Seeking Guidance on Health Concerns
I didn’t plan to share this, but I’ve reached a breaking point. I’m a transgender male who has only undergone social transition (no hormones or surgeries yet), I stand at 5’10” and weigh about 95kg, with a mix of muscle and some softness around the edges. At sixteen years old, I’m currently using melatonin, iron supplements, and medication for hay fever. Though I previously took antidepressants, I was discontinued from them about a year ago, which wasn’t my decision. I believe that covers the essential details. Over the past several years—when I was slimmer—I've dealt with persistent blood pressure problems. Currently, I am visiting a physiotherapist for hypermobility and joint pain; my knees are quite flexible and can bend backward like a flamingo, thankfully without any dislocations for now. I haven’t seen much improvement yet, as I've only been attending for around six months. During my sessions, I explained my blood pressure difficulties. I struggle to remain upright for more than five seconds without experiencing nausea and dizziness, which forced me to leave the DFES Cadets program at school, as I couldn't endure the marches without fainting or feeling as though I would. I also experience severe vision blackouts and a significant increase in heart rate when I try to stand. The physiotherapist mentioned that this could be linked to POTS, which aligns with my own research. Additionally, given my hypermobility and symptoms like easy bruising, she hinted at the possibility of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, though I remain skeptical since I am not a medical expert. I’ve attempted to discuss these issues with my parents; however, my father tends to avoid the topic (we have a strained relationship because of my transition), and my mother believes I’m “too young” to have such problems, suggesting that I’m just seeking attention through what she perceives as an illness collection. I understand that I shouldn't rely solely on Reddit for a diagnosis, but I would highly appreciate any advice or insights from healthcare professionals.
Answers (1)
3/5/2026, 2:00:49 AM
OpenHealth AI
Thank you for sharing your concerns; it sounds like you are navigating a challenging situation with multiple health issues, and I want to provide you with some supportive guidance.
Main Points:
- You are experiencing symptoms that may be linked to conditions like POTS and possibly Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.
- Managing your symptoms and improving quality of life is important.
- Clear communication with your healthcare providers and support networks is vital.
Explanation:
Your symptoms, including dizziness, faintness, increased heart rate upon standing, and joint hypermobility, suggest a possible diagnosis of Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), which can be common in individuals with hypermobility disorders. POTS may cause significant issues with regulating blood flow and heart rate when standing up, leading to the feelings of dizziness and nausea you described.
Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) could explain your hypermobility and easy bruising; however, it requires a careful assessment by a healthcare professional to confirm it. Understanding any connection between these conditions can help direct appropriate treatment and management strategies.
Next Steps:
-
Monitoring Symptoms: Keep a detailed diary of your symptoms, noting how often they occur, their severity, and any triggers you notice (e.g., specific activities, times of day). This information can be crucial for healthcare providers.
-
Lifestyle Adjustments:
- Hydration: Increase your fluid intake, aiming for plenty of water throughout the day. Electrolyte drinks (like sports drinks) can also help improve blood volume.
- Diet: Focus on a balanced diet rich in whole foods, including fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and whole grains, which may help manage your energy levels and overall health.
- Movement: Work with your physiotherapist on low-impact exercises that can gradually help improve your strength and stability, such as swimming or cycling, which can be gentler on your joints.
-
Healthcare Communication: Consider reaching out to a healthcare professional who specializes in dysautonomia or hypermobility syndromes. If your current physiotherapist is not addressing your concerns fully, you might ask for a referral to a specialist who has experience with POTS or EDS.
-
Family Conversations: It may be beneficial to find a supportive advocate, like a trusted friend or teacher, who understands your situation and can help facilitate discussions with your parents about your health needs.
-
Mental Health Support: Given your past with antidepressants and current anxieties, consider seeking ongoing support from a mental health professional who understands transgender health issues and your experiences.
You are not alone in this, and it's important to feel supported as you navigate your health challenges. If you have further questions or need more specific advice, I'm here to help.
Related Questions
Discussing Mental Health and Weight Management at a Doctor's Visit
A 32-year-old woman, standing 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighing 215 pounds, currently is not taking any medications or supplements, although she socially consumes alcohol and uses nicotine vapes. With an upcoming doctor's appointment, she's feeling a great deal of anxiety about addressing multiple concerns all at once. Having not visited a doctor regularly for several years, her reluctance stems from previous negative encounters where medical professionals primarily fixated on her weight, inducing feelings of shame that pushed her away from seeking further care. Over time, she has become more aware of the mental distress she experiences, characterized by persistent overthinking. Her mind often circulates through various thoughts, obsessing over potential outcomes and frequently contemplating heavy subjects, such as mortality and her relationship with food and body image. Additionally, she faces challenges with perfectionism, procrastination, low energy levels, and a tendency to feel overwhelmed by stimuli around her. These thoughts have made her relationship with food and body weight a source of significant mental strain. Despite her efforts to track her food intake and increase her physical activity through walking, she still feels trapped in both weight and a cycle of distressing thoughts. During her appointment, she plans to discuss two key topics: • Options for mental health medications related to anxiety and obsessive-compulsive tendencies • Medications geared toward weight loss Has anyone else experienced a long hiatus from medical care and approached a physician to talk about both mental health treatment and weight management simultaneously? What was that experience like?
Unusual Sweating Episodes and Other Unexplained Symptoms
I’m a 26-year-old male, weighing 93 kg and standing 193 cm tall, and I face a peculiar issue: every time I catch an illness, particularly a cold, I experience night sweats. These episodes never occur when I'm healthy but seem to reliably strike within the first 3 to 5 days of being unwell. Right now, as I write this, I’m in the midst of such a cold, prompting my reflections on this sweating. While the perspiration isn’t excessively severe, I do wake up feeling damp, and my sheets also end up wet – this can happen several times throughout the night, though it typically only occurs once or twice. When I research night sweats, I find that most discussions revolve around chronic and severe health conditions or specific ailments, such as flu or COVID-19. Yet, I only have a mild cold, without a fever, and still, the nighttime sweating persists. I’m unsure if I have any additional related symptoms, but I’ll share a few observations. Occasionally, I break a significant sweat during light exercise, but this occurrence is inconsistent, and I can’t pinpoint its triggers. While I wouldn’t consider myself very fit, I manage to walk for hours outside during summer without issue. However, I’ve experienced heavy sweating even on mild uphill walks to the supermarket in winter. On one occasion, despite the temperature being 5 degrees Celsius, I wore a T-shirt and ended up drenched, particularly on my back and the back of my neck, and I didn’t feel fatigued from the walking itself. This leads me to wonder if perhaps it’s related to a malfunction in regulating body temperature. Additionally, I have symptoms akin to Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), which have plagued me for several years. Initially, I attributed them to a stressful position I held in the past, thinking they would fade away, but they haven’t. Typically, I visit the bathroom 2 to 4 times daily, particularly during the morning hours from 9 AM to noon. Furthermore, another noteworthy aspect I want to mention — it’s presently 3 AM as I draft this, so I apologize if my narrative feels a bit scattered — is my unusual reaction to vaccinations. Each time I receive one, I endure severe fevers and vivid hallucinations, often struggling to discern between waking life and dreams. There have been multiple episodes where I believe I’ve gotten out of bed, walked around the house, only to awaken back in bed, repeating the experience several times. I recall this happening at least three times, both in childhood and during my teenage years when I received a booster shot. I genuinely wish someone could help name the collection of these seemingly unrelated issues. In my area, accessing a doctor can be a daunting challenge; even if I wished to seek help, I’d likely have to wait weeks, by which time my symptoms might have subsided with nothing substantial to present. I’m not certain whether these experiences are linked; perhaps I’m simply trying to connect unrelated occurrences. I’m hopeful that someone here might have insights into this, possibly relating it to an overactive nervous system or something similar. Thank you for taking the time to read this; I’m heading back to bed now.
Understanding Unusual Medication Responses and Anxiety Challenges
Navigating through anxiety can be incredibly frustrating, especially when it feels like nothing is effective. As a woman in my mid-40s, I've experimented with numerous treatments, and I’m currently under the care of a psychiatrist who is conducting an initial assessment of my situation. Recently, I started on 1mg of Intuniv (guanfacine), but instead of experiencing a sense of calm, I’ve found myself feeling more wired and facing significant sleep disturbances. Throughout the years, I've tried a variety of medications including Zoloft, Effexor, Lexapro, Wellbutrin, Buspar, Xanax, Valium, Hydroxyzine, and Prozac. Additionally, I've explored natural options like ashwagandha, CBD, and L-theanine. Due to a particularly challenging situation in my life, I also have a prescription for Ativan. While Hydroxyzine and Ativan offer some relief, I have concerns about relying on benzodiazepines long-term or the cognitive side effects associated with Hydroxyzine. After undergoing genetic testing (Genesight/ClarityX), I discovered that I am an ultra rapid metabolizer, which helps shed light on some of my medication challenges. However, I am perplexed by my tendency to experience paradoxical reactions to many drugs. For instance, following surgery, I took oxycodone expecting sedation, but instead, it made me feel energized, focused, and relaxed—certainly not the intended effect. With this unusual response pattern, I wonder if others have faced similar experiences or if anyone has recommendations for alternative paths I can explore with my healthcare providers. Any insights or suggestions would be immensely helpful and appreciated!
Unexpected Onset of Stuttering
My boyfriend, who is 32, has been unwell recently, and for the past week, he exhibited various symptoms. We sought help at urgent care, where they conducted tests for both the flu and COVID-19, both of which returned negative results. The healthcare provider prescribed him cough syrup, a nasal spray, and an antihistamine. Despite starting the treatment, he continued to feel fatigued, and we figured it would simply take some time for him to recover. However, yesterday, upon returning to work, he unexpectedly began to stutter. Aside from this, he showed no signs of confusion or facial drooping, appearing entirely normal otherwise. Concerned, we visited the emergency room, where extensive testing was performed, including a CT scan, chest X-ray, and blood and urine tests. Fortunately, all results were normal. Initially, there was concern regarding a possible stroke, but that was quickly dismissed. The physician suggested that it might be stress-related and advised us to go home. He plans to see his primary care physician tomorrow, but I'm reaching out to see if anyone has insights into what might be causing this sudden stuttering or suggestions on how to assist him in overcoming it. He's feeling quite overwhelmed by the situation, and although consulting his doctor is a step in the right direction, we're uncertain about the underlying issue or how to proceed effectively.
Journey Through Multiple Specialists: Seeking Answers
I am a 40-year-old female who does not smoke. My medical history includes a long-standing diagnosis of Fibromyalgia, which has proven resistant to treatment, and I occasionally experience migraines for which I take Ubrevly as necessary. During my childhood, I suffered from allergies to dust, mold, and pollen, and went through approximately five years of allergy shots, including two rounds of cubes, and had my adenoids removed. Currently, I am using Flonase and Allegra for management. Additionally, I struggle with insomnia, having undergone a sleep study that indicated 300 episodes of waking throughout the night, primarily due to difficulties in maintaining sleep. There are no cardiovascular, blood pressure, or blood sugar complications reported in my health background. My first sensation of falling was around the age of 20 while being driven in a car. I felt as though the vehicle was plummeting off a bridge; the feeling only lasted a few seconds and was not accompanied by other symptoms. Over the next decade, I experienced this sensation approximately four more times, but thankfully, it never occurred while I was driving, and I could not identify any triggers associated with it. At around 30 years old, I experienced an episode where I woke up feeling as though I was falling, which quickly escalated into a sensation of relentless spinning. Movement of my head exacerbated the feeling, which I learned later was due to ear crystals dislodging and moving. I was unable to focus my eyes, could not read, and required assistance to walk due to severe imbalance. For 3-4 days, I couldn't keep anything down, experiencing profound fatigue akin to narcolepsy, sleeping 18-20 hours each day. Recovery took a month, albeit gradual. After a decade of relative calm, I had two episodes within a month, waking up in bed each time. Fortunately, the dizziness and sensation of crystal movement resolved after the last occurrence. However, coping with this sensation every time I moved my head became unbearable, particularly at night. After several months of juggling job changes, insurance, and waiting for medical appointments, I managed to see a physical therapist who, with a simple head maneuver, alleviated my symptoms in one session. Ironically, when I attempted the maneuver by myself, it only induced nausea and vomiting. Concerned about the potential for these debilitating episodes to recur, I consulted my primary care physician, who referred me to an ENT specialist. The specialist speculated that the extensive sleep (18-20 hours a day) could signify either a migraine or a neurological issue, leading them to refer me to a neurologist. This neurologist proved to be rather unhelpful but did order various tests. I remain uncertain if these tests were genuinely pertinent to my concerns or merely conducted to pacify me. Among the tests were an MRI, a CT scan with contrast, and a procedure involving flashing lights and electrodes on my scalp. All results came back normal. I've since scheduled another appointment with the ENT, as the neurologist couldn't provide any useful insight. I’ve been plagued by persistent congestion since winter, which contributes to feelings of dizziness (distinct from the previous ear crystal issues) and causes slight disorientation. There are even instances where my vision feels momentarily unclear. Moreover, I still lack answers regarding the month-long episodes I've experienced. Has anyone encountered similar experiences or could provide guidance on what steps I should take next?