Woman late early 40's, in a mess....

[Guest guest]

Has anyone, anywhere a clear idea where to start with this woman...

'I have chronic anaemia and get iron injections approx. once a week (for the

past 6 months) to keep my blood levels up, otherwise they drop straight away.

They don't know why I can't 'keep hold' of the iron. I struggled with this

during pregnancy too but it has got worse the last few years. I was also a

postpartum bleeder at childbirth and have also always had very heavy bleeding

during periods. I get these strange 'bad bouts' which I think has some

connection with the blood problem because I had them a couple of times during

pregnancy when I was at my lowest but then they completely disappeared for

years. They are not sure what they are. They thought they were a small stroke

(TIA) to begin with because the symptoms are very similar to that of a stroke,

but after several MRI screenings they have ruled this out. They are now unsure

whether they are a migraine or an epileptic seizure - or both. First i loose

some of my sight (there are bits that aren't there-like if i look at you

straight on- at your nose-then I can't see the left top right section or bottom

of your face) then when this passes-(usually about 15min-half an hour later) my

(usually left, but can also be right side) hand, starting with my little finger-

starts going numb and tingling...this then progresses from finger to finger, up

my arm to my mouth, chin, side of face, part of nose and then progressing to the

corner of my mouth, lips,(sometimes you can see it hanging even like stroke

patients) then into my mouth, gums, along my tongue, and down my throat (this

part is awful!) where it stops. A few minutes later (thankfully this doesn't

always happen-`cos it frightens me- I can lose/have difficulty with my sense of

speech for some seconds) Sometimes I get a horrific headache-hence the migraine

diagnosis I suppose ...sometimes I don't. The last year I get them about once a

week. I feel exhausted nearly all of the time. These 'bouts' seem to come-mostly

in the mornings before 12 -if I do too much or get stressed (and too much is not

much at the mo-it can just mean the kids stressing me in the morning or getting

up too early) I have a fantastic, worn out husband that does the morning school

runs!

I was diagnosed with arthritis 3 years ago - ankylosing spondylitis and

psoriasis arthritis. I started with terrible left hip pain in June when we were

on holiday in the south of France. My right long toe also became swollen and red

and hot. It got worse and worse to the extent of not being able to walk. The GP

said it was a slipped disk at first and told me to walk as much as possible

which resulted in pure agony and only made the problem worse. It wasn't until I

couldn't walk a step more and was forced to rest, that things started to turn

around and the inflammation retreated. During this time, my jaw joint also

became inflamed and I was then sent to hospital with 3 inflamed joints and

diagnosed after a MRI. I have arthritis in my spine, hips, jaw, toe (hammer toe)

and eye (iritis). I was given numerous cortisone injections and when they didn't

work- a course of chemotherapy tablets- but these gave me horrific headaches so

I stopped taking them. They wanted to put me on Embrel injections once a week

but after reading up on all the symptoms (from people who had tried them in

America) I said no and instead started on a strict starch free diet -The head

specialist was not happy as they had had a meeting and decided to give me these

very expensive injections(1000ponds per shot), but I feel the diet immediately

minimized my symptoms and pain and I haven't had anymore serious joint

inflammation since and my spondylitis is a lot less in the mornings than it used

to be.

The autumn before this, after a summer where I had a nagging pain in my

back/right side, my periods got longer and longer and started continuing into

one another, I began with heavy, heavy bleeding that never seemed to stop. I'm

telling you this because I think this triggered these 'bad bouts' again and also

maybe sent my immune system haywire then too. After numerous CT scans and

finding a large cist (the size of a golf ball) on the liver which is apparently

just a dead end find-not dangerous at all kind of thing that they don't do

anything about (actually one of those haemangioma strawberry birth marks that

has grown through the years-full of red blood vessels). After numerous hospital

visits and lots of bleeding and lots of ultrasounds, they finally found a large

non cancerous myoma floating around in the middle of my uterus that is connected

to the wall with a long feeding tube. It had apparently been hiding further down

to begin with (which is why they couldn't find the problem) causing havoc. They

contemplated removing the uterus completely, but suddenly the bleeding stopped

and my periods went back to normal again so they have just left it. I have

checked it once since and it was slightly smaller so they hope it will sort

itself out.

My biggest problem/symptom and hindering through all of this is anxiety!!-panic

anxiety-terrified of most things at the moment!! This has escalated the past

year and by the end of August last year I just broke down and I had somehow

managed to trap myself in a box/limited lifestyle that is now very difficult to

get out of. I daren't be on my own at all! I daren't drive alone or stay in the

house on my own! I have an au pair which solves this problem.. for now. I try

and push myself and pick up the kids from school 3minutes away (alone) but as

you can imagine life is a complete nightmare. I hate it!! I started going to a

psychologist in October and have been trying to learn how to tackle this anxiety

and we have tackled some childhood difficulties I had to deal with, but she

thinks it all has to do with my physical problems and that that's what's

triggered the anxiety and that because I am so weak, I am in a vicious circle.

Losing control!! I can relate to this because I think it started when I was

afraid to be alone when these 'bad bouts' started and whilst having them, so I

used to ring for some-one to come and be with me. I am a bit of a mess at the

moment. I never used to be frightened of anything and was quite the independent

type. My sight is blurry and I find it hard to focus but if I try to forget

about it-it helps. I can see:) I can't exercise because I get these 'bad bouts'

and I have no energy at all!! My anxiety and these 'bad bouts' are a lot worse

when I have my periods-at the beginning and end. My blood pressure is also very

low and I get a lot of headaches.

I realize this must seem like an impossible case and I obviously know that you

are no doctor or miracle-worker, but like I said earlier I am desperate and if

you should have any ideas or views or advice around any of this or if there are

any remedies you can suggest that I can buy from you that have proven to help

for anxiety for example-i would be forever grateful.'

I would be especially grateful for any insights as to why she can't 'keep hold'

of the iron.

Maggie