posted
I came down with CFIDS in the early 90s in Ohio -- where histoplasmosis is endemic (Ohio River Valley, basically lots of areas around Midwest, etc.). I definitely had risk factors for histoplasmosis, since I had gone spelunking in small bat-filled caves in Missouri, spent a lot of times in the country, etc.
i just learned the subacute version of histo can affect many organs, including the heart and CNS -- and one study found it could present with a "CFS-like" illness.
So now I'm wondering how to get properly tested and if one can get tested longggg after the fact. Apparently, even with lifelong treatment (with intense antifungals) the subacute version can recur.
Can anyone give me the low-down on proper testing, or if it's diagnosed and treated clinically? If anyone else has it here, could you let me know the symptoms you're having? All I could find on a search were ocular symptoms (one manifestation, but there are others). Thanks!
Posts: 929 | From Massachusetts | Registered: Oct 2007
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sammy
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 13952
posted
Forgive me, I may be wrong, I don't think that there is a current cure or even good treatment for histoplasmosis. They try to stop the progression of symptoms with steroid injections.
Couple years ago my coworker was diagnosed with histoplasmosis that caused severe visual problems. She compared the vision in one eye to looking at a waves or static on the TV screen... I don't know how she tolerated it.
She was seeing THE histoplasmosis "expert" at that time. Her condition was only getting worse. It was truly heart breaking as she had young children at home and I knew she was losing her vision... her livelihood, her independence.
Otherwise she had no symptoms. She was not raised on a farm. She was not an out doors type person. Apparently that doesn't matter because histoplasmosis is in the dirt here in the Ohio river valley. Along with strongyloides (per pubmed) and probably other parasites that doctors don't recognize here...
Good luck in your search for testing and treatment. I hope that you find better answers and learn that you don't have histoplasmosis. It is a truly horrible disease. Lyme is awful enough, you don't need anything more to deal with!
Posts: 5237 | From here | Registered: Nov 2007
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lpkayak
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 5230
posted
i dont have answer but about 10 yrs ago i was exposeed and being txed by pul specialist for mold-mcs-copd. at first we didnt know about the exposure. when it came out he tested me and ssaid i was neg. but like many so called tests...i now question even when a good doc says its neg that may not be the whole story
anyway-getting away form the mold corrected the copd-which isnt supposed to happen. and i dint need the 10 meds to help me breathe
i will be following the this thread and hope some more ppl experienced with it come along
-------------------- Lyme? Its complicated. Educate yourself. Posts: 13712 | From new england | Registered: Feb 2004
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posted
Sammy, I read that *lifelong* treatment with very strong antifungals (amphoceritan B or voriconazole were two mentioned, stronger than Diflucan) can work for treatment, but I'm not sure if this reverses existing damage or not (it might - some people with acute symptoms with lungs, vision, etc. did have reversals in the stuff I read).
Blastomycosis is also in Ohio River Valley. From the research I did it seems like these fungal infections are most common in the Midwest but also there is another one in the SW/West. Not so much on the East coast though, interestingly, so I'm wondering if they are getting missed by our LLMDs.
Posts: 929 | From Massachusetts | Registered: Oct 2007
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Pinelady
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 18524
posted
I was diagnosed prior to DX Lyme of Histo lung lesions of old nature...IMO Histo is Lyme.
-------------------- Suspected Lyme 07 Test neg One band migrating in IgG region unable to identify.Igenex Jan.09IFA titer 1:40 IND IgM neg pos 31 +++ 34 IND 39 IND 41 IND 83-93 + DX:Neuroborreliosis Posts: 5850 | From Kentucky | Registered: Dec 2008
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sammy
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 13952
posted
Histoplasmosis is an infection caused by a fungus "Histoplasma capsulatum".
Pinelady, I'm glad that you were able to fight off the infection, as you said the lung lesions were old. I hope that you have no residual breathing problems.
Posts: 5237 | From here | Registered: Nov 2007
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