I am 6 years post op, I'm exhausted, and my Bloodwork is normal! Whats going on with...

I have been to the Emergency room 6 times for anxiety and fatigue.All my bloodwork is normal. I am sooo tired that I took a leave from my job and my mother is taking care of my two kids. I can barely function and I feel helpless.The Doctors have no answers.

Any experience or insight on this matter would be helpful.

Thank you!

Are you taking anything for anxiety and depression?   If not, that might be a good plance to start.   Being a working parent with tow kids can be overwhelming at certain seasons in life.

If you are feeling anxious, meds can help controls that really well.   It does not take the anxiety away, just the sharp peaks and valleys so you can roll over the daily hills we encounter with a little more ease.  It can often take a month or more for medication to kick in but if you are feeling so overwhelmed you are in emerg - I would definately head to the Dr's for a perscription.   If you are on meds, perhaps they are simply not the right ones for you and you should contact your Dr, and try a new medication.

Hope you are feeling better soon

Hi. There is "normal" and there is optimum. 
Have you have the copies of your blood work?
What some labs and docs call normal - may not be optimum.
i,e, my lab list iron, ferritin - as normal for 11-200.  Yet there are study that shows that level below 50 may be too low.  Some people may have RLS symptoms for levels that are below 50. 

What about vit B12? the normal say: 300- 900, yet below 500 some people may develop permanent nerve damage... I can barely keep mine above 800 with weekly B12 injection.  An I like mine to be close to 1000-1500. In that levels - my body and I feel the best. 

Then there is the Vit D... too low - and people may suffer from depression, anxiety, and overall feel really tired. We need that levels to be 80-100 
  How about your cholesterol? many people say - the lower the better .. but some study shows that too low levels (below 150 for total cholesterol) may cause problems (including depression, being tired, etc.)
Lets not forget about hormones... the sex hormones... we need them all... too low levels of testosterone in woman - and she may be dealing with a lot of issue.

How about Thyroids? have you been tested?  most docs test only TSH.  And that is not enough. Sometimes TSH may be good - but the T3 - the active part of the thyroid hormones may be too low.

And the list can go on and on... (proteins?)

Chronic fatigue syndrome, and even the mono - virus - may cause extreme fatigue... (my friend has that). 

I know all of that because I was dealing with a lot of issue. So far _ my sex homones are OK (HRT)< my vitamins level are optimum, and last but not least - 2 weeks ago I got iron infusions.  I already start feeling much better. 

"normal" may not be enough for us.  Optimum - is what we may need.  

 How about your cholesterol? many people say - the lower the better .. but some study shows that too low levels (below 150 for total cholesterol) may cause problems (including depression, being tired, etc.)


Where on earth did you hear this?  My cardiologist, PCP and Endocrinologist are all thrilled that my cholesterol is 128, LDL is 46 and HDL is 66.  Why would I want to increase it to over 150?

Just research that.  We need cholesterol. for so many things.  Just do reseach.  Google it,. read medical journals.  As we all know - some docs do not know it all... just do your own research.

i.e.
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/id/QAA43423

and you can find more studies re that.  I did.. 

Given a choice of a possibility of depression or anxiety or risk of heart attack or stroke, I will stick with the risk of depression or anxiety. I trust my cardiologist when she says i need to keep my cholesterol below 140, LDL below 60 and HDL if possible above 50.

Many years preop, I had horrendous cholesterol of 260, LDL of 180 and HDL of 36.  I was on 80mg of Lipitor a day.  Now I have these great numbers  - they were like this 1 1/2 years post op on no cholesterol medication - now I take 10mg of zocor just to prevent stroke due to clogged areteries.  I used to take Plavix also but due to severe bleeding due surgery this past winter, they haven't let me go back on it yet.

I do understand you point. But more and more doc and researches starting to doubt the cholesterol myth- that high level are related to hearth attacks, etc.
Even CNN reports:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/0*****olesterol.myths/index .html

Not that I trust them, but they do dig up studies and report the news..

How much of which iron, B12 and folic are you taking?

What are the scores of those numbers on your labs?

How many vials did they draw and did you get copies?

Very possibly the things you feel are not the same tests they drew. Should be around 15 vials.

I am taking a multi vitiman twice a day. I also have been taking Lithium and Lexapro for the last five years. My Lithium level is at .7 right now. I do not have copies of my labs but I am going to request them.

How do I go about finding my optimum level? My Doctor just sees the tests as normal and thats it.