Hi, I am a 26m. I was am currently living in Hawaii, but was living in Maryland for 7 months from 6/2007-1/2008. I regulary exercise and run about 4 miles a day. (2 in morning, 2 at night)
While living in MD I was relatively symptom free. After four months of living there, I developed GERD and was having general discomfort in the abdominal area. I was on Zantac, but discontinued it in favor of Tums. I had a CT scan and everything came back clean. I also had a bout with gastroenteritis (another stomach issue) and took Ciprofloxacin. I also had facial flushing in my cheek area and would have bouts of floaters in my eyes, but this could have been due to the Cipro I took.
When I went back to Hawaii (2/2008), I started having more problems. I began to have bad headaches and vertigo. I had trouble walking in a straight line. My symptoms would get noticibly worser when I would turn my head to the left or right and I would feel almost like falling down or vomiting. I also had a stiff neck on my right side and would have a slight gait to my right. I went to see my main physician and he told me that I would be alright. Two weeks later, I finally started to feel better and for two days I felt fine.
Then I began having heart palpitations. During this time my heart would occassionally slow to a rate of 47bpm. I was always around the area of 60bpm. I went to the hospital and they couldn't find anything and ended up giving me Vicodin and Ibuprofen. I continued to have heart palpitations and went to my main physician and he basically told me that I was crazy (not in those words of course). I decided to believe him, but my palpitations got so bad that I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I went back to the hospital two days later. They finally found the irregular heartbeat, but then asked me if I was using drugs. I was of course taking the Vicodin which they had erroneously prescribed and proved their theory that I was a drug addict (LOL). I went to see a cardiologist and he told me that it was a PVC (premature ventricular contraction) and that it was nothing to worry about. The irregular heartbeat continued for about a month. During this period I would frequently have tingling in my arms and legs. I also had an ELISA essay test performed for lyme which came back negative and gave me some comfort because I thought that it was definitive proof that I didn't have lyme.
Finally after that month long ordeal, my heart started to feel better, or at least normal, and my heart rate went back up to 60bpm. So for two days I felt fine.
Then I started to have eye problems. At first I noticed that my vision was cloudy. I went to an eye doctor and took a test and got a new pair of glasses. He told my everything was fine. I was also feeling lousy in general. My body just felt like it was sick without any particular thing I could point to. After a few days of cloudy vision I began to see floaters constantly. I thought this might be due to my new pair of glasses so I went to my main physician. You should have seen the look on his face when I told him that I was seeing lines in my eyes and just feeling terrible in general. I think he wanted to throw me in the psychiatric ward. In any case, he sent me to an eye doctor and told me to take some tylenol.
I went to the eye doctor and he told me I had benign floaters in my eyes which would clear up eventually. I continue to have them to this day and sometimes my eyes feel like they're swollen and being crushed by my eye sockets. Some sort of pressure and straining around my eye sockets would be the best description. My doctor told me that he couldn't see to the back of my eyes during a recent eye examination when it previously wasn't a problem, so something changed in the three months since I had been home.
I was freaking out a little bit, but was keeping a positive attitude that it was just a mental thing. Then I had the worst headaches I have ever had before. My neck stiffness returned to my right side and I had a serious gait problem. It felt like my brain was swollen and pulsating and I would just sit in bed clenching my teeth for hours until it passed. I almost passed out several times because it was so bad. I tried tylenol, but it gave very little relief. I was also having problems with speech and memory during this time and couldn't speak properly or find the right words. I went back to my main physician and he prescribed Naproxen, an NSAID. I didn't take the Naproxen, but just decided to weather out the storm. After two weeks I started to feel better and just had light headaches. The light headaches are constant and cause nausea and dizziness, but are more or less manageable. I felt good (as good as can be) for about two days.
Then over this past memorial day weekend, I had inflamation in my left knee. The location of the inflamation was right on the surface of my knee cap. It was small, but tender and warm to touch. I still had full motion and was able to walk almost pain free. It was only when I applied pressure to the inflamed area that I could feel pain. I also noticed that my right knee was painful as well, but there wasn't any noticible inflamation. The inflamation went away after five days or today (5/28/2008).
The inflamation in my knee freaked me out because up to that point I was sure that lyme was not a possibility and that I was just having migraines or something.
I can't be certain that it's lyme and the fact that I tested negative on the ELISA is a reason to believe it's something else. Here's a breakdown of the symptoms that I have.
Symptoms that CANNOT be discounted - heart palpitations (measured by an EKG) - benign floaters in eyes (found by eye doc) - knee inflamtion (felt it myself)
Symptoms that CAN be discounted - headaches (ranging from mild to severe) - nausea - dizziness/vertigo - GERD - speech difficulties - general stomach discomfort - neck stiffness (mild to severe) - occassional metallic taste/smell in mouth/nose - general feeling of being unwell - insomnia - hearing loss/ringing (mild)
My main physician hasn't made a diagnosis on my condition yet. And by no diagnosis I mean none. Not even a suggestion to see a psychiatist, so I guess there's a possibility that I actually do have something and am not just imagining it. I suppose it could do with the fact that I have had two symptoms which were actually measureable (heart palpitations and floaters).
It doesn't help that I'm in Hawaii because it gets like 2 cases of lyme a year. If I was still in Maryland, they might be a bit more proactive in diagnosing me. That said, I don't know if I have lyme or not. I have to keep an open mind.
I'm still not sure what I have, but it seems to be getting worse. I LOOK like a healthy person which is very misleading because I feel just unwell in general most of the time. In general, I usually have a symptom for about two weeks, then it resolves itself and I feel well for a few days and then I get attacked by another symptom. This cycle has been going on for about 6 months now with either new symptoms appearing or symptoms reemerging even worse than before.
If anyone can provide helpful information or suggestions, it would be much appreciated. Here's hoping they don't diagnose me too late.
Posted by bettyg (Member # 6147) on :
welcome, so glad you found us!!
sorry, but i'm unable to read your long solid blocks of text; please edit it.
my instructions are below, and then you will get more replies AFTER IT'S ALL BROKEN UP GOOD for us neuro lymies who can NOT comprehend and read what you posted!! big thanks!
WELCOME, would you like a FREE copy of my newbie package of 120 pages info galore sent by LYMENET'S PRIVATE MESSAGE system here; includes TREEPATROL'S LINK of his archive of over 1000 links of good lyme info?
I've been completely REORGANIZING it; NOT DONE YET; but up to page 60 since I have now created a TABLE OF CONTENTS WITHOUT PAGE NUMBERS since it changes DAILY! The part NOT organized yet is the last 30 pages of SSDI, ss disability insurance benefits tips/forms!
also, please go to TREEPATROL'S NEWBIE INFO IN MEDICAL; at top being features; mark it as a favorite! over 1000 links of good lyme info. He/I have some duplicates.
most of mine is very DETAILED info on certain things: SSDI/ss diability insurance benefits; FINANCIAL BURDENS; about IGENEX blood testing, symptoms lists for the basic types, NOIR/no infrared SUNGLASSES, etc. and how to use this board!
If you would like my newbie package, please send me a PRIVATE MESSAGE. PMs are the 2 people standing together icon to right of your name. Just ask me to send you lyme package, and I'll get it to you promptly. Thank you!
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When you post or reply, please break up your solid, continuous block text
welcome to the board! many of us have neuro lyme where we can NOT read long solid block text and be able to comprehend and read it as is.
please edit your post by CLICKING PAPER/PENCIL ICON to right of your name. that opens up BOTH subject line and body text.
now please break up your WORDY SENTENCES into one sentence paragraphs. Then hit ENTER KEY ``THREE`` after each paragraph; we need that space for comprehension.
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we thank you for helping us; otherwise, we will SOB, SCROLL ON BY, since we can't read to help you. If I see posts like this, I SOB them; to hard on me. I'm also in the early stages of losing my eyesight from diabetes retinopathy. Posted by heiwalove (Member # 6467) on :
hi. really glad you found us.
personally, i don't think ANY of your symptoms can be discounted. you know that something isn't right; trust yourself.
your symptom list and symptom onset certainly sound lyme-like. i suggest you post in 'seeking a doctor,' and someone will private message you a list of LLMDs (lyme-literate doctors). i could be mistaken, but i don't believe there are any LLMDs in hawaii; you will probably have to travel. but it's worth it, i promise. most doctors (99 percent) know nothing about lyme disease, so it's imperative that you see someone who specializes in this illness.
one final, very important point: the ELISA test is totally useless and yields something insane like 80 percent false negatives. you need to be tested through igenex labs in california.
best of luck!
Posted by InADaze (Member # 7711) on :
Can't read your post cuz of neuro-lyme, but your symptom list sounds like mine for a couple years prior to my final big relapse.
They were all little things that my doctor's didn't connect because they happened at various times, so I was told, I just had reflux, or allergies, or jumper's knee, or whatever.
If you think you have something wrong with your body, you know best. Go see a physician! Don't ignore them or shrug them off like I did only to end up completely disabled years later.
My Lyme tests all came back negative for the 10 years between my initial treatment and my relapse, even though I was definitely showing signs of Lyme and should have been smart enough to see an LLMD when they first returned.
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otherwise, we will SOB, SCROLL ON BY, since we can't read to help you. If I see posts like this, I SOB them; to hard on me. I'm also in the early stages of losing my eyesight from diabetes retinopathy. ![[Frown]](frown.gif)