Are all of my symptoms due to allergies?

[mykdsmomy]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this. I'm supposed to go see a Rheumatologist soon (I was supposed to go a few years ago but have put it off).

Here's some back history: I'm 37 now. When I was a child (rough childhood with a controlling mother...I had TONS of anxiety) I wound up getting this weird "thing". My hands, feet, joints, face would swell up and I would get hives. Dr's couldn't figure out what it was from. It happened maybe 10 times until I was 18. Then I moved out, wound up getting really sick. I had chronic pain on my lower right side of my stomach. I was terrified it was appendicitis. I went to the ER after a few days of this pain, and they mis diagnosed me with a pelvic inflammatory disease (which was impossible, come to find out since I had only ever been with my husband). Anyway, the pain persisted and then I started having chronic diarrhea (sorry for the tmi). I was dx'd with IBS.
Shortly after that, I fell into a deep depression. I wound up losing tons of weight (it was all anxiety driven).
I learned to deal with the anxiety/depression with antidepressants and therapy but the IBS persisted.
(I forgot to add that as a child, I would feel really sick after drinking chocolate milk....not regular milk though. I was also ALWAYS tired and sick as a child. I would sometimes have to fake being sick so I could stay home from school because I was exhausted!)

Ok, so fast forward to now. I have hypothyroidism, constant fatigue, aches and pains (often in my pelvic cavity....so strange but it feels like I have a bowling ball sitting there), super bad IBS, fatty liver, (had my GB removed three years ago). I still have pain in my upper right quadrant too (where my liver is) but my Dr. thinks I'm nuts for thinking my liver could "hurt".
I have super bad anxiety all the time (then again, my life is very very stressful). My hips hurt, my head hurts, did I mention I'm tired? I feel like I'm 80 sometimes because I have no stamina. I tire after going one or two places during the day.
I try to exercise but it EXHAUSTS me and then I wind up in pain. Anyway....I am super super super addicted to chocolate and carbs. I have tried to go GF/CF before but it made me crazy after one day! Are all of these symptoms due to food allergies?
Oh, I just had bloodwork done too and of course my levels are fine....except my Vit. D was at 21.
Any thoughts?
(My apologies for the rambling...I'm hoping I am making sense and thanks if you've gotten through this )

[sbgrace]

I think it's unlikely all that is allergy related based on what you wrote and my own experiences.

A vitamin D level of 21 is very, very likely at least part of the pain, fatigue, etc. Start 9,000 IU pf D3 per day (I did 10,000 IU five days a week basically). You need to correct that level and I'll bet you do better.

If you don't other deficiencies I'm sure they didn't test can also cause those issues.

Is the hypothyroid treated/is your thyroid still hypo? That's another thing that, all on it's own, can be responsible for this stuff.

I'd want a celiac test. Celiac can wreck havoc.

Parasites (do either metametrix comprehensive stool or two genova stool collects--sample from the beginning, middle, and most especially end of the stool), B. hominus could cause the severe IBS and last that long. A standard parasite screen won't cover (this common, known pathogenic) parasite but genova and metametrix will. Metamterix will do DNA analysis for it (so it doesn't have to be "caught" in that sample) and they'll also look at a lot of other things including digestion, gluten and casein sensitivity, etc. I'd do it if I could at all in your circumstance.

I'd do both of those last two before I changed diet--especially gluten elimination.

You need to fix the vitamin D level and thyroid issues.

[kjbrown92]

I on the other hand, think it's totally possible. Because I have had many of the same symptoms. When I went off dairy, gluten, soy, and corn, most of my anxiety went away (I would take 2 minute showers because I thought the bogeyman was going to ge me, that type of anxiety). Since then, I have also started taking magnesium, which has helped the rest of my anxiety. But back to the foods, my right hip used to hurt all the time when I drove, and my hips would hurt if I tried to sleep on my side, so I'd be constantly flipping back and forth all night long, so I'd be tired. I had IBS symptoms (that was from soy predominantly because when I went off soy only, that went away). I used to get pain right where my solar plexus is. Never heard of food journaling at that point - that was growing up from about age 14 - 21. I had my gallbladder out when I was about 32. I saw a rheumatologist about 5 years ago. She said it sounded like fibromyalgia, but I didn't have the trigger points. I was on a lot of Lyrica and antidepressants. THEN I went off the foods. My back spasms that I had throughout the day (even on the lyrica) went away.

I also have no stamina and can't exercise.

My DS had a horrible time going off gluten. He was like an addict for 3 days, begging for just a crumb. So chances are if you had a hard time going off them, then those could be a trigger for you. Start keeping a food journal, and see if you can track down the cause of the IBS symptoms.

Another thing I'll throw out is lyme disease, which can wreak havoc on a lot of bodily symptoms.

[kjbrown92]

I'd also say food intolerances, not allergies. Because if you go to an allergist and get tested, and things are negative, you might be inclined to think that food is not a problem, when it could still be.

[rhesp1212]

I'm so sorry that you have been dealing with this for such a long time. I can't imagine how frustrating that must be!! I have a thyroid problem, and from my experience it can cause almost all of what you've been experiencing. Get your thyroid rechecked, but make sure they are not just checking TSH. They need to check your T4 and T3 levels as well. I had almost normal TSH, but severly low T4 levels. Also, if you're not already doing so, ask your dr. to add a T3 medication to your regimine. Cytomel is the most common used. It helped me TREMENDOUSLY with the fatigue and joint pains!!

Aside from that, some of the other things like the diarrhea could be being caused by food allergies or intolerances. You said chocolate made you sick as a child, but not you are addicted to chocolate and eat it all the time. I would try stopping that and see if the bowel problems improve. When stopping a food that you are addicted to, it will be super duper hard for about the first 3 days. You may actually experience some withdrawl type symptoms (headaches, irritability, etc.). After that the cravings go away. When I eliminated things in my diet, I went through the refrigerator and the pantry and got rid of everything that I couldn't eat. My husband had to eat the same way I was as well until I got used to my new eating habits. It's hard, but you CAN do it!!

ETA: if you didn't have this done, I would do it ASAP....have bloodwork done to check your vitamin and mineral levels. Low magnesium can cause anxiety attacks, and low B vits can cause fatigue

I hope you figure some of this out and get some relief!! Hugs and prayers are being sent your way!!
Valerie

[mykdsmomy]

Originally Posted by sbgrace

I'd want a celiac test. Celiac can wreck havoc.

Parasites (do either metametrix comprehensive stool or two genova stool collects--sample from the beginning, middle, and most especially end of the stool), B. hominus could cause the severe IBS and last that long. A standard parasite screen won't cover (this common, known pathogenic) parasite but genova and metametrix will. Metamterix will do DNA analysis for it (so it doesn't have to be "caught" in that sample) and they'll also look at a lot of other things including digestion, gluten and casein sensitivity, etc. I'd do it if I could at all in your circumstance.

I had a celiac blood test and it came back negative. I hadn't even thought about parasites Unfortunately, I doubt we can afford to have any testing that isn't covered by our insurance I wonder if there is a way to "treat" them naturally on my own?

Originally Posted by kjbrown92

I on the other hand, think it's totally possible. Because I have had many of the same symptoms. When I went off dairy, gluten, soy, and corn, most of my anxiety went away (I would take 2 minute showers because I thought the bogeyman was going to ge me, that type of anxiety). Since then, I have also started taking magnesium, which has helped the rest of my anxiety. But back to the foods, my right hip used to hurt all the time when I drove, and my hips would hurt if I tried to sleep on my side, so I'd be constantly flipping back and forth all night long, so I'd be tired. I had IBS symptoms (that was from soy predominantly because when I went off soy only, that went away). I used to get pain right where my solar plexus is. Never heard of food journaling at that point - that was growing up from about age 14 - 21. I had my gallbladder out when I was about 32. I saw a rheumatologist about 5 years ago. She said it sounded like fibromyalgia, but I didn't have the trigger points. I was on a lot of Lyrica and antidepressants. THEN I went off the foods. My back spasms that I had throughout the day (even on the lyrica) went away.

I also have no stamina and can't exercise.

My DS had a horrible time going off gluten. He was like an addict for 3 days, begging for just a crumb. So chances are if you had a hard time going off them, then those could be a trigger for you. Start keeping a food journal, and see if you can track down the cause of the IBS symptoms.

Another thing I'll throw out is lyme disease, which can wreak havoc on a lot of bodily symptoms.

Yep, it was as if gluten makes me so happy that without it, I'm not able to function I actually think I do have trigger points. There are areas on my body that hurt to the touch (inside of arms on the inner elbow area, below my shoulder blades, sides of my outer thighs/hips) I don't know if those are actual trigger points for FM but they are always sore to the touch. I'm also SUPER sensitive to water temperature. I HATE taking showers because I don't like how the water feels (initially) on my body. Food journal is a good idea!

Originally Posted by rhesp1212

I'm so sorry that you have been dealing with this for such a long time. I can't imagine how frustrating that must be!! I have a thyroid problem, and from my experience it can cause almost all of what you've been experiencing. Get your thyroid rechecked, but make sure they are not just checking TSH. They need to check your T4 and T3 levels as well. I had almost normal TSH, but severly low T4 levels. Also, if you're not already doing so, ask your dr. to add a T3 medication to your regimine. Cytomel is the most common used. It helped me TREMENDOUSLY with the fatigue and joint pains!!
ETA: if you didn't have this done, I would do it ASAP....have bloodwork done to check your vitamin and mineral levels. Low magnesium can cause anxiety attacks, and low B vits can cause fatigue

I hope you figure some of this out and get some relief!! Hugs and prayers are being sent your way!!
Valerie

Thank you I'm on Cytomel Actually my Dr. just started it about 4 months ago. I was on Synthroid (generic) at .175 and since I was still feeling icky, she thought we'd try some T3. So she brought down the Synthroid to .125 and added 25mg of Cytomel. I had my labs drawn this week and here are my results:

TSH .020
Free T3 6.2
Free T4 1.32
T4 7.3

So she changed me to 5mg of Cytomel and kept me at .125 of Synthroid
She also prescribed Xanax for 2x a week if I need it. I haven't tried it yet and don't want to become addicted

**I know this is sort of off topic but I've noticed that the last few times I've had my blood drawn, my MCH comes back low. It's the only cell count that is low but I wonder if it means something?

I'm happy to share the other levels if anyone is interested but those were the ones that came out of normal levels.

I haven't had my vit and mineral levels checked...I can request that from my Dr. The only one she checked is Vit D. When I was pg with my kiddos, I was BEYOND EXHAUSTED. It was an exhaustion that I could not even begin to describe. My dr. thought I was wimpy. They gave me B12 shots all the time and it did nothing for my nausea/exhaustion.
Thank you all again for all the great help!

[rhesp1212]

Whoa....your TSH is 0.02??? You are super HYPERthyroid according to that!!! That could be the reason for your anxiety and definitely the diarrhea!! You want your TSH values to be between 0.3 and 3.0 for "normal" but ideal is around 1.0. I'll have to look up the T4 and T3 values, I don't remember off the top of my head what ideal is supposed to be on those. It's wonderful that you have a dr. who is on top of things with your thyroid. It took me years to convince a dr. to put me on a T3 medication. I highly recomend you read the book "The Thyroid Solution" by Ridha Arem if you haven't already. It recommends additional over the counter supplements that help with the symptoms of thyroid disease. For example, taking a selenium supplement helps with the absorption of the thyroid meds. A combination of Fish oil (Omega-3's) and calcium/vitamin D supplement together are supposed to help as well. For me, adding the T3 and the selenium helped a ton! Most people are deficient in selenium.

[rhesp1212]

Wanted to add one more thing....you said in your original post that you have alot of pelvic pain and that it feels like you have a bowling ball in there. Have you see an OB/GYN about this? Cysts, fibroids and endometriosis can all cause pelvic pain. Endometriosis can implant anywhere in the abdominal cavity and can cause all sorts of crazy symptoms as well....pain, fatigue, bloating, diarrhea or constipation if it's implanted on the intestines, etc.

[mykdsmomy]

Rhesp1212, thank you for all your great suggestions. I don't think I've heard of that book so I'll definitely check it out.

I had a Dr. diagnose me with adenomyosis a few years back. She said the only way to know for sure is to take out my uterus and I opted not to do that

[sbgrace]

Originally Posted by mykdsmomy

I had a celiac blood test and it came back negative. I hadn't even thought about parasites Unfortunately, I doubt we can afford to have any testing that isn't covered by our insurance I wonder if there is a way to "treat" them naturally on my own?

The b. hominus and d. fragilis are extremely common findings in IBS people and, unfortunately, there aren't natural cures for them. I think, in fact, what you get is stronger bugs. Genova has insurance agreements for many companies I've been told. Our (Anthem) insurance covered metametrix though out of network (so 80/20 for us). These aren't really alternative labs. But your general doctor often isn't aware of them it seems. When you mention parasites they culture for giardia and a couple others in a general culture usually.

That said, my advice is keep it in the back of your mind for now.

You've got major thyroid and (I suspect unless you've been aggressively supplementing) vitamin D deficiency known. Either of those can cause what you're seeing completely. I'd concentrate on the known. Once you get those controlled if you're still sick you go on to the next most likely thing (be that parasites or gyno or food allergies or another deficiency, etc--you've got a lot of leads on this thread and I'm glad for that--but I'm thinking you also may already have your explanation.)

[mykdsmomy]

Thanks Rachelle I've been working on the thyroid for 15 years now and still haven't felt "great". However, I didn't realize until recently how depleted in Vit. D I am. I also suspect that I am deficient in other vits and minerals as well. I'm going to start taking fish oil with my son He needs it badly and I figure it can only help me.
I don't think I mentioned that we've been dealing with unexplained secondary infertility for several years now I know I have low progesterone (test). I don't think that's the cause of my issues. I think it's probably metabolic. I also need to lose weight but it's become nearly impossible with all the stress I have. (sorry for all the complaints). Everyone has given me great suggestions/resources, now I need to go sort through all of it

[MyLittleWonders]

Originally Posted by mykdsmomy

Thanks Rachelle I've been working on the thyroid for 15 years now and still haven't felt "great". However, I didn't realize until recently how depleted in Vit. D I am. I also suspect that I am deficient in other vits and minerals as well. I'm going to start taking fish oil with my son He needs it badly and I figure it can only help me.
I don't think I mentioned that we've been dealing with unexplained secondary infertility for several years now I know I have low progesterone (test). I don't think that's the cause of my issues. I think it's probably metabolic. I also need to lose weight but it's become nearly impossible with all the stress I have. (sorry for all the complaints). Everyone has given me great suggestions/resources, now I need to go sort through all of it

You might also want to look into zinc deficiency due to the amount of chocolate you take in; chocolate is high in copper. I know back around the turn of the new year, I thought I was dealing with major fibro/chronic fatigue stuff and starting researching. I also was eating a TON of chocolate (much more than I ever eat - I usually can only eat very, very small amounts because it leads to cold sores due to high L-Aginine levels). After finding that copper toxicity can have the same symptoms as fibro and cfs, I laid off the chocolate a bit (not all together) and started taking 60 mg of zinc a day (Vitamin City has a great zinc supplement that is really cheap - I think it costs me $6/month). Within a day the pain and aches began to subside, I was able to sleep without pain, and I felt all around better (not that I feel 100% - I'm not sure what that feels like honestly). But, at least for the chronic pain and aches - hips, back, every joint it seemed - zinc was a magic bullet. (I'm not sure if you remember me talking with you about all this back in like Jan/Feb.)

[mykdsmomy]

I didn't even think about Zinc I wound up getting some nature's made super duper extra strength fish oil caps (1000mg EPA) but unfortunately they are giving me fish burps....

[MyLittleWonders]

Originally Posted by mykdsmomy

I didn't even think about Zinc I wound up getting some nature's made super duper extra strength fish oil caps (1000mg EPA) but unfortunately they are giving me fish burps....

Yea, I take mine at night in hopes of sleeping through the burps (though I haven't been able to stomach the thought of fish oil for a couple months, but I plan on starting again this weekend ... you've inspired me).