Posts by Brian Patel4

@Ronald Anderson6/">@@Ronald Anderson6 - Dr. Lukic is absolutely fantastic. Her office is located just north of the Briton area, right near Worker's Valley.

The process goes through the American Red Cross over on Main Street. Generally speaking, a primary care physician can only write you a referral for blood typing if it's covered by Medicare when it's part of a pre-op workup for surgery; similarly, for pregnant women, it’s handled by their OB-GYN. You can't just get a referral "just because" or out of curiosity—if you do, Medicare might actually penalize them for it. Plus, testing isn't free. It’s never free; someone always picks up the tab.
For those who donate blood, that same facility will determine your blood type and mail a card with your results directly to your house. They also run tests for things like HIV and hepatitis. In my opinion, the smartest move is to combine a good deed with a practical benefit: donate blood and find out your blood type without having to shell out that $30 or so. 🙂

The powder version isn't available in the States anymore. You can just go ahead and use the spray instead; it works exactly the same way.

To was actually the best possible advice you could get—just head to your primary care physician. That’s always the right first move, regardless of what kind of symptoms you're dealing with.
So 👍

Speaking from a non-medical perspective, these don't strike me as classic symptoms of angina pectoris. If you're young and generally healthy, the odds of dealing with angina are incredibly slim.
The numbness in your fourth and fifth fingers, combined with pain radiating toward your elbow and armpit, sounds much more like a pinched ulnar nerve.
Now, if it isn't true numbness but more of a tingling sensation, it’s entirely possible that anxiety is the culprit—especially since you noticed the pain flares up when you're feeling stressed.
Ultimately, a doctor is the only one who can give you a definitive answer. Go get checked out, but try not to spiral into a panic; there's no need for major alarm just yet. 🙂

Yes, there is a surgical option available. The real question, though, is whether you actually need it. If you've been dealing with pectus excavatum since puberty, it might just be a minor structural variation rather than something requiring intervention. My advice? Head over to your primary care physician, grab a referral, and schedule an appointment with an orthopedic specialist at a place like the Hospital for Special Surgery. They can give you a proper evaluation and walk you through all your options. 😉

Hi there.
First off, being 5'4" isn't a tragedy for a 17-year-old. It’s on the shorter side, sure, but plenty of men live at that height. If you decide it doesn't bother you, then it won't 🙂
Take a look at your parents' heights, then check your grandfathers, uncles, and cousins... see when they hit their peak growth spurts. You might just be a late bloomer, meaning you still have some growing left to do. If most of your male relatives hover around 5'7", it likely isn't a growth hormone deficiency; it's just your genetic blueprint.
Before anyone even considers growth hormone therapy, you'll need to go through an extensive battery of tests to determine if you actually have a deficiency and if you're even a candidate for treatment. Even if you do start it, don't expect to suddenly reach NBA proportions—especially at 17, when your growth plates are already starting to close.
If you want to get checked out to see where you stand, head over to Mayo Clinic, specifically the pediatric endocrinology department. That's where they handle these kinds of evaluations and treatments. Just remember, you'll need a referral from your doctor first. 😉
Good luck!

What's going on?

I’m leaning toward blaming my iron levels too. Honestly, I can't help but wonder if I might be coming down with a virus or something else altogether.

Look, before you push yourself too hard, you really need to have a doctor—ideally a surgeon—take a look at it. They need to assess the actual size of the hernia and the risk of it becoming incarcerated or strangulated. In the meantime, I’d suggest dialing back the intensity at the gym.
I wouldn't lose too much sleep over the risk of strangulation if you've been training at the gym for three years now without any issues.

Generally speaking, those epigastric hernias located above the navel are the least dangerous and are rarely a candidate for surgery, unlike inguinal or femoral hernias. Of course, everything depends on the specific size and placement.
If it does turn out that you need an operation, don't worry too much; it isn't anything to fear. 🙂

Drew Jones26, just so we're clear, thrombocytopenia simply means a low platelet count. It’s a clinical finding, not an actual diagnosis of what's causing the issue.

Robert Jones6, I'm still waiting on you to post those CBC results: :držifigedabudesveok:

Based on that description, it sounds like it could be a hernia or a bulge, but you really can't know anything for certain without a professional exam. You should go ahead and 🙂

So, look,
when I talk about neurological issues, I’m referring to things like sensory loss or motor skill impairment—for instance, when a part of your body goes completely numb or you just can't move it. Believe me, those are very obvious red flags that something is wrong; if you were experiencing those, a doctor would have sent you straight to a specialist ages ago. What you mentioned about occasionally forgetting a word? That happens to everyone at some point, especially after staring at a computer screen for 12 hours straight. Your brain isn't exactly running at peak performance in that state.🙂

Don't worry about internal bleeding. If that were the case, your red blood cell counts would be dropping too, but yours look great. Plus, you’d probably notice if your stool turned black as coal!
Regarding your blood work—I'm no hematologist, so this is a bit outside my wheelhouse. It’s likely just a transient fluctuation. It makes sense that your bone marrow is responding to the drop in platelets by producing macroplatelets to compensate for the deficit. That’s why your MPV is elevated (that stands for Mean Platelet Volume, essentially the average size of your platelets). I’m actually quite curious to see what your numbers look like next time you get tested. I really hope they've returned to normal.

Panic attacks, anxiety, and depression unfortunately tend to travel in a pack. In fact, the symptoms that are worrying you most might be direct results of the anxiety itself—things like dizziness, headaches, nausea, heart palpitations, and even being hypersensitive to caffeine all point in that direction.
Personally, I'm inclined to think that anxiety is the root cause here. As for your thyroid, Sarah Johnson11 made a good point that some of your symptoms align with hyperthyroidism while others suggest hypothyroidism. If I had to bet money on it, I'd wager your thyroid levels will come back perfectly fine, right within the normal range.😉
Of course, you need to run the tests first to rule out anything organic!

Are you doing anything specifically to manage the anxiety and depression? It’s a heavy lift, especially if you feel like you're fighting it alone without much support from those close to you. Just know that a huge number of people deal with depression, anxiety, panic, or all three at once. For some, psychotherapy helps—and it doesn't always have to be with a psychiatrist; there are many excellent psychologists out there. If you decide to tackle this on your own, please, try to limit how much you read online forums about it; I think that can often be counterproductive. Surround yourself with positive people you trust, lean on them if you need to, and maybe pick up a hobby you’ve been putting off (like a language course, art, or volunteering). Looking into relaxation techniques, like progressive muscle relaxation or breathing exercises, might sound trivial, but they actually work. And honestly, the best advice comes from Robert Jones6: exercise. Physical activity and movement perform miracles for panic, anxiety, and even depression. The endorphins flood your system, and when you're sweating and pushing yourself, you simply don't have the mental bandwidth to obsess over dizziness or tension. It certainly won't hurt to try! Regardless, it should help offset the effects of a lifestyle that you've admitted isn't ideal (though, let's be honest, whose lifestyle is ever truly ideal? Most people just live however they can until something forces a change. Me included.😉 )

I wish you patience, courage, persistence, and nothing but good news from your tests!

I’m glad to see you’re feeling a bit calmer; personally, I don't think you have any reason to panic.
Try to use logic as much as possible and stop fixating on your symptoms—I know that’s easier said than done, but give it a shot 🙂 . You’ve probably noticed yourself that the more you dwell on the dizziness, the more you notice it and the worse you feel, right?

First off, you don't have the symptoms of a brain tumor. While those symptoms *can* be present in brain tumor cases, there are much more significant indicators that would raise suspicion. For instance, neurological deficits, intense headaches accompanied by projectile vomiting, or even seizures. You aren't experiencing those! So, feel free to let that idea go.
As Sarah Johnson11 mentioned, searching for a diagnosis on Google is a huge mistake. Looking it up on a forum is slightly less wrong 😁 , but seeing a real doctor in person is the best way, which is exactly what you did. You're on the right track.

Now, as for me 😁
At first glance, the dizziness, loss of balance, and ringing in the ears reminded me of Meniere's disease. However, you didn't mention hearing loss, nausea, or nystagmus (involuntary eye movements), and even those are quite rare; so let's consider other possibilities.

Enlarged tonsils can block the opening of the Eustachian tube, which acts as a channel to equalize pressure between the middle ear and the throat. When that happens, negative pressure builds up in the middle ear, causing serous fluid to leak in.
From the outside, the eardrum looks opaque or grayish, and sometimes you can even see a fluid level behind it. This leads to a type of inflammation that, unlike a purulent infection, often isn't very painful and doesn't necessarily cause deafness, but rather a sensation of fullness in the ear.
This happens more frequently in children due to larger tonsils, not so much in adults, but you are still quite young and you mentioned your tonsils are large—so this is definitely a possibility. As you likely know, the balance mechanism is located in the inner ear, so it's possible the inflammation affected that as well and caused the vertigo. That's just a theory... but without an ENT exam, you won't know for sure. I suggest asking your doctor for a referral to an otolaryngologist. If you're in a major city, heading to a place like the Mayo Clinic or a local university hospital would be a solid choice.

The thyroid. Did your doctor palpate your neck to check if it's enlarged? Are you experiencing a rapid heart rate, increased metabolism, warm/sweaty skin, or feeling unusually nervous and irritable? If so, get your thyroid hormone levels checked via blood work. Maybe you already have a referral for that?
If the thyroid is indeed the cause of the weight loss, it can usually be managed quite well with medication.
But it seems to me that you aren't eating quite enough, are you? Your urine is giving you away 😁 because acetone appearing in urine occurs during starvation (whether intentional or due to cellular starvation in diabetes). And no, you don't have diabetes. Seriously, you don't!

Bloodwork. Don't worry too much about the erythrocyte count, RDW, or toxic granules. Nothing there is significantly out of range. However, the low platelets, combined with those macrothrombocytes and the elevated MPV, suggest some kind of recent bleeding. Have you had any injuries, or perhaps donated blood...? Hmm, but then the erythrocytes would be lower too. It's a tricky one. Did you perhaps donate plasma? 😉
I really don't have a definitive idea here, so it's good that you're seeing a hematologist to clear things up. Definitely let us know what they say!

If I may suggest, I'd recommend spending as much time outdoors as possible—you mentioned yourself that you feel better outside—and try to adjust your schedule regarding screen time, sleep, wakefulness, and meals. I understand your friends are in different time zones, but your body is on American time, so you might be putting a strain on it, don't you think?

Go ahead and get those exams done, and I hope you'll keep us posted!

And yes, I sign off on everything fadedmarlin402 said. 🙂

Just two more quick questions before I get back to you.

Do you experience any kind of ringing or buzzing in your ears?
And
have you been dealing with frequent throat infections lately—maybe something similar happened about a month ago?
One last thing: have you ever had your tonsils removed?

Drew Jones26, how old are you?
These kinds of symptoms are completely normal during puberty, and they can even show up in some people during their teen years.
The blood pressure readings you mentioned are a bit lower than average. When you combine that with a sudden drop in pressure upon standing, it likely explains those mild dizzy spells you're feeling.
When we stand up abruptly, our blood pressure typically dips before bouncing back up—often by more than 20mmHg—and our heart rate picks up speed. These are just the body's internal mechanisms working to maintain equilibrium; there's no reason to panic. Given the anxiety you mentioned, you might simply be hyper-aware of these sensations.
If it turns out you actually have low iron levels, that would certainly account for the dizziness, fatigue, and racing heart.
I hope you’ve been able to get some answers in the meantime and that you're starting to feel better.