Multiple Symptoms

[mitchell19]

I am 32 year old female. I have been sufffering with different symptoms for at least 12 years now.  I had endrometrosis and have had a partial hysterotomy when I was 24. I do suffer from chronic pain, feels like when someone touches me they touch bone. I suffer from aneixty and panic attacks. I have ringing in the ears, sometimes blurry,double or falshes of lights in vision. Lose balance alot. Fall alot. Speech is slurred at times. Sometimes is hard to swallow food. Or talk. Lose concertatration or easily distracted.  Bladder and bowel incontience.  Numbness in hands or lack of feeling in hands.  Constant headaches. Stay very tired, but don't sleep well.Alot of bladder or kidney infections. I have also now having facial changes, one eye is coming more closed than the other, eyes look uneven`droppy. always feel week ran down , no enery. Room is spinning.  I have had several tests done. CT, EEG, Colonscopy,bladder tests, x-rays, lab work. With no answers. I seem to be getting worse and I cant get a doctor to find anything. Really need help. I have more information..

[mysteryillness]

I know how you feel hun! What strikes me about your symptoms is they sound an awful lot like the symptoms of M.S. or lyme disease! I have been suffering a lot of the same symptoms as you for about 3 years now. They suspected M.S. but my MRI's came back normal so I was left without any help further and left to be my own advocate out of sheer desperation. I did tons and tons of research (Literally thousands of hours of research) - can never learn enough even when I'm feeling really bad,and eventually came across lyme disease after researching literally every neurological disease out there. I am a 31 year old female. Have been sick for about 3 years now and have seen all kinds of doctors/specialists,(about 20!) None of which could be much help because mostly all of my tests were coming back negative or normal. Except for an antibody test which pointed to infection and an inconclusive lyme disease test.  I know your frustration and anxiety about it all too well! But I knew there was something really wrong with me so I refused to give up. Your symptoms sound a lot like mine. I have so many problems all over too. They even suspected I have endometriosis as well but I can't be put under for the laparoscopy due to my neurological symptoms and the fear of what could happen. But I have the ringing in the ears,vertigo(room spinning,tilting,shaking back and forth),blurry vision,flashing lights in vision,big floaters in eyes(looks like black spiderwebs),inflammation of my blood vessels in my eyes(left eye usually gets red) and my left eye's pupil expands and dilates,balance and coordination problems,electric shock sensations all over my body(Feels like I am getting zapped all over or stung by thousands of bees!) It's horrible! Have it now again! Symptoms are chronic,always changing and migrating to different parts of my body and returning. Twiches and spasms.numbness in my face and body,limp body-meaning I lose the ability to move my muscles sometimes.Convulsions,shaking chills, chills,fevers,severe low drops in temperature to 35 range,have to urinate 24/7,always really thirsty,never can get enough water to drink.Severe chest pain and heart beat speeding up too fast and overlapping. My speech slows down sometimes,I feel like I can't get enough oxygen,Any activity can make me bedridden if overdone. Can't exercise! Extreme fatigue. Sometimes it's hard to even brush my teeth or do my hair. I know how you feel! Head pain so severe I can hear it cracking and it makes light and noise unbearable. Really out of it in a mental fog a lot,putting things in wrong places,not remembering something I just did one minute before and repeating it thinking i did it for the first time,disoriented and problems remembering simple words that I have to describe to others such as tree for example... and I've always excelled in english so it's not like me! Your symptoms and mine sound a lot a like,I have had so many tests and have seen so many specialists. They suspected M.S. but my MRI's came back normal so that was pretty much ruled out. When they all gave up and started to suggest it was psychological,which I can clearly feel it's not other than the anxiety I feel from the scariness of the symptoms,which I'm sure you're feeling too... out of desperation I did tons and tons of research and eventually came across lyme disease. My symptoms matched completely. The symptoms for lyme are really similar to M.S. and while each case of lyme are similar they all present differently. I am in Canada and my test came back inconclusive for lyme then I was tested again and it came back negative but you can still have lyme even if the test isn't showing you do. Here in Canada the testing system isn't as accurate or as advanced as in the States apparently. It doesn't pick up enough evidence and leaves people with false negatives so you think you don't have it when in fact you might still regardless of the test. Have you been tested for lyme or M.S. at all yet? If not,I think you should find a neurologist to test you for both. Lyme causes inflammation throughout the entire body so you get symptoms all over in different parts. Eventually after coming across lyme disease and realizing my symptoms completely matched,I contacted the Canadian lyme disease foundation for help and they gave me the referral of an LLMD here in Canada. (Lyme Literate Medical Doctor) If you research lyme and suspect that that could be it,you need to find an LLMD in your area to help investigate it further because many doctors/specialists aren't as familiar with this disease as it's considered rare. Even though I have found out it's not. It is spread in the outdoors by bugs(ticks are the most common carrier but I have read that mosquitos and fleas also carry the bacteria.) You won't feel the bite usually and can get a red circular rash but many people don't get a rash too which not everyone knows. The bug transmits the toxic bacteria into your bloodstream and then leaves your bloodstream,and goes into your organs,tissues and cells so it penetrates way deeper into your body and may not be in your blood any longer to show up in bloodwork tests. It makes sense for me as I used to go hiking but I have found out you can get this in the outdoors anywhere really. Many people think you can't and that it's rare but that's because there hasn't been enough awareness and education about it. It really isn't and studies are showing it is being linked to many neurological diseases,including M.S. Which makes sense since the symptoms are so similar. What I mean is people who have been diagnosed with M.S.,and other neurodegenerative diseases have also been diagnosed later with lyme disease.

Anyway,I am now seeing the LLMD and he is really taking me seriously and looking into my case. Unlike all the others who wouldn't give me the time of day. He suspects I have lyme but it is so hard to prove because of the reasons I have told you. So it's trial and error at the moment,but more and more,it's seeming to be that even though it's so hard to prove with tests.  It might be worth looking into for you. Maybe that's not it but it sure sounds very similar to what I'm dealing with. The droopiness of your eyes is a definite symptom as well as all the others. I haven't had that to that extreme point but I have noticed one eye drooper than the other on occasion, but I have read a lot about both M.S. and lyme to know about that.  I can't write much more now because I am declining into a bad episode and I can't function as well now and need to lie down but your symptoms do sound really neurological and I know how you feel and just wanted to be of help with some suggestions so you can investigate and get to the bottom of this mystery that is making you so ill! I really feel for you! We can speak back and forth on this log and keep in touch and talk more or through email but I do really know how you feel as I'm going through it too and I know how scary and alone it makes you feel!
:(  So my advice is to do some research on both lyme disease and multiple sclerosis.  I'm not sure where you are located but this is a good link with so much helpful information no matter where you are: http://www.canlyme.com

And also the MS Society might be another good one to google as well if you haven't already! Good luck! Wikipedia is amazing for researching too and has some really good info on medical conditions if you haven't already found it useful.   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyme_disease
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facial_palsy  (this is the condition of the drooping your face is experiencing) - bell's palsy which is found a lot in lyme due to the nerves being effected.

Good luck with finding your answers hun! Hope these suggestions help point you in the right direction! :)

Hugs!

[Lhrlovesmar]

Alot of what you are now experiencing are what I, myself have been going through since 1974. The chronic pain, aneixty, panic attacks, ringing in ears, blurred vision, flashing lights in the line of vision, numbness in hands (my legs, also) tired all the time, problems with sleeping, no energy, numbness in my hands (legs, also). I went through all this until 2002 (when I was 46 years old) when I was diagnosed with, "Antiphospholipid Syndrome". This is a blood disorder that causes deep vein thrombosis, strokes, miscarriages, visual disturbances, numbness in limbs, blood clots in both Arteries & Veins. I walk with a cane to prevent me from falling as I also suffer with Vertigo. Does any of this sound familiar? APS can be diagnosed by a simple blood test.