Presenting problem
My symptoms started over one year ago after overcoming two bouts of a non resistant staph infection that was successfully treated. Shortly after my infection I started do get back pain in the lumbar and cervical spine. After negative results on X rays and MRI'S I began manipulation. Despite the treatment I still felt rigid and was not as flexible as I was a year prior. As a few months progressed my athleticism further diminished as I could no longer train in muay thai kickboxing and noticed my mile run had diminished from 5.5 minutes to 9. I recall waking up one morning as though I was in a dream like state. What was odd was my sence of smell diminished to the point were it is faint and I have daily muscle twitching and subtle tremors that come intermittently. Also, I have a right burning sensation in my right lung, behind the right eye and on the right side of my head. Also I feel a great shocking pressure in the middle of my brain which tingles at times. Moreover I will get occasional vertigo however only when waking, e.g. duration is one time per week. In addition my mental base line has deteriorated and am apathetic. Overall I am like a different person.
Intervention
After explaining all of my symptoms to my doctor I was given a full blood count which came back normal. Also, I was tested for lyme disease, and b-12 deficiency both of which were normal. The doctor assumed my problems could be related to a tumor and ordered CT and MRI's with and without contrast for both my chest, sinuses and brain, which all came back normal. After the results I was sent to a neurologist who analyzed me and informed me that I had tourettes syndrome as I was jerking my neck and had esssive eye blinking. However I informed the neuro that these symptoms only started after the aforementioned symptoms have progressed. The neuro informed me I would be fine and sent me on my way. Unsatisfied I consulted a well noted neurologist who analyzed my mri's, ct scans, blood work and did a full examination. He informed me that my symptoms were the result of a somatoform disorder and that they only existed to me. Even despite telling him that my mental baseline has deteriorated and so to has my agility he seemed little concerned and implyed I was a hypochondriac and that the medical professionals know more then me. What is deeply concerting is that my symptoms are real as my twitching comes intermittently during the day and my tremors are subtle and sporadic during the week which he did not see during examination and or seemed to even be concerned with. I have a masters degree in social work and had to quit a great job and have little to no social network as I did in the past since my symptoms have increased. I notice my body slowly dying and can not desribe the how depressing this has been and feel there is no hope.