Tired of being tired

[JDS2805]

I'm a 29 year old male. I've been dealing with fatigue for almost 8 months. I had pericarditis back in December and it's cleared up. I had mono back in 2005 and have dealt with fatigue here and there since but it's been pretty persistant since October. Since January I've had numerous blood tests and had them as recently as last month when I had a heart cath performed, I've had an ANA, SED rate and all the counts have been normal. I went and saw an Internal Doctor last week and she's running more blood tests. My symptoms are as followed- fatigue, muscle and joint aches, constant sore throat, back and neck pain. No bleeding, no weight loss, I can't notice any enlarged lymphnodes. My left side is tender but its been that way since I feel on some cement about 3 years ago. Here are the tests I've had- heart cath, chest CT, chest Xrays, abdominal CT about a year ago, countless blood work(only abnormality was slightly low potassium). My dad died at 43 from leukemia and while I've heard it generally doesn't run in families it still creeps into the back of my mind. I would imagine if it was something like leukemia something would have shown up on the bloodwork,xrays or scans- the only other thing I can think of is fibromyalgia or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome- and advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Ken_PA]

well, there are different types, but for leukemia I'd guess that a CBC would have revealed something. For lymphoma, check neck, underarms & groin for bumps. It would be pretty uncommon to have any advanced lymphoma symptoms without any enlarged nodes being present. For MM, I don't know.

Many signs and symptoms from a hematological malignancy would be from the bad cells invading the bone marrow and thereby crowding out the good precursor cells which produce the red and white blood cells and platelets. E.g., that could result in anemia and ensuing tiredness. But none of that seems to apply to you.

So, no, I don't happen to see anything along those lines for you. I hope you track it down, whatever the cause. The tender/sore areas would seem to be the best clue. Good luck.

(Have you checked into lupus?)

[JDS2805]

I don't believe so. They said it could have been from chronic sinus infections or sometimes it's just one of those random things that happens. The main reason they did the cath was because of the fatigue I was having and because my good cholesterol was low and they wanted to make sure there were no blockages and all the valves and the electric waves were in check- everything was fine- the cardiologists exact words were that my heart was normal. At this point I'm just ready for answers- like I said every bloodtest, scan, and xray have all been normal. I've gone from a 175lb gym rat to a soft 190 in the last year- I'm having a hard time telling if I'm having joint pain or bone pain- the tender areas are my neck, lower back, shoulders, and knees- basically it feels like I've had the flu for the last 8 months or so. When it comes to cancer with losing my dad at 43 and being newley married it does creep into the back of my mind- if I could ask one more question- with all of the normal bloodwork, xrays, and scans I've had so far should I be worried about cancer such as leukemia, lymphoma, or myleoms- thanks for your time and answer!

[Ken_PA]

hi, did they discover what infection caused the pericarditis? Did they snip a biopsy? Was it the EBV?

My guess would be a chronic virus is causing it all, the same that caused the pericarditis, that is flourishing because of weakened immunity. If not EBV it can even be a simple enterovirus. Or, do you live in Lyme country (e.g. there is "lyme arthritis")?