Neurological Symptoms in whole body getting worse - what is causing this?

I had what I thought to be an allergic reaction to a bugbite in August '06. My legs seized up & my right arm was numb. I developed rashes on my stomach, chest and back prior to that.  I was given steroid shots and the allergy meds.  A couple days after that, my neck had a terrible pain that never went away, and I got the pins and needles feeling in my neck, arms, legs, stomach, and back, and numbness in left hand/arm and right foot.  My doc put me on Tramadol,Valium,& Doxepin, but to no avail.
After a month or so I decided to see a chiro since I was still having the neck pain/headaches/pins and needles.  He said I had 2 pinched nerves.  However, after I started with him, I started having stomach and chest pains, diarrhea/constipation/coughing. He told me it was normal or it could be GERD. After going back to my doc, they tried Aciphex and a couple others to no avail, levsin, which didn't do much, and Darvocet for the pain.  In the midst of all of this, I had a a cold that turned into a viral infection in my chest and it's still there a month later.
I finally started to feel better from that, but the neck pain/headaches are worse, the pins/needles in the neck,arms,legs,stomach and back are still there after 19 sessions with the Chiro.
Then on Nov 8 '06, I got the flu shot.  A day later, I started having major muscle jerks of the arms/legs/chest.  I'm having weakness in legs/hammies/calves are seized up.
Did the bite in August cause all of this? Did my Chiro mess up? Did the flu shot do this after the cold? Help please!  I don't know what to do and it's getting worse.

[CCF-Neuro-M.D.-SH]

First of all, keep in mind that I am unable to diagnose you because I am unable to examine you, this forum is for educational purposes.    
    It would be uncommon for a bug bite to cause all of the symptoms you describe, but I also have no information on what type of bug this may be.  To have muscle contractions and focal numbness in the right arm, which then progessed to neck pain and full body numbness, and headaches is concerning for a viral meningitis/encephalitis (infection of the coverings of the brain or the brain itself).  Viral meningitis/encephalitis is often carried by mosquitos (such as West Nile virus) and may be related to your "bug bite". I have no explaination for your reaction to the flu shot, unless it was coincidence. I do not think your chiropractor is related to your current problems.  I would suggest that you see a neurologist, get an MRI of the brain with contrast, a lumbar puncture and blood tests for viral antibodies (including west nile).  Your neurologist may also decide to do an EMG on your legs if your weakness persist.
I hope this has been helpful.

[tommyroe]

On top of that, after the flu shot, I have had really bad chills on and off, my knuckles have turned purple off and on, and I have had a real difficult time sleeping because of the muscle jerks...it feels like my whole body resonates when I sit or lay down.  I had to take a valium last night just to get a few hours of sleep...once I woke up though, I couldn't go back to sleep.  My legs feel like they seize up when I lay down too.  So, I don't know what caused the rashes, neck pain, headaches, and pins and needles (that's one separate thing), the stomach pain, chest pains, and weird bowel movements, then I don't know what the flu shot is causing (is this guillain barre syndrome? - I can walk and breathe, eat and do all of that, but I feel tired all of the time and I don't feel like doing anything but sleep when I get home).

[tommyroe]

sorry for all of the threads....or, is all of this the cause of Lyme disease?  My doctor told me it wasn't, but I live in a state (Nebraska) that hardly has any cases. It just seems like with the variety of symptoms I'm having that maybe this is possible...again, sorry for all of the posts...

[mike1105]

if you were fine before this bug bite, and then developed all these symptoms so soon after such, the nit makes sense to think the bug bite may likely be the casue.I'd definitley see and expert in the field, and if you search this forum you'll find much information on the subject--especially Lyme---and how you might proceed.

[tommyroe]

I was fine and in great health before the bug bite...i didn't even know it happened.  I didn't have the "classic" EM rash, but a pimply rash all over my stomach, a little on my arms, and on my back (and they're still there).  I knew something was wrong because I felt a pain in my right tricep where I found a very small "scab", then pain went down my right arm and my whole right arm numbed up (like if you sit on your arm for 1/2 an hour and the blood flow was gone)...i would shake it and nothing would happen for minutes on end...then I felt a little breathless with my heart racing.  The problem is that I know there are no literate lyme disease doctors in NE....I'll have to go to one of those sites and find one that can do proper tests since in NE (when I checked) there were only 2 reported cases this year...but the symptoms do seem to check out since the symptoms have been going in "cycles".

[SAL1975]

Similar to your situation, I got the flu shot on the 26th of october and that night,woke up to  cramping in my right calf, followed by pins and needles sensations in both feet for few days. This went away, but now my arm is falling asleep at night, and hands feel like they are bruised at times, however, no bruises. I also get occasional cramps and pins and needles in my extremities, not like before, but still bothersome. I am wondering if anyone else had a weird rxn to the flu shot, or is this totally unrelated.

[tommyroe]

That's possible with the flu vacc reaction...I just don't know if that's what mine is or if it is just a coincidence.  I also left out before that I did have the CMP, CBC, lipase, amylase, lipid tests done and everything was normal....don't know if that makes a difference or not.

[young at heart]

See a  neurologist,they can best assist you and get proper testing done.

[JCmcc]

I would agree that most people should look into the variable causes, but, I highly doubt Lyme disease for you. There are many people who blame LD for everything w/o clinical proof. Many of these people believe in conspiracies via govt, et seq. There is an entire mess with it.
Due to locale and your symptoms I would not worry too much about LD. Also, many of these people, and I do not imply this about anyone here, claim to have LD without any serologic proof.
Be wary of this and stay with your attending neurologist.

Good Luck!
JCmcc.

[patsy10]

I would see a neurologist.  It doesn't sound like you've seen one.  I agree with the above post about lyme disease.  However, what about Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever???  Look into that.

Good luck

[tommyroe]

I haven't been anywhere near the Northeast...never been to NY, CT...the closest was Washington DC, and that was back in the 8th grade.  I was down in Corpus Christi Texas in May, but I wouldn't think it would be anything that would cause it down there.

The one thing I forgot to mention before is that my original Doc tested me for West Nile and Lyme (but I was taking antibiotics at the time and the test occurred about 2 1/2 weeks after the initial rash and stuff happened) and they were both negative.  I don't know what lab it was sent to.

I haven't seen a neurologist yet.  My new doctor (since I got tired of my old doctor because he would just give me drugs and send me on my way) hasn't suggested a neurologist, but I know with my insurance that as long as the neurologist is in my network, I don't need a referral from my doctor (although, they probably would prefer to have one anyway).  I just cannot figure out what is going on with me...it's just absolutely weird what is going on, on top of the fact that the chiro has not helped at all...maybe it's something he cannot fix, although he was highly recommended to me by several people that I've known for a long time (i.e. they went to him and they were fixed).  I'm probably going to see an allergist first for the "pimple-like" bumps on my stomach and back to see if there is something that I'm allergic to that is causing some of this...I figured a $15 co-pay wouldn't hurt to find out.  If that doesn't net anything, then I'll have to go to a neuro probably and get the gamut of tests run (MRI/CT, etc) to see what is going on with me.

[tommyroe]

Almost forgot...regarding the rocky mountain spotted fever and similar tick bite diseases...I'm 100% certain I don't have those because with rocky mountain the pimply spots start on your legs and go upwards....I never had any of those on my legs...only my arms (a few), my stomach/chest and my back.  So, I don't think it would be anything similar to rocky mountain spotted fever...I checked the symptoms of all of the other types of tick bites, and none of them seem to match that well, which is why I wondering if this even was a tick bite or something else..........

[lees girl]

im sitting here reading all the comments on this site and it makes me laugh, all of us are sick and looking for answers from our doctors and we get not one answer but1000 answers or none, so we have to go to other people and look for help and answers when a qualified doctor cant. I have been to 5 doctors in the past 6 months now, no answers. It started as a tingly sensation in my leg, now i have severe foot drop, have not been able to bend my 2nd and 3rd toe since august, burning fire like pains in my leg, if i touch metal w/ it i cringe, i walk out of my shoes, cant wear hi-heels anymore, toes and calf swells, leg feels like it 1000 pounds, keep tripping over my toes, now my hip and butt cheek is numb. i cant even use my leg on the gas petal because i feel nothing. i actually learned how to drive with one foot crossed over the next, what was i told it was? im depressed was one answer, it could b lymes, mortons nueroma, als,ms, nueropathy(im not diabetic) so maybe i drink to much alcohol i was told, i do not drink. do i do coke? No, i am not a drug addict either, I have had mri, ekg u name it. My last doctor gave me a script or a cane and told me to join a support group when ive never even been diagnoised. As we speak i am high on vicodin, elavil,cynbalta b-12, folic acid tablets and nuerontin. I have been on percocet, naproxin, darvocet, valium u name it i got it, but no ******* diagnosise, amazing.Tomorrow i am going for anotrher mri with dye. Do you know whats sad, i am a person everybody knows, i am in the movie profeesion and modeling, you see my face on magazine covers and top movies, can anyone see my pain, no...... its just as if im acting and hiding it, i know the pain and despair and the way your life dwindles downs and what we took for granted once we dont take for granted anymore, its a sad way to live with all this pain in your body, confusion and know one there to give you help onl;y drugs to try and cover the pain, but not cure.

[tommyroe]

For some reason, I don't think it's Lyme because the muscle spasms/jerks didn't start happening until the day after I got the flu vaccine shot...I don't think they are related.  The pimply rash, neck/head pain, and the pins and needles feeling is another story.  The stomach/constipation/diarrhea problems I had is another story too...that's why I'm baffled...I don't know if they are coincidences, or separate items, or all belonging to the same thing that I have...

[tommyroe]

Hi Carol,

I looked at the rashes, and none of those were even close.  Basically when this started, my inside of my forearms turned red, then the outside forearms, then the legs, then the pimples on the stomach/chest showed up.  It doesn't resemble any of the tick-borne rashes that I looked at, although you don't necessarily have to have the EM rash to have lyme, but I didn't have that and the rashes didn't grow...the redness dissipated except the pimples for the most part stayed (some went away, a few came back).

[lees girl]

i just went for another mri on tuesday. rite now i am sitting with my legs up because my toes are so swollen i cant even wiggle them. now i feel it in my left leg.... im going to look in to lymes again...thank you

[Buzzie2]

I got Lyme disease in Colorado, as did the former president of the Colorado Medical Association. Ticks don't know from state lines.

A Lyme diagnosis is a hard thing, when it can't be proven, or proven not.

It's even harder to find a doctor who knows how to treat it. Unfortunately it won't go away on its own, and you continue to lose your life as you become sicker and sicker, with more seemingly unrelated symptoms.

Yes, antibiotics are strong drugs and using them for a long time can cause problems. But all drugs have risks--whether they work or not.

Those of us who have it do tend to blame it for everything.We're frustrated, we're mocked, and often not taken seriously. But most of all we hate to see other people suffer.

[johnflox]

What antibiotics have you taken? Were they cipro, levaquin or avelox? They can cause all your symptoms.

[tommyroe]

I took doxycycline on the onset of the rashes/pimples showing up.  I took 5 days of avelox for a sinus infection, but it wasn't working, so I went through 2 bouts of Cefprozil (24 days worth), but that was over 2 months ago, and I had 90% of these symptoms before I took those, so I doubt if it was the avelox or cefprozil.  I had taken avelox and levaquin a few times over a dozen or so year span and never had a problem with them.  The muscle spasms/tremors/twitches started happening about a day after I got that flu vaccine...I still have them, but they are not as bad...probably because I am taking magnesium and b complex supplements to try to help them out...I'm drinking about a gallon of water a day too.

[tommyroe]

I still don't think that caused anything.  The muscle spasms/twitches etc coincided with the flu shot I got...I don't see any correlation...

[lees girl]

well..got my mri results back and the doctor said that its not MS, thank god, so off i go to the nuerologist again.

[Jenny Wren]

Congrats on your MRI, what kind did you have?  I have weird symptoms also, my brain and c-spine are clear, no lesions.  But I still continue to have weird feelings. Did you go to the neuro for these tests or a PCP?  Glad to hear you got good news, thats great!!!!

[cat457]

BTW, Lyme disease has been reported in EVERY state except Montana.  Here in California, it has been reported in almost every county.  West Coast and East Coast has the highest reports.

[strive4mores]

hi there,
have you been to a neurologist?  it may be a good starting point to have some mri's done and possibly a lumbar puncture.  i myself wouldn't puruse lyme and i live in new england, like the above poster mentioned there is an overload of people trying to convince people they have lyme.  a test wouldn't be a bad idea but i wouldn't start going to lyme doctors because from what i've read none of them have ever told someoone they didn't have lyme and they are not covered under insurance.....strange isn't it.

good luck
sarah

[tommyroe]

Hi strive,

I agree.  I don't even know if I have it.  I have some of the symptoms, but not necessarily Lyme.  I haven't seen a neurologist yet, but I'm going to call and get allergy tested to make sure the skin stuff I'm having isn't something with that (i.e. an elimination tool)...it's only a $15 co-pay for me, so it doesn't cost much to get tested.  If it's not that, then I don't know.  I probably have to get a referral to a neuro from my doc since I'm certain they don't take people that just "walk in the door".  But, you're right...it wouldn't hurt to get a proper test for lyme (IGG and iGM western blot and elisa at a minimum) since I want to make sure it's nothing with that.  And you're right...the doc visit might be covered, but I'm guessing the tests may not be, although some doctors will do the elisa/western blot tests, but I guess I need to make sure that they are sent to Igenex.  I don't know where mine were sent back in August, but they did do an IGG/IGM on West Nile and they came back negative...so I'm not sure if that means anything for Lyme or not...it's just weird how I've had all of these symptoms crop up and most of it is not improving at all.

I even had chest/sinus x-rays done because I still was coughing up phlegm and had post nasal drip...but no pneumonia, bronchitis were found...a little in the left nasal passage, but no chronic sinus issues.  I started taking probiotics and taking magnesium/b complex supplements to see if they help or not...so far, they haven't helped much, although the muscle spasms/jerk movements have been less frequent, but my sleep is still impaired...not sure if it's due to that or just thinking about this stuff too much.

[cat457]

Carol,
Thanks for your info on Lyme and testing.  I'm pursuing the possibility of Lyme, but not sure if my Kaiser Doc will sign for the blood work for IGnx.  Kaiser, apparently to some experienced Lymies is not Lyme-friendly.

[tommyroe]

Thank you for your info about Igenex.  I'll have to look into that too.  I probably would need to talk to my doctor about that before I order the kit though.

I'll have to ask my insurance company about submitting a claim for those tests...they'll probably be paid 100% (they were the last time), but I'll have to check.

I'm just not sure about who needs to draw the blood and who does what exactly.  I'm not sure how that works.

I probably don't take the correct magnesium...it's just a 400mg tablet.  I usually only take one a day, sometimes two if my stomach can handle it. Sometimes with food I can't handle it.

I'll probably still need to see a neurologist because my head/neck pain isn't getting any better (some days, it's worse).  I just wish my head/neck pain would go away...that would help me 80%.

[JCmcc]

Hello,
  Sorry for the confusion and I am guessing that your constant use of the term "lyme freak" is directed toward my prior remarks somwhere around C4 or so. I referred to me, not to you.
  First of all some on here posting are medical students, psych students, et al who want to learn from a patients perspective. In the least keep in mind that e-mails, IMS, postings are hard to measure.
  My story with Lyme disease has led me into my profession and I am a LD/MS patient. I secured my own diagnosis by designing a clinical system using pathology/pathogenesis to diagnose myself-doing this not even knowing what Lyme disease was. I saw the MRI report which incidentally happened in CT, though I am from WA, and it said, possible Lyme or MS, etc. Naturally anything but MS sounded good to me. I looked into Lyme and the providential story follows. Neurologists wouldn't have it, YALE upheld my self dx. Therefore, I know all about Lyme and am dedicated to it. What I am not dedicated to is believing that everyone on the medhelp neurology section suffers with Lyme disease, that it is a conspiracy theory, etc. There are popular Lyme sites that I feel are harmful.
  Nothing personal, and, there is a fine line on this website between good suggestions and diagnosing others (not that you have). The MDs spectators, med students, et al., come here and do not and cannot diagnose because these patients have not been examined by them. I caution this practice for anyone.

Regards,
JCmcc.

[AfterTheBite]

Have you considered the possibility that the spots may be from an infection from either Bartonella (quintana or henslea) and/or Ehrlichiosis HGE or HME?

Many of your physical symptoms sound similar to those of Babesiosis.  Could it be the bug bite(s) may have started this cascade of symptoms and the flu shot kicked up your immune system.. causing the infections... if that is what is affecting you... to compound the existing problems?

Quest Lab does a Bartonella test... looking for evidence of exposure to several strains... that should be covered by insurance.

Bowen Lab in Florida .. a research facility.. will run a Lyme, Babesiosis and Ehrlichiosis test for under $300.00 (donation).  If the organisms are found .. they will photograph them and send your doctor the results.

I hope you feel better soon and find answers to your ongoing health problems.

ATB