Crazy stiff neck and feeling like I have a cold

After my recent bad luck with doctors, I've taken most of what they say with a grain of salt. Someone recommended this naturalist who does homeopathics and she seemed to be overly confident and spoke to me like I'm a moron. Not pleased. Anyway, as I was wrapping up our conversation, I asked if she had any recommendations for my stiff neck. My neck has been a bit stiff on the right side for a while now and then there's days where I can barely move my head at all. It's day three of not being able to turn It very well and I also woke up this morning with what seems to be a cold. Stuffy nose and cough, no fever. This gal I was speaking to said she didn't have any recommendation besides going to a medical doctor immediately because it sounds like meningitis. Sounded a little much to me but now I'm super concerned. I have no desire to go to urgent Care again so they can tell me I'm fine whether i am or not. Does this sound like meningitis? What can I do to help with my painful stiff neck?
Thanks

Hey hopeless -

Lyme and a stiff neck definitely can go together. BUT. The their is a cold/flu/bug going around right now that is causing some to have a stiff neck. Three weeks ago, I definitely had a daily stiff "couldn't turn my neck it was so stiff" as a random symptom with my cold; my kids did, too. And, I was chatting with a check out clerk the other day and she said, without prompting, that her cold was giving her a stiff neck, too.

Just wanted to give you a heads up that this might not be lyme to blame this time

Warmly -

Peppermint Tea

Just want to echo what Peppermint Tea said about bugs going around. They certainly are in my area. Either it's a varied range of different bugs, or people are having widely varied symptoms to the same bug. I had a "cold" with a productive cough that started in early December. After 3 weeks, I went to the ENT who assumed it was a secondary bacterial infection and prescribed 10 days of Augmentin. Finished it Monday morning. It's Thursday and I still have the cough, although the congestion has gotten better.

When I first got sick in early December, both my parents had it before I did. For the most part, they seemed to get over it. Then, last week, the relative we're living with got bedridden with vomiting and awful back pain. She insisted it wasn't the flu and that it was related to whiplash from a fall she had on Christmas Eve. I still believe she had the flu or a stomach virus. Pretty much as soon as she was up and around, my 93 year old dad got sick again with a productive cough. No fever. No body aches. Not bedridden. Just a cough that increasingly gave him anxiety and trouble breathing over a period of days (not hours). Mom took him to the doctor yesterday. Doctor had him admitted to the hospital, where (surprise), they actually swab tested him for the flu. He was positive for both influenza A and B.

Whether all 3 of us have had the flu or whether my relative had the flu as I suspected, we'll never know, as none of us were tested.

IMO, doctors are still heavily relying on old symptom pictures to guesstimate what type of infections people have. I suspect newer strains of bugs are producing newer and more varied symptoms.

Lyme is well known for causing neck stiffness. Meningitis can also cause that. Meningitis can be bacterial or viral and can be very dangerous. I've never had it, but what I can recall about hearing of it is it usually causes "the worst headache you've ever had in your life." Use your best judgment as to whether you need medical attention. If you do go somewhere, insist on a swab test for the flu. If it is the flu, they can give you Tamiflu, but you have to start it soon after onset of symptoms. Sorry for the book😌