physical symptoms of depression
Hello everyone, new member here. Id really appreciate if you would take the time to read my story. I wonder if anyone has been through the same and if youve learnt something after this (and if so please do tell).
Im a 21 year old male. About 6 years ago I remember being bothered by strange symptoms. I would wake up and feel...disgusting. I would feel drugged and fatigued. This would last the entire day. I couldnt think clearly anymore, my memory got worse and I felt it affected my performance in school. This feeling was constant. I kept pushing myself through high school hoping this thing would go away but it didnt. I saw doctors and had basic blood work done to check for the most common things. As the years passed by and I entered university I could no longer just push myself and try to ignore how I feel. The workload was more now, so I couldnt just push myself and get by as I had done in school.
4 years since I started university, I havent even finished my degree, Ive completed half of it and failed course after course several times as I was too fatigued to do anything at all, I wouldnt read for weeks. Throughout this period I saw doctor after doctor thinking something had to show up as my main troubles were the physical symptoms. The symptoms are constant fatigue and desire to rest, feeling drugged and zombie-like, constant strong tingling all over body, IBS-like symptoms, constant body pain all over. 2-3 years ago I also started having difficulty fully feeling emotions, sort of numb feeling that is constantly there now, like Im too fatigued to even feel emotions. I also find I dont have the energy to really care about things the way I used too, as the fatigue has seemed to intensify.
The only abnormalities were an elevated rheumatoid factor which was extremely high (624) and a mildly elevated IgM. Nothing has been found, after an extreme number of doctor appointments and test after test. I saw a psychologist and he said my test score indicated severe depression, but at the same time he said he doesnt think Im depressed as I complain mostly of physical symptoms and I still do feel optimistic and am motivated to do things and I do feel happy from time to time. He also said he hasnt had any depressed patients with a similar picture. Yet the plan now is to try pain medication and antidepressants as nothing helps, not even exercise helps that much (helps for about one hour but then the symptoms are back).
So Im left a bit confused and wondering if depression can present itself in this way? Maybe I was depressed all this time but didnt know it? Does anyone have a similar experience?
@Wanonymous Reading your post, my first thought certainly isn't depression, but even if you 100% know that's not , that's unfortunately not all that helpful. I'm curious if fibromyalgia was brought up at all.
I didn't get a genetic condition diagnosed until I was in my 30s and I think I have something else going on now too and that was a factor in my genetic condition getting as bad as it did a few years before that finally got diagnosed. I also have blood work where doctors just kind of shrug and don't know what else to do.
Something I do recommend to at least consider is keep up with standard testing that is done for pain and fatigue, sometimes it can take a while for things to show up in tests and sometimes our bodies actually change. As an example, at my most fatigued my iron levels were fine, but when I was doing better but in a bit of a dip they came back low and I started iron supplements. Even if you just take those tests on with a annual physical, sometimes they can be helpful.
As for coping - meds is up to you and your doctors, sometimes some of the medications that are useful for things like depression are also useful for physical illnesses too, although they are often used in very low doses.
For lifestyle I think pacing is something that is good for everyone's health, but even moreso when there is a health issue. Focusing on figuring out what you can do without making symptoms worse for more than just a quick needed recovery rest can be really helpful. So is learning what you can manage exercise wise and the type of exercise that works well for you. Counselling can be useful just for coping with what you're dealing with - whether or not it's depression. Determining triggering factors can be useful too - I've shared about using Flaredown, it's an app that allows tracking potential triggers and symptoms and then you can pick and choose what to chart together to determine patterns.
I hope you do get some better answers and that it doesn't take a great deal of time and effort. Hopefully you can find some good management tools in the meantime.
Lots of times when Im depressed, I really lose my appetite and dont feel like eating (or doing much else).
Most of my physical symptoms are more anxiety and hormone related. I used to have panic attacks whose symptoms mimicked hypoglycemia or problems associated with hyperthyroidism (which runs on both sides of my family) and have been borderline or even frankly iron-deficient anemic for much of my life (that runs on my fathers side of the family). However, my TSH (which is the first thing that was checked when I went to the doctor about the dizzy episodes) was normal and so was my glucose (when I ran it in the lab at work because they didnt order it). My CBC was slightly suggestive of iron-deficiency anemia but that was expected.
The other thing I want to mention is my rheumatoid factor, which I decided to run myself ayt work, is ambiguous ... it's right at the positive cutoff value at 15, although my CRP is below the reportable range.
I do have a condition called Raynauld's syndrome, where in cold weather or stressful situations, some of my fingers will get temporarily numb and change color from white, to blue, back to pink. 
This can happen with healthy people but is also associated with lupus ... i haven't been diagnosed with that but I have a friend in my condo building who I've discussed this with and his high school sweetheart passed away from these kind of symptoms (hypoglycemic-like dizzy spells, heart palpitations, etc) and it ended up being lupus.
Ive read more on depression and although I fit the criteria for major depression, a major depressive episode does not last for years and years, so something here doesnt make sense and if I remember correctly this is exactly why the psychologist didnt think I was depressed. Dysthymia (persistent depressive disorder) is characterized by a constant period of depression for years, but a major criteria here is feeling sad during this time and I cannot say that I feel sad.
@Wanonymous Dysthymia is also usually mild. That's what I've had most of my life, with occasional dips into moderate to severe depression. It sounds nothing like what you're dealing with!
@Wanonymous I was very depressed from about middle school until I was in my 40's. That is decades of depression, it included a few physical symptoms but not as many as the migraines that I was prone to. Just a heavy feeing, like I was carrying more than I could lift. Your condition sounds like you probably have some physical things going wrong, and I suspect that is what is leaving you depressed. Our bodies fail us at times, it is depressing. Now I am old, and my body is failing me again, in many ways. But I know the steps to take to avoid the depression.
Have you been tested for fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome?
