small 2mm hyperintense

Hello,
Im a 22yr male. once very athletic in my prior days before i decided to join the military. Anyways, everytime I get seen I feel like im getting blown off and told everything is okay. Im no hypercondriac, but i do require answers. Especially after this past episode which led me to my first ride in an ambulance and IV and heavy meds to make the pain go away.
So ive tried searching all over google trying to find someone with similar questions or answers for this MRI. Anyways, Ill just start off with the last episode and a few symptoms here.
To keep a long story very short and sweet.

I got off work, was standing talking on the phone with a friend in my bedroom. Got some very weird sensations in body. started with a "shockwave" of pain through body almost made me sick to my stomach and happened very fast and went away. seconds later happens again. I get cold feeling underneath left lower ribcage, lose sensation in my mid back. that sensation shot up my neck to the center top of head.  By the time paramedics arrived at my house I had a loss of sensation in my arms and legs(knee and below) as well. Took me to hospital shot me up with heavy pain meds and antiinflammatories and said it was a back spasm and sent me home.

Follow up with a doc on base. Ordered Brain/Thoracic spine MRIs to check for MS and something else not sure. I received the brain MRIs only so far and here is how it reads. I have the disc with images if anyone would like to see.
just looking for input, i have no family history of any illness, no allergies, ive been healthy all my life and pretty athletic.

here is the MRI "FINDINGS":

" There is no acute intracranial hemorrhage or infarction.
On the FLAIR and T2 weighted images, there is a single, tiny, punctate, mildly hyperintense 2mm focus of increased signal at the right frontal deep white matter (axial image 14). There is no appreciable mass effect or enhancement associated with this focus. The remainder of the brain, cerebellum, and brainstem are unremarkable. No abnormal enhancement. The ventricular and extraaxial spaces are unremarkable. Flow voids within the major intracranial arteries are grossly unremarkable. Orbits and globes are unremarkable. The sinuses and nasopharynx and mastoid air cells are clear. "


anyone got anything? ill be seeing my doc Monday
I just like multiple opinions

Thanx

[rumpled]

What did your doctor say?

[hv2laf]

I was pretty brief in my last post of everything thats going on. I have a pretty good medical history of pains and symptoms but not quite as dramatic as the numbing of arms legs and back. But since the numbing ive had increased pain all over. forgetfulness, thirsty all the time, sometimes i get dotted rash on my arms or chest or my skin feels irritated, itchy.

Ive had so many blood tests done, xrays, MRIs.

From the research Ive done ive come to the conclusion of Lymes Disease or something equal to. If you research the symptoms, I have MANY of them. I can highlight a majority of these symptoms. Not saying i have it but its a great closest example i have to the symptoms i have as well as pains.
Anyways to answer your question. My doc didnt say anything about my MRI. He just got back from a leave period so I just updated him on whats been going on since the numbing. He did an EKG, to test heart. Said my heart is very healthy. I told him it doesnt feel healthy, feels like it skips beats all the time has a weird feeling  in chest. Then he reviewed blood test they did on me blood test was fine, then ordered a thyroid test because he said i didnt have that done yet. Also referred me out to a Neurologist.

I asked him what he thinks likeliness for Lymes is for me. He asked where Ive lived. I responded. California, been to southern Cali for a few months, Arizona, Oregon, Florida, and now here in Washington. He said not likely but hes gonna test that too.

Now just waiting on results not sure how long itll take them id guess a few days at most.

[rumpled]

Lyme is very tricky - had a few friends with it and some got it bad. A negative test does not mean you do not have it - testing is not reliable.
Good luck with the neuro.

[hv2laf]

All tests are normal on my thyroid and Lymes as well.

Lymes test they tested like 10 strands didnt do the entire test because said it was uneeded since the first 10 came back negative so no point...
Talked to my friend who does in fact have Lymes, Im gonna see if i can get over to LabCorp they have a test apparently that tests results are close to 90% correct. My friend said the same thing you are saying too Rumpled. Just cuz its negative does not mean you do not have it.

These past 3 days Ive noticed high blood pressure and well as hearrate jumping around. With even small amounts of exertion feels like i just ran a marathon for how fast my hear rate jumps up sometimes. I bought I small heart rate blood pressure monitor have been keeping log of it.

No word on Neurology, wont see them for about 3 weeks thats how far they are scheduling out. Gonna keep trying for appts. tho.  Ill update soon as anymore comes up.

[rumpled]

Are they testing your adrenal hormones and your heart as far as tilt table (EKG only goes so far) ? Renin, aldosterone, sodium and potassium can impact your blood pressure. You can even have POTS.

Oddly, I need more salt to keep my heart in check... my bp gets too low.

[hv2laf]

so far Ive been in for 3 blood draws. the first time they took about 5 viles, the second time they took about 9, the last time was the thyroid and Lymes test.
Ive noticed that around 5pm or on until about midnight timeframe.. all symptoms WILL act up for sure. Blood pressure rises pretty high usually the highs in Stage 1 Hypertension. Have made it too Stage 2 a few times now. But heart rate always varies with blood pressure. I usually start noticing chest pain and soon as i take blood pressure its pretty high and when chest pain goes down so does blood pressure so its real easy to tell when its up. But heartrate sometimes will be really high for resting when BP isnt or sometimes up real high when it is. Doesnt matter if im sitting here on my PC or couch or moving around the house.
This past Friday I ended up running over to the hospital around 10 or 11am before I was about to eat..  I had some chest pain and tightness, tried to blow it off.. then within 10 minutes as i was walking around in my shop my stomach instantly gets nauseated then throat feels like its swelling up just under jaw, then I got some shooting pains in right upper arm so decided i needed to go to hospital. Got there about 12 mins later, was real hard to catch breath didnt run or anything. BP was about 150/110 with heartrate of 114. Put me on my 3rd EKG saying its fine, drew some blood. Honestly cant remember what they tested with that vile. They put me on an IV "just in case" then injected some nausea medicine into it and gave me a "GI cocktail" and that was it. I layed on the bed for little over 3 hours before they let me go. They let me go after my vitals got a little lower.

So they scheduled me an appt. to see my primary care provider and pretty much told me i dont have a choice Im going to see him. So Ill see him in about 12 hours from now.
Im going to look up a few of the things ur talking about and see what matches up and ask my doc about them. As well as ask him for a test done over at LabCorp to do the CD57 test. To test the NK cells in my blood. If they come out low, then its suppose to be Lymes or so I read.

Also Ive had 2 people mention to me Hypoglycemia, so I went ahead and bought the OneTouch tester and been testing myself. According to the book my glucose levels are outstanding.

and too finish this off. I dont know if this has anything to do with anything. But I find it very odd that my roommate has a little dog who tends to shake from time to time usually at night. The house is pretty warm some of the times. But after my little episode on Friday.. come saturday night my roommates dog started having seizure or stroke like symptoms late in the afternoon. He was breathing hard, wouldnt blink his eyes at one point. was laying on his side we tried standing him up and he would just do a stumble walk till he fell back over. According to the vet his temp was a tiny bit over normal. He injected him with  pain kills and stuff. He said he is going to keep the dog one more night to draw some blood. He told us he isnt sure. Could be epilepsy, seizures, stroke, or some kind of infection. Like i said not sure maybe I gave him something or he brought something into me. Or maybe me n the dog have completely different things going on. Just found it odd it happened like that.
Thanks again rumpled for ur inputs.

[hv2laf]

POTS looks to be a VERY good possibility as well.

Will definitely bring it to the docs attention see what he thinks

[hv2laf]

So depending on what I possibly may have. Whether its Lymes, POTS, or some adrenal hormones. How is blood pressure meds gonna effect this? Assuming it should help out reducing blood pressure and heart rate. Or if i have any of those will there be no change?

I asked about my previous blood results. Everything has come out "great" ...electrolytes he said came out a little bit low but they arent worried about that.

[rumpled]

Did you get a copy? Always get copies - of everything.
That was low at the time of test, not when you were feeling wonky!
They may have no idea about the adrenals. Few do. Are they sending for a tilt table test?
The med they will give you may not be a typical beta blocker but something to replace aldosterone.

[hv2laf]

I usually have to wait to get my test results about a week but I definitely have gotten copies of everything so far.
So If my blood pressure and heartrate get worse and symptoms act up more in the afternoon I should try and get them to do all those kinds of tests around those times because usually my appointments are in the morning time or around lunch not later in the afternoon when Im feeling "wonky".
I asked him about that or orthostatics, I showed him my logs of blood pressure and heartrates for the past 5 days when I bought the BP monitor. But he still insisted on me taking the blood pressure medication and taking Motrin because my body is tender all over which he says inflammation.
He wants to see me after a week on these meds then have me come back in and see if any improvement. Ill see a neurologist within 3 weeks  hopefully sooner than that. If I cant get my primary care to get me any of these tests Ill get the neurologist to.
Ill let u know what they say or if anything new comes about!

[rumpled]

Are you craving salt, by any chance? Does that coincide with the wonky feeling?

[hv2laf]

when i get hungry its usually sudden. Like out of nowhere instantly hungry. Its not salt that I crave. Its usually high carb meals or high sugar like ice cream..Ive had very high craving for this place close to me they serve Chicken and Beef Teriyaki served with rice..  craving it ALL the time. I try hard to beat these urges and go for salads but sometimes just doesnt do it for me.

[hv2laf]

I have a question. I have my Thyroid results says Thyroid panel (T4+TSH). Im trying to understand Thyrotropin. Thyrotropin result came back as 0.59  and reference range is 0.34 - 4.82 ..  My Thyroxine Free  came in as 0.89  range is 0.56 - 1.40


Is this normal for a 22 yr old male athlete ?  

Also I looked through my medical record. As of December 2008. My blood pressure readings were much much lower compared to now. After 26 March when I had the whole incident with paramedics and my back arms legs losing sensation and breathing getting difficult along with the right arm feeling cold inside. My resting blood pressure and heartrate have been pretty high everyday since then.

[rumpled]

They do not make ranges by M vs F or by body type. But your doc is running the worst tests possible. TSH tests what the pituitary is telling the thyroid to do (and that is a mix of the old range and the new one, nice, not) and that T4 test is well, not the most useful one. Even so, for T4, when you are on meds at least, you should be at the high end, not the low. But your doc will say you are normal.
Better tests are to test the antibodies, to test the Free T3 and Free T4 (that tests what the thyroid is actually doing itself). Your TSH is in range for the .3 to 3. that is the new range.

For blood pressure, that is sodium, potassium, renin and aldosterone tests, that I know of.

[hv2laf]

yeah alot of the things we have been trying doesnt make sense to me either. It is a military doctor im sure he has been doing this awhile but im also pretty sure he is not an MD. Thats probably why he wants Neurologists opinion. He seems like he is mostly doing process of elimination. Eliminating the most common things he sees all the time which is ridiculous because its taking forever and im getting worse.

Alot of the things you talk about make more sense. These blood pressure meds as they do lower my blood pressure and heartrate like they should.  Still doesnt solve the problem just covers it up, just like when they were sending me to the pain clinic to get anesthesia injections into my nerves in back to relieve the pain which was never successful.
If he doesnt start testing things that make sense instead of repeating these EKGs and cover up meds. I will go above him. If I must ill go see another doc without my insurances approval tho ill have to pay out of pocket least Ill get results from an actual MD doctor.
Thanks again rumpled, I will write what u said down and see if we can get that stuff tested next week when i see him again.

[rumpled]

Alas, they have to remove the horses before they can even contemplate a zebra even if the patient is blatantly stripey. That adage about hoofbeats being horses and not zebras is pounded into them.

It is the rare doctor that looks for the source of the issue now, most just look for a pill that solves the issue.  Hence why I see doctors out of network and pay myself for some of them to get an *gasp* actual thinking doctor. I also travel far and wide - have tumor, will travel is my motto. I also have a very inappropriate sense of humor (which oddly, some doctors see as health... ack! instead of coping).

[hv2laf]

lol!

yeah i have an odd sense of humor too! Im also naturally very calm in situations most people are freaking out in. So when my arms going numb and breathing got hard... I knew exactly what my body was doing so I got it under control soon as i realized how i began to act .. so I was able to be very calm for paramedics when they arrived. In my head I thought i was going to pass out of stop breathing completely. But I knew to keep my head together so they could know what was going on cuz im the only one who knew. So Im sure when u arrive at the hospital they ask paramedics "how was the patient when u arrived" ... "seemed fine, calm"  
***** but i will find the answer to this hopefully before it does any damage to anything.. especially if nerve related. I really want to go running again like I used to, Im so close to just going back to doing my exercises like i use to and when I collapse on the side of the road.. it wont be so funny then ... trying to prevent all the drama of that and just get the issue fixed but they arent on my pace of getting this fixed

[rumpled]

I guess we would be better off hysterical. But then I would probably just get xanax and prozac.
Ah...

[hv2laf]

Okay so last Sunday I ended up at the ER again. About the same symptoms as last time with the exception of this time I had a massive headache, it started off pretty light. Tension headache so I blew it off, pounded a bunch of water to see if it would go away. It didnt. Late afternoon it got a whole lot worse. Went to my buddies house we watched some  Comedy Central I was eating "Cheese Its". Left by 1100pm, I only live down a few blocks. Got home walked up the stairs into my house, then to my bedroom. Got instant nausea. Was going to head to bed, but definitely wasnt going to be able to go to sleep with this headache and nausea so was gonna just drive myself to the hospital to see if they could get rid of these 2 symptoms.
Well I walked back outside on my way down the stairs I noticed my nose cleared up completely, thought to myself thats kinda weird. Continued through parking lot to my car as Im walking toward it. BAM! shock hits my left side of chest. Stopped me, got more nauseated. At same time my knees got very weak felt like i was going to collapse. Immediately pulled out my phone and called my buddy. By this time had shortness of breath. Was breathing normal just wasn't getting the air ..what it felt like anyways.
Long story short he called the ambulance since they are only a few more blocks down from us, how convenient huh? hehe They didnt know what to tell me, my headache went away within the an hour or so of being there but they gave me some heavy antiinflammatories in an IV sent me home.

So rumpled I believe you just may be correct on this whole POTS deal. It seems to definitely be some sort of "Orthostatic Intolerance". I have seemed to have acquired a few tools to check myself out so Ive been playing around with them.
I always check my blood pressure in the evening, before bed especially. Before I left to the hospital my blood pressure was 150/102  heartrate was 102.
laying down seems to help blood pressure. each time i have been to hospital it calms down of course the hospital when u go in by ambulance your laying down.

So tonight I have tried a few tests of my own. This is what I have noticed.

Waking up in the morning my blood pressure and heart rate is "ideal"
BP is under 120/80 heart rate is around 65.
When I stand up I usually get lightheadedness... "you stood up too fast" feeling. Get that often. Well my blood pressure drops and my heart rate jumps up so far its been over 100. My last recorded was actually 108 standing in my living room. But if i continue to move around or stay standing my blood pressure rises with time standing this is also with sitting. But laying down my blood pressure always is fine.

On Tuesday the doctor has put in for my to see Internal Medicine to get a 24 hour heart monitor. He wants to view what my heart is doing over a period of time. I dont know if  this will show much maybe just my heartrate jumping around?
Anyways, Neurologist is Friday and "Stress test" is 4th of June. So more updates later.
I feel pretty positive you are right about this at least the right direction.

[rumpled]

I would keep a journal... the monitor will give an idea. Just make sure you do normal activities on the monitor (take a shower before you go as you cannot with the monitor on and wear a shirt that buttons on the front).  Journal events during the monitor too.

Let us know how it goes!

[hv2laf]

24 hour heart monitor, "stress" test, and the Neurologist said possibly a neck injury, possible it may be a circulation problem and if not either of those then we need to look into things like "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or Fibromyalgia". So  he ordered an MRI of my neck. Which was also normal.

NOTE: on my stress test. Im not sure exactly what he looks for, maybe just my heart rhythm while heart is under stress like running. He said it was normal but it wasnt that normal for me. On arrival, heart rate 78 blood pressure 115/65. Good right?
About 5-10 minutes later the doc comes in to start the test I stand up and get on treadmill, Look over at the machine and my heart rate was already at 103. Wasnt nervous or anything. So test begins every 2 minutes the treadmill raises and speeds up.
My target heartrate for this was 165
So it starts, within first 2 minutes my hearrate is 120
next 2 minutes breaks 140
next 2 minutes almost at 165 .. Doing a medium fast walk
I break 165
but the doc wants to continue another 2 minutes and before it stopped it was at 189. At a fast paced walk inclined.

The doc was like "you didnt even run". but after he said it was normal. Thats not normal for me especially being athletic for past 5 years.

Tomorrow Im gonna try and see my primary doc to see what he says about it. So far I have NO answers for anything. Now that he has done the tests he wanted to do, Im going to have him do some orthostatics on me also order a CD57 test. The hospital already has done a Lymes test. But someone that i know that has it had it at the same hospital and theirs came back negative as well.

I have no doctor yet to even agree with what I think it is. Just because Im on the west coast, "no its not likely at all that you have that" or "your symptoms dont match"... Some of these docs dont even look at my medical history.
This is what I think, If I have Lymes.
Lymes suppresses your immune system from even knowing it has an infection. So with these new symptoms the ones that seem to be "cardiac" or circulation related. If Lymes is suppressing my immune system then I could possibly have 2 or maybe more infections. One I was looking at was yeast infection. that would easily note inguinal/testical pain, low abdomen, low back, nausea.
To even note that. The friend of mine that actually has Lymes recommended I try taking some "Oil of Oregano". He gave me a very strong solution of it along with capsules to fill with the liquid. Ive taken them for 3 days now. The first day was bad, thought I was gonna throw up that night. Im on day 3 with no low abdomen pain. That was the first to go with taking this. Since it has no side effects and seems to be helping I will continue.

I plan on seeing a specialist for Lymes, whether my primary care wants me to or not.

Ill let you know how that goes.

[hv2laf]

*FIX*
24 hour heart monitor normal, "stress" test normal, and the Neurologist said possibly a neck injury,

[hv2laf]

so I followed up with my primary care doctor.

I told him what the Neurologist said as far as what he thinks in possibilities.
Neck injury which MRI was normal. If not that, possible circulation problem which my doctor reviewed stress test didnt do any orthostatics i then asked him if he wanted to do them he said he is going to NOTE it and wants to try this drug called Gabapentin (Neurontin) which is a seizure medicine ...epilepsy. Or can be used for "nerve pain" cause by shingles. I researched this after getting home. I guess he is thinking the rash I describe may be herpes zoster?  Except for the fact that the rash doesnt come above the skin, doesnt scab over....
anyways, also told him the neurologist said that if its neither neck injury or circulation.. then he said to look into Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or Fibromyalgia.

My doc proceeded to do "tender point" test on my body.. following up with saying that I only have half the tender points that a fibromyalgia patient has...

so hes putting me on this medication at 100mg. wants me to follow up with him in 2 or 3 weeks and at that point "see how its going" and see if my tender points have gone away. then wants to up the dosage.

I told him about "oil of oregano" and what it did for my lower abdomen. He didnt know what oil of oregano was. Then I followed up with telling him about a specialist id like to see and a test they do. The CD57 test. He didnt know what that was either.

So I have decided I am going to go see the specialist anyways, even though he thinks i shouldnt waste my money. I think its worth the money because my doc is wasting MY TIME, no one should have to wait this long to get answers and be in constant pain because their doctor wants to try and treat individual symptoms 1 at a time months apart.

My last note: I have taken these meds twice now. The first time way about 8 hours ago and within that first 4 hours it seemed to do nothing except increase my chest pain and my blood pressure went up to 156/94 just sitting in my room. I took 1 mL of oil of oregano and layed down seemed to go away. Its now 2 am, I tried taking another pill about 30 mins ago. I cant sleep yet again tonight tho I feel tired.

KEEP YOU POSTED ON VISIT TO THE SPECIALIST WHEN I GET IT

[rumpled]

Neurontin takes some getting used to - so do not expect anything in the beginning and it also requires being taken on time as well as no alcohol etc. Many get side effects. It can be good but takes working with IF it is the medicine for you. I also tried it as well as others in the class.

Let us know how it goes.

[hv2laf]

I have been taking it every 8 hours. I couldnt seem to get out of bed earlier today. Slept a good 13 hours, i did wake up 1 time between that but just could not get my body out of bed.

Anyways, I seem to be having a few side effects. But you know reading the side effects list, I have alot of these side effects this medication causes. Not sure how this is gonna help me seems more like its going to increase problems.
The last two medications they gave me i seemed to have a high sensitivity to them. 1 i took i woke up and half the day my entire body hurt... like the soreness you get after working out except it was in every part of my body.

well ill continue taking the meds and see where we end up.

Ill let you know what the specialist says when i see him and if he gets me a CD57 test

[hv2laf]

UPDATE

havent seen the specialist yet. But I seen a chiropractor that specializes in a technique called Blair technique. Very knowledgeable man. He took his own specialized xrays of my neck wanting to see my neck and my upper cervical. From what the xrays shows my C1 vertebrae is misaligned alot. He said this can cause it to push on your spinal cord right there where it comes out from your skull.
It was a little different from chiropractors i have seen before because with this technique not many can do. The doc places the patient in a specific position laying down, has to get his body in a specific position and has to apply in the right spot. In my case was on the side of my C1. He slowly applies pressure with his fingers slowly adjusting his hand. Pressure slowly increases and BAM! He does some ninja stuff. Like a quick painless force to my neck on that single vertebrae to which it slides back into place. Then he had me go sit in the recliner chair for 40 minutes and take a nap i wasnt allowed to move my neck or head.

Now afterwards he sent me home. He wants to do 12 week program. starting at 3 times a week.

Now remember the reasons I called an ambulance to my house to my house. The weird chest shock, shortness of breath, leg weakness, nausea shows up all at once. Well on my drive home about half way, while on the freeway. I got this, yes scary huh. I took the next exit and parked layed my seat back and waited for it to go away. It didnt last long. I did get my phone out was very close to calling my chiropractor and asking him what the hell! While doing this my arms had like.. tremors. was weird watching me trying to hold phone cuz hands were shaking uncontrollably.

It all calmed down, got home figured Id go to bed since i had been awake for quite awhile, having sleep insomnia the night before. bending over for a minute and holding it messing around on my desk it started happening again. so im beginning to believe that maybe this actually may be a cause for the chest shocks shortness of breath.. but unsure about the rest of the symptoms.

The chiro told me from the xrays he showed and pointed out.
my neck right now is in what they call Phase 1 Subluxation Degeneration.
So I will continue this treatment of his and will let him know my experience on the drive home.
Will still also try for getting the CD57 test anyways to be sure.

So have any of you had any experience with blair technique or have Subluxation Degeneration?

[hv2laf]

I followed up with my primary doctor.

I told him about how  the Neurontin he put me is not having any effects. So he upp'd the dose to 300mg. Told me to try that for about 3 weeks then follow up. Now I asked him if this would hide the problem since its suppose to trick my mind from the pain, he said no. I was playing dumb to see his answer to that even though I already know it is a cover up drug.
So continuing on, I addressed the fact that we havent done any orthostatics yet and if he would like to do them today. So he was like yes, sure we can do them right now.
He sent his assistant in told him to take my blood pressure and heart rate 5 minutes apart.. standing, sitting, and laying down.
well of course he already had my sitting but he said we will get it again.
First we started off with laying down. about 1 minute of laying down and he took my blood pressure, came out to around 115/67 with HR of 57. Then had me stand up, he only waited about 45 seconds then took it again. Came out to about 159/97 HR of 90. So he was like "wow we will do that again seems a little high". I told him about how i keep my own record and it seems about right mine does the same thing. He went ahead and tried again. this time about 140/83 HR 93 .. Then had me sit down about 135/87 HR around 87. He took it to the doctor.
About 5 minutes later the doc comes in and says " well it looks like your a little dehydrated need to up your fluids some"
I laughed a little in my head said "no doc I have upped my fluids. not only have i upped my water intake because i feel dehydrated all the time always thirsty. I started drinking gatorades with my water because i thought i wasnt retaining water or something but nothing has changed."
Then he asked me "has anyone talked to you about diabetes?"
I said "what? no we already did Glucose checks"
So he went ahead and looked up my blood work we did two of them around december and 2 months apart.
As he read the first one, he goes oh looks like its a little low. Hypoglycemia. You need to carry nuts or something with you to keep your glucose up. Eat complex foods. Then he goes hold on looks like we have another one. Looked at the one after that.. then he goes oh thats weird this one is high. Also known as Hyperglycemia. Then he proceeds to tell me that I dont have Diabetes, but have a "Glucose Intolerance".
Okay so one day your body just decides to have glucose intolerances?

So then I told him about my chiropractor i started seeing because these past two days Ive been getting BETTER sleep than i have in a long time. I told him how the chiro did his own XRAYS of my neck and says my vertebrae is misaligned. I asked my doc about the MRI that was done on my neck less than a month ago, if there was anything they noted.
He told me "no its normal, didnt note anything".

I ended up requesting a copy of my MRI images on a disk. Just received that today in the mail. Under the MRI scan protocol it says DJD (Degenerative Disk Disease).

So i decided today that Im probably going to request a new doctor. I understand hes trying to figure out whats wrong. But for the past 3 years treating individual symptoms hasnt gotten us anywhere. Im 50% worse than how I started.

NOTE: On my first visit to chiropractor the night before my had some ringing to it. So I went ahead and tried warm water and hydrogen peroxide to clean it out. I attempted a Q-tip but on entering the ear canal it hurt alot. The rest of that night my ear plugged up. Well, felt like something was plugged up. Next morning it was the same so I went and got it checked out. They said there is nothing in your right ear. Pretty red, may be infected. This was a different doc and she gave me some ear drops and amoxcillin because i told her i spit up yellow phlegm, its usually white. I never cough it up it comes up on its own.
I started taking the amoxcillin the same day i seen the chiro. Im not sure which of those is helping or maybe both are. But Ive been sleeping better, having dreams now, and have a little more energy in the day. Like i actually got some rest. My stomach has been acting a little funny as well as my chest.
My body has been aching ALOT lately everywhere. I THINK its the chiro but if its not and its amoxcillin killing off bacteria it could have similar effects correct?

Anyways, just another update to whats going on. any input is greatly appreciated!

[hv2laf]

Episodes are occurring more frequently.

This past week has been a weird one. Getting up in the morning has been very difficult. One morning this week woke with chest pain, took my blood pressure it was 85/49 HR at 49 ... pretty low especially for me. I blew it off, got up felt sick to my stomach, tried to blow it off and eat something. Got dressed headed into work. About 10 minutes checking my work emails my heart starts racing chest still hurts. Brought my BP monitor with me it was at 175/99 HR at 96. Ok..that was a little weird. Walked around for a few minutes got some water took it again standing up. 160/100 HR at 103. Ok, walked around some more. Eventually felt like it calmed down a little was around 145/90. Sat back down and continued checking email. Not too long later started up again. So I left work, went to ER and they couldnt tell me anything of my chest pain after xray of chest and EKG. Gave me some nausea medicine and told me to follow up with doc.

I seen a specialist for Lymes/CFS/Fibromyalgia
went over all my symptoms he believes I may have Lymes along with two possible co-infections. Bartonella & Babesia. We ordered two labs. 1 done at Igenex in California another done at Fry Labs in Arizona. Igenex is doing Western Blot test for IGG IGM.
Fry Labs is doing Bartonella testing with microscopes

So I went to bed last night and ended up waking around 6 times that I remember. Let me elaborate on how REAL my dreams felt. The first one wasnt so bad, a little weird off the wall but dreams do that. After waking from that one and getting back to sleep. The next I started suffocating, of course I knew this was a dream only after waking from it. Woke up a little bit scared and sweaty. I sleep on my back only so it wasnt me face down in the pillow. I fell asleep again and in this dream my entire face went numb after freaking out in this dream for awhile and waking myself. Im not sure If i was having a dream of waking up or i actually woke up and was so out of it. But when i "woke" up I could not move my legs I had to move them with my hands to turn to my side.
I few times I do remember actually waking up I did take my BP I only remember taking these a few times cuz the monitor logs the time. just about all of them read 100/50 was the averaged out of about 5 readings

I do not take medication before bed and im not taking BP meds this has been going on all week. This morning was just a bit more intense though.

I seen my doctor and tried describing. She feels we may be "missing" something.

She ordered a CT of my adrenal glands and kidneys, blood work for adrenal glands, and a 24 hour urine sample to check kidneys.

I should have those results by next week. Lymes results within 3 weeks. Ill keep up to date.

Any input greatly appreciated

[rumpled]

What blood work did they run for the adrenals?

[hv2laf]

So the 17th I went in and told the doc what was going on.

the blood tests they ordered were: (pulling these off lab sheet, some abbreviated)

Cortisol  (which is still pending)
SPEP (pending)
Metaneph Plasma (pending)
the basics they always order on me:
glucose urea nitrogen
creat
sodium
...etc
also ordered thyroid
TSH Sensitive actually came out to 0.20 labs showed LOW  range being 0.34-4.82
FT4 was 0.78 range was 0.56-1.40

Over the weekend I ended up staying at a friends house because my roommate was gone. Told them if they could just check on me in the middle of the night I would appreciate it. I think they checked a couple times but seen no problem, didnt seem to have much symptoms that night as it was. I did sleep on there couch, except I did wake up sweating though I did bring a thermometer i just bought with me. My temp at that time was 99.8 I usually run around low 97's to mid 97's. But I went back to sleep took it again when i woke up. But it was back down. Weird huh?

Monday I went in because one of the docs that seen me on the 17th ordered. CT of Adrenals and Kidneys. blood work to go with it as well as a 24 hour urine sample.

So I got the CT Monday morning. Wont have the blood results for a for more days as well as urine results. Before leaving the hospital I ran into my doc coming out of radiology and she said my thyroid lab came back abnormal so she put another lab in to test what looks like T3 levels. Ill have that by end of week as well.

So later on Monday afternoon Im driving to my chiropractor about a good hour away from where I live. Well I left work got in the car started driving. The whole way my body feeling "uncomfortable" about 2 miles outside my destination. I have another episode while driving. Shock in the chest followed by the rest. Weakness in legs, blood pressure went up to 139/105 HR at 110. I tried to just deal with it and make my appointment. Considered turning around and checking myself into the ER i just passed but was hoping it would just go away. Arriving at my chiropractor, signing myself in my hands were shaking pretty good. They secretary behind counter looked with a concerned face, I told her it happens everytime i start having "episode".
Few minutes later seen my chiropractor told and showed him what was going on. He did his usual heat reading and stuff of my neck, layed me down on his table face down applied pressure in two spots on my back and neck. But while laying there I got extremely dizzy and actually had to push myself up off his table to make it stop.

He couldnt say anything to it, I ended up having someone come pick me up along with my car. Went and seen my hospitals "urgent care" then another hospital trying to get them to admit me for observation but neither would do it. "because Im not having a heart attack or nothing is showing on there machines to admit me so they cant just admit me"
So here I am stuck waiting on results is all i can do. That doc gave me Triglycerine but I DO NOT take it. My blood pressure fluctuates so much. Even If i do get chest pain. We know its not a heart attack. From what one of the nurses at the second hospital said was I prolly shouldnt take that anyways, with my blood pressure going as low as 85/45 i probably would wake up if i took that stuff before bed having chest pain.

I take no meds, no one can give me any diagnosis for any pains or reasons for my fluctuations so why take all these ridiculous meds i shouldnt be on at my age with no prior history of any of this. Makes no sense. You dont just get this bad one day. Usually show some signs of it. My blood pressure used to level out to around a normal "ideal" level when I went to bed. Now it just drops so low It makes it hard to get out of bed or even wake up.

Ill post results if any come up abnormal.
if anyone fairly good at reading them. I can scan them and email them as an image file if need be. would make it easier

[hv2laf]

Seen my primary doc, he has been out the office a week or so. He put a referral in for me to see an endocrinologist and i asked him if he could do a sleep study as well. He was iffy on sleep study said it probably wont answer anything we already dont know. Which im not sure what we do know, well we knows its not a heart attack.

Anyways, he put those in and gave me some xanax to help with my "panic attacks" as he is calling them.
So I got home after that took one of the Xanax pills not too long later I was feeling a little bit funny and drunk. Was a bit tired so I layed down and slept.
Woke up about 5 hours later went to a friends house had dinner then they mentioned that my lower left side of my left eye was really "pinkish" so went and took a look at it. in the mirror, I myself cannot see it. So we pulled out a camera phone and they snapped a shot of it in the light. Its really red underneat that lower part of eyelid. Small clearish bubble on eyelid when i pull it down along with a very dialated vessel traveling up my the pinkish area of my eye. Its also notably a little painful when I close it all the way.
Both eyes a bit red. They are usually pretty bad when i wake up. But they still are the same from when i woke up right now.

Not sure what to think of it, just noting things as they come up. Again Ill inform of results when i get them and what the next specialist and sleep study shows as well.

Thank you

[rumpled]

If the xanax if gave you is too strong, cut the pills in half. But yes, they make you sleep a lot.
Not sure at all what the eye thing is.
I did a couple of sleep studies - they can uncover stuff.

[hv2laf]

yeah im probably going to have to cut them in half. Doing that wont make the other half i dont take unusable would it?

I seen an optometrist today, he called it Episcleritis. Gave me basically anti inflammatory eye drops for it said follow back up next week to see if it improved and if so to stop using the eye drops.

Last night I had those "intense" or "vivid" dreams yet again. They are hard to wake from. It almost feels as if im awake but my body hasnt caught up with it. After I do I check my blood pressure and its in the LOW range definitely well under 90/60. My body temp seems to drop down to mid 96's as well.


Hoping the sleep study does show something. What machines do they hook you up to? Are they checking vitals along with alpha and beta waves. Checking pulse and what not?

[rumpled]

I don't know what machine they hook you up to, but you get a lot of things glued to your head.

I cut my pills in half and take both halves routinely. Keep the other half in the bottle or the cutter.

[hv2laf]

so i just tried to go to bed started to have another "episode". Heart started up  while laying there.. thats a first its usually never when im laying down.

ok so next question...
underneath my left side rib cage i noticed something seems to be popping in and out of place. When i pull my shoulders back and stretch my abdomen some, place my fingers just below my rib cage left side. its like a muscle popped back into its spot or something there is also a little round feeling "thing" beside it feels like its bruised. This is the same area that on the 26th of march I got the cold feeling at just before it started.

Spleen is in that area isnt it?

what kind of symptoms would spleen cause, can it get out of place or maybe rib cage can press on it?

[hv2laf]

also note..

trace amounts of red in stool.  

couple very small spots

[enzymelover]

Have you been to a rheumatologist, or have you had any autoimmune testing done? An ANA test? (Antinuclear antibodies). A rheumatologist will run specific tests that can pinpoint an autoimmune condition, such as Connective Tissue disease, which could cause a lot of symptoms.
If you haven't had autoimmune tests done yet, it would be worth looking into.
Just a thought.  :)

[hv2laf]

I dont think I have. I havent been referred to one yet by my doctor. Then again my doctor believes all thats going on is that im having "panic attacks". Just because none of the tests HE ordered come back positive. So he gave me Xanax which definitely helps me get to bed easily. You shouldnt have "panic attacks" while enjoying yourself at a movie, on the phone laughing with your friend, sitting at work checking your emails and surfing the net, and while laying down trying to go to sleep.

I know there is so many things it can be, but Im not stupid. Even WHEN I do get anxiety from something else I dont have these type of episodes. My age must play a factor in why my doctor blows everything off as its nothing going on.

SOMETHING is triggering these attacks at random. The attacks dont last that long but the effects sure can last a few hours. Im pretty sure its nothing I eat, nothing I can think chemically effecting me. I dont work around harsh chemicals or go inhaling anything. I dont smoke. I used to drink but not even that much. Maybe wine at night once in awhile.

I have a copy of all the labs they have done and some that are still pending. Im not sure if ive had any autoimmune labs done. What would they show up as?  Just as ANA?

Im still waiting on my Western Blot and Bartonella tests from Lymes Specialist have like a week and a half left before results should be sent back up from California and Arizona.

My doctor right now is sending me to a endocrinologist so ill find out probably monday when I will be seeing him. Ill try and get a rheumatologist if this other doctor cant figure it out.

[hv2laf]

Rumpled I uploaded a couple pictures in my profile of my eyes. Did it with my phone in limited lighting. Bare with me still trying to find my Sony Digital Camera. Thats what they called "episcleritis".

I will get some more pics uploaded with those like my brain, neck, thoracic MRIs as soon as i get a chance.

[hv2laf]

I received my laboratory results from IgeneX for Western Blot IgG and IgM test.

IgM: came back negative for IgeneX's criteria and CDC's but had bands 23-25, 39, and 41 kDa come back as Indeterminate which those bands are a few of the "double starred bands"  that the ones that indicate clinical significance.

IgG: came back positive for IgeneX's criteria but not the CDC's. IgeneX requires 2 in the double starred bands to be positive and CDC says 5 out of almost all of them.
I hit positive on 41kDA, indeterminate on 34kDa and got 3 +'s on band 31kDa which is just a stronger positive results.
All of these were in the "double starred bands" as well.

Now just waiting on the Bartonella lab to come back. Which would help confirm this. I will talk to my specialist about these results on the 4th of Aug.

[hv2laf]

uploaded another lab i just received back

Bartonella test in my album

says the yellow arrow  is "suggestive of Hemobartonella or Hemoplasma" ...

seeing my doctor tomorrow and talking with the specialist that ordered these tests on Tuesday.

[hv2laf]

the last stool i had which was yesterday again had signs of blood

also had tiny white seeds looking things in them. stool was very dark brown, tarry. Very little came stool came out. At least not as much as should be. No "episodes" yet this weekend.

Im currently only taking herbal drops called "oil of oregano" maybe its killing off things in my intestines? Oil of Oregano is suppose to be very strong antifungal, antioxidant, anti-just about everything.. I put 2 to 3 drops in my drinks throughout the day. Usually with some kind of grape or cranberry juice of some kind.

[rumpled]

This is beyond brain - perhaps you need to post in another forum? I have no idea about that eye classification. You may get more responses in another forum.

[hv2laf]

If I get positive and confirmed tests to back the answers from my doctors I will post back in here what they say when its for sure.

Thanks for the help.