New and confused

[Shel]

Ha ha! I recovered from the surgery fine, then about a week or so later, I started with just feeling off, a weird tickling in my chest, which ended up leading to 3 visits to the ER in a month. I won’t even get into that story. Next was the blood pressure and bad fatigue and upper back pain. Is that when your symptoms began or was it the itching?

 

[Shel]

Hey, if you don’t mind me asking, what is a reverse thyroid test and how are you autoimmune there? Sorry, I’m not that educated on the topic.

 

[Auriel]

It's just a blood test to check for autoimmunity

 

[Auriel]

And I've no idea how I'm autoimmune there (I've read about viruses like Epstein Barr being a factor for it) my mum had underactive thyroid too (so could be genetic) I'm not sure if she was autoimmune (I'd have to contact a medium to find out : ) ) but we're both underactive

 

[Shel]

Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for listening and giving your feedback. Sometimes I feel like I have issues that no one else does, and it’s scary.
I have couple more things I’m wondering about.
-for a couple years I had a tightness in my throat that seemed to move up and down over time. I had several tests done for acid reflux etc. all coming up negative. Then, thankfully after starting gabapentin, it stopped.
-can the pain in muscles and joints be caused from cold? I see many people saying they have pain in heat.
-I had a few random weeks that i felt I couldn’t hold my bladder. I know it can effect that, but in 5 years, it’s came and went only a couple times.
-same with stools, they got pretty loose for about 6 weeks, then normal.

 

[Auriel]

The bathroom issues could be the gallbladder removal (I was sooooo ill after my gallbladder op 4 yrs ago I ended up back In a+e on a drip for about a week) I've not been right since that op, a few of us on here have bladder issues (I'm back and fore all the time it's crazy! +as for the itching (it only started after my gallbladder was taken out, I think it was to do with my liver enzymes) it's stopped now though

 

[cookiebaker]

i have itchy skin issues.. mostly forearms and hands, but legs and feet also....
the one thing i am curious about - for those with itchy skin - is do you get what looks like bleeding under the skin when you scratch too much? I also get this if a scrape up against something too hard.. like a door/door frame, the dog scratches me accidentally, and so on.. this is pretty much confined to the forearms and hands, tho..

i also go back and forth with constipation and looser stools.. not diarrhea, but close. I am supposed to be taking iron supplements (my ferritin iron is quite low) but this can cause constipation issues, so i dont take it every day.

 

[JayCS]

-can the pain in muscles and joints be caused from cold? I see many people saying they have pain in heat.
-I had a few random weeks that i felt I couldn’t hold my bladder. I know it can effect that, but in 5 years, it’s came and went only a couple times.
-same with stools, they got pretty loose for about 6 weeks, then normal.

All very 'normal'. Cold causes more people problems than heat, quite a few have both.

for those with itchy skin - is do you get what looks like bleeding under the skin when you scratch too much?

Itchy skin yes, but I "never" scratch. Keep the itching down by minimizing water, soap, synthetics etc.

i also go back and forth with constipation and looser stools.. not diarrhea, but close.

Would that be IBS-A, a meaning alternating between IBS-C and IBS-D? Or at least similar?

 

[cookiebaker]

Itchy skin yes, but I "never" scratch. Keep the itching down by minimizing water, soap, synthetics etc.

i try not to scratch, but sometimes i catch myself doing it without thinking about it... sigh

Would that be IBS-A, a meaning alternating between IBS-C and IBS-D? Or at least similar?

Honestly, i had no idea there were different types of IBS, but looking into it, yes, the IBS-A (or IBS-M) designation sounds very much like what i experience.

-can the pain in muscles and joints be caused from cold?

Most definitely! I have both problems to be honest... hot and cold. I have a pretty narrow window of temps that I can tolerate with minimal pain exacerbation.
in the winter, i tend to bundle up in layers, and usually have a nice soft blanket around me... in the summer, well, there is only so much you can take off without getting into trouble in public all bets are off at home tho!

 

[Shel]

I bruise easily, but not really from scratching. I’m thinking it may be a side effect from a medication maybe??

 

[JayCS]

I’m thinking it may be a side effect from a medication maybe??

Well... that'd be something to look up (or I could) and ask for alternatives if so.
Typical might be blood thinners, NSAIDs, steroids.
But I've heard of it fairly often from people not knowing what it's from or putting it down to fibro.
My take as ever would be to try to find & prevent triggers and then to try to treat it, e.g. with supps (vit. C or K?), and of course make sure my docs rule out the many medical conditions that may be causing it...

 

[Auriel]

I bruise easily too (maybe I'm just a human peach?)

 

[cookiebaker]

i do bruise easily as well... constantly have bruises that i am not sure where they came from
but this other thing is not typical bruising, the spots do not hurt like a typical bruise, they just look terrible, and so far, docs have not given me any idea on what is causing it, or why. i dont take any blood thinners, and have pretty much gone off of all OTC pain relievers unless there is a specific need of them (like last week with a uretal stent that was causing me problems)

honestly, the skin of my hands and forearms looks like it belongs to someone much older than me. I am 58, the hands & arms look like they belong to a 95 yr old - thin and fragile looking. the least little bump or scrape will cause this bleeding under the skin. slightly harder bumps/scrapes can cause wounds that are far worse than they should be. My partner keeps telling me he is going to wrap me in bubble wrap, lol

 

[Shel]

Hello,
I’m 56, and my legs and arms look much older. I take fish oil, use a high quality moisturizer, and add a collagen supplement. I keep asking my doctors, but no one has answers. My skin is loosing elasticity fast. I can’t believe it’s totally menopause. Plus, I’m not in the sun-because then I itch, so it’s not sun damage.

 

[Shel]

Oh yeah, and now all of a sudden my eye brows and eye lashes are thinning! Brother!