Posted 3/16/2015 9:35 PM (GMT 0)
Hiya lovely people. I'm 19 years old, female and suspect I may have lyme or lupus. So, my story's like this:
Came to the doctors with kidney complaints, had kidney infections before and this particular time it followed cystitis so the doc was confident enough to give me antibiotics without testing a culture. Ended up reacting to the nitrofurantoin and that gave me a rash, stabbing sensation in all my muscles and nausea, dizziness, went away about two days later. It still seemed as if I had a kidney infection so returned to doc, was given trimethoprim, had this before, but ended up feeling incredibly nauseous and removed from reality, hearing went slightly and stopped taking them. Was then given amoxicillin, I actually felt better initially, for about a day, then night sweats and strange feeling in neck, abdominal pain came, also nerve twangs. (lyme disease gets better before gets worse, also amoxicillin is given for treatment). Continued to worsen til 4th day. Was put on co-amoxiclav and within hours of taking it, started to tremble and my nervous system seemed off. Like my muscles were spasming and I was getting nerve pain, felt like a seizure. This I think is called herxing. Was diagnosed with hyperventilation syndrome 4 days later, developed massive anxiety. Felt constantly wrong. Two days after that, felt a sudden onset of fatigue and pain in my head, lower abdomen, and hand. Went to the doctors, noticed swollen glands, took blood, only slight inflammation. Continued to worsen with this diagnosis. Was woken up in the middle of the night with vertigo. Continued to deteriorate, doctors can't explain. Started getting irregular heart rhythms. Had strange seizurey type episodes where brain would drop me out of the room suddenly and my body would spasm. Dizzy constantly, back of head feels wrong. Joints start hurting, right hand particularly. Left knee too. Fast forward to now where I feel like I'm dying. Tremors at night, struggling to walk, pain in random places. Tingling sensations and nerve pain. Chest discomfort. Photosensitive rash on my face that burns. Nausea, muscle spasms. Extremely sensitive to stimuli. Trembling. Burning sensations on skin.
These are just a few of the symptoms. It's worth noting that other than the suspected kidney infection, I felt fine before the antibiotics. Lupus is a concern, mostly because I have an Aunty with Ms and I know autoimmunes tend to cluster in families. Plus, my age and the fact it can sometimes be brought on by certain medications, or can at least be triggered by some. Is this true? The rash on my face, whilst not a typical lupus rash, does get worse in sunlight.
Lyme is another thought. I know these two share so many symptoms, but I suppose the fact I reacted to every single antibiotic would suggest a kind of herxing? I really don't know, I'm only speculating. I'm seeing an infectious diseases specialist tomorrow but am aware that may not bring me any answers initially.
Of course I don't expect anyone to diagnose me, but it'd certainly be very helpful to get some outside opinions on this very confusing time. I can elaborate on my symptoms if needed. Thanks!