Unable to get a diagnosis; friend suggested spondylosis?

My symptoms started very suddenly on 5/1/2012 and I have not been able to get a diagnosis yet. My doctors seem stumped. A friend mentioned degenerative spondylosis; since I had been having a lot of back pain prior to this all starting. But, I can't find anything on one-sided swelling related to this disease. Has anyone experienced these symptoms? Other people have mentioned lyme or lupus; I could really just use some guidance as to which path to try to push for... because my doctor has kind of given up on me already. Any help would be SO appreciated.

What's going on: left-sided body swelling (left cheek, left eye, left jaw, left breast, left leg)- facial swelling is worse in the morning & leg swelling is worse after prolonged sitting/standing, constant since the onset; left arm routinely goes completely numb at night & takes about 10-20 minutes to regain feeling; left ear occasionally loses hearing (very briefly-fades out & fades back in very quickly with a ringing sound); shooting pain and tingly feeling up left leg & left foot (when sitting for long periods); chills & goose bumps down left side only (mostly left thigh) or alternately, the left leg feels hot to the touch, petechiae has been developing around my eyes (new symptom) and tiny bright red dots scattered on left leg (definitely not freckles or pimples, maybe petechiae?); night sweats; fatigue & headaches with pressure around bottom half of the back of my head (could be unrelated?).

What's been done: venous ultrasound of the leg to check for blood clot (done May 2nd), chest x-ray, MRI/MRA brain/neck, MRI c-spine. Evaluated by neurologist & endocrinologist; neither thought it was related to their specialty. Primary recommended discontinuing birth control; I've been off of it for over 3 weeks and there has been no change. I've been tachycardic, between 110-130 and my blood pressure has been elevated.

[S. Kaul, MD]

Hi there!

Well, without a clinical evaluation it would be difficult to determine the cause of your symptoms. Possibilities that may need to be considered include infections, inflammations, vascular/ lymphatic pressure, auto-immune conditions, hormonal/ endocrine abnormalities, micronutrient deficiencies, neuro-muscular causes such as nerve impingement, myopathies, neuropathies, haematological abnormalities, growths/ masses etc. I would suggest getting this evaluated by an internist preferably at a university/ teaching hospital for an initial evaluation and depending on the cause diagnosed/ suspected, it can be managed accordingly or specialist care may be sought.
Hope this helps.

Take care!