Poor Appetite and Nausea

Hope you are OK AP. Thoughts, and prayers.
 
Anthony said:
Hope you are OK AP. Thoughts, and prayers.
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Thanks. So far, I've lost 30 lb since the beginning of the year. I check the scale several days a week. Had to put a new battery into the scale.

My doctor insists I must drink 3-4 liters of electrolyte water every day. My skin is very dry. I'll see a dermatologist soon. I've started eating small amounts of food all day long and I don't seem to be suffering from low blood sugar (dizziness) any longer. The nausea has stopped. My energy levels are normal. Muscular strength is very low, but that has been true for several years (I'm 72). Doctor also keeps advising me to have fun.

I've had 3 CAT scans, an ultra sound, repeated blood tests, colonoscopy, endoscopy, bone density, well-woman exam and so far nothing significant, but there is some concern about my liver or kidney or both (I get confused) that they don't think is the cause of my loss of appetite. They have noticed an ulcer that is caused by taking aspirin, so I've been advised to stop taking aspirin. That is a mystery since I take aspirin rarely, but since then, I've not taken one.

I won't fly alone until we find out what is going on.
 
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AuntPeggy said:
They have noticed an ulcer that is caused by taking aspirin, so I've been advised to stop taking aspirin. That is a mystery since I take aspirin rarely, but since then, I've not taken one.
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Review my post #27, have they treated you for the ulcer? Mine was only an erosion and killed my appetite completely -but the omeprazole knocked it flat in <1hr. If they don't know what you have, ask if it would hurt to try it.
 
Hopefully it will clear up after the November elections :)

My wife had all sorts of problems, which got misdiagnosed substantially which turned out to be gall bladder. It's been removed and now she's fine.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
Review my post #27, have they treated you for the ulcer? Mine was only an erosion and killed my appetite completely -but the omeprazole knocked it flat in <1hr. If they don't know what you have, ask if it would hurt to try it.
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flyingron said:
Hopefully it will clear up after the November elections :)

My wife had all sorts of problems, which got misdiagnosed substantially which turned out to be gall bladder. It's been removed and now she's fine.
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I'm already taking omeprazole for GERD. They don't think the ulcer is causing my trouble -- just want it to go away.

The ultrasound is looking for things like tiny gall stones or kidney stones since nothing has shown up in the xrays. Results are not in yet on that.

Elections -- hmmm -- you may have a point there.

Thanks for all your concern.
 
I wife is also taking Protonix for her GERD waiting to get the surgery for this. She thought she was having a bad GERD attack and they took her from work in an ambulance. Convinced she had a heart attack they put her through a full cardiac cath. Showed her coronary arteries are squeaky clean, but otherwise it was a waste of time and money in the hospital. A week later she's back in a different hospital which has properly identified the gall bladder issue.
 
Any issues with heart or blood pressure (fast or low)? I ask because I don't see it on the list and dizziness, low appetite and nausea were symptoms my mother had in the weeks before going to the hospital with a-fib. I'm sure your doctor has listened but if it's a periodic thing he might miss it.

Source is a weaker heart, not uncommon as we age. Heart weaker => low BP => heart faster to try to make up for it and it might come and go. Works for keeping your blood flowing but makes you feel bad.
 
bflynn said:
Any issues with heart or blood pressure (fast or low)? I ask because I don't see it on the list and dizziness, low appetite and nausea were symptoms my mother had in the weeks before going to the hospital with a-fib. I'm sure your doctor has listened but if it's a periodic thing he might miss it.

Source is a weaker heart, not uncommon as we age. Heart weaker => low BP => heart faster to try to make up for it and it might come and go. Works for keeping your blood flowing but makes you feel bad.
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The aide checks blood pressure and rate every time I go there. I'm taking blood pressure medicine and it is well controlled. Doctor listens to my heart every time and he has found a minor murmur that I don't remember hearing about before, but he says it is nothing to be concerned about.

Thanks for the good wishes. It is just a mystery.
 
Have you been to a good heart specialist? Might be good idea to go. Could be a valve regurgitating, etc. a through blood test usually brings up the culprit.
 
I finally have a diagnosis that makes some sense. Tenatively. It might be side effects from my blood pressure medicine, lisinopril. The dermatologist recognized the symptomatic skin rash on my arms and chest. So, I have a new prescription and will be checking my blood pressure several times a day for a while to make sure the new one is OK. And hope all the symptoms go away.
 
Encouraging news! I hope it works out for ya!
 
I missed that you are on meds. My family is now on high alert to all new medications simply because of the insane number of adverse effects we have experienced.
Remember they describe medications by their desired effect. All medications have more than one effect!
 
I had a persistent dry cough for 2-3 years. It's a known lisinopril side effect. Dr. switched me to Benicar and it was gone in a week. No BOP issues with the change at all. If that might help.
 
My doctor sent me to see a neurologist because I told him that I fell twice recently and I've felt weak. As long as he's checking everything else, my doc decided to get that checked out. Neurologist has just suggested another possibility: dermatomyositis. It takes into account the skin rash, muscle weakness, and ulcer. Today, 6 more vials of blood given at the lab and I'm scheduled for electromyography next month. Also, cancer can be associated with dermatomyositis. (And I have an appointment with a hematologist next month, too, because of some protein my doc found in my blood.)

Treatment for dermatomyositis is probably steroids. I don't know too much about steroids. Just enough to be scared of them. I already have osteoporosis and take vitamin D and calcium. At one time I took one of the highly advertised osteoporosis drugs, but it made my GERD unmanageable. Also, I don't want to deal with excessive weight gain. At 180 I'm still overweight for my height.

Should I fear steroids? Would it keep me from ever flying again?

I've been pushing myself to eat normally and my weight has stabilized. But, the nausea won't quit and last night I threw up again. I don't want to eat dinner. I picked a handful of mulberries from the tree outside my window. Tasty.

http://www.healthline.com/health/dermatomyositis#Overview1
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/332783-overview
https://www.mda.org/disease/dermatomyositis/signs-and-symptoms
 
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No drug as powerful as steroids should be treated lightly of course. And some people have bad reactions to them (like most drugs). My own experience of short time use was good. In fact the second day I was on them I rolled out of bed and thought "Nothing hurts. I feel GREAT! Oh, yeah, I'm on drugs." I had no un pleasant side effects and I was managing my diet anyway so I didn't notice being more hungry. This was a two week course to combat a lung infection.

John
 
jsstevens said:
No drug as powerful as steroids should be treated lightly of course. And some people have bad reactions to them (like most drugs). My own experience of short time use was good. In fact the second day I was on them I rolled out of bed and thought "Nothing hurts. I feel GREAT! Oh, yeah, I'm on drugs." I had no un pleasant side effects and I was managing my diet anyway so I didn't notice being more hungry. This was a two week course to combat a lung infection.

John
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Well, if this diagnosis is accurate, it will be a lifelong illness. If I understand the online sources, it is related to (or is a kind of) muscular dystrophy.
 
I have never heard of this condition AP, but hopefully they will be able to pin it down so they are able to treat it. It seems as if they are having problems finding out exactly what is wrong.
 
AuntPeggy said:
Well, I had the tests and so far we just have a longer list of what is not wrong. Add to the list, no ulcer, no cilliac disease, no cancer, no crohns disease, no colitis. They verified long-time GERD, which I knew about, but is not the reason for my current distress. Other minor discrepancies have been found that don't require any treatment. I'm 72, after all. BTW, weight loss has gone to 24 lb. I've been forcing myself to eat despite the nausea and no appetite.
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NOT medical advise but polyarteritis nodosa comes to mind....as do all of the giant cell arteridides.
 
Still no concrete results on my health. Just about every possible malady has been eliminated except cancer, so I'm now scheduled for tests at a cancer center. Let's just hope they continue to find nothing.

Most of my symptoms have abated since my doctor decided to take me off nearly all medications and changed blood pressure medication and I only eat when I feel like it. Now I only take medication for blood pressure, GERD, and thyroid hormone. I'm off everything for cholesterol and osteoporosis. I wear long sleeves and a large floppy hat everywhere and my skin has cleared up wonderfully. Cancer guy has told me to look up Multiple Myeloma at Cancer.gov. They say "Risk factors for myeloma include being middle aged or older, being black, being male, having been exposed to radiation or certain chemicals, and having a personal history of monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) or isolated plasmacytoma of the bone. There is no standard or routine screening test for myeloma. Standard treatments for myeloma include chemotherapy, corticosteroid therapy, targeted therapy, high-dose chemotherapy with stem cell transplant, biological therapy, radiation therapy, surgery, and watchful waiting."

I'm not black or male, but I'm 73 and my blood work shows MGUS. And I lived near Hanford as a youngster.

.......................................

I'm still grounded since nobody has found anything concrete of note wrong with me medically. Would anyone like to stop in Tulsa on the way to Oshkosh and take me as a passenger?
 
Steroids like prednisone is on the med list, I was on prednisone when I first started to fly, I was issued a SI medical and had to have it reviewed every year for 3 years. When I let it lapse for 7 years I was no longer on that med and had no issue getting a regular medical. I think the alarm goes off at 20g of prednisone a day.

Start drinking ensure, they have something like 300cals and lots of protien
 
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