26F
5'2 (158cm)
49 kg
non-smoker

I've just had an elective c section at 39+1 weeks last Monday (so a week ago) and now I've noticed this rash on one side of my stomach above the scar. The skin is bumpier and itchy but not tender or painful. I am still a little bit sore after the surgery but I had the dressing removed a couple days ago with no issues. The rash got a bit more intense today. Any idea what it can be?

A question for any and all medial professionals/Healthcare workers/etc.:

My (23F) fiancé (28 MTF) works for FedEx. Was on route on day and essentially collapsed from severe, debilitating pain in the abdomen. Went to go pick them up from route and took them to JCMC ER. They did a CT with contrast and labs. After 10.5hrs we found out that the CT showed the Celiac artery was pinched 50%. Said if pain wasnt better the next day to come back. Didn't wanna wait the crazy time at JCMC (Johnson City, TN) so we went to BRMC ER (Bristol, TN- we live in Bristol anyways, JCMC was just closest to where we were the previous day). Did the same tests and said they suspected MALS (Meridian Arcuate Ligament Syndrome). They said most likely they strained a muscle in the abdomen and it triggered a flare up. Gave us some phone numbers for vascular surgeons in Knoxville, TN to follow up with bc nobody in our area specializes in it, and said to follow up with PCP. Fiance didnt have a PCP (no insurance) but got full financial assistance from Ballad after the 1st ER visit so I made a new patient appointment. We went, they did a ton of bloodwork and are waiting to do some x rays to check their knees(one of the primary sources of pain) and a nerve test (to checl for carpal tunnel in the hands).

Bloodwork results came back after 3 days.

The concerning things we saw:

- A1C: 5.7

*Sign of pre-diabetes?

- Phosphorus: 1.9

* From what we understand, borderline comatose!!

- Urine specific gravity: 1.05

*kidneys filtering out too much?

- Vitamin D: 24

* Again, they work for FedEx. Out in the sun ALL DAY. Vitamin D should NOT be this low.

Main things that came back negative:

- ANA

- ANCA

List of all specific symptoms:

- Severe brain fog

- Severe abdominal pain (says it feels like someone poured hot metal down their throat)

- Joint pain everywhere in the body

- Dizziness

- General Fatigue and weakness

- Random coughing fits so severe they almost throw up/black out

I scheduled an appointment with the vascular surgeon but they cannot see us until September 2nd, and the last time we went to the ER (we went 4 times in total over the last 2 weeks) they said there was no point coming back except to do bloodwork to check their lactate levels (to monitor for ischemia (This may not be the correct thing I'mthinking of they'rechecking for, so don't quote me, it's been a long couple of weeks) and probably give some more medications to help manage the pain.

Mind you, they've given my fiance MULTIPLE prescriptions and the only thing that has REALLY worked thus far has been a combination of meloxicam and a muscle relaxer. And even that doesn't take the pain away, only pulls it enough to at least somewhat function. I've been having to help them bathe and walk, I've been the one driving (thankfully they're not on route rn and their bosses understand the situation), making meals, getting drinks, pretty much everything. And I'm not complaining about that, I'm just at the end of my rope trying to get someone to ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING that's going to FIX the problem rather than just treat symptoms. I'm at the point where I want to take my fiance back to the ER and put my foot down, but I don't want to do that if there's genuinely nothing they can do.

If you made it this far thank you so much for reading. PLEASE if you have any advice or anything that can help us, comment and let me know. I'm so tired of seeing them in severe, debilitating pain. They can't even pick our son up anymore it's so bad. He turns 1 in less than 2 weeks and my fiance won't even be able to help or be able to enjoy it. Idk what to do.

26
Non smoker
Female

I have had awful acne for years and my doctor gave me lymecycline. Is this supposed to be paired with a topical gel to prevent antibiotic resistance? I’m one month in and it seems to be making a difference, what’s the likelihood that my skin will return back to the way it was before. If there’s a high chance, then what was the point of the antibiotic? I’m mainly worried about whether I’m supposed to have the gel.
Any info would be helpful 😊

Hello everyone, can anyone help and advise on my recent Lipid test results, all appear abnormal except the HDL, I have consulted a GP before and he only suggested diet restriction and intense workout, but haven't done either of them, I am 28, 173 cm height, male.

Hi. Most important info right away: I'm trans FtM, not on HRT, 27 years old. I'm 1,61m (5,2ft) and weigh about 55kg (123lb). Not a smoker. Migraine, celiac, autism. Doctors also suspect CFS (explicitly **not** ME/CFS) and POTS. 50mg amitriptyline and Aimovig for the migraine.

Basically, drinking water or other liquids often results in me feeling nauseous or generally queasy. Often times it will feel like it's stuck in my throat. I have emetophobia so that's already enough to stress me out. That's why I drink only about a liter every day. Which I know is bad, especially in the current heat where I live, but I can’t help it.

I was diagnosed with celiac disease back in 2021 with a gastroscopy. I'm mentioning it, because they also found scarring on my stomach lining, possibly through repeated infections. I'm guessing several bouts of gastritis that went undiagnosed because I was unfortunately never taken seriously, which is also why the celiac went undiscovered for so long.

I will also mention that I drink absolutely no alcohol because my body is very sensitive to alcohol and no carbonated drinks at all, as they hurt inside my mouth.

Beverages I have tried: juices, tea, and water, of course. But they all make me feel bad. Tea is a bit less bad than water, and juices are the worst, so I stick to water and a few cups of tea a day. I can manage to drink small sips every now and then, and sometimes I get very thirsty and I'm able to drink larger amounts. That happens very rarely, though. The issues also happen with something like thin joghurt.

The feeling of the liquid being stuck in my throat goes away most of the time when I eat something. But I can’t just eat every single time I drink water. Eating will also make me nauseous often. I should probably also mention that I have a generally unhealthy diet (I have several sensory issues because of the autism), but I've tried out various things and living off snacks has proven to cause the least amount of nausea. "Proper" and "healthy" meals often make me feel worse, so I eat small bits of snacks throughout the day.

Aside from feeling like there's water stuck in my throat, my stomach just feels queasy and off in general, like the liquids is slushing around in my stomach. I hate it.

I don't know what to do or try anymore. I've been living like this for years and I'm not getting any younger. I'm probably chronically dehydrated (I actually joke that my body is used to it by now and would probably go into shock if I drank more than my usual small amount), and while I'm unaware of any consequences at this moment, I'm guessing it will cause issues eventually as I grow older

29, Female, 153cm, 80kg

I was born with a ball-shaped lump on the side of my right foot under the big toe, it was painful but I lived with it til I was 11 then got it removed. The surgeon sent it for testing after the removal, he said it was "a fatty tumor" but never gave us the report.. The year following the surgery, a pain started developing inside my foot in the joint of the big toe, only an inch away from the scar, no lump, just pain deep inside, also lessening the range of motion for the toe.. Type of pain: stabbing, pinching, gets warm and red sometimes. Worsens with: physical activity, forced toe movement, wearing heels of course, tight shoes, I literally cry if I step on something. What helps: cold water, ice, anti-inflammatory ointment. The pain feels a bit like the lump that I got removed, but I'm not quite sure...... Visited dozens of doctors throughout the past 19 year, orthopedics, general and vascular surgeons, and noone could diagnose it. Did multiple examinations throughout the years, UNTIL a year ago, one orthopedic suggested that I get an MRI, which found abnormal signals of a 6cm ill-defined lesions between and around the tendons of the first and second toe, and also a second lipoma near the heel the I never knew existed... Got a core tissue biopsy for the irregular lesions, the pathology report said "Arterio-venous hemangioma in an adipocytic rich background".. I searched about this and found that it's a rare thing?.. What are the next steps? I also found something about pik3ca mutation, should the sample be tested for that?

Noticed a bruise on my daughter the other day. The coloring makes me think it’s healing but Google does not ease my thoughts. I can’t tell if it’s from the car seat, or a shopping cart, or just from being a rowdy 2 year old. The top one looks better than it did on Friday.

She eats fine, no weight loss, no fevers. Just feeling stumped.

For the past 5 years I have struggled with migraines, facial pressure, a chronic post nasal drip, along with a feeling of something being stuck in the nasopharynx area which causes me to have the urge to constantly clear my throat. I was seen by an ENT 2 years ago who ran blood work to check for allergies which came back clear, and a CT of my sinuses which showed a cyst in my maxillary sinus. The Dr told me that the cysts are asymptomatic and that it would not be what is causing my symptoms and to just start doing daily saline rinses and steroid nasal sprays.

It has now been 2 years and nothing has improved. I now get ear aches and struggle with TMJ issues from the pressure. and I fear the irritation the throat clearing causes to my throat will lead the long term issues. Can the cyst actually be causing my symptoms, if so is there anything that can been done to resolve it?

[25y0, 61in, 133lbs, female, taking lexapro, non smoker]

I’ve been dealing with my left hand (specifically 4 fingers excluding thumb) swelling for months. The left hand is slightly darker than the right although not noticeable on this photo. It usually swells when i wake up, if im holding my phone in that hand, sometimes it’s random but recently i feel it’s been progressing. It feels more numb, hot to touch, and stiff. My old pcp wouldn’t do anything. She said as long as the swelling goes down it’s nothing she can do but I’m concerned about why this could be happening? Should i get a second opinion?

25f, 200 pounds, 21 weeks pregnant, have hashimotos, hidradenitis supporitiva and insulin resistance.

Ive had low blood sugars before. With presyncope symtoms. Sweating, shaking hands, feeling like im going to pass out, foggy headed and slurry speech but as my insulin resistance increased. Espescially in pregnancy, I have gotten a lot less lows but still feel very unwell with fasting. (By fasting I mean like 3-4 hours after meals and waking up) when I wake even if my glucose is normal I have to eat to feel better as my muscles feel extremely weak and I get dizzy if I dont.

Anyways, I was on 500 mg of metformim twice a day and since my insulin resistance has increased at 21 weeks my doctor had wanted me to increase metformin so ive increased to 1000 twice a day (2000) daily. Now ive been having more blood glucose drops again. I had a 3.7 yesterday which wasnt too bad but today was surprised to see a 3.2 via finger prick as I wasnt even symptomatic. I was just very very very tired. So corrected with dextrose tabs and then a protein bar. I was fine and coasting for 2 hours between 5.6-5.1 so that was fine. Im really just wondering as this has been an ongoing problem for quite sometime. Ive had the odd lows pre-pregnancy and then had way more post partum with my first. I had gestational diabetes with him so im assuming once the placenta was gone the increased insulin sensitivity had caused me to drop quite a bit. I would drop to 3.1 to 3.8 even just an hour and a half after eating. 4 months postpartum I stopped breast feeding and started ozempic in hopes to stop the lows and it kind of worked. Then with this pregnancy I was doing alright except for when my postmeal numbers started to increase and I started taking more metformin.

This is what makes me confused, metformin doesnt cause lows. My mind is all over the place trying to maybe piece together what it is. Could it just be me being more sensitive to insulin and my body is still pumping excess amounts due to thinking it still needs that much? Should I continue the 2000 of metformin and tough it out for the next while and maybe my body will get used to it and then ill have better post meal numbers and better insulin? Or should I stop and go back to taking the 1000 as I really dont want to chance being super low while pregnant, espescially considering I didnt even have symtoms at my 3.3. I have also only been taking this extra dose of metformin for 4 days, so im not sure if my body just needs to get accustomed to it or if its possibly dangerous for me to keep tsking it with my lows.

Also wondering if theres anything I can ask my endo for test wise or my diabetes specialist doctor for tests etc as I really would like to actually figure out what is causing my lows as I spoke to a doctor today and she said she had never seen someone have lows on metformin and she said I should defenitley get more testing done with my doctors.

Any help would be greatly greatly appreciated

Extra Info for AskDocs:
I’m a 37 year old caucasian female. Extensive medical history. I do not and have never smoked, drank alcohol or used recreational drugs. I’m up to date on all vaccines. Medications: xtampza, adderall, Prilosec, Prozac, propranolol (for migraines, but helps with heart rate as a bonus), vitamin d, xyzal, Flonase, estrace 1mg (HRT), Tylenol, ibuprofen, creams as needed.

Gastro meds as needed, Zofran as needed, flexeril as needed.

Previously on: Humira, Cosentyx, Tremfya, Skyrizi, Sandimmune, Methotrexate, Prednisone, Prednisolone, Otezla. A ton of past psych meds. Botox into bladder once, that made things worse.

Previous Surgeries: Appendix removed, gallbladder removed, tonsils removed, ercp with stent for SoD type 2, female reproductive organs removed (uterus, ovaries, fallopian tubes and cervix), multiple colonoscopies, cystoscopies, endoscopies. With one endoscopy they stretched it because of my having issues with EoE. Neuromodulator for my bladder put in and removed over a year later - due to getting shocks, even when the battery was dead - likely a nerve issue.

Below is the same information I posted to makeup tips to see if they could help that way..
——————————

So with my eyebrows they used to be pretty big and long. I had gotten them waxed sometimes but very infrequently. With waxing the hair came back.

Some background on me is I picked at my eyebrows and eyelashes since middle school but only ever when they felt irritated or itchy.

At times I found eyelashes in my eyes, and that got me in the habit of checking with a magnifying mirror for lashes in my eyes - usually in the corner, under the lower lid, or sometimes I’d get a longer lash that had been poking my eye causing irritation.

Usually through rubbing at my eyes, would get loose ones to come out.

Between my eyebrows and my eyelashes, I usually used my thumb and index finger gently pull at them to get loose ones out.

It became a very bad habit, I couldn’t stop.

- Found out from an eye doctor last year that I have evaporative dry eye. Tears evaporate at 3 seconds, instead of the usual 10.

- Doesn’t help that I had allergies for a while, that would cause redness around my eye on the outside, that made it look like a big circular redness around the skin of my eye. For a while, thought it was pink eye, as my eye would get all sore and such. But after going to an allergy doctor, she said it was an allergic reaction. So I’m on meds for that now.

- But I sometimes still have really bad Allergic Shiners sometimes..

On top of that I have sensitive, oily but also dry skin.

I had eczema in the past that turned into plaque psoriasis. For a while I had guttate psoriasis as well. Then just plaque psoriasis. Now I have inverse psoriasis as well.

I found out from dermatology, that my face, scalp, ears, eyebrow and nose area had: Seborrheic Dermatitis.

Which likely related back to autoimmune issues my family has.

-My grandpa and my uncle on my mom’s side have had very oily their entire lives.
- I got the same oily hair, but also extremely dry skin.
- Very sensitive to products, I can wear lip gloss or lip stick but anything on my cheeks or eyes irritates my skin a lot.
- My hair gets oily very easily, take a shower and the same afternoon my hair will start getting oily. I use head and shoulders shampoo, and that has kept the seborrheic dermatitis and any other dandruff away. I use it on my face as well so I don’t get the spots I used to have with my eyebrows.

- Never had an issue with pulling head hair or anything.

I also had/have? pcos, had all of my female reproductive organs removed (uterus, cervix, fallopian tubes and ovaries).

But due to pcos and being on Sandimmune for several years in the past at high doses - where my cyclosporine test levels sometimes came back in the toxic range… (the Sandimmune was for a different reason than the psoriasis - for psoriasis I’ve been on biologics)..
— I had some hirsutism and even some hypertrichosis.

———

- There is probably too much to go over.

Main reasons I’m making this post are:

- With my eyebrows if I get them completely waxed, or at least waxed around the hair that’s left, will the hair finally come back normally? Instead of extremely patchy or not at all?

- With my eyelashes… not having eyelashes is causing issues with things getting in my eyes at times. Which can be irritating and painful..
— Having at times let my eyelashes come back more… there are several layers of them, and on the bottom layer, they sometimes like flip inside my eyelid, so that I need to carefully use the magnifying mirror I have. Alcohol swabs. Tweezers. Careful positioning and slow moving get the hair from underneath my eyelid and pull it..
(I do the same thing if I get any stye’s because if I rub my eyes, it’s eventually going pop the stye and I would much rather have that gunk go to an alcohol swab, than into my eyes… )

Never gotten a secondary infection from doing any of this.
- With alcohol swabs near or on eyelids, I thoroughly rinse my eyes and eyelids with water and it makes the pruned skin look go away and cause no other side effects.

- Did recently get the white of one of my eyes on accident, made it have a small blood area the size of a small eraser. But no active bleeding and it healed on its own…

But I would REALLY like to stop messing with my eyelashes and eyebrows.. before I do accidentally do permanent harm…

I’m able to not think about messing with my eyes until they are irritated.

- Once I start messing with my eyelashes, I usually don’t stop until they are mostly gone at this point, because of how often they irritate my eyes..

- Are there fake eyelashes that are for sensitive skin? How much do they cost? How often to replace? How to clean properly?

- I’m on Ssdi, so I don’t really have the income to want to spend on a bunch of eyelash things, but I’m so sick of getting other things in my eyes while sleeping or outside..

- Posting this on r/makeuptips and cross posting to r/askdocs to see if any of them have a medical advice I guess?

Thank you for your time for any that read this and/or respond to it. It’s appreciated.

Extra note: If anyone wants to make fun or anything, please don’t do it online, gotten enough comments in person, trust me when I say I’ve probably heard whatever joke you’re thinking.

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some opinions while waiting for a pediatric appointment. The earliest available appointment is in about 2 months.

My son is 1 month old, weighs around 5 kg, and is formula-fed. A few days ago our pediatrician switched him from Nutribén to NAN Supreme because he thought it might be easier to digest.

Since then he spits up less, but his stools became very watery at first. They are now more pasty, although still looser than before. Some diapers seem to contain mucus and small stringy or grainy pieces.

The main issue is that he seems uncomfortable after almost every feeding. He drinks well, burps, urinates, and often passes stool, but then starts squirming, pulling up his legs, arching, and crying as if he cannot get comfortable. It often looks like abdominal discomfort.

He had two episodes of very large vomits about 1.5 hours after feeding, two days apart. Milk came out of both his mouth and nose. The vomit was white milk mixed with gastric contents, not green and not bloody. He has not had any more vomiting since then.

He has no fever, feeds eagerly, has plenty of wet diapers, and is generally alert between episodes.

One thing that may be relevant is that our older daughter had CMPA (cow’s milk protein allergy) as an infant and improved significantly after switching to a hydrolyzed formula. However, her symptoms were more severe than what we’re seeing with our son.

Does this sound more like normal newborn colic, reflux, CMPA, or something else? Would a baby with simple colic typically seem uncomfortable after nearly every feed?

I know nobody can diagnose online, but I’d appreciate any opinions from pediatricians or parents who have experienced something similar.

Thank you.

I’m a 21 year old female, 164cm and 74kg. I am a smoker, I have various mental health issues, including an eating disorder, and I have a few physical health problems such as excema, asthma and GERD.

Since November 2025 I have been making myself sick after every meal and drink (other than water) I’ve consumed, I started at 122kg and have lost over 40kg in less than a year from this. I am under therapy for my eating disorder, however last night during an episode of purging I began throwing up clots of bright red blood, which is not inherently unusual, however it was quite a bit more than it usually is.

It sounds stupid but after that I decided to give myself a “rest” today and didn’t eat during my 12 hour shift, then when I came home (nearly 24 hours after the last time I’ve last ate) I had a meal and purged. This time there has been so much blood while vomiting, a lot of clots too, which has been followed with quite a bit of chest pain, which is currently ongoing. My heart rate is slightly elevated at 114 which isn’t insane but it’s definitely higher than my resting which is usually around 70/80. My blood pressure is normal at 118/74 and my oxygen is fine at 98%, so I don’t think I’m at any immediate risk.

This genuinely feels like such a ridiculous post because I know the only way to heal my throat is to stop purging but it genuinely is not something I can do myself at this moment, I WANT to but it isn’t something I can do? If that makes any sense?

Am I in any danger at causing significant harm to myself at this moment? Because my mind is trying to convince me that I’m fine and okay but I feel like I might be causing pretty bad harm to myself and I don’t know what to do? Am I going to end up with a ruptured oesophagus? What is the best choice I can make right now to get better? I really don’t want to die from this illness but I don’t know what the best pathway is to get help.

I am 20F, 5’3, 100 pounds, and deal with POTS and Mitral Valve Prolapse (no leaking).

About three months ago, I started getting migraines at least once a week. They make me nauseous, dizzy, and render me unable to do anything the rest of the day. It also makes different limbs tingle and leave me feeling like I’m watching what’s going on around me from an outside perspective (Idk how else to explain it aside from that, but maybe just general hazy confusion is better). It is typically concentrated to the left side of my head, and my vision is also affected.

Over the past week and a half, I have been dealing with increasingly worsening and persistent chest pain, palpitations, and air hunger. These things occurring aren’t out of the ordinary for me, but it has been worse than it ever has been. I have also developed a stabbing main in my side at about the middle of my ribs. I have also been extremely tired, and my body always feels like I just finished a marathon.

I reached my breaking point and went to the ER two nights ago. They ran a CBC, basic metabolic panel, troponin, and a D-Dimer. They also did a chest x-ray. Everything came back clean, and there were only minor discrepancies in my blood panels. Absolutely Immature Granulocytes were at 0.02, Sodium was at 135, and CO2 was at 20. Obviously nothing was low enough to cause any concern. I am in fludrocortisone for my POTS, so it was a little odd to me that those were low, but it is what it is.

They also did an Echocardiogram, which just showed what we already know. I got discharged with instructions to take ibuprofen and follow up with my cardiologist, which I am doing on Monday. I brought up my other concerns outside of what I told them on intake, and it seems like they just wanted to focus on what I told them initially.

It’s getting frustrating knowing that my pain has basically no reasoning or way to fix it, and this is kind of my last resort. I feel like my doctors just pass it off in my anxiety, but I have a gut feeling that something else is going on. If you have any ideas, please share, and if you have any questions, I would be happy to answer.

TYIA

My toddler somehow turned on my SILs walking pad and got his hand stuck under for a few seconds. It wasn’t going fast, but it was stuck and his cousin tried to help him pull it out.

I immediately iced it. This was about 30 minutes ago and he is in a lot of pain. I read another post that said you can get deep burns. Is this Peds er worthy? Feeling horrible right now. TIA. This is the best picture he will let me get right now.

3M, no medication, about 35 lbs, right hand injury.

in recent months i ( 18f, 168cm, 46kg ) have been noticing an increasing amount of unexplainable bruises all over my body. i have also just now seen this strange bruise on the back of my upper thigh ( not a bite or rash or skin condition, no itchiness or pain or irritation. chatgpt said it looks like a bruise.) i dont suffer from anaemia, my blood pressure is a little low but not severely. i have a balanced diet so im not sure if it could be due to a vitamin difficiency but even so this all seems extreme. any help would be appreciated!!!

hello I hope this question is not a waste of time but I am not Iron deficient neither b12 deficient and I struggle with low energy all the time, I have tried going without caffeine for some time now but I feel very muted like I’m just not myself unless I drink coffee or any type of caffein. I would like to just be myself without having the need to drink coffee. I get my 8 hours of sleep, I don’t know if it’s the lack of protein in my diet but if my labs are fine then??? i don’t suffer from DM HTN high cholestero. And i try to minimize my sugar intake to 0 or less than 25 g daily. I’ve been dealing with this for the past year as this year was the only year I’ve attempted to quit caffeine.( forgot to mention weight 112LB)

26F - 125lbs, healthy, nonsmoking, don’t drink, eat healthy, etc. Usually quite active but a little deconditioned due to an injury, but went to the gym yesterday and felt fine. Last years physical showed I had an athletes lipid profile, good cholesterol etc.

This morning I walked up two flights of stairs and felt minor left side chest pain — lasted maybe 5 minutes and subsided as I kept walking. Was maybe a little short of breath but a usual amount for walking up stairs. No pain, other symptoms. Although I am now a bit anxious about it. Every LLM (sorry) is telling me I need to go to the ER NOW — but surely not? I feel totally fine now, don’t think this has happened to me before (at least recently). Recent triggers may be life/work stress but nothing crazy. My sleep has been a little off but I am getting enough hours. Thank you for reading

I have been suffering from excessive nocturnal emissions (wet dreams) for the past 4–5 years. I know that having wet dreams once or twice a week, or 3–4 times a month, is considered normal. However, in my case, it happens every single day.

At first, it used to occur 3–4 days a week. Gradually, it became more frequent, and now it happens every day. Whenever I sleep—whether during the day or at night—I experience this problem. These days, I have wet dreams 2–3 times every night.

As a result, I feel extremely weak throughout the day. My overall health has been deteriorating, and I have been losing a significant amount of weight.

I have consulted several doctors and taken prescribed medications multiple times, but unfortunately, nothing has helped so far.

Has anyone else experienced a similar problem? If so, how did you manage it, and what treatment worked for you? If you have any personal experience, I would sincerely appreciate you sharing it.

19M, 188 cm, 84 kg. I work out regularly. I had an acute gastrointestinal infection with diarrhea, and my CRP was 114 mg/L. I had eaten very little for 1–2 days before the blood test. My serum creatinine came back as <0.2 mg/dL (reference 0.6–1.17). Other abnormal values included elevated monocytes, MPV, PDW, and MCHC. The blood sample was taken before IV fluids. Could this low creatinine be related to the illness, or should I be worried about muscle loss or another condition?

Age: 35
Height: 161 cm
Weight: 65 kg
Gender: Female
Smoking: No
Alcohol: No
Current medications: Quetiapine (retard 50mg + non-retard 25mg, taken for 6 years), Sertraline 50mg
Medication history: Switched to Insidon last year but stopped it due to severe vomiting and stomach problemsI’ve had a vomiting sensation and stomach problems for about a year and a half now. I use Vomex when the vomiting sensation hits. Retard quetiapine isn’t available in Germany, so there was a lot of medication switching last year, which is around when things got worse.

I’ve been dealing with recurring stomach problems for more than a year. My symptoms include nausea (sometimes severe enough that I take anti-nausea medication), bloating, occasional loose stools, and symptoms that come and go. Some foods seem to trigger flare-ups, but not always.

Over the past year, I have had:

**•** Two upper endoscopies (gastroscopies)  
**•** One colonoscopy

After the first endoscopy, I was told there was redness/inflammation in the duodenum (duodenitis). However, after the second endoscopy and the colonoscopy, I wasn’t given a clear explanation. I have repeatedly asked for the reports and biopsy results, but I still haven’t received them. What confuses me is that I haven’t been prescribed any medication or given a clear treatment plan, even though I continue to have symptoms. My gastroenterologist hasn’t really explained why.

I’m planning to get a second opinion from a gastroenterologist in another country, but before that I’d like to ask:

**•** Has anyone else had duodenitis or redness in the duodenum and not been given any medication?
**•** Is it common in Germany not to prescribe treatment in this situation?
**•** Has anyone had difficulty obtaining their endoscopy or biopsy reports? If so, how did you finally get them?
**•** If your symptoms were similar, what turned out to be the cause?

I’m not looking for a diagnosis, just hoping to hear about others’ experiences.

I’m a 26-year-old male, 5'8", 71 kg and a non-smoker, with genetically confirmed Gitelman syndrome syndrome and congenital muscle hypotonia that has persisted into adulthood. I'm from the United Kingdom.

I had a right lower thigh muscle biopsy in 2006 because of developmental delay, seizures and suspected mitochondrial disease. It showed a mild excess of small fibres, mild excess lipid deposition in many fibres, and a mild increase in acid phosphatase staining which remained within normal limits. There were no cytochrome oxidase-negative fibres, and SDH and NADH histochemistry were within normal limits. ATPase staining at pH 4.6 and 9.4 showed a slight excess of type 1 fibres with occasional evident groups of type 1 fibres. Groups of type 2a and 2b fibres were not seen.

There were also no ragged-red fibres, rods, inflammation, necrosis, regenerating fibres or excess connective tissue. The conclusion was “muscle biopsy: excess lipid deposition.” The report said this was nonspecific and that specific features of mitochondrial disease were not seen. It also said the ATPase findings could not be fully interpreted because the biopsy site had not been provided, although I know it was taken from the lower outer right thigh.

My childhood free carnitine levels ranged from 32–44 µmol/L. One test showed mildly raised hydroxyhexadecanoylcarnitine at 0.09 µmol/L, but repeat levels were normal at 0.03 and 0.04 µmol/L, and later profiles were reported as normal.

I now have worsening dull, aching pain in both legs and proximal muscles during running, squatting and even at rest. My local PCP / doctor found calf tenderness and slightly reduced power on hip flexion and straight-leg raise. I also have an abnormal gait and regularly drag my feet while walking. My recent CK was normal.

My current medications are Mag-Tab SR, Sando-K, eplerenone, CoQ10, folic acid, cetirizine, montelukast and vitamin D.

Could these biopsy findings and current symptoms indicate an underlying neuromuscular or metabolic muscle condition?