Quote:
Originally Posted by hopeful
Hi, I am wondering since you have a positive ANA you gastrointestinal problems may be Crohn's disease. Crohn's is an autoimmune disease. I am wondering why you had thyroid surgery. Why was there no need for thyroid medication. If it has been a year since the blood work request that the doctor repeat them all. See what your A1C comes back as. Diabetes is a cause of neuropathy. Also, if your ferritin remains low it could be the cause of the feeling cold all the time. Low iron can cause that. Without going into detail low iron can also cause low levels of O2 in the blood which can cause lightheadedness. As for medications, I think is going to depend on how the tests come back. I take Cymbalta and have gotten some very good results with that. Good Luck and Welcome to the site!
|
Thank you, hopeful! Yes, I guess Crohn's is a possibility. I don't have any stomach pain though... just the seemingly random bouts of diarrhea. And every time I've been tested for inflammatory markers they have been very low - I think they'd be high if I had a Crohn's flare up? I don't know a lot about it, except that my neighbour has it along with colitis and is in a lot of pain.
I detailed my thyroid history in my response to Mrs.D (above). It is possible that my thyroid is playing a role.
I have had testing for diabetes - a 3-hour glucose tolerance test. I passed so the doctor said I don't have diabetes. However I still have a high A1c. My dad is diabetic so I decided to test my own BG for a couple weeks to see what was going on. I have normal fasting levels, but I do rise up very high after meals (above 200 sometimes which is not supposed to ever happen in non-diabetics). I wonder if it's possible for someone with impaired glucose tolerance to develop neuropathy before actually developing diabetes.
Yes, I should ask about the ferritin. I'm told I'm not anemic because my hemoglobin is fine, yet the ferritin remains low (around 20) despite a year of supplementation. I'll ask my doctor.
Glad to hear that Cymbalta works for you!