Posted 6/1/2014 11:30 PM (GMT 0)
Hello everyone!
I would just like to thank you in advance for Reading my post. I am a 21 year old male who was once extremely active but my health has deteriorated over the past 5 years. I have been to over 25 doctor visits over the past 5 years but have been unable to find a direct cause for my symptoms. I can’t even count the amount of times I’ve had blood taken (>20 times). My symptoms started gradually and have now gotten to the point where it’s all I can do to get out of bed and make I through the day. Here is a list of my symptoms:
• Extreme fatigue and exhaustion. I don’t just mean that I am tired all the time but that I am fully exhausted. Even just walking down the street can seem like a feat at times.
• Muscle and joint pain. My muscles and joints are soar all the time. It feels as though I have arthritis although I have been tested for it and do not have it. My neck is probably my largest complaint as it is so soar that I have a constant headache. If I do anything even slightly physical I will be even more sick and soar the following day.
• Jaw pain and stiffness
• My eyes do feel soar at times but this may be due to wearing contacts as my vision has decreased over the last few years. Before that I had perfect vision.
• At times i feel as though I have pressure in my ears.
• My head just feels really foggy as if its more difficult to think things through
• Loss of sex drive and I no longer feel as though I can get as full of an erection.
• I have an extreme sensitivity to alcohol that I never use to have. I don’t mean that I get drunk easy but I get hangovers very easy. Even from just having one drink it makes me feel worse the next day.
• I have a rash on my lower legs and forearms that’ seems to come and go. (Possibly Eczema)
• I periodically have blood at the end of my stools. Maybe once every few months or so but it is more blood than you would from just cleaning yourself to hard.
• I have an increased sensitivity to motion sickness. Even just driving will make me feel light headed and woozy.
• I also tend to shake. My hands literally shake all the time. Although I feel I have had this since I was young it has gotten worse in recent years.
• My symptoms seemed to get much worse after taking minocycline antibiotics for acne and never really got better.
• Before I was chronically sick I spent about 10 days in the hospital with some extreme form of illness that had flu like symptoms including me fainting, puking and diarrhea. I did seem to make a full recovery from whatever caused this illness so I’m not sure if it is related or not.
• I have some minor digestive issues but nothing to bad. One thing I notice is that if I wake up and chug a glass of water I will have diarrhea about 30 minutes later. If I drink a glass of water later in the day after eating I will be fine.
• Seem to get sick from antibiotics
I have been tested for a lot of things and am running out of things it could be. I spent some time at the mayo clinic seeing various specialists and was diagnosed with fibromyalgia basically because they just couldn’t find anything wrong with me so I struggle with accepting the diagnosis. All tests and bloodwork seem to come back normal except a moderately elevated anti-histone and slightly elevated liver enzymes. My testosterone is near the very bottom of the normal range which I feel is unusual for someone my age. I did also have a positive ANA panal at one time but it was just after I was taking the minocycline so that can cause a positive reading. I have had 2 negative readings since then. I thought it could possibly be due to drug induced lupus from the minocycline but according to specialists I would be feeling better by now if this was the case. I have been tested for lymes disease (negative) but still feel this may be a possibility although I do not live in a Lyme endemic area. I just sent blood to a lab in California called Igenex for further Lyme testing. I live in Western Canada. I even did a candida diet religiously to see if that would help but it didn’t.
My thoughts:
I think it could possibly be chronic lyme as I have read about a lot of controversy in its testing and treatment. Some MDs believe in chronic lyme but most do not. I also think whatever is making me sick seems to react to antibiotics since I had a worsening of symptoms when taking the minocycline. I also feel that the elevated anti histone has something to do with it and possibly the slightly elevated liver enzymes’. I think there is an extremely low chance of colon cancer because of the blood in the stool and the elevated liver enzymes but this would be a long shot. I may request a colonoscopy as I have yet to have one done. I am very desperate and feel like the only thing I haven’t tried is a spinal tap to check for some form of virus or something. I am considering doing this operation.
If you have any suggestions on what it could be or tests I should have done that would be greatly appreciated. Even if it’s a long shot.
Thanks for reading!