General fatigue

[Blueberry]

Almost sounds like Mono with the sore throat - massively swollen glands...

Hope your friend gets to the bottom of this...

[caribou]

It DOES sound like mono.

I've always thought of mono as a young adult's illness, but my 48-year old sister was just diagnosed with it. (And she didn't even have the fun of getting it by kissing somebody. ) She had same symptoms as your friend.

I would assume they'd rule mono out before all those expensive tests he's scheduled for, though.

Best wishes and get well soon to him.

[Zen]

X-rays, CT scan and ultrasound of what body part?
I'm no doctor but I've had way too much experience as a patient. It seems more reasonable to me to start with a full blood panel and an EKG/EEG and stress test.

[lph]

He's had blood tests and an EKG, not a stress-EKG yet. The scheduled scans are of his thyroid, since that's the prime suspect.

I'll ask about the mono, good tip. It's a bit hard to get details since he still likes to think "he's not really sick" even though he's a walking shadow of his former self.

Men.

[Mr. Bloom]

I would think issues with his heart would be much more obvious (affecting his skin pallor, etc...), but the glands make me think mono as well.

It could be that it's more than one problem.

Given his weight, is it possible that he has anemia brought on by something as simple as bleeding hemorroids?

Men.

Yep...can't live with 'em...can't live without 'em!

[lph]

Given his weight, is it possible that he has anemia brought on by something as simple as bleeding hemorroids?

Well, that's one detail I'm definitely NOT going to ask about!

I asked him if he'd been checked for mono - and he'd never heard of it...

[DarcyInOregon]

Not everything is easy to diagnose. If your friend doesn't get a diagnosis, he will need to think outside the box, and take himself to other specialists.

My husband was undiagnosed for almost 10 years. Finally, we took him out of the HMO system and to a specialist at the university hospital. The specialist had an idea of what the problem might be. The test required a team of neuro surgeons to go in through an artery in the groin and send a wire up into the brain to capture blood for sampling, and thus it was a hospital stay. Once the test was completed, the diagnosis was positive that my husband had Cushing's Disease, caused by a tumor growing on the pituitary gland that emitted chemicals into the blood that caused the adrenal glands on top of the kidneys to malfunction.

Needless to say, the cost to us was over $30,000 to get the correct diagnosis. I won't divulge the rest of the story because it is too depressing and changed my life irrevocably.

Darcy

[Duck on Wheels]

Well, that's one detail I'm definitely NOT going to ask about!

I asked him if he'd been checked for mono - and he'd never heard of it...

Mononucleiosis. Norwegian name is kyssesyke -- kissing disease. He might even be flattered to have that one

[Mr. Bloom]

Well, that's one detail I'm definitely NOT going to ask about!

I know what you mean. Here's why I suggested it though...years ago, I read a story about a doctor who was haunted by an elderly patient's illness and death from chronic problems.

Following death, the autopsy revealed bleeding hemorroids were the cause of the chronic anemia that killer her...