Autoimmune or Neurological Symptoms? Vitreous/Tinnitus problems.

[rmv80]

Hi Everyone,

I have had some odd symptoms over the past 4 months and I'm hoping someone could shed some light since doctors I feel are not digging deep enough and it's starting to affect my daily life. I am a 28/yo male in good health. Day to day I take Omega-3 and lipoflavonoid (for tinnitus).

Here are a listing of my symptoms to date. Vision, Hearing, yawning and tingling have been pretty constant over the past 3-4 months, others come and go

- Vision Problems
    * issues in darkness w/lights - halos & starbursts
    * sensitive to bright lights - images staying "burned" in line of sight for a bit
    * General vague focusing problems & occasional blurred vision
    * Floaters & Flashers
    * Vitreous Syneresis (diagnosed by opthamologist)
- Tinnitus (Occasionally rings substantially louder in 5-10 second bursts)
- Tingling burning in both legs (thighs, front of legs)
- Occasional tingling in shoulders/upper back
- Excessive Yawning (every 1-2 minutes)
- Facial & Head Pain/Fullness that comes fast
- Bright Red Skin Spots on Arms/Face/Body that never go away. Appear with flareups.
- Headaches
- Slight "out of it" feeling from time to time
- Chronically Dry & Red Eyes (schimer test)
- Very dry skin/thinning hair
- Red sores in corner of mouth
- One raised red lesion on leg for 1 month +
- Occasional Random Pain in hips
- Occasional Chest/Heart pain (like heart skips a beat)
- Bad acute lower back pain that shoots down legs (comes and goes over past 7 months)

For bloodwork... CBC (slightly high liver enzyme level), B-12 OK, Lyme negative, Thyroid OK

Had MRI w/o contrast (insurance said no to contrast). Radiologist said he saw 2 areas of increased activity. Neuro said he saw only 1 and was not concerned (thinking it was for MS). Other than that the MRI was negative.

See general DR, ENT, Neuro, Opthamologist, Retina Specilist. With no real information or help so far. I am very concerned about the recent Vitreous Syneresis as I hear it's related to older people. I can not find any relation to Neoru or Autoimmue issues and want to know what could be causing this.

I have an appt with a Rheumatologist and a new Neuro soon, but looking for any direction here. I'm thinking it's not MS and is a different Neuro or Autoimmune issue. Maybe even some kind of a blood or metabolic deficiency? Any help is great apprecaited. Thanks!

[jason80]

I share many of your symptoms, run similar tests, and also have no clear dx. If you find out what you got, let me know!

I recommend a search on "visual snow", if you haven't already. This symptom is accompanied by many strange visual effects that you describe. In addition to the usual effects, I see a large, weird distorted spot in either eye when the other is shut.

What is this? Vitreous Syneresis (diagnosed by opthamologist)?

My opthomologists were all generally baffled and unfamilar with visual snow, since it is rare.  My own web research indicates that there are some like us with many symptoms and some that simply have visual snow with nothing else and no harm comes of it.  

In addition to bad floaters I have many of these scary visual effects that mimic a retinal detachment.  My opthomologist suspected vitreous detachment -- strange that it occurred in both eyes virtually at the same time, including the floaters. As such, I think it is just strange effects and the only thing that keeps me from constantly thinking I have a detachment is that usually I can find the same effect in my other eye indicating the problem lies upstream of my eyes.  Good luck.

[rmv80]

I got my test results back and they were negative for Shogrens's. The schermer test doesn't necessarily mean Shogren's, there can be other causes for the dry eyes. Actually all the inflammatory tests came back negative... so off for more testing :(

I have some more detailed information at the bottom of this post that may be helpful w/the rheumatologists results:
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/show/706781

Good Luck!

[Rachelinpain]

wow...we have so many similar symptoms.  even the petechiae (the bright red spots on skin are busted capillaries)...very interested in knowing what you find.  if you have a pos schrimer test shouldnt that mean you have sjogrens...this is my thought for you.  if your are seeing rheum then i ma sure they have tested you for every autoimmune disease.  there are some people who have autoimmune diseases and no positive test.  perhaps this is the cause.  please update on your status...i am extremely interested in your case since my symptoms are so similar.  thanks.

[PlateletGal]

My thoughts on the excessive yawning is that you may want to consider asking your physician if you should have a sleep study test done. I know in fibro & CFS patients, we have some degree of sleep dysfunction.

http://www.cfids.org/archives/2002rr/2002-rr4-article01.asp

If you haven't been tested for lyme disease yet, I would strongly recommend discussing this with your physician. I can tell you that I'm thinking so far that your symptoms could be due to fibromyalgia and / or lyme. But there should be many tests that need to be ruled out first. It sounds like they ruled out Sjogren's Syndrome and probably already ordered an ANA on you. An ANA test could help rule an autoimmune issue.

I hope your physicians also checked your thyroid. One thing I can tell you is that many fibro & CFS patients have a low thyroid, but the standard thyroid tests fail to pick that up. Here's the info:





T3 REVERSE -- "The mix of treatments needed varies from patient to patient. There are some abnormalities that are common. For instance, close to 100% of individuals with these syndromes have low thyroid. This is, however, usually not picked up on the standard blood tests because the TSH is not elevated in these individuals due to pituitary dysfunction. Many of these individuals will also have high levels of the anti-thyroid reverse T3, which is usually not measured on standard blood tests. In addition, the majority of individuals can also have a thyroid receptor resistance that is not detected on the blood tests. Consequently, thyroid treatment, especially with timed release T3, is effective for many patients. T4 preparations (inactive thyroid) such as Synthroid and Levoxyl do not work well for these conditions."


Kent Holtorf, M.D.  --- link to article: http://www.immunesupport.com/fibromyalgia-treatment.htm


And burning sensations in fibro patients:

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/show/701890?personal_page_id=33086