What Is Wrong With My Girlfriend?

[Shoeboat]

Her symptoms are as follows:

*Heart palpitations

*Dizziness ( hard to walk sometimes)

*Numbness in hands and feet

*Insomnia

*Depression

In the six months that I've known her she has always been slow, weak and fragile but it seems to be a lot worse recently and the heartbeat fluctuations are recent.

She is 35 years old and Japanese and has lived and worked here 5 years. She suffers from insomnia and takes medication for this. She eats well, loves cooking and doesn't drink much and when she does she likes good quality German beer.

She is no attention seeker or hypochondriac but she must be suffering from some sort of depression and she has no lust for life and moves and talks like a woman thirty years her senior, it's like she has reached the end of her life already and she has mentioned that she doesn't have much desire to be around once her parents have gone.

She has been to some crappy hospital up near Nonthaburi but I want her to see a specialist or have a decent check up, but I'd like to put this to the forum before spending any money to see if it is familiar to anyone or if anybody knows what her condition is.

Thanks in advance.

[Ciaphas]

Those symptoms are very general and could be related to a lot of different problems. I would recommend she see a specialist, rather than getting arm chair doctor responses here.

[Shoeboat]

I just want to get an idea of what kind of specialist she should see. I'm not here asking for treatment, but just to get a better idea of what the problem may be because one of the forums many members may have experienced or known somebody who has experienced the same thing.

[Jingthing]

Just a hunch, but be sure to check her thyroid levels. Could possibly be related to Hyperthyroidism which will kill you if untreated. You can get the blood test at most any clinic and it's not expensive. If the blood test shows abnormal levels, then see an endocrinologist ASAP.

Edited September 19, 2010 by Jingthing

[Thules]

I agree with Ciaphas, and the specialist I would see first would be a cardiologist followed possibly by a neurologist

[Shoeboat]

That's great advice and the kind of thing I'm looking for, many thanks - will do.

Will check this thread again later to see if anybody has anything to add.

[guavagirl]

Insomnia is linked to depression. As for the other symptoms, it could be a number of things. But heart palpitations, diziness and numbess could be anemia. Best thing is for her to get a complete blood count test.

[Jingthing]

I agree based on those symptoms she could have a lot of things. However, I do think wherever you go you must insist on a thyroid hormone blood test to at least screen that out as the cause.

[sharecropper]

High blood pressure? Have her get it checked at a local clinic. Then do a complete blood/urine screen.

[Jingthing]

If you google every symptom he mentioned with Hyperthyroidism you will see a correlation. Especially the dizziness, moving slow, and heart palpitations. Maybe there are 100 other diseases you could google like that, but I don't think thyroid problems (hypo and hyper) and screened enough. It's cheap to screen so it couldn't hurt, and they are more common and more dangerous than many people think.

Edited September 19, 2010 by Jingthing

[Shoeboat]

She did once mention that she thought she had anemia, and she most certainly has severe insomnia and sometimes her pills work and sometimes they don't. I get insomnia at times but not as bad, I just sleep very light and wake up feeling rough, and after a few days of that the world does look pretty bleak. I have copied and pasted all the above posts to her email.

We were thinking of trying acupuncture for both our sleeping disorders but that is trivial in comparison. My father died of thyroid cancer in 1988 so the word itself rings serious bells in my head.

[Jingthing]

Hyperthyroidism and thyroid cancer are of course not the same thing. I do think Hyperthyroidism is generally harder to treat than hypothyroidism (which can often be treated by taking a cheap hormone replacement pill) though.

Caveat of course, I am not a doctor and even a doctor can't diagnose on an internet forum. The thyroid thing was only a hunch.

Best wishes to her; hope she can get some competent treatment for her health problems.

A possibly interesting factoid --

Some experts have suggested that autoimmune thyroid disease develops as a result of iodine overconsumption. Both the U.S. and Japan have high levels of iodine consumption and of autoimmune thyroid disease. Japanese people consume iodine because seafood makes up a large proportion of the diet, and Americans do because salt is iodinated and the food industry uses iodine as a machine wash.

http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/thyroid/overview.php Edited September 19, 2010 by Jingthing

[Shoeboat]

Thanks, it's certainly worth looking into.

[TerryLH]

As long as she's going for tests, have her ask for a blood sugar test.

[Sheryl]

I would suggest she get a basic physical check-up, lower end package is OK but be sure to add on thyroid panel. (not related to her symptoms, but if she hasn't had one in the past few years she should also add on a Pap smear. But don't push this if she is resistant, tests to rule out disease processes linked to her symptoms have first priority.)

What are the sleeping meds she is taking? Could account for some of the other problems i.e. the numbness and palpitations. So could stress/depression.

Regardless of what the physical exam shows I also suggest she see a counselor. There is a Japanese one at Piyavate Hospital:

Kaoru Abe

Piyavate Hospital

Mon, Thr, Fri & Sat.

Appointment: 02-625-6756 (Ms. Muai or Ms. Yamamoto)

Or if she is Ok with a native English speaker try the places listed in this thread

From what you describe she is definitely depressed, may or may not also have an underlying illness.

[GoodKarma]

I agree, I would investigate her current medication. They give out pills here and never tell you the warnings and side effects.

That is if the name is on the packet.........

Also how is her diet?

MSG gives some people heart palpitations and insomnia and a spacy feeling.

MSG is in all those flavorings for the noodle packs, nearly all Thai food, all American junk food ..(it is cleverly called artificial flavoring).....

Artificial sweeteners can also cause some of those same symptoms.. like Aspartame

[tim armstrong]

I would suggest she get a basic physical check-up, lower end package is OK but be sure to add on thyroid panel. (not related to her symptoms, but if she hasn't had one in the past few years she should also add on a Pap smear. But don't push this if she is resistant, tests to rule out disease processes linked to her symptoms have first priority.)

What are the sleeping meds she is taking? Could account for some of the other problems i.e. the numbness and palpitations. So could stress/depression.

Regardless of what the physical exam shows I also suggest she see a counselor. There is a Japanese one at Piyavate Hospital:

Kaoru Abe

Piyavate Hospital

Mon, Thr, Fri & Sat.

Appointment: 02-625-6756 (Ms. Muai or Ms. Yamamoto)

Or if she is Ok with a native English speaker try the places listed in this thread

From what you describe she is definitely depressed, may or may not also have an underlying illness.

Agree totally with Sheryl. The alarms bell rang when you mentioned the sleeping pills. Do you really know how many she takes and what they are ? Many can be addictive, and long term users of sleeping tabs. are sometimes unaware of exactly how many they take. Is she taking other meds that you don't know about? For sure a sympathetic counsellor and a comprehensive assessment is the place to start.

[w11guy]

As some others have pinted out I think she needs a full check-up. Depending on the results she can then see whatever specialist is necessary to see. There is no point seeing a specialist before doing a complete check-up. They have some good programs at the anti-aging clinic at Bumrungrad. Fairly expensive campared to other hospitals, but worth it to sort out these problems.