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Posted on:03/27/2009

Question

I started my period 3 years ago, since then I frequently end up in the hospital due to high fevers and fatigue. They have had me to doctors for infectious sicknesses and all kinds of bone scans. No one ever finds anything. I am very athletic, tall and thin. Can this be related to my period and what is everyone missing?

Answer

That sounds like a complicated situation, and I'm sure it is very frustrating for you to have multiple evaluations without an answer. It's not possible to diagnose so complex a situation in an email, but hospitalizations and high fevers are hard to tie to your menstrual periods. Migraines, herpes outbreaks, and even urinary tract infections can be more common around the time of menstrual periods, but these are not usually mysterious to diagnose. I'm afraid the only advice I can give is to try to hang in there and be patient with your medical team. If something seriously abnormal is going on, it almost always will show itself with time. And please keep in mind that there are conditions we just can't figure out or put a name on, but, while frustrating and at times exhausting, these are almost never serious or life-threatening. Good luck!


Answered By:
John Boggs , M.D.


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