Right, where to begin.
Ever since I was about 14/15, I've had on and off bouts of exhaustion. I've been to the doctors plenty of times - they do blood tests, everything comes back perfectly normal, I've had chest scans, STI checks etc, everything always comes back being perfectly normal - they just tell me it's Chronic Fatigue or that I'm 'depressed' - which I know it isn't.
Sometimes I feel fine, othertimes, not at all - the worst tends to be after meals, especially lunch, around half an hour or an hour after lunch, I feel drunk. I go light and fuzzy headed, really struggle to concentrate, if I get up my vision goes blurry and I have to sit back down again, I get dull headaches on the top of my head etc.
Also, if I don't eat every few hours, I get really irritable and also feel weak and tired.
All of this seems to be getting worse and worse every year. I'll give you an example, I had lunch, walked to the library, climbed to the third floor, and felt so weak and dizzy I had to sit down in the lobby for 20 minutes.
I had dinner round a friends, stood up after dinner and fainted. (only ever happened twice though)
And lately, Alcohol is awful. If I have one drink, I turn into a zombie, not drunk, but really light headed, really dizzy, really tired.
Also, I'm often really thirsty all day long, and I can never quench my thirst. other days, I'm fine. I also really struggle with my weight. Last Year I lost 21lbs and went down to from 161 to 140lbs. I'm 6ft1, 20 years old, fairly active, and I really struggled to get up to 161lbs, I was eating 4/5 meals a day, doing lots of weights at the gym, but then lost it all, even though I was eating 2300-2500 calories a day!
Now I'm back up to 147lbs after again eating portions for two.
Diabetes runs in my family. My grandmother and great-grandmother have it, my mom had it during all her pregnancies, and I swear I have all the symptoms of a blood-sugar related disease, be it Hypo or Hyperglycaemia or the beginnings of Diabetes, but as my blood tests always come back fine, the doctors have ruled it out. But they don't offer any alternatives
When I don't have symptoms, I feel great, but then when they do come about, it's totally debilitating, being 20 years old and on some days not having the energy to do anything past 5pm. It's horrible!
Recently I was walking home and suddenly my vision went, everything went blurry, my vision was spinning, I felt like everything was rotating around me, I have never been so scared in my life. Then loosing 21lbs in 8 months! My symptoms are generally getting worse and worse, the headaches worse, the fatigue worse, I just don't know what to do
I've tried eating 5/6 smaller portions and cutting out High GI foods to attempt to stabilize my blood sugar levels but it hasn't helped. I've had a Gluten Intolerancy test which came back fine, and indeed I tried cutting out gluten for a few weeks but it didn't help, nor did two weeks without dairy, or the months I went without caffeine (not that I ever had more than a cup or two of coffee or tea a day).
Also, I get pins and needles ALL the time, If I raise my leg for more than a few seconds, painful pins and needles sets in. Also my pupils are usually Huge, to the extent that people sometimes ask me if I'm on drugs. I never thought about these two things before, but I've read they both can be symptoms of blood sugar problems.
What tests can I demand for at my doctors? What does this sound like? Does anyone else have a similar experience?
OH and also, as strange as it sounds, I find Lemon REALLY helps. Either Lemon and Hot water, or simply chewing on a slice of lemon (I work at a bar so it's easily available) instantly makes me feel way better but it doesn't last very long.
