GWI is very likely, as mentioned earlier.
You have to find an LLMD or check with Dr.Garth Nicolson at immed.org.
There are not too many other MDs outside those that can treat this.
You need to get testing done with IGenex Labs only. They are the only labs that can do a complete Mycoplasma,Borrelia and co-infections Panel.
The rest are still in the dark ages in this field.
The sooner you rule this out the better, as a successful treatment requires your immune system's participation. A weak or compromised immune system, will keep you in limbo. There's a standard treatment with abx,however, they only have bacteriostatic action against the infectious agent, not bacteriocidal. While static only a strong immune system can eventually locate the pathogen, tag it and get it destroyed.
Just like war,-lol!- and the enemy is almost invisible!
Wishing you well.
Niko
Thanks for the info. I'll try finding a doctor that can test for mycoplasma.
They're a little bit better than that, but actually only PA's. It is next to impossible to get referred to a specialty clinic unless something is glaringly, obviously wrong. I've been trying to get them to send me to an endocrinologist for the past year and a half with no luck.
Don't assume that if they find something wrong with your endocrine system that that's all there is to it. That may be just one part of your puzzle. Definitley read up on Garth Nicholson's work on Mycoplasma infection.
Look carefully at your family history for clues and ask to be tested for mycoplasma infection. If you are positive and if you also have autoimmune disease you may need to go on a longer than normal course of antibiotics. I have been on augmentin for a few months and feel better now than I did prior. Even though I have autoimmune disease, I aslo have Specific Antibody Deficiency - dx'd after weak response to pneumovax23 by a clinical immunologist.
I have autonomic nervous system abnormalities (look up dysautonomia), hormonal imbalances (cortisol, and other), autoimmune disease, muscle pain, joint pain, etc. etc. These symptoms have progressed over the years and I was not properly diagnosed until the last couple of years. Until then most of my symptoms were attributed to fibromyalgia. It wasn't until I went to a clinic for dysautonomia that I got refferals to specialists that ordered the tests I needed.
1 1/2 years ago I had to stop working for a few weeks when it got very bad that's when I tested postive for mycoplasma infection. Since then I was diagnosed with Sjogren's. My brother also has sjogren's.
Do your research, find Dr.s that listen and trust your gut.
God bless and good luck to you. It may take patience and perserverance to get answers.
Were you able to find a VA doctor that spoke English? I found a few, but it was with a heavy accent, and I'd say their education is below a US high school diploma. World's worst doctors if you ask me.
Oh, OK. I get most of my care through the VA, but they have been less than helpful on this front. I've been going through a regular doctor (and paying out of pocket) for most of this stuff.
Insurance. I dont know if you have health insurance or get coverage from the VA or both.
Natural path or naturopath doctors (whatever they call themselves) generally do not accept any insurance at all.
Thanks for the info, I will check them out.
What is INS?
As always, thanks for your continued help.
Continuous stress can elevate cortisol levels, its the natural instinct in us.
An Md will measure this with a blood draw in the AM and PM with corealating ranges that are different. Ins covers this, but it only detects extreme cases.
An Naturalpath Dr or Chiro that dabbles in this area will order what is called a 24 hr saliva adrenal test, for testing four times throughout the day. It is then sent out to a lab, results are returned in a week or so. Ins does not cover this, but it can be more useful in determining the 'gray' area that is termed adrenal fatigue.
Note : adrenal fatigue is not just low cortisol, its what happens when the adrenal glands are stressed and show unbalanced high and low levels opposite of what you should have for different times throughout 24 hrs.
We've figured out you meant your compliments for siuol11, the original poster, as the only service to the country I've done was pay taxes LOL
I don't know of anyone other than IMM. However, with Dr. Nicholson having once been in TX, perhaps getting a call through to him will get you pointed to someone there.
I believe you are on the right track LazyMoose by being in this forum and taking charge of your own health like you are! I wanted to tell you something non medical though, Thank you for your Service to our Country and its Citizens! I am going to say a prayer that you find the answers you need to be back in a healthy place again. You are a young man and once you get this all figured out, the wind will be at your back!
Oh, I forgot to mention; no food allergies have been found. I do have hypoglycemic episodes though, and these are precipitated by skipping a meal or having coffee.
I also forgot to mention that I had kidney stones over Christmas week 2011.
I just got enrolled in the Gulf War Registry last month. I'm trying to get a referral to the WRIISC center but so far haven't had much luck. Gulf war syndrome is a distinct possibility, but I'm not really sure how to go about confirming that or what I should do to treat it. Besides the IMM, can you recommend any resources?
Sounds like Gulf War Syndrome, which I'm sure the VA would tell you doesn't exist. You should really google The Institute for Molecular Medicine. I've had similar issues for over 40 years, believe me, you don't want to live with it that long. Mine began shortly after the AF gave us typhoid vaccines in the 1960's after a minor flood in my hometown. I was only 11 and things started soon after that vaccine.
I really appreciate all the help. You've given me a bit to go on. I am vitamin D3 deficient, I take 2,000 IU a day.
One thing I heard from someone is that I might have excess cortisol due to constant stress?
I realized after I posted my initial question that I didn't include a lot of the cognitive issues that have come up, as well as the general fatigue I've experienced (I had an especially bad 6-8 month period that hit 4 months after Iraq in which I would have to sleep 14 hours a day and I'd still feel tired).
These include; frequent headaches, very poor short-term memory,paranoia, increased depression, aphasia, and severe insomnia (I take 30 mg. of temazapam and 100 of trazadone a night just to get to sleep). It's impossible for me to fall asleep without taking these. It's also really hard for me to relax my mind in general.
Thanks for that info. There are actually nunbers, I didn't copy-past them as they are each on a separate page. I'll write them down here though. As for the lab testing equimpent I'll try to find out what brand they were using. It is worth noting that I've been tested for thyroid at the VA hospital in Leavenworth, KS, the VA hospital in Dallas, TX, and a civilian doctor in Dallas, TX. I can't pull up the results from the VA, but those have been "normal" too, witch one exception which was "low normal".
Individual lab results:
Name Value Reference Range
T4, FREE 1.2 0.8-1.8 ng/dL
TSH 0.80 0.40-4.50 mIU/L
T3, FREE 3.2 2.3-4.2 pg/mL
THYROID PEROXIDASE ANTIBODIES <10 <35 IU/mL
THYROGLOBULIN ANTIBODIES <20 <20 IU/mL
[ T4, FREE Received -QuestHub Normal
TSH, 3RD GENERATION Received -QuestHub Normal
T3, FREE Received -QuestHub Normal ]
- No numbers there. You need proper lab results, which they did NOT provide. Numbers with the ranges, as thyroid test ranges vary with the brand of machine used at the lab. Only then can you rule out thyroid. So, request to see the numbers, its your legal right in the U.S.
There is all kinds of proof from people really messed up that have T3 very low but still "in range". Degrees of illness are sometimes not black and white, its not a light switch. Thyroid falls into this area.
You should get checked for mycoplasma infections. You folks got a lot of hastily prepared immunizations. Even today the infection of vaccines can be as high as 5%. See the work of Dr. Garth Nicholson.
These are the results of my metabolic panel:
Name Value Reference Range
GLUCOSE 96 65-99 mg/dL
UREA NITROGEN (BUN) 16 7-25 mg/dL
CREATININE 0.96 0.60-1.35 mg/dL
eGFR NON-AFR. AMERICAN 106 > OR = 60 mL/min/1.73m2
eGFR AFRICAN AMERICAN 123 > OR = 60 mL/min/1.73m2
BUN/CREATININE RATIO NOT APPLICABLE 6-22 (calc)
SODIUM 140 135-146 mmol/L
POTASSIUM 4.6 3.5-5.3 mmol/L
CHLORIDE 104 98-110 mmol/L
CARBON DIOXIDE 24 21-33 mmol/L
CALCIUM 9.7 8.6-10.3 mg/dL
PROTEIN, TOTAL 7.7 6.2-8.3 g/dL
ALBUMIN 5.0 3.6-5.1 g/dL
GLOBULIN 2.7 2.1-3.7 g/dL (calc)
ALBUMIN/GLOBULIN RATIO 1.9 1.0-2.1 (calc)
BILIRUBIN, TOTAL 0.4 0.2-1.2 mg/dL
ALKALINE PHOSPHATASE 70 40-115 U/L
AST 28 10-40 U/L
ALT 44 9-60 U/L
These are the results of my most recent tests:
TESTOSTERONE,TOTAL,MALES Received -QuestHub 380
CBC (INCLUDES DIFF/PLT) Received -QuestHub Normal
COMPREHENSIVE METABOLIC PANEL Received -QuestHub Normal
T4, FREE Received -QuestHub Normal
TSH, 3RD GENERATION Received -QuestHub Normal
T3, FREE Received -QuestHub Normal
THYROID PEROXIDASE ANTIBODIES Received -QuestHub Normal
THYROGLOBULIN ANTIBODIES Received -QuestHub Normal
What thyroid tests did you get?
Free t3 testing should at least be in the middle to feel well, this is the horrmone your cells need and should be converted from t4 (free t4 test). Conversion does not always happen like it should.
TSH is not an active hormone, its a signal, thus not very acurate for thyroid level testing. Many Drs are wrong in testing only this.
People with Hoshimoto actually on thyroid med sometimes feel better in the top of the ranges, just the way we are, but for someone without Hashimoto you look good. The lab would have correlated the ranges with their brand of test instrumentation - no need to ask them.
The antibodie test have limits, not ranges, and you were less than the acceptable limit - good to know.
Since you mentioned you were low in range in the past, keep an eye on this in the future.
You might have several thing going on. Only other things I can think of is :
The body pain and digestive issues can / do have things in common with some people. Have you limited certain food groups for several weeks at all to see if you have any food in tolerances like gluten or lactose? Inflamed intestines from certain foods can wreck havoc on the whole body with some individuals, allowing the intestines to leak at the micro level (called leaky gut), causing body pain and general illness.
Have you had a vitamin D3 test called D-25 done? With B12 also? Red Blood Cell Magnessium *(RBM)? Western blot for Lymes?
It would be interesting to see if a very high quality magnessium glycinate taken before sleep would help with digestive/nerve/body pain as it does with many, and it cant do any harm. The brand is KAL for mag-glycinate. Magnesium oxide, very common, does nothing, its just a laxative..
Hopefully others will have some more ideas.