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Sick daughter goes undiagnosed
My 26 year old daughter has had on going health problems since her teens. She has been from doctor to doctor and no once can seem to pinpoint what is wrong with her. She weights 89 lbs, can't gain weight, has chronic pain in her abdominal area and a small mass that can be felt. She has had 4 MRI's which found nothing. She lives in Arizona and was in the Scottsdale Mayo ER, they thought it was an ovary or endometriosis and they did an ultrasound, blood work and pelvic exam. Found nothing, sent her home but told her to come back if things got worse. They never get better. I wish they would have looked further to see what the problem really is if it isn't female issues. She is so slim you can feel there is something going on, a mass. She also gets chronic inflammation in her rib cage on one side, on and off. No one can explain that either. Her blood work shows she produces very little progesterone. No one really has done anything to address that. Her diet is very limited because she gets ill very easily. She gets night sweats that soak her sheets just about daily. She runs low grade fevers frequently. She has had many tests done over the years, and while things may come back "slightly" off, no one has a diagnosis or explanation for why she is chronically sick. The chronic pain is affecting her mental state as well. She can barely function enough to keep a part time job. Her income level is low so she could never pay out of pocket to get diagnosed by Mayo. Her government insurance policy that she pays for doesn't want to approve many tests or specialists. Even when they do, they are mediocre and all they want to do is give her pain meds and anti nausea. She does not take the pain meds and the anti nausea just provides a bit of relief. She needs a diagnosis, not meds that cover up symptoms. What is causing all of this? I wish she could afford to go to Mayo to at least get a diagnosis. She is deteriorating and no one helps her. We do not know what to do. I am her mother and I live in Wisconsin and do what I can to help her keep afloat. At 89 lbs she is frail and dragging herself through her days not living life. I am scared for her. I wish I could find her some help.
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I will look that up. Thank you for the info. The doctor she is seeing now did say he thought the hormone imbalance was affecting her thyroid. He is trying to help her get her hormones balanced and then recheck the thyroid. Along with those problems she suffers from horrible digestive issues and problems with inflammation. No one seems to be able to come up with any answers as to what is causing those problems or if it is all related.
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1 ReactionI do understand, I was sick for many year's being underweight and fibromyalgia pain kicked in, most doctors thought I was a drug addict and refused to help me. I'm going to see one of my primary doctors soon loaded with test results and my DNA, its a little hell I went through but overall I'm doing better.
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1 ReactionIt is awful to feel lousy and have doctors dismiss you. I hope you get somewhere with your primary doctor.
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1 ReactionHello @ghennel
I was just wondering if your daughter has started her hormone therapy yet? I would like to hear from you again and know if she is doing any better. Will you post an update?
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1 ReactionHi @ghennel , You mentioned that your daughter was tested years ago for celiac disease and it was ruled out. In my case I have been tested numerous times over the years, including at Mayo, to continue ruling it out. Maybe it would be something your daughter could be tested for again?
Also/ has she been on food elimination diets?
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2 ReactionsShe has been on food elimination diets. She has quite a few food allergies and follows a very restricted, limited diet. She was only tested for celiac once. Maybe another test should be done.
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3 ReactionsHello, she has started hormone therapy. As expected it has her emotionally all over the place. She has not gone back in to be retested yet to see if her body is balancing out. She has an appointment in a few weeks. As far as her digestive problems, those have not gotten any better. We still don't know if all the health problems she has are related, or separate things. She has this odd problem where on one side of her body her rib cage swells up and is very tender to the touch. It is substantially larger on the swollen side. She is having a flare up right now. With this she sometimes get swollen lymph nodes, and she has that too this time. She has been seen for this many times in the past and no one has a clue why this happens. It happens often enough that it is obvious something isn't right. All they want to do is give her something for pain and inflammation. That seems to be the answer for most of her unexplained problems. It is very frustrating.
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3 ReactionsHas she ever had a breath tests for small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO)? Also endocrinologist?
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1 ReactionGood morning, @ghennel . I’m so sorry this situation has not been resolved yet. How frustrating and upsetting for you and your daughter. As it has been a few weeks since she started hormone therapy, has anything changed?
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1 ReactionShe has not had a breath test. She has an appointment set up with an endocrinologist. It is over a month before she can get in for her initial consultation.
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