunotherapy for external (dust, pollen, trees, grass) allergies did not help at all and did not believe food allergies was my issue.

My Naturopath tested my B12 and other vitamin levels with no problems popping up. After her recommendation, I went on a two month anti-candida diet (cut out all yeast, sugar, alcohol, etc) as she thought it was a yeast build up in my intestines. I stayed on the strict diet for two full months and stopped once the stool tests came back negative for yeast. While I ate extremely healthy, cut out alcohol and lost 15 pounds, I felt no better than before.
I am scheduled for a sleep test within the next two months but I feel that my lack of sleep quality is due to all of the issues I am having, not the other way around. Not to mention, a sleep issue doesn’t seem to answer the excessive thirst problem.

I am also seeing a Neurologist within the next month.

I do not believe that I have depression, though I am starting to get slightly depressed seeing as these issues have gone on for so long and have been very debilitating.

Who I Am:
I have always been a hardworking, focused and career oriented individual who loves being around people and making others laugh. Over the past four years, I have slowly turned into someone who can barely focus on simple tasks (brain fog), has put his entire career on hold hoping to find a cure (too afraid to start a new job as I can barely focus) and someone who has not been his normal self. These issues have become more and more debilitating; to the point where my entire life has revolved around how I can just get back to feeling like my old self (I can't even remember what that is like anymore). I go to bed every night praying I will just wake up and feel better, only to wake up and immediately be hit with fogginess and fatigue. I am not a depressed or suicidal person, but I honestly don't know what I'd do if I looked back in 6 months and still felt this way and/or had no clear direction on how to find a cure.

[Mikef25]

I was tested for Lyme when this all initially started but haven't in a while. I am asking to have that rechecked though...

Thyroid info:

TSH: 1.37     (0.40-4.50 mIU/L)

T4, Free:  1.2       (0.8-1.8 ng/dL)
T3, Total:   99        (76-181 ng/dL)



Iron:  70          (65-175 ug/dL)
Iron Binding:   326         (250-450 ug/dL)
% Saturation:   21          (20-55%)
Ferritin:   72          (26-388 ng/mL)


I was just retested for my B levels and told they were within range. I will post the exact numbers once I get the faxed results...

Thanks for all the help!

Mike

[Super_sally888]

Have you been tested for Lyme Disease?

The parathyroids look ok.  

What about thyroid TSH, FT3, FT4?  Were they tested?  Iron, B levels?

Diet wise, I think you should adopt anti-inflammatory diet (but do look into GAPS diet first )... which should avoid processed foods...

[Mikef25]

Thank you so much for helping out! I will try and answer these questions as best I can, as I am not great at reading medical test results...

Calcium: 9.9       (8.6-10.3 mg/dL)
eAG (mg/dL): 103      
eAG (mmol/L): 5.7
PTH, Intact (without calcium)
Parathyroid Hormone, Intact: 16     (10-65 pg/mL)

This part was confusing to me so I will try to type this out how I see it on the page...

                                   Intact PTH               Calcium
Normal Parathyroid         Normal                    Normal
Hypoparathyroidism       Low/Low Normal       Low
Hyperparathyroidism      
Primary                         Normal/High              High
Secondary                     High                        Normal/Low
Tertiary                          High                        High

Non-Parathyroid             Low/Low Normal        High
Hypercalcemia

Vitamin D, 1,25 Dihydroxy LC/MS/MS
Vitamin D, 1,25 (OH)2, Total        43   (18-72pg/mL)
Vitamin D3, 1,25 (OH)2               43
Vitamin D2, 1,25 (OH)2               <8

Vitamin D, 25-Hydroxy, LC/MS/MS
Vitamin D, 25 OH, Total               54     (30-100 ng/mL)
Vitamin D, 25 OH, D3                  54    
Vitamin D, 25 OH, D2                  <4


I do not recall there being any event/sickness/vaccination around that time that I could attribute to this beginning. The only event that took place during this time was that I graduated school in New York and came back to Connecticut full time. I came home for some weekends and was home in CT all summer long so I don't feel that this "reintroduction" to the CT environment would have caused this...

All I can recall is having this foggyness/fatigue initially come in very spread out waves of time and over the past 4 years has become more and more frequent, where I now feel this way daily. I do find that the changing of seasons may trigger one week where I am so foggy/fatigued that I am scared to drive and I seem to get stuffy sinuses, but that may just be a coincidence.

During my allergy testing, I showed sensitivities to certain trees, dust, pollen and grass but nothing aside from that.

I agree with you that a change in my diet may be a good move but I was on the extremely strict anti-candida diet for two months and didn't feel better at all! No alcohol, starches, yeast products, sugar (not even natural sugar), gluten for two months... I am a little nervous that I ended the diet too early but my stool test came back and said I did not have any inflammation or high levels of yeast in my gut so I stopped. Even after ending the diet, I have been much better at avoiding sugars and many carbs.

I will ask my naturopath if I was ever tested for MTHFR Mutations as I cannot seem to find it in any of my test results.

Thanks again for all the help and let me know if I missed anything!

Mike

[Super_sally888]

Can you tell us what the results of some of your tests are?  Particularly the thyroid ones?   Sometimes normal is not truely 'normal'. Have your vitamin d levels been checked?

Maybe you are developing / have developed environmental sensitivities?  

Was there any trigger to this?  Such as an illness or a vaccination or some other specific event?

Have you tried eliminating all the common allergens?  Particularly gluten.  Gluten can cause brain fog in some people.  YOu would need to be stricly gluten free for a few months to be sure (and then introduce gluten and see the effect)?  Have you tried the GAPS diet by Amy Yasko?    This starts off with elimination diet and is very healing for the gut. You can google, or find her book at amazon.

Have you looked into Mthfr mutations.  People who have these need to have special b vitamin supplements.  Particularly they cannot take folic acid but need to take methylfolate.  It may not be picked up by standard tests.