What causes excessive fatigue, sleepiness, dry, red, itchy skin patches, and hair loss?

Posted on Tue, 31 Jul 2018

Question: I am 75 year old woman and have had the following for the past few years--extensive testing has produced no definitive results. Extreme fatigue, sleeping 10-12 hours daily; dry, red, itchy patches resulting in spontaneous cuts as in paper cuts on hands daily; significant hair loss for a number of years; itching,sore spots on feet, with exaggerated callouses and painful toenails; painful joints, including hip replacement; lymph node exploratory surgery and complete allergy testing produced no definitive results, except that judgment was made by doctors that there is "something going on--just don't know what."

Answered by Dr. Kaushal Bhavsar (3 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Get done sleep study and skin biopsy.

Detailed Answer:
Thanks for your question on Healthcare Magic.
I can understand your concern.
For your symptoms, I suggest you to undergo
1. Sleep study for excessive fatigue, sleepiness. This is to rule out sleep apnea.
2. Skin biopsy for skin lesions.
3. Serum ANA (anti nuclear antibody) titer and profile to rule out connective tissue disease (CTD).
Please let me know if these tests are done or not.
I will be happy to help you further. Wish you good health. Thanks.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Kampana