My mother has worrying symptoms, but doctor says everything is okay?

Question

My mother is over fifty years of age, and is quite fragile. She sometimes has pains in her chest that radiates down her left arm and up the left side of her face, but the doctor says this is iron deficiency. I'm pretty sceptical.

My mother also has great pain in her right abdomen and lower middle back, near the area of the kidneys, and blood in her urine. The hospital has done a scan of the area, but they haven't found any kidney stones. Are there any other sorts of illnesses that causes this kind of pain?

Also, she is often short of breath, especially around strong, cloying smells, suffers from insomnia and often lacks energy. Now, all this is VERY worrying to me, but even after a year of visiting her GP there has been no progress, except a few iron tablets. Also, it's not just this GP, but I find that New Zealand hospital care is generally very slack. Anyone got a solution, or a suggestion about what my mother might be suffering from?

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

There's probably more than one thing going on. I have no idea bout the shooting pains, but everything else points to a kidney problem - possibly from a kidney infection. When the kidneys start to fail, people become anemic (which is also what happens when a person has an iron deficiency). So an infected kidney that is not functioning properly could easily cause an iron deficiency, abdominal and back pain, blood in the urine, and lack of energy. The docs could take a urine culture to see if there is an infection, and also test the blood and urine for signs of kidney function. Its almost inconceivable that docs could have overlooked this without at least running a few tests to rule our kidney problems other than a kidney stone.

Answer 2

I'm not a doctor, but I wonder if those left-sided pains (in her chest, arm and face) may mean something is wrong with her heart - perhaps a blockage or even mild heart attack.

Also, if she has blood in the urine, it sounds like hemorraghic cystitis, a condition that I suffered from about 8 years ago.

About the shortness of breath, chemical sensitivity, insomnia and lacking energy, this sounds like what I experience with CFIDS. You can read my story at http://www.fms-help.com/fatigue.htm - might find some clues there. I am 56, but have had insomnia since I was 16.

Getting a correct diagnosis is so important! Because once you know what is wrong, you can take steps to fix it. I am glad that we now have the internet to do research for ourselves, as the docs seem too busy to stay current on every single aspect of many illnesses. I live in the U.S., and we still don't have the answers for everything.

Answer 3

When you go to a doctor who doesn't give you the answer you feel you need go to another doctor.