Dr Sarah Jarvis
My Weekly’s favourite GP from TV and radio writes for you
From cough to constipation, weight-loss to wheezing, we all get symptoms from time to time. Often it’s down to something that will settle on its own. But how do you know when a change in your body needs checking out?
Swollen ankles are common, especially towards the end of the day. Blood pumps round your body and needs to travel against gravity to get back from your feet to your heart. If you sit with your feet down or stand (rather than walk), the muscle pumps in your calves aren’t pushing the blood back up, so fluid can collect around your ankles. This is worse in hot weather and gets worse as the day goes on – it usually goes away when you lie flat.
But swollen ankles can be caused by some blood pressure tablets like amlodipine. Heart failure, where your heart isn’t pumping blood as efficiently as it should, can lead to swollen ankles as well as shortness of breath when you exercise or lie flat. And an underactive thyroid (tiredness, weight gain, constipation); anaemia (tiredness, breathlessness, looking pale); and kidney problems (sometimes muscle cramps, tiredness, loss of appetite) can all give rise to swollen ankles. See your doctor if it persists. We’ve all felt or been sick on occasion – usually with diarrhoea when we have a tummy bug. Being pregnant is also a cause! In migraines, it comes with severe throbbing headache and sometimes sensitivity to light or sound.
ANXIETY, EXCESS COFFEE OR FEVER CAN ALL CAUSE PALPITATION. BUT A COMPLETELY IRREGULAR PULSE, OR PALPITATIONS WITH BREATHLESSNESS OR CHEST PAIN, ALWAYS NEED CHECKING
Some medicines, including strong painkillers as well as cancer chemotherapy medicines, can make you feel or be sick. Let your doctor know – there are medicines to help this. And urine infection can lead to feeling or being sick, burning when you pass water, tummy or back pain, fever and feeling unwell.
Sudden sickness with vertigo – a dizzy sensation where the room spins – is likely to be related to your inner ear. A virus infection, labyrinthitis, can lead to vertigo and severe nausea when you move your head. Fortunately it starts to improve on its own within days.
Feeling sick for any length of time can be due to a more serious cause such as stomach ulcers, kidney problems or even cancer. So do check with your doctor if it doesn’t settle.
Needing to wee more often (together with stinging when you go, fever and tummy or back pain) is often a sign of bladder or kidney infection.
As men age, their prostate gland gets bigger and they may well need to pass water more often, get up at night to visit the loo, rush to get there, and then wait before the stream starts. Occasionally these symptoms can be a sign of prostate cancer – and pain at the bottom of the penis or blood in the urine should always be checked.
Speaking of blood in the urine, do you check before you flush every time? Public Health England’s Be Clear on Cancer drive reminds us all that blood in urine should be checked out.
Stress and depression commonly lead to tiredness, and it may be your body’s way of trying to get you to slow down. However, I always do blood tests to exclude causes including diabetes, underactive thyroid, anaemia and kidney or liver issues.
Short-lived tiredness is the norm after a virus infection, but if yours doesn’t settle, see your doctor. Next week: How old is your heart?
SWOLLEN GLANDS ARE COMMON AFTER INFECTIONS. BUT IF THEY DON’T GO DOWN ON THEIR OWN WITHIN A FORTNIGHT, SEE YOUR DOCTOR
‘‘ SUDDEN SICKNESS WITH VERTIGO – A DIZZY SENSATION WHERE THE ROOM SPINS – IS LIKELY TO BE RELATED TO YOUR INNER EAR"