Serious gut problems, fatigue and illness at 22. Need advice?
So I'm 22 years old and I've struggled with my health most of my life. This is probably gonna be really long, but I'm very ill and really need advice.
My history: I was born a couple weeks late, always had social issues, I was terrified of social situations. Developed OCD late elementary school and had throughout middle school. I realized I was constipated all the time in middle school and started having insomnia and always had nightmares when I did fall to sleep. I also ground my teeth in my sleep. Also I had trouble concentrating and difficulty urinating.
By 14 I started getting discoloration around my eyes and feeling more tired than usual. I didn't get my first period until almost 16 and got very sick and threw up a lot on it. I did not get another period til a year later and they have always been highly irregular and painful and unpleasant. A little later I struggled greatly with anorexia and ended up being hospitalized and put on a feeding tube. I lost a great deal of energy during this time and never regained it despite gaining all the weight plus more back. I only got weaker and felt very depressed too. I developed sleep paralysis. I also developed orthastatic intolerance that never went away as well. I also started to lose my hair.
18-19 I went away to college and soon developed anxiety and started having gas a lot more and my bowels got messed up. I started having a lot of mucus in them all the time and I started having pain under my ribcage as well. I also developed chronic postnasal drip after being on an antibiotic. The discoloration around my eyes worsened and my minor
Acne became severe. After responding to no
Acne treatments at 20 I was put on Yaz for my
Acne because I tested to have slightly high testosterone. 3 months in my acne cleared completely but I also got pinkeye, tonsilitis and became sicker than ever. I was given some
Antibiotics for this. I also got strep a couple times in the following months and was given more
Antibiotics . Around the same time my bowels got even worse. They became thin undigested (sometimes yellow or clay colored) and hard to get out yet always urgent. I finally stopped birth control, but I felt no better and some acne came back.
Up until that point no one ever believed I was sick and I'd never been diagnosed with anything. I thought for sure I had
Chronic-Fatigue-Syndrome because I could barely get out of bed, but decided to get tested for lyme disease since I heard that can mimic it and it came back positive. I was given two weeks doxycycline for that which did nothing. Since then I have been retested for lyme three times. Testing negative two of the times and positive once more.
The past year and a half I've changed my lifestyle in order to help myself. I've done coffee enemas, ACV enemas probiotic enemas, given up gluten, dairy, refined sugar, artificial sweeteners and added fruit and vegetables into my diet a lot more. I've also taken probiotics and antifungals orally in attempt to help. None of this has made much difference the enemas relieve my constipation and allow me to feel less congested briefly, but that's about it.
I have no family support and little money but finally saved up enough to see a lyme doctor who put me on an
Antibiotic protocol taking a few different
Antibiotics a couple times a day. I made it two weeks into the protocol until I made myself stop. I was throwing up everyday and having intense stomach pain. Even with taking tons of probiotics and doing probiotic enemas to combat them I still felt like I was destroying my intestines and I wasn't even sure I had lyme so I stopped.
I think my problem may be heavy metals. My mom had around 20 mercury fillings put in before she got pregnant with me and I also had tons of vaccines over the years.
So I went to a place that specialized in chelation. They ran a lot of tests on me. My Lymphs was low only 48 normal range is 60-360. Vitamin D was low. I'm deficient in b12 and iron (but not anemic) probably because I'm not absorbing food right cause of my digestion. My ANA was positive abnormal with RNP antbibodies for Mixed Connective Tissue Disease which were high. They were 1.1 normal range is 0.0-0.9 so just outside of that. I also have adrenal fatigue, as shown by a saliva test my cortisol levels are low at almost every time of the day.
My stool test showed scant growth of candida albicans, heavy growth of nontoxigenic e. coli, borderline high h. pylori, heavy growth of enteroccus gallinarum, low total salivary SIgA (good bacteria) and ongoing
colonic inflammation all throughout my intestines.
My urine test for heavy metals (the unprovoked one) showed almost all of them in normal range, except cesium which was borderline out of range. I could not have a provoked test to really know if I heavy metal toxicity because the doctor there said I was not a candidate to take a chelation agent needed for the test due to my bowel issues. So I guess I have no way of knowing if I have heavy metal poisoning. Although I do have a "mees" line across my fingernails which I read signals it.
So the past month I have been taking antibacterial, antifungal, and probiotic stuff recommended by the doctor there to heal my gut. This being propolis, grapefruit seed extract, caprylic acid, l glutamine, vitamin d and some probiotics. I've also been drinking some bone broths, but I don't really feel like any of this is really helping.
I'm now at a loss for what to do. I feel like I've tried everything. I thought chelation could help, but I don't think I can get approved for that unless my gut issues magically heal. And if I do have lyme I don't know what to do about that. I felt like antibiotics were destroying me.
Does anyone have any advice on things to try? It would be really appreciated!
Other things to note: My joints crackle in my knees when bending, I have serious discoloration around my eyes and get accused of being on drugs frequently, my hair falls out a lot and never grows longer despite not cutting it in years. I have chronic genital pain and irritation. I have memory problems. I'm always cold, I have muscle aches, and poor posture. Neck goes too far forward. And I'm blood type A. I can't gain weight and am very thin. I used to swim in a lake a lot as a kid (don't know if I could have parasites). I most likely have had some cavities for awhile as well, but have never done anything about them (not sure if these could have resulted in health issues). I don't know if this stuff means anything, but I thought it might be useful.
Also autoimmune issues are not uncommon on my mom's side of the family.