In need of answers.

[Elleon_arual]

Hello!

Since April/May of this current year, I've been very ill.  The first weird thing that happened to me was a dizzy spell while home with my nephew in April  I looked at the clock on the oven and it went blurry and I got very dizzy.  Then I felt fine until late May.  Late May I started getting burning sensations all over my body.  I mean all over, my head, back , limbs, even breasts.  They only last a few seconds then stop.  Then in June, I was sitting at work and I got a very weird pressure feeling in the base of my skull.  I thought it was a tension headache so I let it go.  Three days later, the pressure was still there and had spread throughout my entire head so it felt like my brain was going to explode and I was VERY dizzy.  I ended up in the ER where they did NOTHING.  Four days later, I went back to the ER with the same symptoms and they did a cat scan and said everything looked fine.

Since June, that pressure has never left me. I am constantly dizzy.  I started running low grade fevers (never higher than 99.4 F... and I usually run like 97.9 so this is high and causes me to SWEAT. I feel like I'm on fire).   I have no pain anywhere in my body, just the pressure in my head and dizziness. I have TMJ symptoms.  Those are the two symptoms that really have messed up my life. I used to be very active, exercise 4-5 times a week and now I just go to work and go home and lay in bed. And I'm only 27! The only thing I do have is mild hypothyroid. My doc said I could have gone until I was 40 without realizing it. I also have twitching throughout my body and on my face.

I've been to every doctor imaginable...ENT, neurologist, gastroenterologist, endocrinology, hematology and oncology, had an MRI, more cat scans, ct scan of lymph nodes (because those have been tending to swell up), blood work a million times and everything came back normal.  

My husband and I moved out of our house thinking it could have been mold.  We lived in an old house, a foreclosure where the pipes burst inside the walls.  The person hired to do it (we didn't hire them) just put in new pipes and patched up the walls so we have no idea if there's mold behind them.  There was mold in the basement, nothing crazy just some black patches and this weird white stuff that grew all over the place. We moved into an apartment in July and my symptoms still persist...however the pressure in my head is definitely not as bad as when I went to the ER.

I went to natural/homeopathic doctors and no one knows anything.  One girl, who looked at my live blood under a microscope said I have a very bad infection and she thinks it's Lyme disease.  My normal lyme blood test came back high negative and I went to a Lyme literate doctor who ran a Western Blot which came back "positive" in his practice but negative by CDC standards (only one band positive, the IGG band).  

Sometimes I wonder if it's something at work. Where I work is very old and everyone complains about sinus issues and I've been told  multiple times that people have left because they haven't felt good after being there for awhile.  I moved into our house with my husband around the same time I started my job about 2 1/2 years ago so I can't really pinpoint if it was anything in the house or work.  Although, if I am away from work for a long weekend, it's usually the best I ever feel. However, I live in an area where there are NO jobs and I cannot afford to NOT work so I am stuck working here for now.

I ask about mold because my husband has symptoms that mimic mine.  Actually his started first.... he had severe dry eye and then I got it (last year 2012).  He started complaining about pressure in his temples and TMJ like symptoms and then I got the same thing.  He hasn't run fevers or has been dizzy at all though.  He is a lot stronger than mine and has an amazing immune system...he's part Native American and NO ONE in his family ever gets sick, it's not fair!

Anyways, to end this rant.... the lyme literate doctor started me on 6 weeks of doxycycline.  Needless to say, I am NOT happy about this. My husband and I both live a drug free life style and I barely take Tylenol, only when really needed.  I don't even drink caffeine! I just worry that taking the doxycycline is all for nothing. And the doxycycline is killing me, I have such bad stomach aches with it, I almost went to the ER last night. I don't have a lot of symptoms of Lyme disease and can't even remember the last time I was outside to even get bit since I work everyday and by the time I get home, there's no time to do anything.

If anyone has any ideas, I would really appreciate them.  Like I said, I've been sick for at least 5 months now and I'm desperate.

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi!
I am sorry to hear about your medical problems. Since you have had many tests, I will just enumerate the causes that should be looked into. Please discuss with your doctor to see what other tests can be done or if something rings a bell!
Yes, air conditioners too can cause sickness (dizziness etc) and the other possibility is mold in the air conditioning system.
If you have headaches and hot flashes and lightheadedness with a feeling of passing out, you could be having either polycystic ovarian disease or GERD with or without H pylori infection. These are the two conditions to be ruled out first. Other conditions to be strongly ruled out in your case could be cervical spinal nerve compression, Meniere’s disease of the ear, wax in the ear, infection of the middle or inner ear, benign positional vertigo and benign intracranial hypertension.
Chances of TMJ too should be looked into. Other causes are anemia, hypoglycemia or low sugar and some endocrine problems, such as an underactive thyroid (called hypothyroidism), overactive thyroid (called hyperthyroidism), adrenal insufficiency (called Addison's disease),  and in some cases, diabetes, may lead to hypotension and hence lightheadedness and an off balance feeling. It can also be an anxiety and panic attack.
Certain types of epilepsies and seizures too can cause similar symptoms. If you have an accompanying headache then you must also look at benign intracranial hypertension. Heart problems too should be ruled out in your case. If all other tests are normal, maybe an ECHO should be done to rule out mitral valve prolapse. Patent foramen ovale too could be the cause (commonly known as hole in the heart). It can also be chronic fatigue syndrome if all other causes are ruled out.
Please discuss with your doctor. Take care!

The medical advice given should not be considered a substitute for medical care provided by a doctor who can examine you. The advice may not be completely correct for you as the doctor cannot examine you and does not know your complete medical history. Hence this reply to your post should only be considered as a guiding line and you must consult your doctor at the earliest for your medical problem.

[Elleon_arual]

I also have to add that my boss at work is CONSTANTLY running the air conditioning system.  Like constantly.  I've been sitting with a heater at work since the first day I started, May 2011. I live in Pennsylvania, right now it's gray and about 60 degrees outside and he's running the air at the same temperature he ran it at when it was 98 degrees. Sometimes I feel like there is something in that air conditioning system that is making me sick....