39 year old female. Had my gallbladder removed at 21 and history of dormant HSV-2 and early onset Type-2 diabetes, foot and ankle arthritis and mild disk degenerative disorder and fungal infections in both foot and hand nails. Since my early to mid 20's I have experienced overwhelming cramping & bloating after eating which results in both constipation and diarrhea. Cramps are so bad that it stiffen's my entire body until it passes and occurs usually within 5 minutes after eating. Immediately after I often have to rush to the restroom and experience diarrhea. If I was to attempt to go into the restroom before my gut goes through it's "process" nothing will happen except a feeling of being nauseated. Over the years, I have also been experiencing sporadic nerve issues, seemingly unrelated, but worth the mention; including, Bell palsy at 29 years old to the right side of my face, bi-lateral carpal & cubital tunnel syndrome (diagnosed at the same time), paresthesia (pin prick sensation) mostly in my top and bottom lip, back of my right eye and occasionally in my legs. Intense bilateral neuropathic nerve pain and inflammation at the dorsal surface of my foot. Pain on both feet seems to stem from the either the Peroneal or Medial Cutaneous nerves and includes a ganglion cyst. Have increasingly developed Gait Instability. Have also experienced many muscle spasms across the body; including feet, calves, inner thighs, lower and side abdominal along with back and front of next. Over the last few years I have also been increasingly been having many cognitive issues. Such as progressive aphasia, brain fogginess, malaise, an overall feeling of being drunk or high without drinking, a pressure in my head while laying flat down or walking to certain areas, my body becomes numb or stiff feeling (especially the tops of my hands, fingers, face, cheeks, tops of arms and legs), slightly slurred speech, the inability to think straight and feeling disoriented or disconnected, unbalanced while walking or standing, along with anxiety, depression. I have also battled with recurrent episodes of having Cellulitis underneath my breasts, lower abdominal and inner thigh; which are always painful and often have to be lanced as they can grow out of control within 24 hr of first onset.. I have been tested and ruled out for having MRSA. Due to the many times of being on antibiotics, I now combat Oral Thrush whenever I have to take an antibiotic which results in me having to follow a regime of Antibiotic then 2 does of 200 mg Fluconazole and then 100,000 unit of Nystatin for an unknown determined of days until the thrush goes away. I have also developed bumps on the back of my tongue due to this; which make it difficult to swallow. I have also been noticing over the last 3-4 years that I will occasionally develop what resembles petechiae near the proximal base of my 2nd through 4th digits on each of my hands. It does not itch, burn or tingle and is smooth to the touch. It appears for no known reasons and stays for a couple weeks or so and then goes away as quickly as it appeared. It will then come back later, again for some unknown reason or apparent trauma. Over the 3-4 years or so it has occurred approximately 5-7 times. I thought at first that it may be Dermatitis Herpetiformis; however, I do not have Celiac's disease, nor is it painful. Throughout all of my symptoms I have never developed a known fever or loss of appetite and have no fissures, bleeding or ulcers. I have also never had to be hospitalized for any of my symptoms. I did once go a to the ER a few years ago because one of my legs swelled up pretty significantly, but all my blood tests came back fine and was sent home.
I Have recently been given many tests without a definite diagnose as of yet. Have had the following routine blood tests that have all been within perfect range, CMP, Lipid, Urinalysis, Microalbumin/Creat Urine Ratio, TSH, T4 Free and CBC. Have also had non routine tests done such as DHEA, Follicle Stimulating Hormone, Luteinizing Hormone, Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate, Cortisol, DHEA-Sulfate, Ferritin & Magnesium RBC; all in which have been normal. My doctor also had me do a Reticulin Antibodies, and Endomysial Antibody and Celiac Eval; which also came back as negative. The only tests that she was concerned about was that my Blood Sugar which was averaged at 148 and that my A1C was 7.5, but I managed to bring it down to 7.0 within 6 weeks; in addition, my B12 was down at 260 pg/mL and my the vitamin D 25-hydroxy came back at 16 ng/M. In addition, my iron was slightly low, but I can't recall what it was, but I do know that I was not considered anemic. She has put me on 1cc B12 injections every two weeks and 50,000 units of Vitamin D2 1x weekly. I am also taking an array of medication to combat the pain and diabetes, including Gabapentin 300mg 3x daily, Celebrex 1mg 1x daily, Glimepiride 1mg 1x daily, Metformin 1000 mg 2x daily and Protonix 40 mg 1x daily. I have also been tested for Diabetic Neuropathy and that test also came back perfectly fine. My doctor thinks I may have a susceptibility to mold which could be the leading cause of all my issues; however, many of my issues have been going on for many years and I have lived in many different places since then and have never known to have a mold issue in any home I've lived in. She is going to have Integrative Medicine doctor to an HLA-DR genetic test on me to rule that out. She has also ordered me to have an MRI to rule out MS and also to undergo Physical Therapy for my feet as well as Pelvic Floor Therapy to help aid in my urinary incontinence and bladder issues.
I have to say that my doctor is absolutely wonderful and we are just at the beginning of this hunt, but am still concerned that we may be missing something. I know that not all my symptoms are related to one another, but I do strongly feel that most of them are. I am hoping that someone out there may be able to help me and see something that we may not and help to lead us into the right direction. I have thought of many scenario's that may be causing all of this and am at a loss. I don't think it's Lupus because my symptoms are ongoing for the most part and I don't have episodes of a "flare up" as well as my kidney functions are fine and no hair loss or scaly or red rashes. I also don't believe it's Crohn's because I also don't fit many of those symptoms. I have often thought it's possible that maybe that I have a Candida overgrowth especially in my gut as that does follow many of my symptoms; I just can't determine if that would cause sporadic nerve issues. I have also often wondered if being that my HSV-2 is a central nervous system disease and it has basically always stayed "dormant" because I have only had one break out once in my life if instead it is attacking my nervous system than it is causing or creating physical lesions. I was once told that it could have been the reason why I had Bells Palsy so I guess the thought isn't too far fetched. And also who knows all of this could be due to my vitamin B-12 deficiency and I could have already found the culprit.
If any one that may be able to tell me if any of this may lead to something I would be forever grateful because I am tried of living this way. It prevents me from living the life I know I deserve and has essentially killed every bit of dignity and confidence that I ever had and I am ready to take my life back and battle whatever it is I'm fighting.
I apologize for the long list, but I felt it was better to give the whole story than to only give a few things that could really be anything.