Understanding Unusual Symptoms: A Guide for Concerned Caregivers

Question
Good Morning,
My name is Susan and I have very strong concerns about my husband. I am not sure what type of doctor to take him to, mostly due to the fact that it takes weeks to months to see a doctor in the town we are in. It is a military town with healthcare shortages.
There are many symptoms with my husband Robert, and I am not sure if there is one problem or several. He has had complete bloodwork done every six months or so, and it is always fantastic. The only oddity is that his white blood cell count is bordering on high for the last 2 years...between 11 and 12. Also, he is a 45 year old male.
Here are my observations...he always wakes up 1-3 times a night to void.
He drinks alot of fluid consistantly...his sugar is fine.
Since August, he had had three different skin viral problems...warts, coldsores and pityrosea.
The pityrosea still has not gone away since September, the dermatologist ran bloodwork for immunity, I forgot what the test was called, but it was the one for syphillis, and it was negative.
In the last month, his skin, eyes, throat and nose are so dry. He has gone through over a bottle of artificial tears in that time.
He is extremely exhausted all of the time, which just started about september and is not letting up.
He is going through big personality changes also.
He is usually joking and being sarcastic, and now he does not even have a day hear and there like that. It is almost a good thing (kinda like he grew up a bit), but still, it is not him.
I would appreciate any thoughts you may have about this or where we should begin to seek help.
Thank you very much! Have a great day!
Susan

Answer
Hi Susan,
These are valid concerns. There are unfortunnately a host of medical problems that can show these findings. It does sound like he may be depressed as a result of his physical issues. The doctors might consider working him up for connective tissue (rheumatoid, lupus) and or endocrine disorders, such as thyroid disease. Not having the test results to look at, it is hard for me to see trends that might be developing. I wish I could be of more help, but clearly he needs an ongoing investigation into these symptoms.