Posted 8/20/2014 12:02 AM (GMT 0)
I have been having a variety of symptoms. They started 3 months ago and progressively became more intense or often. I went to a neurologist and he performed a CT and MRI of my brain and has not found anything that could be related to the symptoms (though there is significant brain atrophy probably due to being born premature). He has also done many blood tests and everything is pretty normal. These tests were the typical CBC, liver, thyroid, B-12, iron, etc.) I currently have a neuropsych evaluation scheduled for September.
In the mean time, I did not have a general practitioner as I am relatively new to the area. Today I finally had my first appointment with the new GP. After hearing about my symptoms he suggested I get tested for Lyme disease. This has never been brought up before. I do not remember the last time I was bitten by a tick though and if I was, I never had the classic rash pattern so it would not have initially been suspected. I think I will get the results within the next week, however, I've seen that there are many false negative results. I'm wondering, if the results are negative should we just go with that or would starting the antibiotics anyway hurt anything? If this is lyme disease, I'd bet it would be a latent manifestation. I've read it could essentially go dormant for years, correct?
Here are my symptoms:
Decreased attention span
Horrible and worsening short term memory
Slower processing speed (analytical ability, directions, etc.)
Reading and auditory comprehension has decreased
Ability to perform intellectually as I could has decreased such as spelling ability and mental math abilities
Changes in speech ability (slurred, stuttering)
Pretty much constant headache varying in strength and location
Brain fog
Vision changes
Depression
Emotionally numb/flat
Hair loss
Fatigue
Random low-grade fevers
I think there were more symptoms, but I cannot remember. I'm just looking for answers, honestly. Lyme disease actually makes sense. That's why I'm wondering if taking the antibiotics would hurt if I didn't have Lyme. Currently due to my profession, my job is on the line due to the symptoms I'm experiencing. The neurologist has put me on adderall temporarily to try to help with the concentration symptoms, which it has slightly, but not with any of the other symptoms.
Any advice or suggestions would be appreciative. This is getting very frustrating, to say the least. Thank you!