Hi all. I'm trying to find out what's causing all of my symptoms. I have chest pain, eye pain & burning, skin rashes (sometimes painful), fatigue, sinus pain, headache, left ear ache, shortness of breath, occasional sore hands and feet, loss of appetite, and weight loss (no complaints with this sign). I have a history of asthma, allergies, IgA deficiency, mild chronic sinusitis, high lipoprotein (a), and mild tricuspid regurgitation.
My primary care doctor just treats symptoms and blames them on allergies and asthma. I disagree. I know how my body feels with allergies and asthma attacks and this isn't it. My allergist / immunologist thinks an autoimmune disease may be possible. My pulmonologist last year thought I might have some form of vasculitis (possibly Wegener's Granulomatosis or Churg-Strauss Syndrome) but wanted to rule out sinus and allergy concerns. I've been to an ENT and back to my allergist. My allergist recently sent me for blood work to test my thryoid antibodies, microsomal antibodies, and chronic urticaria index (this last test due to skin rash). Pending results. My pulmonologist last year recommended an open lung biopsy to test granulomatous nodules (some calcified) in my lungs but decided against that in favor of going to ENT & allergist.
Recently had a bout of gastroenteritis (per ER doc) where a CT of my abdomen also showed a liver lesion and retroperitoneal lymph nodes. Also, recent tests for my checkup with cardiologist showed my lipoprotein a (lp a) to be 3x higher than the normal limit. My HDL and LDL cholesterol were normal.
I can't help but think these signs and symptoms are all related. I've shared copies of labs / CTs with each doctor but get nowhere. Any suggestions as to what I should discuss with my physician? Should I return to pulmonologist and insist on open lung biopsy? I just want my quality of life back with a diagnosis and some relief of these symptoms which affect my work and personal life.