I need a doctor!

Is there some kind of private practice, hospital, lab, or whatever else out there that could actually run a comprehensive blood panel for me? Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Two years is honestly way too much to deal with; after taking a few months off, this fever has come crawling back. It sits right around 99 degrees—not high enough to be an emergency, I guess, but it absolutely drains the life out of me when it lingers.
I’ve already been through every possible test under the sun, and it all ended with me being slapped with a diagnosis of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.😕

I can't help but feel like that diagnosis is just a polite way of saying, "We have no clue what's wrong with you, so just fuck off!"
I really don't want to go back to my primary care physician because she’s already looking at me like I’m losing my mind, so I'd rather just bypass her and go straight to the labs.

I'm just done with this, please help!
😠

I’m assuming you’ve already had a full blood panel done because your doctor sent you for one. You mentioned everything came back normal, but honestly, the only thing that jumps out at me is your thyroid. If I were you, I’d push to get a referral specifically for thyroid hormone testing. When your thyroid is acting up, it can wreck you—we're talking constant fatigue, shaky hands, heart palpitations, insomnia, or waking up drenched in sweat in the middle of the night. If your doctor won't take these symptoms seriously or tries to gaslight you, just tell them you want a referral to an internist for a second opinion. If they still refuse or act like you're losing your mind, grab your medical records and find a new doctor.
By the way, Mayo Clinic is excellent if you want to get a full physical done in a single day, though it isn't cheap. You should check their website for pricing first.

I’m not so sure blood tests alone will give you all the answers you're looking for,
just try searching for a local biochemistry lab near where you live and see what pops up!

Angela Wright said:I’m assuming you’ve already had a full blood panel done since your doctor sent you for one, and you mentioned everything came back normal. Honestly, the only thing that jumps out at me is your thyroid. Your best bet is to ask specifically for a referral to check your thyroid hormone levels. If your thyroid is acting up, it can absolutely wreck you—we're talking constant exhaustion, shaky hands, racing heart, insomnia, or waking up drenched in sweat at night. If your doctor won't take these symptoms seriously or thinks you're just being dramatic, tell them you want a referral to an internist instead. If they refuse and continue to dismiss you, just grab your medical records and find a new physician.
The Mayo Clinic is actually quite excellent if you want to get a full physical done all in one day, though it isn't cheap, so you should probably check their pricing online first.

I've already had my thyroid hormones checked twice now, once through the Mayo Clinic and once at General Hospital. Those results were perfectly fine.
I've also had a CT scan of my head and spine, lung imaging, ultrasounds for my heart and abdomen, and I even tested positive for H. pylori...

Are you from somewhere near San Diego? If you happen to be passing through, would you mind swinging by my doctor's office for a bit?

Gregory Miller4 said:I’ve already had my thyroid levels checked twice—once at Mayo Clinic and once over at General Hospital. Those results came back perfectly fine.
I’ve also gone through the ringer with a head and spine CT, lung imaging, an echocardiogram, abdominal ultrasounds, and even tested positive for SID...

Have you actually screened for STDs?

Go ahead and dig through the forum archives for a bit; you'll stumble upon plenty of threads discussing that exact 98.6 degree fever paired with other symptoms, and honestly, everyone seems to be going through the same thing... I know I am.

Gregory Miller4 said:I've had my thyroid hormone levels checked twice now...

What about antibodies?

jadesailor14 said:I'm not convinced blood work alone is going to solve all your mysteries.
just search for "biochemical lab" plus whatever city you're in and pick one yourself.

Fine, I tracked down Breyer, so I'll head over there tomorrow and have them run every single test they can possibly manage...

Angela Wright said:Have you actually gone out and gotten tested for STDs?

I've already been screened for the most common STDs, including HIV, chlamydia, HPV, and a few others that I can't quite recall at the moment.

Gregory Miller4 said:Alright, I finally tracked down Breyer, so I'm heading there tomorrow to get every single test they can possibly run on me...

They have a really great reputation
though I honestly can't imagine much going wrong with those kinds of tests

jadesailor14 said:what about antibodies?

I honestly can't say for sure. But I assume they ran those tests too if they actually needed the data.

Have you gone for allergy testing yet?
Maybe you're reacting to something in the environment, and that constant fatigue and low-grade fever are just how your body is signaling the struggle.

Angela Wright said:Have you actually gone for allergy testing?
It’s possible you're reacting to something that’s manifesting as this constant fatigue and fever.

I honestly have no clue what I would even test for when it comes to allergies, because this whole thing has been dragging on for two years now regardless of the season. I can't draw any meaningful connection to anything I do or eat; there are no skin rashes, no respiratory issues, nothing. I've cycled through various diets, I don't smoke, and I haven't even dared to touch a beer in quite some time because it just makes me feel worse.
It doesn't feel like an allergy to me.
Unless I'm somehow allergic to H2O or something equally ridiculous?

Gregory Miller4 said:I honestly don't even know what I'd be testing for at this point. This whole thing has been dragging on for two years now, regardless of the season. I can't draw any lines between my symptoms and anything I do or eat. There are zero skin issues, nothing with my breathing, and I've tried every diet under the sun. I don't smoke, and frankly, I haven't even touched a beer in ages because it just makes me feel terrible.
It doesn't sound like an allergy to me.
Unless I'm somehow allergic to H2O or something?

On an allergy test, they throw dozens of different allergens at you and monitor how your body reacts. Look, you're constantly surrounded by dust, or maybe someone is allergic to dairy, or those dust mites that live everywhere. You don't necessarily need to have an asthma attack or a massive rash for an allergy to show up. You mentioned that beer hits you hard, so how is your stomach behaving in general? Helicobacter is also crossing my mind.

Angela Wright said:someone might be allergic to milk and dairy products

And honestly, an allergy test won't always catch that.

Since you brought it up, I feel so much better when I cut out dairy and grains for about three weeks at a time.
I have my own little diagnosis, though, so according to some people, I shouldn't even be eating certain things!
By "feeling better," I mean I just have way more energy.

jadesailor14 said:but an allergy test isn't going to pick that up

Look, I mentioned milk because it's a major allergen, period—though honestly, there are ways to check for those sensitivities nowadays if you're looking into it. That’s why I think keeping a food diary to track how you feel after eating certain things isn't a bad idea at all. Grains can be just as much of a headache for some people.

Angela Wright said:Yeah, I get it, I brought up dairy because it’s such a major allergen, though there are ways to screen for that possibility nowadays. It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to track how you feel after eating certain foods. Grains can cause quite a bit of trouble too.

My stomach isn't actually giving me any grief at all.
I cut milk out of my diet ages ago since I know it makes me feel worse.
When it comes to alcohol, it’s not my stomach that reacts; instead, I just lose all my energy and get hit with this strange, intense pain in my upper abdomen. Because of that, I’m going to go ahead and get my liver checked tomorrow.

Anyway, I’m going to run as many tests as possible at the lab tomorrow and I'll post the results once I have them.

Thanks a lot, Angela Wright and jadesailor14!

Gregory Miller4 said:My stomach isn't actually giving me any trouble.
I cut out dairy from my diet ages ago because it just doesn't sit right with me anymore.
When it comes to alcohol, it’s not my stomach that reacts—it’s more like my energy completely bottoms out and I get this sharp, weird pain in my upper abdomen. That's why I'm going to get my liver checked tomorrow.

Anyway, I'm going to run as many tests as possible at the lab tomorrow and I'll post the results once I have them.

Angela Wright and jadesailor14, thanks a ton!

That upper abdominal pain you're describing is your stomach area, whereas your liver is located on the right side, just under your ribs. Honestly, it sounds like a stomach issue to me, so make sure you ask them to test for Helicobacter pylori. If there were an actual problem with your liver, it would have shown up in those liver function tests you already had done, and those came back clean. Get an abdominal ultrasound; that way you can check your liver, gallbladder, and pancreas all at once.

Gregory Miller4 said:After taking a break for a few months, my temperature has come back. It’s hovering around 99 degrees—not huge, but it really wears me out when it lingers like this.

I'm in the same boat. Every couple of months, I'll deal with a low-grade fever around 99.4 for about a month at a time... if your lab results are coming back normal, I’d say just try to ignore it.😉