I don't know what's going on

I am new to this forum but I've been dealing with symptoms and probably a dozen urgent care visits since June of this year. It started with a bad headache, but it was different than any headache I've experienced. it was a tension headache in the back of my head. Than I began to go numb--not just in my forehead but in my arms and my legs. At first I thought I was having a stroke, but it wasn't one sided or anything bizarre like that. The headache continued and my neck was stiff as well. I worried and confused on what this could have been. I had gotten a massage a few days prior and thought maybe I had a pinched nerve.

My eyes started twitching a lot and I started getting chest pain as well, which led me to believe that I could be having a heart attack.

I finally made it in the Urgent care and when I showed up--my resting heart rate was at 135-150. They threw me in a hospital gown and did an EKG. They drew my blood and did a chest xray. Everything came back normal, so they sent me home with some Metropol to manage my heart and told me to follow up with my primary care.

I met with her and she said that I suffered from anxiety and prescribed me something for anxiety. I told her my head hurt and my neck was stiff. She ordered a neck xray, which came back negative and she sent me on my way.

The numbness started to get really bad, that my legs would go completely numb when I was driving, which was horrifiying. I went back to the urgent care with the worse headache of my life. They did a CT Scan, which came back negative and they sent me home.

I've gone to the urgent care several other times with headaches and have been continuously sent home saying that there is nothing wrong. I finally got my primary care to refer me to neurology.

I met with neurologist and he did a full exam in his office (mostly observational things like looking into my eyes, having me walk, testing my nerves with a needle, etc). He said, everything seems normal, but I will order an MRI on your neck and spine to rule anything out--he thinks it's arthritis

As I waited to get the MRI (took two weeks) I started getting a horrible sore throat along with the neck pain. I went in and was told I had Strep A and was given penicillin for 10 days. The troubling thing is that my heart rate is over 100 now every single day unless I take the medication for it. I am having muscle twitches now and the numbness has subsided. I got the MRI last week and I guess I am just waiting for results, which have me really anxious. I live in Southern California and don't recall getting bit, however I am in a rural part of the county and my neighbors have a bull and horses. We have so many bugs in my house. I am wondering if this is all Lyme disease. I can't think of anything else (Hopefully the MRI will give us more answers). My neck cracks every time I move and I think my anxiety is out of control because I am convinced I am dying of something. Does anyone with Lyme know if they have experienced these symptoms. Again, all my blood work Is as normal as it gets and the neurologist and doctors think everything is fine. Not sure if the Strep has anything to do as a co-infection. Thanks for anyone's input.

I'm thinking about paying for an independent test for Lyme. How did you get your doctor to finally test you for Lyme?

Hi Kikikaia - welcome to our community!

Sorry you have gone through all this - and not have any answers.

I think - based on your symptoms that it would be wise to get an Igenex Lab test.
The best bang for your buck is the Lyme Western Blot IgM and IgG - total cost: $210.

You call Igenex and they will send you a test kit for free.

Take it to a Dr. and have him sign the lab req.

Any Dr. can sign the lab req - an MD, ND, chiropractor...

Because you are new here, it would be helpful for you to read through the "New to Lyme?..Start Here!" thread - its' packed full of useful information - symptom list, detoxing info, etc.

You could also find a LLMD and schedule an appt. for an evaluation (Lyme Literate Dr.)

If you'd like help in finding one - just start a new thread: "Looking for LLMD in/near____" and fill in the blank.
Then enable your email option (through "My Profile") so members can send you names privately. We don't post the names of the LLMD's here for their privacy.

You can also contact me via email and I will check my list and send you names for your area (if I have some)

I do have some LLMD's listed for San Diego...I'll give them to you when you email me.

Igenex website:

www.igenex.com

Thank you for your reply. Yes, I 've been put on predisone twice. Once by an ER doctor and by my neurologist. They have put me on all sorts of other meds too, Naproxen, Tylenol, Tramodol for pain. It doesn't even do anything. I've been on 2 different muscle relaxers as well. I can't take those and drive to work, so they only help me sleep at night and of course Adivan for anxiety, which I have because of all of this. I feel like my entire summer has been wasted. I live in San Diego and I haven't even taken my kids to the beach or Disneyland because there is no way I could make it all day.

I found a lab that will do Lyme testing for $90...when I suggested it to my doctors they said NO you don't have lyme, so they tested me for MONO instead--due to the strep throat. I will probably wait to hear what my MRI says before I go and test for LYME, just incase they do find something that explains all of these other symptoms. I hope it's not MS or anything else, but at this point I just want a diagnosis so I can treat what I have. Thanks for your support! I will post my results later when I do get them.

Thank you! I've only been dealing with the symptoms since May of this year, but I don't think I can handle years and years feeling this way. I understand if it is Lyme, it could take hears to heal, but at least if it is Lyme, I would know what I am dealing with. The symptoms make you feel like you are going crazy. I was convinced I had a brain tumor ( I made my doctor show me the CT Scan of my head several times to make sure he didn't see anything lol) or that I have MS ( I guess that could still be a possibility), but the elevated heart rate and the constant throat swelling and Strep Throat doesn't really make sense for MS . Thanks for your support and I am so glad I found this forum

Wow, thanks for all your recommendations. You can send me an email with your doctor's recommondations, that would be great.

Again, I am waiting to see what the MRI says, but my neuro suggests it's arthritis, but I just am not buying it. I have the strep throat and sore throat too and also the other neurological issues. They aren't super obvious, but very subtle. Sometimes I catch myself drooling. I live in Lakeside, which is a somewhat rural so I am not sure what types of bugs are out here, but my house is littered with spiders and bugs and our neighbors have horses and bulls.

All I can say this is miserable and the fear of having something deadly is consuming. The numbness has gone away for a few weeks and than it came back. the predisone helped temporarily, but I just take ibuprofen now.

Yes, do update us when you get the results.