Something is going on with me and I don't know what. I am a tiny fraction of the man I was five months ago.
Back then I was surfing and free diving and just living. Now, if I swim a few laps it feels bad for the next few days.
Aside from and in spite of some back problems, I've always been very fit and active.
The neurologist I've been seeing had blood work done on me, I just called his office today asking if they tested for Lyme.
I asked because I recently have been introduced to the disease and I wonder if I you think it is possible that I am so afflicted.
I have had embedded ticks in both the distant and recent past.
I really want to be tested by someone who is experienced. So far both the neurologist and a neurosurgeon are simply shrugging their shoulders.
The neurosurgeon said ``you need a diagnosis.'' The neurologist said that my neurological exam is completely normal and approved me without limitation for all activities.
Current Problem It began in late February with a bachache, with pain in calves and hamstrings. All are experienced occassionally by me.
I have attributed these to disc problems, which may be the case. This time however, there was a whole gamut of new things;
It progressed into some hand tingling then arm pain, and finger pain, both arms and hands, coming and going.
Then foot pain began, soon followed by deep pinching. The pinching is sort of like the pins and needles sensation,
except that there are a lot fewer pins, and they feel more like an actual pin than the fizzly feeling one normally describes that way.
The pinching traveled around my body including: feet, meaty parts of my legs, upper arms/armpits, meaty parts of forearms face, eye-balls, anus, genital region, etc.
Burning/itching began, mostly associated with my fingers; first on this hand, then the other. This sensation was very much like the aftereffect of a bug-bite.
It was so irritating that it caused me to scratch the skin to the point of creating a hole. I felt some more diffuse burning in my mid section.
Sleeping easily promotes hand numbness now. I get upper back and armpit pain. I hate the armpit pain the most of all, it is perhaps not intense, but it is really sickening.
The whole way that pain feels is different. It almost feels like I'm experiencing the pain through charred muscles; really disturbing.
The buzzing or throbbing or whatever you might call it, ( in my head) started again a few days ago (late May).
This is something I've had on and off again for many years. It may not visit me for a long time but then reappears.
Previous conditions 1) C4-C5, C5-C6 fused 1993. Bulged disk at C7 also diagnosed but according to doctors then and now, this requires no intervention, only monitoring.
2) Multi-levels bulged in the lumbar region diagnosed in 2003, also seen as requiring no intervention, described as ``common'' by doctors. Doctors say that I should not be limited from any activities.
3) ACL ligament replacement 2000
4) Buzzing in my head . It felt like a constant, not painful pounding in my head and somewhat of a ``digitization'' of my sensory awarness.
It was in some ways pleasant and actually enhanced productivity. It made personal relationships more difficult though.
It made sleeping deep and pleasant. I have experienced it several times, when it has lasted anywhere from a month to six months.
The first time was after the fusion in 1993. The second was after ACL replacement. It also occurred in 2003 but I could not pinpoint a cause.
I have mostly associated what happened with anesthesia. ENT specialists and a neurologist fully tested and scanned me and could find no cause.
Possible contibutors 1) Unusually high levels of physical activity in Decemeber, January and February
2) Exposure to extreme Red Tide conditions in February.
3) Stress from work, family, etc. 2007 was an extremely stessful year. I worked nearly double the hours I'd worked in any previous year.
4) Embedded ticks sometime around the year 1992 from camping in North Florida. I don't remember the exact year but 1992 is about right.
5) I think I had an embedded tick about 8 months ago. I was walking my dog in a place where he ended up with about 30.
Attempts at a cure 1) Rest (this seems to have the best affect)2)Stress relief 3)Mild yoga/stretching
4)daily 1 tablespoon of fish-oil (began in mid-March)
5)daily 1 vitamin pill (began in mid-May)
6)daily inversion (began in mid-March) This was to try to decompress spinal-disks which I suspected as contributors
7)complete dietary revision excluding what was previously consumed regularly 8)one week trip out of the country (Ireland) which did nothing
Pain rarely exceeds a level 4 out of 10 on the pain/irritating scale. Generally it assumes a 2.0-2.5 or less.
Physical activity increases the frequency, severity and diversity of the symptoms but the severity does not generally exceed a level 4.
Level 4 represents a dramatic decline in the quality of life.
My research leads me to believe that my symptoms closely follow those of fibromyalgia with exceptions;
I do not have tender point sensitivity. I do not have clouded or blurred thinking. I have no clumsiness.
I am a non-smoker and was virtually a non-drinker in 2007. I became a regular drinker after the onset of symptoms in 2008.
My diet in 2007 consisted heavily of whole grains soaked in water to soften, spinach, pine nuts, tomatos and avocados. I've recently modified it to include anything BUT those things,
I was hoping this nightmare might be diet-related. I regularly exercised prior to onset of symptoms, engaging in resistance training, swimming, surfing, and deep free diving.
I take no regular medication
[ 31. May 2008, 07:36 AM: Message edited by: anthropisces ]
Posted by disturbedme (Member # 12346) on :
It's possible, especially considering you remember embedded ticks in the past and just recently. So it is a good possibility that you have lyme. Ticks are filthy and carry many, many diseases.
The best thing you can do right now is find a LLMD (lyme literate medical doctor) who can do an IgeneX Western Blot on you. They are a lab that specializes in tick-borne diseases and testing for them.
You need to go to the part of this website called "Seeking a Doctor" and ask if there are any lyme docs in your area. Other docs are just going to continue to shrug their shoulders and be of no help. That is the experience for more than 99% of us anyway.
Good luck.
Posted by Clarissa (Member # 4715) on :
Some good websites to check out and see if it resonates with what you're experiencing:
Sorry... can't read this post. Scrawled out across the page. Can someone correct that?
Posted by luckeeluke (Member # 13551) on :
anthropisces-
I'm kinda in the same boat you are, just trying to figure it all out. I have a clinical diagnosis of Lyme and a "somewhat borderline" Western Blot test.
I did find that elminating a good portion of gluten, wheat, dairy and some fo the simple sugars and carbs, helped me out a bit over the last few years during the time I have not been feeling well. It seemed to take the extra burden off my body. Somehow you still substitute for those but it all works out somehow. I know for a fact I had problems with Gluten, because I went to the store and bought some gluten in a box and I would react to it. Yet I never had any of the Celiac testing come up postiive or anything like that.
What I said above is just an idea . . . like what you areadly started to do, just switch up what you are eating and see if that may help a little.
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Western Blot test.