I Keep Turning Blue

[allergyprone]

Has anyone experienced their entire body (hands/arms, torso, legs/feet) turning blue/gray randomly, I have talked to my dr already but he seems stumped, and doesn't want to do tests until its worse. It started this past summer it happened like 2 or 3 times and it always happened when I had been laying on a flat wooden surface, and it didn't happen again until about 2 months ago. In the past 2 months or so it has happened at least 4 times but now it seem random when it happens, like I was sitting in class on thursday and it started with my hands and then pretty soon I had a blue/gray hue. When it happens, (anytime of day/night) I'm not usually cold, but my extremities start to ache and sometime my hands will tingle, and they get really hard to use like I'm wearing gloves even after the color returns, basically I turn a gray/blue color and my veins become prominent. I also have other symptoms, I have too much energy to sleep, I get about 2 hours of sleep a night, for as energetic as I am I feel really weak, I have had really bad heartburn and indigestion the past couple of weeks, and I have this weird feeling in my throat, kind of dry and like I have food stuck or something.

Any ideas that I can take to my Dr. would be much appreciated.

Thanks

AP

celiac - March 2009

dishydrotic excema - May 2011

[Madagascar]

is it Reynaud's Syndrome, where your extremities react to cold and turn blue? are you in a cold or warm environment, or does it happen in both?

blue skin can mean lack of blood circulation, which is one reason why it connects to the cold. your blood goes back to the body core to keep your organs going. have you had your heart or circulation checked? i think i would make sure that was ok, if it was me.

sounds kinda distressing!

[tarnalberry]

you said you don't turn cold, so I'm guessing a different sort of circulatory problem is also a possibility along with raynaud's. I would highly recommend going to a new doctor who won't say "wait until you're sicker for us to look into this". Your doc... well, doesn't sound like he wants his job; why let him keep it?

[mommida]

Getting food stuck in your throat is a symptom of Eosinophilic Esophagitus. There is a known connection to Celiac and EoE.

[Jestgar]

I turn blue sometimes when the air around me changes temp, not just me.My face can turn purple after getting out of the shower. If it's correlated with sleep and energy it might be something you're eating. It might be time for the annoying food diary.

[allergyprone]

Thanks for the ideas guys

Madagascar- the temperature doesn't seem to effect me turning blue, but I have noticed that the less sleep I get the more frequently it happens, also I asked my dr if it could be raynauds but he doubts it. I have not had my heart or circulation checked recently, I had an ekg about 5 years ago and it was fine, I was told I had a heart murmer last year, but the dr said I was dehydrated and it went away within a couple days.

I talked to my dr today because my heartburn was to the point where it hurt to eat anything and my mom is concerned that I am only getting about 2 hours of sleep a night. He prescribed omeprazole for my heartburn and told me to go to student health about my sleep problems (as I am attending school 9 hours from home).

I have been looking into other autoimmune diseases and found that I fit the symptoms of Graves disease pretty well, (insomnia, hyperactive, heartburn, increased d, increased hunger and thirst, feeling of something in my throat...) How would I go about getting this tested as my dr. doesn't want to test me for anything until my symptoms increase.

Thanks, AP

[ravenwoodglass]

Could you be getting some CC somewhere? When you say you turn blue is it in lacy patches? Do a search on pics of Livedo Reticularis to see if the presentation might be the same. I have had livedo for many years and it is an indication of gluten CC for me now that I am gluten free. The same applies for trouble sleeping. It can be hard to eat safely when we are in a situation like being fed by a school caf or rooming with gluten eaters off campus.

You may also have another intolerance. The most common ones are dairy and soy. I get horrible heartburn from soy. For me a single dose of Pepto Bismal liquid relieves the pain.

[mommida]

An Endocronologist is the specialist for thyroid disease.

[shadowicewolf]

Thanks for the ideas guys

Madagascar- the temperature doesn't seem to effect me turning blue, but I have noticed that the less sleep I get the more frequently it happens, also I asked my dr if it could be raynauds but he doubts it. I have not had my heart or circulation checked recently, I had an ekg about 5 years ago and it was fine, I was told I had a heart murmer last year, but the dr said I was dehydrated and it went away within a couple days.

I talked to my dr today because my heartburn was to the point where it hurt to eat anything and my mom is concerned that I am only getting about 2 hours of sleep a night. He prescribed omeprazole for my heartburn and told me to go to student health about my sleep problems (as I am attending school 9 hours from home).

I have been looking into other autoimmune diseases and found that I fit the symptoms of Graves disease pretty well, (insomnia, hyperactive, heartburn, increased d, increased hunger and thirst, feeling of something in my throat...) How would I go about getting this tested as my dr. doesn't want to test me for anything until my symptoms increase.

Thanks, AP

I have GERD so i understand fully the heartburn thing. When mine would get bad enough that i couldn't eat, i would drink a lot of water. Also, if it is an issue at night, perhaps look into getting an incline pillow, it keeps your head upward while keeping acid down at night. I would get GERD attacks (acid reflux/heartburn) so bad that i would wake up at night and feel like i couldn't breath. Not fun!

[allergyprone]

Thanks again guys,

ravenwoodglass - it kind of looks like that but not quite as red, mine is more of a blue gray hue. I am really particular about what I eat and I make all of my own food and don't really eat with non-gluten free people, so I don't think I'm getting CC if I am I have no idea how. I do know that I have other sensitivities/intolerances and I am pretty good about staying away from them. Does your livedo get worse when you've had less sleep?

I went to student health and the RNP wants me to try amitriptyline for a week to see if it will help me sleep, and if it doesn't she wants to test my thyroid. she didn't even seem interested/concerned that I have been turning blue. she also said that she doesn't think my main symptoms (blueness, heartburn, and not being able to sleep) are not connected.

thanks again, AP

[beachbirdie]

Thanks again guys,

ravenwoodglass - it kind of looks like that but not quite as red, mine is more of a blue gray hue. I am really particular about what I eat and I make all of my own food and don't really eat with non-gluten free people, so I don't think I'm getting CC if I am I have no idea how. I do know that I have other sensitivities/intolerances and I am pretty good about staying away from them. Does your livedo get worse when you've had less sleep?

I went to student health and the RNP wants me to try amitriptyline for a week to see if it will help me sleep, and if it doesn't she wants to test my thyroid. she didn't even seem interested/concerned that I have been turning blue. she also said that she doesn't think my main symptoms (blueness, heartburn, and not being able to sleep) are not connected.

thanks again, AP

Please. PLEASE. Get new healthcare providers. Yours are blowing off something that could be very serious.Write a journal of symptoms, take that to your new providers. You want to have it written so you don't forget anything, and so you can include the circumstances under which this happens to you.

[allergyprone]

beachbirdie- thanks for the reply. I have been trying to get a new doctor recently but I am from a small town where there aren't any doctors taking patients I also have an HMO which only covers certain doctors but I did manage to get into see a different doctor at student health services. It was kind of a fluke though. I went back because I've started having nightmares and I have been extremely jumpy. the new dr did a full neurological exam and listened to my heart and lungs. she didn't find anything and she was stumped. She said the same thing my other dr said that she would do more research to try and figure it out. she told me that she wanted to test my thyroid, and do a cbc and a complete metabolic work up. she told me to come back in 2 weeks. but she doesn't want to test me until she has a better idea of what she is looking for. mean while she told me to up my omeprozole for heartburn and that it was my choice to continue the amitryptaline or not, as she has no idea if it is causing my nightmares.

Thanks guys

AP

[cavernio]

That sounds very serious to me. I'm not a doctor so I don't know all the possibilities, but Raynaud's is the only thing I've personally heard of that could describe what you're experiencing. And while I can undestand why any doctor would not think you have that specific condition, since itself it is fairly rare, it's downright stupid to not test for the rare things when he/she is stumped by the usual things. Wikipedia seems to mainly have Reynaud's as a symptom of a list of other diseases, rather than a disease in and of itself. If I were you I'd definitely read up about those diseases and see if you fit the criteria for any of them. Apparently some drugs can cause it? Why are you on amitryptaline and not more modern antidepressants?

[allergyprone]

Thanks for the ideas Cavernio - I have looked into Reynauds syndrome and it doesn't really fit my symptoms because it doesn't seem to be related to stress or cold, mainly it is sleep or triggered by my position. I started having the symptom before I started taking any medications so I don't think its that. I am taking amitryptaline as a sleep aid instead of a antidepressant. My HMO doesn't cover anything prescribed by anyone other my general practitioner so they tried to keep it cheap. They are going to try and get some blood work but I have to work it out with my insurance first

Thanks

AP

[shadowicewolf]

Are you getting enough oxagen in your blood? That can cause ya to go blue.

[Madagascar]

i agree - it sounds like this could be something serious. i don't know how turning blue could be anything other than circulation-related, somehow. Have you done the symptom-checker on Webmd? It's pretty good. It came up with a few possibilities for you, solely on the skin discoloration symptom. the one i wondered about is Thrombocytopenia, bleeding under the skin. That can be caused by drug side effects.

You might look there and see what you think.

[allergyprone]

I finally got my test results back, the dr told me that they were all normal and then just kind of brushed me off.

here are my results, some of them are on the edge of normal. I am curious about the thyroid results because my symptoms seem to be similar to thyroid problems.

glucose 83 <74-106>

Calcium 9.2 <8.4-10.2>

Total Bilirubin 0.3 <0.2-1.3>

AST/SGOT 22 <15-46>

ALT/SGPT 22 <13-69>

Total Protein 6.8 <6.3-8.2>

CRP Inflammatory <0.5 <0.0-1.0>

Albumin 4.2 <3.5-5.0>

Albumin/Globulin RA 1.6 <1.0-2.0>

Alkaline Phosphatas 61 <38-126>

TSH 2.48 <0.47-4.68>

Free Thyroxine 0.78 <0.78-2.19>

WBC 5.1 <4.8-10.8>

RBC 4.46 <4.20-10.8>

Hemoglobin 13.5 <12.0-16.0>

Hematocrit 40 <37-47>

MCV 90.6 <81.0-99.0>

MCH 30.4 <27.0-31.0>

MCHC 33.5 <30.0-37.0>

RDW 12.6 <11.5-14.5>

Platelet count 241 <130-400>

NEUT % Auto 58.4 <37.0-80.0>

Lymph % Auto 32.5 <10.0-50.0>

Mono % Auto 6.7 <0.0-12.0>

EOS % Auto 2.0 <0.0-7.0>

BASO % Auto 0.40 <0.0-2.50>

Neut # Auto 3.00 <2.00-6.90>

Lymp # Auto 1.70 <0.60-3.40>

Mono # Auto 0.30 <0.0-0.90>

Eos # Auto 0.10 <0.0-0.20>

Baso # Auto 0.0 <0.0-0.20>

Erythrocyte sed rate 3 <0-20>

Sodium 142 <137-145>

Potassium 3.8 <3.5-5.1>

Chloride 107 <98-107>

Carbon Dioxide 26 <26-30>

Anion Gap 13 <10-20>

Blood Urea Nitrogen 8 <7-20>

Serum Creatinine 0.7 <0.6-1.3>

Bun/Creatinine rati 11.4 <7.1-23.5>

Thanks Guys

[frieze]

try looking up "acrocyanosis"

[allergyprone]

thanks frieze

That is what it looks like when i turn blue, although mine is very temporary it goes away about a minute or two after I get up and move, and when I turn blue it is pretty much my whole body, although recently it seems to be affecting single places at a time, like the other day my knees turned purple/blue when I was sitting at my desk but the rest of me was fine. it lasted about 3 minutes and then went away, there was no pain, numbness, or tingling.

AP