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Feeling Fatigue, Achy Bones And Joints, Hair Loss And Fever. Having Loss Of Appetite. Any Suggestion?
Question: I am a 39, female, non-smoker. Due to extreme fatigue, achy bones & joints, hair loss, and a consistent low grade fever, had Dr do labs (6 weeks ago). Normal values except low absolute monocytes, 155, and very low vitamin D levels (dr prescribed me vit D2 1.25 mg once a week). Sept 3, 2nd day on vacation, I had a huge abscess to appear on my chest, never had one before. Tests show its not staph, however, it's just finally going away as I'm completing week 2 of Clindamycin & week 1 of Augmentin. Fatigue & body aches are still extreme. No serious weight loss, however loss of appetite has occurred. Any suggestions?
Hello and thank you for submitting your question.
Your question is a very good one and I will work on providing you with some information and recommendations.
First of all I want to reassure you that I do not think anything serious is wrong with your general health.
Regarding the swollen lymph nodes it sounds like this is most likely due to inflammation and allergies.
A low monocyte count on an isolated complete blood count laboratory test is not indicative of any type of disease process. I would not worry much about that.
It is not uncommon for superficial skin infections to occur This does not necessarily indicate that you have a problem with your immune system. This type of bacteria is very common in the environment and sometimes if the bacteria is able to migrate inside a hair follicle it can create a situation where infections may occur. These infections can sometimes require prolonged antibiotics.
I think you should continue the supplementation of your vitamin D. I would suggest that you have your level rechecked again in about three or four months.
I would suggest another complete blood count in about eight weeks. If you continue to have issues with fatigue and night sweats. Your doctor might also do an additional test called an LDH level. If this is elevated it may indicate a problem with your immune system. At that point a consultation with a hematologist might be considered. I really doubt there is anything otherwise wrong with your system other than severe allergies. At the same time we can still be vigilant in looking for problems to try to address them before they get worse.
Thank you again for sending a question. I'm happy to be here for you if you have any additional concerns.
Dr Robert
Your question is a very good one and I will work on providing you with some information and recommendations.
First of all I want to reassure you that I do not think anything serious is wrong with your general health.
Regarding the swollen lymph nodes it sounds like this is most likely due to inflammation and allergies.
A low monocyte count on an isolated complete blood count laboratory test is not indicative of any type of disease process. I would not worry much about that.
It is not uncommon for superficial skin infections to occur This does not necessarily indicate that you have a problem with your immune system. This type of bacteria is very common in the environment and sometimes if the bacteria is able to migrate inside a hair follicle it can create a situation where infections may occur. These infections can sometimes require prolonged antibiotics.
I think you should continue the supplementation of your vitamin D. I would suggest that you have your level rechecked again in about three or four months.
I would suggest another complete blood count in about eight weeks. If you continue to have issues with fatigue and night sweats. Your doctor might also do an additional test called an LDH level. If this is elevated it may indicate a problem with your immune system. At that point a consultation with a hematologist might be considered. I really doubt there is anything otherwise wrong with your system other than severe allergies. At the same time we can still be vigilant in looking for problems to try to address them before they get worse.
Thank you again for sending a question. I'm happy to be here for you if you have any additional concerns.
Dr Robert
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
I did forget to mention that I'm still having daily low grade fever, even though I'm on two different antibiotics as well as an increase in headaches.
I assume they have checked for EBV virus? This could also be a case of mono. EBV igG and IgM levels as well as a viral copy number would also be reasonable to check.
Dr Robert
Dr Robert
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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