midlife health changes, trying to figure it out

[Ceepa]

I am trying to figure out some health management stuff. I'm admittedly worn down, nervous and wanted to tap into the famous bbb insight.

My family is dealing with a death last month and other life stressors. A couple months before that I had developed heart palpitations and increased anxiety. I'm now on meds for both.

Within the last couple of weeks I noticed that my insomnia had worsened to the point that I'd say I have chronic insomnia, coupled with the anxiety. I also began feeling hot, sweating at night and brain fog. Also I'm waiting for a period that is a few days later than I had expected. I'm in my 40s so perimenopause checks all those boxes! Hard to tease out which symptom is circumstance and/or age-hormonal.

I'm looking for a medical professional to help me sift through all this.

My PCP has run limited bloodwork at checkups over the past 8 months.
Nov. 2017:
I was taking a supplement for low Iron levels until it came back high in November and I discontinued it.
Ferritin 25 (testing range 15-150)
Mg normal
B12 normal
Vit. D normal
TSH 2.25 (0.45-4.5)
T4 7.6 (4.5-12)
T3 uptake 27 (24-39)
T3 Free thyroxine 2.1 (1.2-4.9)

May 2018:
TSH 1.59 (.45-4.5)
T3 uptake 26 (24-39)
T3 Free thyroxine 2.1 (1.2-4.9)

I have taken notes from other aging/checkup threads and have the following list of tests to consider:
Iron
Ferritin
B12
Vit. D
Mg
Hormone levels (*How is this done... blood or saliva?)
Adrenals (saliva, I think)
Celiac

My current gyn doesn't really address menopausal workups so I have an appt with a new gyn who says he does hormone management. Is a gyn the first place to start or do I go to an endo? I'm most comfortable right now pursuing medical care that isn't fully alternative.

This is really a brain dump but it has felt isolating trying to figure this out and I'm exhausted.

[Mommy_Mea]

What are your calcium levels?

[Ceepa]

Ca 9.6 (8.7-10.2 range)

[Mommy_Mea]

Ca 9.6 (8.7-10.2 range)

I am newly diagnosed with hyperparathyroidism, when some of your parathyroids go haywire and don't correctly regulate the calcium in your blood, anything in the 10s is not okay, and the symptoms are similar to yours. Your calcium numbers look okay, but might be work getting tested for your parathyroid hormone, some people are normocalcemic but have high levels of the hormone. If you have older calcium numbers, might be good to look at those too.

[magnoliaparadise]

Following. No good advice, besides checking out your B12. My ex-boyfriend's brother was sick for a long time and no one could figure out what was wrong - they finally did a B12 test and found it was very low and treated him and now he is fine. You hear similar stories with Vit D deficiency all the time, too.

I have a lot of the symptoms as you, but thought it was just peri-menopausal. This thread has made me prioritize getting my bloods taken. Thank you and good luck.

[Ceepa]

Thanks for the help so far. I'll ask about parathyroid and will see if they reck. B12.

[Melbel]

All of the symptoms are consistent with Lyme and a co-infection Babesia. It is a very common fact pattern to see symptoms emerge (underlying but controlled infection) after a major life stressor and would be worth consideration as part of the differential diagnosis. I suggest consultation with an ILADS trained provider (www.ilads.org) or a functional/integrative physician. They will dig deeper than your regular GP. A Great Plains OAT or Genova ONE will check a broad spectrum of markers that would be helpful in your situation. For thyroid, I found the formula on the Stop the Thyroid Madness website to be helpful. The best testing for Lyme is IGeneX; for Babesia, start with standard labs but recognize that they only test for 2 strains. Bartonella is another infection that can cause anxiety, insomnia, etc.

[calebsmama03]

I found a nurse practitioner who is trained in Western allopathic medicine as well as functional/holistic medicine. She ordered a month long salivary hormone test along with many other labs. I'm still working through everything, mainly because my body is super sensitive to even bioidentical hormones and I wasn't loving the side effects so I quit taking some of them - Need to get back in for an apt with her to try some new things. At this point I'd really suggest finding a similarly dual-trained practitioner because they are more likely to look at the subtleties of how your body systems are working together and try to help get you back on course rather than just prescribe meds to mask a symptom. Example, heart palpitations can be related to hormone level, esp low progesterone, and also some nutrient levels (magnesium and some b vitamins). My palpitations are gine now with low dose progesterone 2 weeks per month and proper supplementation. Of course, not ALL is related to this and it can be serious which is why I love that mine isn't just a chiro or "naturopath" but a fully trained and certified NP able to look at all sides and prescribe meds if needed.

[jenstring95]

Out of curiosity, have you checked what the side effects are for the newer medications you are taking? Just a thought since it seems like maybe the new symptoms coincided with the introduction of new meds.

[AngB]

I am newly diagnosed with hyperparathyroidism, when some of your parathyroids go haywire and don't correctly regulate the calcium in your blood, anything in the 10s is not okay, and the symptoms are similar to yours. Your calcium numbers look okay, but might be work getting tested for your parathyroid hormone, some people are normocalcemic but have high levels of the hormone. If you have older calcium numbers, might be good to look at those too.

This is what I thought of when I read those symptoms also. My mom had hyperparathyroidism as well which had her calcium levels really high, she had a lot of trouble sleeping, her joints and body was hurting a lot, etc. She ended up having one of her parathyroids removed and her symptoms have been getting a lot better.