posted
Someone from another medical site referred me here. I'll copy paste the post I had made on that site and let me know if you also think this could be lyme disease. There seems to be so maybe symptoms that's it's hard to tell. _________________________________________________ What's wrong with me?
I have various symptoms and never really feel good. I've been to the doctor plenty of times but they almost always tell me they found nothing wrong.
About me. I'm a female. I'm 27 years old. I weight 109lbs and I'm 5'4". I don't smoke. I no longer drink (but used to in my teens/early 20's). My blood pressure is usually around 100/60 or lower.
-My upper middle back always hurts. I had x-rays done and went a specialist about it, they gave me something for arthritis and said it 'might' be that or a ruptured disk. But he said we would have to do a lot of tests to prove if it was one of those things and that there wasn't much he could do for me even if it was diagnosed. The medicine didn't seem to help so I no longer take it.
-I was having other back pains which they were able to diagnose. I had a gallbladder infection which was also effecting my liver. I had my gallbladder removed two years ago.
-I keep losing weight and I am always cold. Up until I was 20 years old I stayed pretty much at a steady 105lbs. After having a couple kids I was 130lbs or so. But now I keep losing weight even though I am not dieting or trying to lose weight. And I am very cold. I have to wear a coat at work sometimes and I get some funny looks from my co-workers. I thought maybe the weight loss had to do with getting my gallbladder removed since it started around then, but I don't know. Oh yeah, and I have had my thyroid checked, tests came back normal.
-Sometimes my chest feels very tight (like I am being squeezed inside or something heavy is on me) and my throat feels like there is a lump in it. I notice this happening when I drive home from work (maybe something about leaving my freezing work and getting into my hot car?). My chest also feels tight at night if I lay on my back, I have to sleep on my side.
-Eczema & Allergic reactions It's finally cleared up since about a month ago. But for about 6 months I had a eczema on my hip. The doctor diagnosed it as contact dermatitis and said I am allergic to neosporin and band-aid adhesive. I had a sore on my hip and had treated it with neosporin and a band-aid. I've never been allergic to anything before. There is a lot more to this story which I wont get into since it is so long but the doctor said to me when trying to figure out why it was so severe that I was like a puzzle that he did not have all the pieces to. (more about this below)
-Burning/tingling hips & thighs. This doesn't both me as much but it seems to happen when I am carrying something heavy (like one of my kids). I will be walking and my hips/thighs area will start to burn/tingle (sorry that's the best way I can describe how it feels), when it's happening it feels like my legs are going to collapse and I have to stop walking and stand there until it stops.
If anyone has any helpful advice, I would love to hear it. -Katie
________________________________________________
Some additional info on the eczema. It started as what I thought was a spider bite. It became like an open wound and that is when I used the neosporin and bandaid. It was a raw middle (the bite area) surrounded with redness & hives. The doctor asked if I had been around ticks, I said I didn't think so. They took a culture to test for mrsa (or anything like that) and it came back negative. They had me on bactrim and keflex just in case. After a couple months they also did a biospy, that didn't solve anything.
Thanks for reading my super long post.
Posts: 1 | From Michigan | Registered: Jul 2008
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posted
I think it's possible. Some of those symptoms sound like babesia to me. The best way to find out is to see a LLMD and have him do a clinical diagnosis.
Posts: 984 | From San Diego | Registered: Nov 2006
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bettyg
Unregistered
posted
katie, welcome; so glad you found us!! yes, sure looks like it might be ... see my symptoms chart for lyme and co-infections in my newbie package link shown below!
copy your post here and PASTE it as a NEW POST IN SEEKING DR. forum; found by going to extreme right and click on FORUM HOME. select seeking dr. forum.
subject: MICHIGAN LLMD NEEDED
paste it there, go to lower left hand corner for all replies to go to your home mail. click send!
also, please see below, 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.
see my newbie package info; click on link at bottom of my package. @ http://tinyurl.com/58eyou ****************************************
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timaca
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 6911
posted
katieanne~
I had a bite really similar to what you described a number of years ago. I thought at the time it was a spider bite too. Looking back, I think it was a tick bite. I had been given some antibiotics at the time (because the bite got infected--not because we thought we were dealing with lyme then).
Many years later, I got a steroid shot to my knee and just fell apart with bizarre symptoms.
We now think that the steroid shot activated latent lyme in me.
I would get yourself tested for lyme...try Igenex, SUNY Stonybrook and MDL lab. It's best to get tested at several labs if possible.
Depending on those results, seek treatment, or not.
If you've been ill for awhile, then also get tested for HHV-6, EBV, Cpn. The immune system can get compromised and allow lots of pathogens to grow.
Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
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Katie,
so sorry to hear of your situation. I can't type much now, but others will be along.
One note about your back. You mentioned that a doctor thought you might have a ruptured disk. Well, an x-ray may not be enough to test that.
You may have lyme. And you could also have a ruptured disc.
I hope you can at least get a good test for that whether a CT scan (which is quiet) or a MRI (be sure to wear ear plugs). Each tests is better in different regards, depending upon what you are looking for.
IF you can connect with a LLMD that would be great and ask who they would recommend you see for a consultation for your back.
Be VERY careful of your back. It's important that you do not stress it and that you lie down to rest whenever you feel the need to take the stress off.
You said: " . . . when I am carrying something heavy (like one of my kids). . . ."
Are your kids old enough for you to not carry them? Are there alternatives such as strollers, etc. Your back is your life. If you have a ruptured disc, you do not want to make it worse.
Could you see a P.T. and get advice on how to do things in the least stressful manner? They have lots of tricks.
Most of all, lifting a kid into a grocery cart is one of the most stressful things on the back. You can actually get someone at the store to do this for you.
Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
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Co-infections (other tick-borne infections or TBD - tick-borne disease) are not discussed here do to space limits. Still, any LLMD you would see would know how to assess/treat if others are present.
CONTROVERSY CONTINUES TO FUEL THE "LYME WAR" By Virginia Savely, RN, FNP-C
*****
As two medical societies battle over its diagnosis and treatment, Lyme disease remains a frequently missed illness. Here is how to spot and treat it.
Excerpts:
" . . .To treat Lyme disease for a comparable number of life cycles, treatment would need to last 30 weeks. . . ."
`` . . .Patients with Lyme disease almost always have negative results on standard blood screening tests and have no remarkable findings on physical exam, so they are frequently referred to mental-health professionals for evaluation.
"...If all cases were detected and treated in the early stages of Lyme disease, the debate over the diagnosis and treatment of late-stage disease would not be an issue, and devastating rheumatologic, neurologic, and cardiac complications could be avoided..."
. . . * Clinicians do not realize that the CDC has gone on record as saying the commercial Lyme tests are designed for epidemiologic rather than diagnostic purposes, and a diagnosis should be based on clinical presentation rather than serologic results.
- FULL ARTICLE AT LINK ABOVE.
=====================================
AFTER reading the full Savely article (link above) this will make more sense
Attorney General Richard Blumenthal today announced that his antitrust investigation has uncovered serious flaws in the Infectious Diseases Society of America's (IDSA) process for writing its 2006 Lyme disease guidelines and the IDSA has agreed to reassess them with the assistance of an outside arbiter.
lpkayak
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 5230
posted
katie,
lyme is supposed to be diagnosed by a doctor seeing signs or hearing about symptoms (clinically)
this is because altho there are tests-the tests are not good
some tests from some labs can give a doc info that will help-IF the doc is lyme literate (llmd)
if you are tested and are neg that does not mean you don't have lyme
it is all very complicated - but what is really important is to get to a doc who understands lyme asap to get the right treatment sooner rather than later so you don't end up with chronic lyme
many of your symptoms sound like lyme-some are classic-like mis diagnosed spider bite and the upper back pain
you're so young and have a family to raise---i hope you get to a good doc soon
-------------------- Lyme? Its complicated. Educate yourself. Posts: 13712 | From new england | Registered: Feb 2004
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tailz
Unregistered
posted
I'm the one who found you on that forum.
Just wanted to add that you should be careful getting any sorts of scans. I had scans of my back done (most pain was in the center of my middle back), and the only thing they ever found was a hemangioma, which I was told was either a blood or fat blob.
I had a HUGE reaction to the frequencies coming from the machine when I had a SPECT scan done of my brain. I literally felt like my brain was going to explode for 45 LONGGG minutes, and with it, I struggled not to urinate on myself due to my yet-to-be-realized electrosensitivities.
posted
Hi i defenitely can relate to you i have every one of them symptons except for the lump in the throat. I too feel really cold alot and have to wear long sleeves in summer and coat at work
when i was able to work. What got my attention is your exzema rash plus i had almost all of the symptons as you before my illness got serious. I
had a rash on my ankle for several months that was diagnosed as ezcema. it actually turned out to be a rocky mountain spotted fever rash that for some reason wouldn't leave on its own. It slightly scarred that area
but when i started antibiotics it brought the rash back. Look at where your rash was and see if you can still see it faintly if you pull the skin apart you may be able to still see it very lightly. It could of origianally been a lyme
rash or maybe even a rmsf rash. I'd recommend finding a LLLMD and get tested for both.
Posts: 37 | From Ohio | Registered: May 2007
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