Puzzling Health Issues

[concerned74401]

I am a 41 y/o married male. I do not use tobacco of any kind and I only drink alcohol 2 to 3 times a year. I am not overweight and I live a decently healthy lifestyle while staying very active. My worst habit is that I drink a pot (12 cup size) of coffee every morning. I have a physical once a year, every year, without fail. This includes blood work and x-rays. At my last physical a few months ago, I advised my doctor of some symptoms that I have encountered for a few years now, as I do every year at my physical. Once again I got the same results from my doctor, "All results showed good health." I do not doubt my doctor's abilities, but I would like to list the following symptoms for other opinions and maybe an answer to them. They are as follows: dull chest pain on both the left and right side of my chest at least a few times a week, shortness of breath almost daily, headaches 4 to 5 times a month, heartbeat races then slows down, flaky and very itchy skin rash on the palms of both hands. The skin also peels and bleeds. So far my doctor has been unable to diagnose. Prednisone makes this disappear for a week or two, but it always returns. This particular problem started 3 years ago. As stated above, these problems have been going on for some time with no end in sight and they do bother me. Any assistance would be much appreciated.      

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi
Welcome to the MedHelp forum!
What you have could be exfoliative keratolysis, but the only thing that goes against its diagnosis is that your palms improve with steroids. This is aggravated by irritants like soaps, chemicals, metals etc. Hence you will have to avoid things one by one that come in contact with your palms. It can also be allergic dermatitis and this is most likely as steroids bring improvement.
The other possibility is acidity and infection with H pylori bacteria. This bacteria is found in stomach area that is strongly linked with gastric and duodenal ulcer. Diagnosis is generally by carbon urea breath test. The bacteria can also cause hives. Treatment is control of acidity, lifestyle changes and antibiotics.  
Hope this helps. Do let me know if there is any thing else and keep me posted. Take care!

[concerned74401]

I have actually quit drinking coffee a few times for months at a time with no problems. I started drinking it again last year after approximately one year of abstinence. I don't really want to call it an addiction since I can quit at will and I don't need it, I just simply love the taste. Another reason I feel that it is not a problem is due to the health advantages that coffee has, according to many health studies and reports (assuming this is not just propaganda). I have found that whether or not I drink coffee, the symptoms remain. Another bit of history that I have not revealed is that I am a Gulf War veteran and was in Saudi Arabia / Kuwait / Iraq throughout a one year period. I am unsure if there is a link there, but I have read of these same types of symptoms being common in Gulf War vets throughout the world.  

[cuscus]

Hello:) My mother use to be a bit like you and she'd drink ALOT of coffee every day shes now gone down from many cups of coffee to only 2. Do you get the headaches when you have less coffee? If so that may be because your body is use to the loads of coffee as my mum was breaking the habit of coffee she often found she was having dreadful headaches from the decrease in caffeine. You should defiantly not being drinking that much coffee though cause of the caffeine content maybe you should go on an addiction breaking plan or something and see if the symptoms go away?