Mystery Ailments

So I am a care giver, and I have a client whose health has been fading fast, and so far, no cause has been determined. I'm looking for ideas on what could be causing her current decline. I'll give you some background.

My client, who I'll call Cathy for privacy purposes, has had a long list of health problems, so I will list them .

COPD
Hepatitis C
History of colon polyps
Fibromyalgia
Severe neck injury from car accident, with neck surgery
Hypothyroid
Bi-Polar
Anxiety
Depression
Hysterectemy

In addition, she takes a host of meds, including strong opiate painkillers because of her chronic severe pain.

Obviously, she is not normally in the best of health. However, this is also her baseline. She has declined steadily from her baseline since November.

First, she has been losing weight rapidly. Like, insane rapidly. She has severe anemia. She eats like a horse. High calorie foods. She sleeps most of the day because she is so weak from iron loss. Yet shes losing weight like a meth freak. (She is not a meth freak, nor ever was, as far as I cAn tell.) Until six months ago, in fact, she was very overweight, and was once obese. Now she weighs less than me, despite being taller. She looks like a skeleton. Strange sores developed all over her arms. They were not painful or oozing, but they were very red and fresh. They are starting to apparently heal up. She is still dropping weight despite trying to consume high calorie nutritionally dense foods and lack of exercise. Despite being given 6 hour treatments of iron injections, she is still deficient, as is her B-12. A couple months ago she had congestive heart failure, and they found a bad valve. The cardiologist wanted to schedule heart surgery soon, however, can't, due to her weight loss. She also sweats and shakes, and gets sharp stabbing pains in her head. She sometimes gets violent muscle spasms. Recently, her thyroid hormone level has been high, when she has normally had hypothyroidism.

She has undergone numerous tests. Blood tests. CAT scans. Endoscopy, capsule endoscopy. So far, other than the anemia, nothing has been found. They can't find anything wrong beyond her baseline. We don't know what specifically she was tested for in all cases, because her doctor sucks at communication and patient care. In fact, we are going to find another doctor in a better medical facility. But that's another story.

In the meantime, I wanted to put this out to see if anyone has any ideas about what could possibly be going on? Obviously I am not seeking an actual diagnosis or anything like that. We are saving that for the new medical professionals we get in touch with. What I would be interested in, however, is if anyone can offer any input or suggestions on what directions we might consider pointing the new docs in. Like, if anyone who has known someone who has experienced similar problems, or knows someone who went through similar and has any insight, that would be appreciated. Links, information, suggestions, all would be of help. We are just looking for ideas right now, since her doctor seems to have little interest in doing his job. Might help even direct us toward the proper medical specialists or experts.

Anything would be helpful.

a reply to: Skadi_the_Evil_Elf

She eats food and but doesn't gain weight and is still anemic?

Just a wild guess here (I am not a doctor of medicine), but sounds like she has a problem of digestion?? Would explain why she cannot absorb food's nutrients and calories?

a reply to: Skadi_the_Evil_Elf

Bless your beautiful loving heart. I'm so glad she has you.

I have absolutely no formal medical training whatsoever... but I have done read and researched quite a bit, and a few things come to mind...

Is she taking statins for cholesterol -- either for therapeutic or preventative purposes? Statins are known to deplete Coenzyme Q10 production by the liver which can cause a myriad of adverse side effects.

For that matter, is she getting enough cholesterol? I ask because of the weight loss.

Maybe a mineral deficiency? I have read quite a bit about magnesium deficiency recently, and the many many adverse side effects. Apparently serum level tests are not accurate, because magnesium will be leached from organs/tissues if the level in the blood is too low. There is another test though -- I believe it's called a tissue test. There also seems to be some question about current FDA recommendations (which tend to be minimal) vs. optimal daily intake, as well as the ratio between magnesium and calcium.

Has pernicious anemia been ruled out?

Perhaps a deficiency of the fat-soluble vitamins and/or an improper ratio? I've been reading up on K2, and the need for the proper amounts and ratios with D3 and A (not just beta carotene.)

I am a big believer in nutrition for healing -- let food be thy medicine and let medicine be thy food! I usually start my research on anything nutritional at the Weston A Price Foundation, and then Google "nih +" whatever I'm researching for clinical studies, and go from there depending on what I find.

I wish I could help more. Good luck!!!

ETA: Could gluten intolerance/celiac disease be an issue?

Has she a pet , dog or cat? You could have her checked for a tapeworm . Sometimes the simplest thing is what is wrong. Also I believe you can catch certain diseases from pets. Just a possibility. Glad you are so devoted to her. Hopefully you will be able to help. Stay strong and caring. a reply to: Skadi_the_Evil_Elf

I noticed a poster mentioned pernicious anemia.

Autoimmune disorder is definitely worth investigating as there are a bunch!

Has she spent much time ( a length of time) in the hospital or rehab lately?

originally posted by: swanne
a reply to: Skadi_the_Evil_Elf

She eats food and but doesn't gain weight and is still anemic?

Just a wild guess here (I am not a doctor of medicine), but sounds like she has a problem of digestion?? Would explain why she cannot absorb food's nutrients and calories?

That is pretty much my thinking. She is devouring the nutrients left and right, but nothing is getting to her system. We don't know where they are going. Since her bowel habits and such are normal, no diarhea or constipation or anything, So where is her nutrition going? It's making it to the stomach, but is not getting to her, and is not being eliminated.

It's like her own body is eating itself alive. We are just trying to find out why. Something in her digestion, or something neurological, given her other problems.

a reply to: Boadicea

Thank you for your input and encouragement.

Nutrition is definitely critical to good health. She is eating all the nutritionally dense foods, such as meats, poultry, and eggs, and gets plenty of cholesterol and fats. The problem is, is that something seems to be preventing them from absorbing. They make it into her mouth, but after that, they don't seem to be getting where they need. She eats a lot of fruits and veggies too. She actually eats a very good diet overall. Recently, she has been drinking ensures and eating things like cheesecakes and such in the hopes of some weight gain, but the weight loss continues.

Her magnesium levels are low, and probably her other mineral levels. We don't know why, and despite supplements, injections, and what not, her levels remain low. No idea as to why.

I will look up pernicious anemia. Thank you. This is the sorts of ideas I was looking for. Thanks for the links as well. This is what we are looking for. Ideas and directions to look for possible causes, so we can maybe head in the right direction medically.





She was tested for celiac, that I do know, and does not have it.

a reply to: TNMockingbird

She has been in the hospital. Before I started working for her, she had been hospitalized and almost died from liver and kidney failure that came up suddenly. That was over a year ago. They found no cause for the kidney/liver failure which put her in a coma for a couple weeks. She was overweight at the time, but the doctors, after many tests and scans, still couldn't figure out what triggered it.

She did go to the hospital a couple months ago when she had the congestive heart failure. Other than that, however, most of her life is spent in doctors offices and clinics running tests and such.

originally posted by: Chansi3
Has she a pet , dog or cat? You could have her checked for a tapeworm . Sometimes the simplest thing is what is wrong. Also I believe you can catch certain diseases from pets. Just a possibility. Glad you are so devoted to her. Hopefully you will be able to help. Stay strong and caring. a reply to: Skadi_the_Evil_Elf

She does have a cat, and was indeed tested for tapeworms. When the weight loss started, it was one of the first things we actually thought of. However, the test came back negative for any of the usual parasites like tapeworms and such. Her cat is a strictly indoor cat who is kept well and healthy (and who is a loving little orange tabby who is devoted to comforting her human).

There could be the possibility of another pet borne, less common disease, though, so thanks for the suggestion. Its a direction I will look into.

a reply to: Skadi_the_Evil_Elf

For my mother after heart surgery, I found that Emergen-C was a very effective mineral supplement, and I was even able to find it in a sodium-free variety.. In my mom's case, she was low on potassium but had to limit salt because of hypertension.

For some reason, the fizziness of the drink greatly enhances bioavailability,, so the minerals are better absorbed and utilized by the body. This is true for vitamins and many medications as well.

I know this isn't a cure, but a good supplement may help/improve her well-being until you can figure out what the root problem is.

It also occurred to me that she may benefit from probiotic supplements, or at least eating more foods high in probiotics -- yogurt, kefir, saurkraut, pickles, etc. If she's been on antibiotics -- especially long-term -- there may be some imbalance in her gut flora. Having the right flora can greatly aid digestion and absorption.

Her sulfite level might be too high or she is making too much taurine in her body. Her homocystine levels may be too high also. Excreted taurine and homocysteine in the urine can be checked if the right test is called for. Homocysteine in the urine can be bound to another excretion and might need a special test other than the standard test to find if it is there.


Oatmeal for breakfast or molybdenum supplement if it is elevated taurine which will cause hypoglycemic events if it is too high.

If it is too much homocysteine, then it can be treated with TMG. That will also help B12 absorption which in turn will help with proper iron usage. The TMG will also help with folate absorption which helps the thyroid. ajcn.nutrition.org... It doesn't give you a speed buzz at all, but it lowers salt excretion by increased osmolyte activity.

I am guessing they have ruled out type two diabetis which will cause some weird varying problems to occur.

There are actually quite a few different conditions that could lead to some of these symptoms.

a reply to: Skadi_the_Evil_Elf

My Mom of 60 something had lost alot of weight although she was eating normally. The people who lived with her didn't even notice a difference in her appearance until I mentioned how thin she appeared. She went to the doctor and he admitted her to the hospital immediately. Well, it was diagnosed as severe colitis. Another thing was that she spent a huge part of her day in the bathroom! It doesn't have all the 'ingredients' which you mentioned, however, because of the colitis, her body couldn't absorb nutrients from food as they passed right through her. She also had severe cramping from lack of potassium in which a lot was lost each time she 'went to the bathroom.' My point is that there could be a link to this, yet her other ailments only add to the problem of making a proper diagnosis. My suggestion is to 'look outside the box.' Best wishes for a diagnosis that allows her to treat the root(s) of her illness.

Wow. Thanks everyone, especially ricky., for all that info. You guys have just opened up a whole new world of possibilities for us to explore, and have at least further confirmed that her doctor is an incompetent idiot who cares more about going on vacations than taking care of a very sick lady.

Since she started getting sick (she does have a history of bowel problems, hyperplasic polyps to be specific) she has had at least three capsule endoscopy and a colonoscopy since I've known her, and colitis/crohns was not found. However, what I am learning from what people are sharing on here, is that there is a crapload of tests not being run and things ruled out. We had assumed the number of tests meant that they were testing for everything possible, including cancer, but it seems he was running the same tests over and over again, and not investigating deeper. Cathy has mentioned suing the doctor, something I fully support her in. Normally, I am pretty wary of lawsuits and such, given how many petty and questionable ones there are, but in this case, this doctor has been deliberately incompetent, criminally neglectful, and has endangered her health in a severe and direct, totally avoidable way.

She has been frustrated and angry over this, because the doctor told her he could find nothing wrong, only to wonder if he was even bothering to look in the first place. He just expected her to continue to wither away and maybe die. It might give her hope to learn that not all hope is lost, that there are many possible root causes for her problems, and many of them not necessarily fatal if treated.

She is a neat person. She has been through a lot, and doesn't have a happy life. She deserves some sort of answers.

Thanks for going the extra mile for her. It's very inspiring. Idk, could it be something in her environment? Had there been any changes that come to mind when her health began declining? Moving into a new place? Or new commercial/industrial activity in the area? Is there radon in your neck of the woods? Good luck, hopefully someone can recognize what may be happening as more info comes to light.

Edit: Lyme disease can be difficult to spot, as well.