What were your cognitive problems before being diagnosed?

All of my symptoms began almost 4 years ago. My life has been at a standstill for the same amount of time. It all began with a respiratory infection. At this time, I lost my sense of smell and have had a chronic stuffy nose ever since. I then started having brain fog and concentration issues. I also became very indecisive. I have trouble comprehending emails or anything technical. I make mistakes on deposit slips and simple things like that. Things that I was extremely good at became difficult. I've been to three doctors, and they seem to just pick one of my symptoms and make a diagnosis. The stuffy nose always leads them to allergies. The only thing I have done is had blood work analyzed. My main issue is with my cognitive problems. I believe this is holding me back from going on. I do feel depressed, but I'm not sure if it is causing my symptoms or is a result of my symptoms.

Symptoms:

Brain Fog
Concentration issues
Indecisiveness
Visual Problems
Mild Shortness of breath
Occasional chest pain
Depression
Anxiety

I just scheduled an appointment with another doctor. I'm going to be more aggressive with asking questions and getting tests performed. I've read that a lot of practitioners will diagnose people with depression without finding out underlying health issues. If it is depression that is causing my problems, I want to seek treatment. I'm just reluctant to mention it to my doctor because I do not want to be blown off. What type of cognitive issues did you have prior to being diagnosed? Did treatment (medication) immediately clear your mental clarity?

[navyguitar]

I also forgot to mention the following symptoms:

Fatigue
Lethargy
Distended stomach

[MMahon]

You must discuss ALL your symptoms with your doctor.  He will not be able to properly help you without knowing everything that;s going on,.
Anxiety and depression can cause all the symptoms you list.  But other illnesses can as well.
If your doctors have given you a clean bill of health, performing a good physical exam and blood work, then it's time for you to look for help from a competent psychiatrist.
Have your doctor recommend one to you and you can discuss all these symptoms with him/her.   A psychiatrist will check for all the  possibilities to determine why you are having the symptoms you do and will help you in finding relief from them.
Four years has been a long time without a good diagnosis.   There are many good treatment options available out there.  You don't have to be suffering unnecessarily.  Let us know how you make out.

[bcb1200]

Have you considered Lyme disease and co-infections?  I had a lot of those same symptoms and it was lyme disease for me.  I'm in my 5th month of treatment and am much better.  >95% and improving each week.

Here is a message I sent to someone else on here which should apply to you too.  YOU CAN GET WELL

__________

Have you considered Lyme disease?  I had all of the symptoms you had and was told for months that it was all stress, in my head.  I was told to seek therapy and go on Prozac.  

It turns out anxiety, brain fog, etc, is a common side effect of disseminated lyme disease and Bartonella (a common co-infection with lyme).  

See the symptom list far below.  (This is only some of them...there are really more than 70.)   You don't need to have them all.

The key to getting diagnosed properly is the doctor.  I had a terrible time back in Feb-April of 2010 with weird symptoms, dizziness, anxiety, forgetfulness, brian fog, twitching, jaw pain, slurrred speech, etc, etc.  I had dozens of tests, including a lyme ELISA test...all normal.  I was told it was stress, that I had a somatization disorder, and told to go on Prozac and seek therapy.  I"m only 35!  

I then found another doctor who happened to be an ILADS trained LLMD (Lyme Literate MD).  She did a Western Blot test from a lab called Igenex.  I came back highly positive for lyme and some "co-infections" (Bartonella and Babesia.)  I never had a rash nor do I remember a bite.  Lyme is in all 50 states.

I'm now in treatment and am 90% better!   I have a few more months to go. All of my anxiety / brain fog is GONE!  

Just a word of caution...lyme is very controversial.  The mainstream doctors and infectious disease guru's deny that Chronic Lyme exists and feel it is easy to diagnose with good tests and easy to treat with 2-3 weeks of antibiotics.   This just isn't true and there have been no double blinded studies to show that lyme is eradicated from the body with a short course of antibiotics.

This is why you need an ILADS trained doctor.   You can go to their website and download Dr. Burrascano's treatment guideline.  It is the "bible" of lyme.   Regular doctors will say these aren't symptoms and that it is in your head.

Not saying you have lyme...but anxiety is a common symptom.  I've met people who've been told they've had ALS, Anxiety, Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue for 10 years when it was really lyme.  They got well once going to an LLMD and getting proper, agressive treatment.

Check out the documentary Under Our Skin (google it).  There are also clips on youtube.  You can probably rent from your local library.

You can get well!  lymenet is a good resource also.

Cheers

Lyme Disease Symptoms List
1. Unexplained fevers, sweats, chills, or flushing
2. Unexplained weight change--loss or gain
3. Fatigue, tiredness, poor stamina
4. Unexplained hair loss
5. Swollen glands: list areas____
6. Sore throat
7. Testicular pain/pelvic pain
8. Unexplained menstrual irregularity
9. Unexplained milk production: breast pain
10.Irritable bladder or bladder dysfunction
11.Sexual dysfunction or loss of libido
12.Upset stomach
13.Change in bowel function-constipation, diarrhea
14.Chest pain or rib soreness
15.Shortness of breath, cough
16.Heart palpitations, pulse skips, heart block
17.Any history of a heart murmur or valve prolapse?
18.Joint pain or swelling: list joints_____________
19.Stiffness of the joints, neck, or back
20.Muscle pain or cramps
21.Twitching of the face or other muscles
22.Headache
23.Neck creeks and cracks, neck stiffness, neck pain
24.Tingling, numbness, burning or stabbing sensations, shooting pains
25.Facial paralysis (Bell's Palsy)
26.Eyes/Vision: double, blurry, increased floaters, light sensitivity
27.Ears/Hearing: buzzing, ringing, ear pain, sound sensitivity
28.lncreased motion sickness, vertigo, poor balance
29.Lightheadedness, wooziness
30.Tremor
31.Confusion, difficulty in thinking
32.Diffculty with concentration, reading
33.Forgetfuiness, poor short term memory
34.Disorientation: getting lost, going to wrong places
35.Difficulty with speech or writing
36.Mood swings, irritability, depression
37.Disturbed sleep-too much, too little, early awakening
38.Exaggerated symptoms or worse hangover from alcohol

Symptoms for Bartonella and Babesia (common co-infections with lyme)

Bartonellosis symptoms:

Common symptoms of bartonellosis include:

___Fatigue (often with agitation, unlike Lyme disease, which is more exhaustion)

___Low grade fevers, especially morning and/or late afternoon, often associated with feelings of "coming down with the flu or a virus"

___Sweats, often morning or late afternoon (sometimes at night) - often described as "thick" or "sticky" in nature

___Headaches, especially frontal (often confused with sinus) or on top of head

___Eye symptoms including episodes of blurred vision, red eyes, dry eyes

___Ringing in the ears (tinnitus) and sometimes hearing problems (decreased or even increased sensitivity - so-called hyperacusis)

___Sore throats (recurring)

___Swollen glands, especially neck and under arms

___Anxiety and worry attacks; others perceive as "very anxious"

___Episodes of confusion and disorientation that are usually transient (and very scary); often can be seizure-like in nature

___Poor sleep (especially difficulty falling asleep); poor sleep quality

___Joint pain and stiffness (often both Left and Right sides as opposed to Lyme which is often on one side only with pain and stiffness that changes locations)

___Muscle pains especially the calves; may be twitching and cramping also

___Foot pain, more in the morning involving the heels or soles of the feet (sometimes misdiagnosed as plantar fasciitis)

___Nerve irritation symptoms which can be described as burning, vibrating, numb, shooting, etc.

___Tremors and/or muscle twitching

___Heart palpitations and strange chest pains

___Episodes of breathlessness

___Strange rashes recurring on the body often, red stretch marks, and peculiar tender lumps and nodules along the sides of the legs or arms, spider veins

___Gastrointestinal symptoms, abdominal pain and acid reflux

___Shin bone pain and tenderness

------------------------------------------------------

Babesiosis


As with other co-infections, there is a lot of overlap of symptoms between Lyme disease and Babesiosis. An accumulation of the following signs and symptoms probably warrant testing and/or treatment of Babesiosis:

___Chills

___Fatigue and often excessive sleepiness

___High fever at onset of illness

___Night sweats that are often drenching and profuse

___Severe muscle pains, especially the large muscles of the legs (quads, buttocks, etc.)

___Neurological symptoms often described as "dizzy, tipsy, and spaciness," similar to a sensation of "floating" or "walking off the top of a mountain onto a cloud"

___Depression

___Episodes of breathlessness, "air hunger", and/or cough

___Decreased appetite and/or nausea

___Spleen and/or liver enlargement

___Abnormal labs (low white blood count, low platelet counts, mild elevation of liver enzymes, and elevated sed rate)

___Headaches (migraine-like, persistent, and especially involving the back of the head and upper neck areas)

___Joint pain (more common with Lyme and Bartonella)

___anxiety/panic (more common with Bartonella)

___Lymph gland swelling (more common with Bartonella and Lyme)

[navyguitar]

Thank you for the responses. I will let the doctor know all of my symptoms. I just did not want to lead them in the wrong direction or give them an easy out. I also did not want to be viewed as a hypochondriac. People close to me have noticed the change in me, so I know something is going on.

I will check out lyme disease. I have had several tick bites. I remember specifically pulling out a tick and its head not coming out with the body. It was a few years before my symptoms began, so I do not know if this is the cause of my problems. The symptoms would have had to get progressively worse as the years went on.

[bcb1200]

Not necessarily.  Some people with lyme don't have symptoms until years later.  I'm a good example of that.  I can't tell you when I was bitten.  I never had a rash.  I've been around ticks all my life though.

All I know is I started to feel unwell in February.  But the Igenex western blot that came back indicated I had bands 31 and 34 positive, which take at least 1 year to show up.

I have met others who were bitten years ago with no symptoms, only to crash hard after a stressful event (like a death in the family.)   The theory is your immune system keeps it at bay for a while and then gets overwhelmed.

Remember...regular doctors don't know lyme and WILL tell you it is not lyme.  WHy not find an LLMD to get it ruled out?  At least then you will know.  The regular doctors are bound to tell you that you don't have it.,

[bcb1200]

Check out the trailer for Under Our Skin on Youtube or at www.underourskin.com

You can see testimonials for dozens of people who were told it was "all in their head" or that were "fine" when it was really lyme.  They got well after getting a proper diagnosis from an LLMD and getting proper treatment.

The regular doctors let them down and told them there was nothing wrong, and people suffered for YEARS as a result.