Posted 5/15/2014 2:44 PM (GMT 0)
Hi everyone,
I found this forum a few days ago and I could really use some advice because I'm not sure what to do. I'm 25 living in CT. For my own records I just put together a timeline and symptoms log, so please excuse this post being so long. If you don't want to read the long list below, here is the story in a paragraph:
Dec 2013 admitted to the hospital for fainting coupled with chest pains and numbness/tingling down my left arm. Did numerous tests, said it was pericarditis even though my EKG was normal, but they said the echocardiogram showed inflammation. Sent home for a week off work and took motrin for inflammation every four hours for two weeks. That week I felt absolutely wretched. Out of breath, severely fatigued, chest pain. Doctor said symptoms would clear in a few weeks. Fastforward to April 2014, I returned because I played the "wait and see" game, but my chest pain never fully resolved. Doctor said it was probably "anxiety," but appeased me anyway and ran a few more tests. I came up with a positive IGg for Anaplasmosis and negative for Lyme on the ELISA. She gave me 10 days of doxyxcycline and I felt SO MUCH BETTER. My energy was through the roof, the chest pain went away. Three days after I finished the doxy all my symptoms came back and worse: inflammation/arthritic pain in my fingers and wrist, fatigue, headaches. I went to see my naturopath and he said I probably have Lyme with the anaplasma. He gave me Cat's Claw/Japanese Knotweed and CoQ10 and Hawthorn extract for my heart. I didn't really feel any different, in fact I felt worse (mostly extreme fatigue/headache/my brain feeling "fuzzy") for a few days, and this is the first week I feel like I might be getting better, but my energy is still low. He ordered a Western Blot and I'm still waiting on those results.
Questions:
If I come up negative again, should I still pursue seeing an LLMD?
Should I try seeing a regular Infectious Disease doctor first, because they are in my insurance?
Does the natural approach really work, or should I go on a month+ antibiotics and really just knock this thing out?
I'm so confused on my next course of action -- if I should see someone else, if I possibly want to go on antibiotics, if I even have Lyme at all? I'm starting to feel like my doctors made me feel -- like it's all in my head or something . Any advice is appreciated. I'll post my log below, it includes more information about symptoms than what I listed above. Thank you!!
SYMPTOMS LOG
OCTOBER INTO NOVEMBER 2013
EYE TWITCHING THAT LASTED OVER A WEEK
NOVEMBER 29 2013
HEADACHE/NAUSEA. FAINTED IN HOME. LOSS OF BLADDER CONTROL WHILE UNCONSCIOUS. THREW UP FOUR TIMES TWO HOURS LATER; SICK FOR HOURS.
DEC 2-4 2013
SEVERE CHEST PAINS WITH NUMBNESS AND TINGLING DOWN MY LEFT ARM.
DEC 4 2013
SENT TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM FOR COMBINATION OF FAINTING AND CHEST PAIN. SENT HOME WITH A DIAGNOSIS OF PERICARDITIS AND A MOTRIN REGIMEN.
DEC 9 2013
FOLLOWED UP WITH PCP. RAN TESTS THE HOSPITAL DIDN’T. EVERYTHING CAME BACK NEGATIVE. STAYED HOME ON DOCTORS ORDERS FROM WORK UNTIL DEC 12. FELT CHEST PAIN, NAUSEA, FATIGUE, SHORTNESS OF BREATH THAT WHOLE WEEK HOME UNTIL about DEC 16.
CONTINUED HAVING LOW GRADE CHEST DISCOMFORT, FAST HEARTBEAT, GENERAL MALAISE: FATIGUE, HEADACHES, RESPIRATORY DIFFICULTY UNTIL APRIL
WHEN I RETURNED FOR THE SYMPTOMS NOT GOING COMPLETELY AWAY. DOCTOR RAN MORE TESTS AND FOUND ANAPLASMOSIS. ELISA LYME TEST NEGATIVE.
TOOK DOXYCYCLINE FROM APRIL 19 TO MAY 1. SYMPTOMS SUBSIDED. GAINED TONS OF ENERGY, CHEST PAIN SUBSIDED.
MAY 4 2014 (3 DAYS AFTER FINISHING DOXY)
AT NIGHT A BURNING INFLAMMATION DOWN MY LEFT ARM INTO MY WRIST AND FINGERS. CONTINUES ALL WEEK.
START NATURAL TREATMENT MAY 6 WITH ND. JAPANESE KNOTWEED CATS CLAW HAWTHORN EXTRACT COQ10. ALTERED MOOD: DEPRESSION, IRRITABILITY. BOUTS OF EMOTION.
MAY 5 2014
DRANK ALCOHOL THAT NIGHT. FOUR DAYS OF FEELING LIKE A ZOMBIE AFTER/BRAIN FOG.
MAY 9 2014
LEFT CHEEK FELT HEAVY/NUMB-LIKE. FELT SWOLLEN IN LEFT WRIST/HAND/FINGERS. CHEST DISCOMFORT PERSISTS. DIFFICULTY FINDING WORDS WHEN TALKING TO STUDENTS. GO TO A DOCTOR TO ORDER MORE TESTS. REQUESTED LYME WESTERN BLOT. BP 98/65
MAY 12 2014
CHEST PAIN SUBSIDED, STILL A BIT UNCOMFORTABLE. HEARTBEAT SEEMS NORMAL. LOW GRADE INFLAMMATION PAIN IN LEFT HAND. SEVERE BRAIN FOG THIS MORNING. FEELING FATIGUED, NOT “ALL THERE.” GOT BETTER BY AFTERNOON. FEELING LOW STRESS/LOW ENERGY. SLEPT AT LEAST 8 HOURS FRI SAT SUN STILL FATIGUED. MOOD: DEPRESSED, EMOTIONAL, MOODY. CRYING EPISODE.
MAY 13 2014
SHORTNESS OF BREATH IN THE MORNING IN THE SHOWER. CHEST DISCOMFORT LESS THAN YESTERDAY. GOOD ENERGY ON THE CAR RIDE AND IN THE MORNING. HEADACHE NAUSEA AROUND 11 AM THAT FELT BETTER WITH EATING. (HAD BREAKFAST THIS MORNING TOO). LOW ENERGY WITH WORK TASKS. GRADING ESSAYS IS EXHAUSTING.
6 PM NOT FEELING GOOD. HEAD FEELS STUFFY. TEMP 96.7
EXTREME FATIGUE. WENT TO SLEEP 9 PM.
MAY 14TH 2014
6AM WOKE UP WITH A STUFFY HEAD AND A HEADACHE. FATIGUE IS MODERATE BUT MANAGEABLE (9AM). STILL HAVE HEADACHE. MAY BE ALLERGIES? A FEW FLEETING CHEST PAINS THIS MORNING, BUT NOT CONSTANT.
MAY 15TH 2014
FIRST MORNING I WOKE UP AFTER HAVING ANY ALCOHOL THAT MY HEART WASN’T POUNDING. LEVEL 2-3 CHEST DISCOMFORT. SLIGHT SHORTNESS OF BREATH WHEN SPEAKING FOR A LONG TIME TEACHING. HEAD STUFFINESS about A 4, PROBABLY THE RAINY WEATHER. OVERALL FEELING A 6/7.