emper,
Good luck.
Best,
Carol
Thanks so much for the info. I will pursue it. I know a lot of my symptoms mimick other disorders and that alone is frustrating. It's hard to have confidence in doctors these days when they kind of make you feel like a raging lunatic. What I do know is I don't feel good, and I don't look good and need to get to the bottom of it. Thanks for listening and thanks for the advice, I really do appreciate it!
emper:
Hi. Very often people who have Lyme Disease will present with alot of vague symptoms that don't make much sense to the doctors, and most of the tests will come back negative.
If the Lyme bacteria infect the cranial nerve to the ears and the organs of balance, vertigo can result.
So many things get thrown out of whack with Lyme. You can have low thyroid symptoms, high cholesterol, cardiac irregularities, mental health symptoms like depression, anxiety, insomnia.
Because the lab tests for Lyme are not very accurate, the diagnosis should be made by looking at the patient's symptoms.
This is known as a "clinical diagnosis."
Most doctors do not have the experience or the willingness to make a clinical diagnosis for Lyme.
They order the "ELISA" test for Lyme, which misses more than half of the people who are KNOWN to have Lyme.
Then they wave the "negative" test at the patient and assure him that he does not have Lyme.
If you are interested in finding out more about this disease, please check out the flash discussion group at LymeNet.org.
http://flash.lymenet.org/ubb/ultimatebb.php
The experienced Lymies there can answer questions, and help you find a doctor who is very experienced in diagnosing and treating Lyme.
(You need to register to use all the features of the site, but you can read the posts if not registered.)
Since you checked off 50 of the symptoms listed at CanLyme, I hope you will pursue this further.
Look at the "newbie help links" near the top of the Medical questions forum, for tons of compiled information.
Wishing you the best,
Carol
p.s. Many people never see a tick. Many never see a rash.
Here is a page with pictures of many Lyme rashes.
http://www.canlyme.com/rash.html
I havent recvd the results of the thyroid test yet, I have a sinking feeling it will come back negative. As far as I know, that was the only test that was run along with my blood cholesterol. Also, I went for a mammogram recently and they found a lump in my left breast. Biopsy was inconclusive but they do know that it's not typical spreading breast cancer. Could be another form of cancer or breast cancer or just
fibro-something or muscle (sorry I do not remember the clinical terms). I didn't think that was connected with the way Ive been feeling but ive learned not to take anything for granted. Doing further investigating into this forum, there was a post about lyme disease and it linked to a Canadian web site. There was a very long list of symptoms (75) and if you were able to check at least 20 it was cause to be tested - - I was able to check 50. I was bitten by what looked to be a deer tick (very, very small) but that was several years ago and I never got a rash where the tick was.
Do you know what other tests have been run? Did they test for any autoimmune diseases like Lupus or Scleroderma?