Dealing with a laundry list of symptoms: chronic fatigue, brain fog, tingling, nausea, tinnitus, and

crimsonfox26 said:What symptoms are we talking about here?
My suggestion—before you throw more money at endless testing—is to invest in psychotherapy (CBT).

Personally, I wouldn't jump straight to antidepressants. Push yourself to stay active—go for walks, get some exercise. And make sure you're replacing any vitamin deficiencies.
Pay close attention to your diet, too; stick to foods that actually provide energy.

I’m depressed because I can see my body just isn't functioning—I'm missing out on way too much life because I am constantly too exhausted to do anything. The anxiety comes from the paranoia regarding my health; I feel like I have some serious underlying illness, I'm terrified of the future, and I can't see any light at the end of the tunnel since this has been dragging on for months—maybe even a year. I don't know if I'm becoming a hypochondriac—since I haven't received an official diagnosis yet—but I'm constantly searching for symptoms in the hope that they might finally clarify the situation.

I've tried fighting this with willpower for months, but I can't win. I either have to fix my brain or fix my body.

I was around your age when I dealt with these exact same symptoms. It turned out to be a long-term H. pylori infection. It’s been two years since then, and while my energy levels have definitely improved, I'm still not quite back to where I used to be. I still have those days where I feel completely wiped out, though they happen less often now—usually whenever my stomach starts acting up. I remember feeling like a total zombie; even after just a quick walk, the fatigue would hit me, making it impossible to focus. It felt like constant brain fog.

Joseph Green12 said:I ran those tests myself—checking my HOMA-IR for insulin resistance.
If I'm dealing with hypoglycemia, should I be using a glucose monitor to catch it?

Obviously. You can check if your glucose levels are bottoming out whenever you start feeling crappy.
In my opinion, having any kind of insulin resistance at your age isn't okay. It’ll wreck your quality of life because you won't absorb nutrients properly, and sooner or later, you're looking at diabetes and all the nasty complications that come with it. Do your own research online instead of just blindly trusting whatever a doctor tells you. Good luck.

Joseph Green12 said:My ferritin levels came back high on my blood work

There it is; that's likely the root of everything you're dealing with, and honestly, having high ferritin can be even more of a headache than having low levels:

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hemochromatosis/symptoms-causes/syc-20353011
https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/aids-health/hemochromatosis-overview

Mono, BarEpstein virus/herpes 4?

driftingcanyon2 said:There it is—that’s the root of everything you’re describing. Honestly, high ferritin is even more problematic than low levels:

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hemochromatosis/symptoms-causes/syc-20352417
https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/aids-prevent-iron-deficiency

Hmm, who should I actually see about this?
My iron levels look fine—it’s just the ferritin that’s slightly elevated. It hit 410, while the upper limit is 400.
From what I can gather, that should be showing up in my liver tests too—but my liver enzymes are perfectly normal.

Jack Cook7 said:Mononucleosis—is it the BarEpstein virus or Herpes 4?

I don't have a fever.
What specific tests should I run to check for EBV and herpes?

Joseph Green12 said:I don't have a fever
Which tests should I get for EBV and herpes?

No fever here. Usually, it starts out feeling like a common cold for a few days, and then it just settles into that chronic phase with all those exact symptoms. I know tons of people—including some serious athletes—who went through this, and they all say the same thing: they felt like they got hit by a truck for months on end. It often involves a slightly enlarged liver, too. I can't remember every single detail, but I'll drop a link to a recent article I stumbled upon just a couple of days ago.

Joseph Green12 said:I’m feeling pretty depressed because I can see my body just isn't functioning right; I'm missing out on so much of life because I'm constantly too exhausted to do anything. The anxiety kicks in because I'm becoming paranoid about my health—convinced there's some serious underlying issue, fearing for my future, and struggling to see any light at the end of the tunnel since this has been dragging on for months, maybe even a year. I honestly don't know if I'm just becoming a hypochondriac, since I haven't received a formal diagnosis yet, so I find myself obsessively scanning my symptoms in the hope that one might finally provide some clarity.

I've been trying to power through this for months now, but you can't just white-knuckle your way out of this with willpower alone. At some point, I either have to fix my brain or fix my body.

Worrying isn't going to change the outcome. If something is meant to happen, it'll happen regardless of whether we spend our days pacing the floor in a panic.
Overthinking is just fuel for anxiety, and it eventually ends up consuming you. I'm not suggesting it's easy to just shut it off—we aren't robots with an off switch—but it's worth keeping that perspective in mind.
From my point of view, you're already doing more than most by actually getting tests done and actively trying to pin down a cause. Usually, when people are in a deep depression, they don't even have the energy to bother with that.

I haven't kept track of every specific test you've run, but I see the other folks here have offered plenty of suggestions on what might be going on. If none of those lead anywhere, then perhaps focusing on your mental headspace might be the next logical step. 😁

Jack Cook7 said:There’s no fever involved. It starts off looking like a common cold for a few days—just typical congestion—and then it shifts into a chronic phase with the exact symptoms described here. I know plenty of people who have gone through this, including serious athletes; they all say the same thing: they felt absolutely trashed for months. Usually, there's some slight liver enlargement involved. I don't recall every specific detail, but I'll drop a link to the latest article I stumbled upon a couple of days ago.

So, how do you actually test for it once it moves past the acute stage?
My ultrasound showed my liver was perfectly fine.

Look, you could run a million tests and everything would probably end up landing within the "normal" range anyway—this whole thing is just noise. Half the population carries H. pylori and they don't even know it, let alone care... it's like how every fourth person has had mono at some point; most people just breeze through it without any lasting issues. You really need to focus on your mental state here—you already mentioned you struggle with anxiety, depression, and being a bit of a hypochondriac.

The thing that actually worries me most in your results is that B12 deficiency (especially if you aren't vegan). How low was it?? Mine was sitting at 512, though I couldn't get my B6 levels measured.
Hitting the gym, swimming, staying on nofap... that’s the kind of routine you should be sticking to.

Hey OP, have you checked for toxic mold in your place? Like, maybe some hidden stuff behind the walls? Some of your symptoms really sound like they could be from mold illness.
(Just throwing it out there, you never know)

How exactly does one go about testing this? 🙂
I’m not saying I have mold growing on my walls—it’s not quite at that stage—but this building isn't exactly a modern build, so anything is possible. Still, the whole situation feels incredibly tense to me. 🙂

Heavy metal testing. Before you even think about it, you’re looking at live poisoning.

If you've got the cash to burn, go see some guy at a local burger joint—you’ll just end up boosting your hypochondria, and honestly, the symptoms will feel even worse. If you actually think that's the worst-case scenario, you are dead wrong.

A B12 deficiency can definitely trigger gastritis, but honestly? I’d argue the stomach issues are often the root cause of everything else.
The other things I’d look into are mononucleosis—specifically EBV—and checking out your thyroid.

Joseph Green12 said:No, what exactly should I be looking for?
If I go see Dr. Burek to get a broader immunological screening, does that even make sense...

The ELISA test is just the baseline, but it isn't perfectly accurate; you can run into false positives or negatives.

The western blot serves as the confirmatory test used after an ELISA, as it looks for a wider range of antibodies (if I recall correctly, p40 and/or p41 are the most critical ones).

I haven't done any immunological testing at all yet. There’s a significant history of autoimmune issues in my immediate family—so it's definitely on my radar. Does it actually make sense to see BarEpstein, or am I just throwing money down the drain? Most people on this forum seem to claim they've spent thousands of dollars on nothing—has anyone here actually had a positive experience? 🙂

Right now, my main issues are:
Tingling—specifically in my feet. It hits me in waves; sometimes it gets so intense I can't even sit down—I have to lie down. It feels like a cross between tingling and a burning sensation.
Tinnitus—similarly, it can get so loud that I have to drop everything I'm doing because it becomes absolutely unbearable.
mucnina in my stomach, especially right after eating.
umor bol
And back pain.

I know everyone on this forum treats antidepressants like some kind of magic cure-all for everything.
Antidepressants didn't do a damn thing for me because my issue was actually hormonal, but I guess it depends on what your life is even looking like right now, OP.
I mean, we’re all pretty much a mess given how things are, but maybe the issue is just mental?
Personally, I’d pin my symptoms on hormones, but with your situation, it feels like getting a full investigation done could end up costing a fortune and taking forever. I don't know if you're even going to find answers in those niche rabbit holes like "candida" or whatever else people obsess over in those wellness circles, but from what you wrote, it seems like you've already done a ton of testing.

Joseph Green12 said:Hmm, who should I actually talk to about this?
My iron levels look fine, though my ferritin is slightly elevated—sitting at 410 when the upper limit is 400.
From what I understand, that should show up in liver tests too, but my liver enzymes are perfectly normal.

Your primary care physician could probably get the ball rolling on that. As for iron levels, they can fluctuate wildly throughout the day, especially if you've been sipping on fruit juices or taking multivitamins loaded with Vitamin C. Because of that, a standard iron test isn't really a reliable way to gauge your status; ferritin is a much better indicator since it tracks those long-term storage levels. Unless you’ve been supplementing with iron, there's really no way for your ferritin to be hovering near or above the limit through normal means, barring some underlying illness. In my opinion, it’s worth digging into the cause, as an elevation like that is usually just a hint that something else is going on.

Go get tested for the EBV virus$67
It’s basically an invasion
Check your bilirubin and HPL levels
And seriously, do a full body detox... people swear by it, it's like a total rebirth