Unexplained symptoms?
Okay, so I'm experiencing a few mysterious health-related symptoms, and I would much rather turn to my fellow VegWebbers than attempt to consult the online medical forums that seem to breed paranoia and hypochondria.
About two and a half weeks ago my left eye lid started twitching. I figured that it was probably due to the fact that I just wasn't getting enough sleep or had been a bit stressed out (family stuff) and assumed it would go awaya within a couple of days. However, it has continued to plague me for nearly three weeks now. In addition, I have been experiencing persistent fatigue. I suddenly get extremely sleepy after eating, especiallyafter my midday meal (about 2:00pm). I am getting more than enough sleep now, and the stress in my life has subsided considerably. What's more, I slept nearly all day Saturday and Sunday. Both days I woke up around 10:00am, had breakfast, felt overcome with extreme tiredness, and ended up "napping" until 6:00pm. I was able to fall asleep with no problem by about 1:00am and repeated the same cycle the next day!
What's wrong with me?! :help!: I can't figure it out. I don't seem to have any other obvious symptoms, besides maybe feeling persistently cold (but I don't have a lot of body fat, so that's not exactly abnormal). I know, I know, I should probably go to a doctor... I'm just really not a fan of the rushed visit with detached, unemotive physician and "here, take this pill and it will make you better" spiel, so I'd like to avoid it if possible. Does this sound like a common vitamin/mineral deficiency or ailment that an herbal remedy might allow me to take care of on my own?
Thanks in advance for any help you all can offer!
Are you currently on any meds or supplements? Numerous of them can have twitchy side effects. Also, have you recently lowered your caffeine consumption?
For energy/blood circulation issues, I like to simply add some more hot sauce/spicy food to my diet....Other things to look at are iron intake and also consider adding more protein/fat to your diet (ie nuts?).
mmm, I'm not a doctor, and I don't have any medical grounding, but my reaction is probably a deficency in something...
...that or something more local to your eye. That said there would probably be more symptoms if it was a deficency. Could it be a problem with your motor functions?
My daughter recently tested positive for mono, and she experienced the eye twitching (it was off and on for days) and of course the extremely fatigue. I googled eye twitching and mono, and there were a few posts out there where people had eye twitching related to mono. I have no idea what the connection could be! If you have mono, though, there is nothing to be done but let your body fight it off.
Go to a doctor. Is it possible you are pregnant? That would explain the fatigue. I occasionally get muscle spasms? in my eye that can last on and off for quite a while. Very annoying. But if you're worried, go to a doctor, seriously.
Go to a doctor. Is it possible you are pregnant?
Definitely not pregnant! That's one possible explanation I can eliminate. But it's really interesting that pregnancy can cause muscle spasms...
My daughter recently tested positive for mono, and she experienced the eye twitching (it was off and on for days) and of course the extremely fatigue.
Now that's something I hadn't thought of...the persistent and extreme fatigue definitely sounds like what I've heard of others' accounts of mono. I'm not experiencing any flu-like symptoms though... Ugh, I hope it's not mono. I can't afford to be out of school and work for weeks!
Are you currently on any meds or supplements? Numerous of them can have twitchy side effects. Also, have you recently lowered your caffeine consumption?
No meds that would cause that sort of side effect... if anything, I think my caffeine consumption may have slightly increased over the past several months. :P
I think the vitamin/mineral deficiency might be the most likely culprit. I googled some of the symptoms, and both B12 and Iron are associated with fatigue and eye problems and/or muscle spasms. I try to get my B12 with nutritional yeast, and iron I don't really pay attention to. I've never been a big fan of supplements, but do y'all think that be my best bet at this point?
Thanks for all of the help!!
This happened to me my sophomore year of college. Come to find out, I was pretty badly anemic. Go get your iron checked, and get checked for mono, just in case.
Go to a doctor. Is it possible you are pregnant?
Definitely not pregnant! That's one possible explanation I can eliminate. But it's really interesting that pregnancy can cause muscle spasms...
My daughter recently tested positive for mono, and she experienced the eye twitching (it was off and on for days) and of course the extremely fatigue.
Now that's something I hadn't thought of...the persistent and extreme fatigue definitely sounds like what I've heard of others' accounts of mono. I'm not experiencing any flu-like symptoms though... Ugh, I hope it's not mono. I can't afford to be out of school and work for weeks!
Are you currently on any meds or supplements? Numerous of them can have twitchy side effects. Also, have you recently lowered your caffeine consumption?
No meds that would cause that sort of side effect... if anything, I think my caffeine consumption may have slightly increased over the past several months. :P
I think the vitamin/mineral deficiency might be the most likely culprit. I googled some of the symptoms, and both B12 and Iron are associated with fatigue and eye problems and/or muscle spasms. I try to get my B12 with nutritional yeast, and iron I don't really pay attention to. I've never been a big fan of supplements, but do y'all think that be my best bet at this point?
Thanks for all of the help!!
It won't be B12...
...unless you've not consumed any in the past 8 years or so.
It CAN be B12, some people like me take suplements and yet when I went to the doc because in part due to extreme fatigue, my B12 blood levels were so low they barely registered. Some people are just not good at hanging on to b12, so yes even though you eat it, you can still be very low. Low iron too, can cause fatigue, it just takes a blood test to check your levels.
Yes, do get the B-12 checked. It's a simple blood test and important for vegans. I have trouble absorbing it, especially nutritional sources (Marmite, nutritional yeast, etc.), so I had to get weekly and biweekly injections for a couple years bc of some fairly serious health problems. If you search these boards about B-12 deficiencies, you can find my story and dodo's.
Fake edit: here ya go! http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=21039.0
Thanks sharway! That thread was enough to motivate me to schedule a doctor's appointment to check my B12 and iron levels. The university clinic can't get me in until next Thursday, but I think I should be alright until then. The twitching is obnoxious, but I'll survive. Thanks for all the great feedback, everyone. :)
Okay, so I'm experiencing a few mysterious health-related symptoms, and I would much rather turn to my fellow VegWebbers than attempt to consult the online medical forums that seem to breed paranoia and hypochondria.
About two and a half weeks ago my left eye lid started twitching. I figured that it was probably due to the fact that I just wasn't getting enough sleep or had been a bit stressed out (family stuff) and assumed it would go awaya within a couple of days. However, it has continued to plague me for nearly three weeks now. In addition, I have been experiencing persistent fatigue. I suddenly get extremely sleepy after eating, especiallyafter my midday meal (about 2:00pm). I am getting more than enough sleep now, and the stress in my life has subsided considerably. What's more, I slept nearly all day Saturday and Sunday. Both days I woke up around 10:00am, had breakfast, felt overcome with extreme tiredness, and ended up "napping" until 6:00pm. I was able to fall asleep with no problem by about 1:00am and repeated the same cycle the next day!
What's wrong with me?! :help!: I can't figure it out. I don't seem to have any other obvious symptoms, besides maybe feeling persistently cold (but I don't have a lot of body fat, so that's not exactly abnormal). I know, I know, I should probably go to a doctor... I'm just really not a fan of the rushed visit with detached, unemotive physician and "here, take this pill and it will make you better" spiel, so I'd like to avoid it if possible. Does this sound like a common vitamin/mineral deficiency or ailment that an herbal remedy might allow me to take care of on my own?
Thanks in advance for any help you all can offer!
I know ofa Doctors office that is not conventional and they do nutrition tests and tell you what your are deficient in. I don't have the number on me now but I will get it for you. They helped to solve my mother in laws health issues with their test.
lol I get that sometimes I thought it was a potassium deficiency so i tried eating lots of bananas and it didn't seem to help, then I heard it can be lack of sleep and in my case thats probably what it was cause I do notice it more if I am not getting enough sleep and when I sleep in and relax and get lots of sleep it finally goes away. good luck to you
Well the tick finally did fade about a week ago, but I have no earthly idea why. I've kind of dismissed it as being due to stress and overworking myself, although I'm not sure things have changed a whole lot. :/
The fatigue still persists, and the reinvigoration of this thread is a good reminder that I really should go get my iron, potassium, B12, etc levels checked. I hate going to the doctor. Blah.
Iron Deficiency can cause a lot of symptoms. And it's a very easy thing to check. I used to get mine checked every time I donated blood. And even as a vegetarian for 2 years it was always fine. I haven't had it checked in a while now though. Iron and b12 are the primary things vegans need to be careful to monitor. I've read that B12 cannot be obtained in sufficient quantities from any natural food source other than animal flesh. Nutritional yeast has some in it. But it's not nearly enough considering the low absorption rates for B12. Most supplements contain thousands, sometimes tens of thousands of a percent of the recommended allowance. This is to compensate for the poor absorption.
I'm guessing you still haven't seen a doctor. There is no substitute for getting these tests done. And living with fatigue can drag down your whole life. I highly recommend finding a good one and going there. I just started a thread on my own search for a doctor in my area. Maybe some of the advice others give will help you too. http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=30088.0