i hate to list whats bothering me but i'd really like to hear your opinions.

i'm 18 years old and petite (5'2" and skinny). i've never felt that great but recently it seems like my health is declining. i went to a free clinic (i don't have any insurance) and the doctor there told me not to worry about it that it was probably just stress. i had a cbc done and some things were lower or higher then normal but he said they weren't that bad and after a few days of rest i'd be fine. this was 3 weeks ago and i feel worse.

-i'm always cold, more like freezing, and no matter what i do i can't get warm. a lot of times i'm so cold my body hurts
-i get lightheaded a lot and i've actually fainted quite a few times this past month. if i'm not dizzy i get headaches or sometimes both
-i eat good size meals the regular 3 times a day but i keep losing weight. i've gone from 102 to 94 pounds in a period of 2 months. this wouldn't normally bother me but i've been eating more then usual to try and gain yet i still lose.
-i feel like i'm always exhausted. i feel so weak that sometimes i feel like my legs are gonna give out. i sleep as much as i can, but still i'm so tired.
-i can't seem to concentrate either. i have trouble remembering things and i get confused a lot. but this may be from me being tired all the time
-my friends tell me i look "sickly" in appearance and that i'm pale a lot

basically i just feel pretty bad. sometimes i get so dizzy i can't get out of bed. i had to drop out of college cause i felt too bad to get there and stay attentive in class. i did everything the doctor told me to do. i changed my diet, i slept more, i stopped working to reduce stress, but even still i wonder if maybe this is something more then stress.

my friends think maybe i might have some sort of anemia but the doc said i was fine. i'm wondering if i should go back to see another doctor. but i guess what i would like to kno is, does this sound like anemia to you?

I've had anemia most of my life, but doctor's missed it til I almost died from blood loss. It may take a serious thing to get them to realize "Hey there's really something wrong here"

Since you don't have insurance you may be able to find vitamins at stores. I think they sell Iron OTC, but not sure. I'm as white as a wall from my Anemia. Especially after my c-section. I lost 30 pounds within 2 weeks of losing all that blood. Sometimes your anemia may affect you more and still have a decent iron count.

I get dizzy alot to, i've blacked out and it's no fun. Try buying iron fortified food and those pills if you can. I've been without insurance before. It's no fun at all. But you gotta worry about what you need even if you have to borrow money from friends to get what you need. I've been to free clinics before and they mean well, but it may be so busy and having to deal with worse things that they may miss something.

But I hope that you can figure out what's causing your problems. I know i'm glad I found out. Though I should of realized something was up when I donated blood and had to be watched for an hour because of the reaction!

The only way to know for sure is to have your blood tested.

Ask your doctor to run a Comprehensive panel.Check your thyroid.

I really think with the symptoms you have you need more than just a Complete Blood Count , a chem panel and a TSH. I think you are having enough trouble that I would beg my parents or a rich uncle for some money for a work up by more than the Free Clinic. It sounds like you need a good talking to about your history of the present illness, a thorough examination, labs as the provider sees fit and continuing care for your health. Did you get your blood sugar checked? Were you screened for depression? are you using drugs? do you have any problems with your stomach or intestines like nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, changes in bowel habits and the list continues. If you cant get anything else at least get your blood sugar checked for diabetes. Really though I would try to get some money from a relative to get these things checked. :confused:

Hi again;
I forgot to tell you that with these symptoms it could be any number of small or large problems. I had an experience at a Free Clinic that wasnt very good. They take care of things like contraception and urinary tract infections well but really dont have time for much else. If the Free Clinic is absolutely the only care you can get in your town then I would talk to the doctor and tell him all that you told us. Also i would beg him for a chem panel with serology, thyroid test (TSH),urinalysis, stool test for occult blood, and a chest x-ray. You can tell him a friend went through this same type of weight loss and these were the tests he had. See what you can talk him into. In this time of tight budgets its a shame you have to go through this all. Let me know how things work out on the board and tell him your friend is worried about you (I am). :yawn:

i go to a free clinic because i'm pretty much on my own. i don't live with my family, haven't since i was 16. one of my friend's parents have been kind enough to let me rent out their guest room for only 100 a month. i have the kind of family where we don't get along too well so if i were to come to them for money they'd probably just shut the door on my face. if it did come down to it, i could probably loan some money from friends. but i don't want to do that unless i have to. they have been very kind to me already, i don't want to abuse that kindness.

Did you get your blood sugar checked? Were you screened for depression? are you using drugs? do you have any problems with your stomach or intestines like nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, changes in bowel habits and the list continues.
I don't think i've ever had my blood sugar checked. The doctor at the free clinic said i looked sad and suggested i see a counsler for possible depression but i haven't yet (once again, money becomes an issue). I don't use any drugs, heh, never drank, never did drugs, i'm just the typical good girl. i have been kinda nauseous lately, and i tend to use the restroom more frequently then normal though.

Check your thyroid
The doctor had metioned that maybe something was wrong with my thyroid but he said my symptoms were too contradicting so he decided against testing for anything. Plus he said usually when somethings wrong with your thyroid you don't cough and i was there because i had a cough.

The only way to know for sure is to have your blood tested
I did have my blood tested. umm..i remember he said my lymphocytes (not sure what they are or how to spell) we're lower then normal. umm, he said something about my platlets were kinda small?? i ono, i don't really remember.
he said pretty much that according to the blood test there were some things not normal but they weren't serious enough to worry about. so i didn't think much about it until i kept feeling worse and worse.

Since my first post i've been feeling pretty much the same if not worse. i don't have an appetite anymore but i still eat because i don't want to lose any more weight. i forgot to mention that i went to the doctor in the first place because i was sick(sore throat/coughing)and it wouldn't go away. i'm still kinda sick but not so bad anymore. i don't understand why it won't go away.

I think i should also metion that fainting isn't something new to me. It started in high school. For no apparent reason i would faint. For example, once was during a race (i used to be a track runner), and another time was while i was sitting in class taking notes. Same with being cold. I dont kno why but i can't stand the cold. i always thought it was just because i was small. Everytime i fainted i just shrugged it off and thought maybe i was just tired.

I feel like i'm just making a big deal out of nothing. And i think i might be. It's just that recently it's been so hard to get up and do things without feeling lightheaded and weak. i don't want to become lazy so i still manage to get out and do things. just, i don't have the energy to do very much anymore.

Normally i'd think nothing of it. But it seems like too many things are happening at once to just be something to shrug off. And this has turned into a very long reply. I'm sorry. I was just trying to answer questions best i could. But now its very late and so i'm going to sleep. sorry for such a long message!