body aches & ringing in ears

bueller?

haha, thanks for the response, Gretchen. I appreciate it.

MS was officially ruled out today as my brain MRI came back normal. My Doc's response: "We're doubling your chronic pain medication and advising you to keep a positive attitude." Which is superb, but does nothing for the super loud ringing in my ears, body aches, dizziness, tingling left side limbs, etc etc etc.

This is all so frustrating! I know something is really really wrong and they're trying to dismiss it as stress and treat the symptoms.

Luckily though when I rattled off other possibilities (autoimmune, lymes, etc) my mom suddenly remembered me being bit by a tic when I was 10 and getting giant rings on the back of my leg. We can't remember how it was treated so that might be the next avenue of exploration as LD and MS share many similar symptoms.

The most annoying for me right now is not being able to exercise. Before this (6 weeks ago) I was out doing 15 mile runs. Now about 10 minutes into a run my form crumbles apart, I get super dizzy and feel like I'm not attached to my body (if that makes any sense). When I slow to a walk that eventually becomes increasingly difficult with each step to pick up one foot and put it in front of the other. Then for the next two days following the attempted run I feel like I'm dying with flu-like aches, dizziness, nausea.

Being an athlete I know my body very well and I know something is very wrong. Not going to rest until I find a doc who will help me find the answer instead of just trying to treat my myriad of symptoms.

I will :) Thank you again, Gretchen!

Yessum, we finally got it figured out: lyme disease. Have been treating for that (herbal protocol) and am improving by leaps and bounds. Good luck to you!

Aquaholical,

Giving up your exercise must be very difficult. I have lupus and am very tired and achy much of the time and am fighting to lose the weight I gained while on prednisone for many years. 9 months ago I started taking yoga with a kind, talented, and very supportive teacher and it's made a world of difference. The weight is coming off, my clothes fit better, and most importantly, I always feel better after a class, regardless how I feel when I start the class.

Have you given any thought to Restless Leg Syndrome? I take neurontin to control mine and it has made a world of difference, both in the quality of my sleep not to mention that of my husband!

PattyLatty,
So glad to hear you're having such positive experiences with yoga! I've always loved yoga and it's definitely a big part of my treatment now. The twitching muscles have naturally resolved with the herbal protocol I'm following (along with a million other symptoms! It's crazy how powerful herbs are.)

Pangier,
Your symptoms all sound very, very familiar. Like I said above, most of mine have resolved with a ton of herbs, but I do still have the ringing in the ears, though not as intense. It gets louder at times but has mostly detained to a dull hum.

Hey Bucci :) I recognize your screen name from the lyme boards, where I poke around more these days. (Haven't posted in awhile on there but I get on every day and read)

I'm following Stephen Buhner's protocol:
www.amazon.com/Healing-Lyme-Prevention-Borreliosis-Coinfections/dp/0970869630

It's been nothing short of a miracle. I was bedridden before I started it and upon starting just the main herbs I felt 9,000x better and was able to go back to work. I've been steadily getting better and better with each month that passes. The flare ups are getting shorter and less intense (in fact, right now is the longest I've gone between flare ups!) and upon re-testing my CD57 last month my levels are back to normal (200) (When diagnosed it was 37).

I also follow the diet as closely as I can: no gluten, no sugar (even fruit), minimal dairy, etc etc.

I go to acupuncture weekly and that has helped completely resolve several pesky symptoms (IBS, searing shoulder pain, night sweats) and also helped keep me centered and relaxed. And to that same effect I try my hardest to have bi-weekly massage, but because of cost it sometimes ends up only being once a month. In Buhner's book he has an entire chapter dedicated to the importance of massage/stress relief. I highly recommend you check it out! :)

Good luck with the mold issues :/ My parents just found mold in their house and my mom is having severe problems with it. I know how awful it can be and I hope you find relief.

Hey Jewels! :)
Sorry to hear you've been having a similar myriad of awful symptoms. I would most definitely follow up with an LLMD. I'd do some research and see if you could find one like mine who's more of an "integrative" doctor (relies on both pharmaceuticals AND herbs) if you're leaning more towards wanting to follow an herbal protocol. (Which I could not recommend more--Stephen Buhner's protocol just about saved my life.)

and just a note--I used to subscribe to the fictional Dr. House's stance on coincidence: that there is none with illness. But the onset of my Celiac symptoms coincided with me getting off birth control. So for the first few months of bloating/mood swings/cramps/etc I thought were related to hormones/birth control. It turned out just to be a coincidence with timing. It was very much only the Celiac causing all those symptoms.

I hope this thread still gets checked. If so, I hope someone has enough time to read what I'm guessing will be a very long post. Thanks in advance!

I'll start by saying I've had problems for over a year, but the recent joint pain and ringing in my ears brought me here today. I actually typed the exact title of this forum into Google, and I'm surprised and excited that I found this! I'll start with my symptoms/back story, and then I'll go into what doctors have found and said.

I've been having neurological issues for about 16 months now. It started with numbness and tingling in my extremities with migraines, blurred vision (trouble focusing my vision, and "shaky" vision), dizziness, and muscle weakness/tremors. All of my symptoms peak if I get hot (physical activity or just being out in the sun). At the peak of the migraines I lost vision in my right eye (vision narrowed and grew dark, saw flashing "shapes"). I haven't lost vision since last February (2012), but I continue to have migraines, usually preceded by sensitivity to sound. My ears are so sensitive that touching any part of my ear shoots pain through the ear and into my neck. Within the past 4 months the ringing in my ears has increased to the point that I can't hear people in other rooms of my house. All of my joints hurt, but my left shoulder and both of my knees get to the point of not wanting to move at all by the end of every day. It's hard for me to eat because I always feel like something is stuck in my throat. Within the past 2 months I have woken up vomiting 4 times. I mean, when I woke up, the vomit was already in my mouth.

My neurologist thinks I have MS, but no MRIs have shown that. He said it can take 5 years or more for MRIs to show the white spots he's looking for. Has anyone else waited that long for a diagnosis?

MRIs did show a growth on my pineal gland. I'm told this is a very common place to have a "growth" in your brain. At first it was measured to be 7mm, but now (a year later) they're measuring it at 8mm. I thought that one millimeter could be a picture clarity issue, but my neurologist said the scanners can measure down to the tenth of a millimeter, so one full millimeter is cause for concern. Even with that, he wants to repeat the MRI in 6 months to see if it grows more, or if white spots show up. Also, my doctor said the cyst is adjacent to the area of the brain that controls body temperature. This could explain why I sweat from eating a bowl of cereal. If it grows more, I'm supposed to see a neurosurgeon.

EEG/QEEG results showed that I have level 3 seizure activity, so I have been put on multiple drugs to combat that, but all of them caused other serious side effects. I am not currently on any seizure medication.

Evoke potentials recently showed something wrong with the nerves between my brain and my right leg. My neurologist thinks this is yet another sign of MS.

My lumbar puncture came back "clear." That was a year ago.

I was diagnosed with sleep apnea. I’ve been using a CPAP machine for a couple months now. I do sleep better, but only after I finally fall asleep, which takes a long time.

A Neuro-ophthalmologist checked for delineation of my optic nerve to support theory that I have MS, but didn’t find anything. That was almost a year ago.

My endocrinologist evaluated the growth on my pineal gland, and isn’t concerned with it but will continue to monitor with MRIs. She said I have hypogonadism and dyslipidemia.

My rheumatologist said I have fibromyalgia.

Does anyone have any thoughts on all of these symptoms? Right now I'm not sure if I have MS, of if I'll be seeing a neurosurgeon in 6 months because of the pineal cyst. My primary care doctor wants me to return to work, so I don't know if he believes me when I say I can't eat, I can't hear, and I have to use crutches to get around my house.

I hate that anyone is going through this, but it is slightly comforting to know I'm not alone.

-ccbrunk

Angie,
You have posted on a very old thread. You may want to start a new one instead. Your post is a bit burried here. And PLEASE go change your username. You do not want your email open to the general public. You will be the victim of spam and worse!

I'm glad you are seeing a doctor soon. Hopefully you will get some answers. You have some scary and disturbing symptoms! Welcome to the board.