expirencing bizzare symtoms after strep

[kdog17]

can strep or mono cause brain step damage or some how manifest itself in your neck or blood vessel in neck? i have been expiriencing strange nuerological symptoms after having strep i couldn't get rid of for a few months and having mono on top of it. I passed out and had a few siezures right afer i got over these ailments. Then a sudden onset of dizzyness, ringinging in the ears, pressure in my head and impaired vision. This happened six years ago and i still live with these nuerological symptoms today. I have had a lot of test done and seen many doctors but no answers. any help or ideas would be much appreciated.

[sunshinedawn]

Not knowing what is wrong with my 12 year old son is heartbreaking.  
We are so frustrated with the doctors in my area that don't seem to know what to do or what to say.  
In May of 2007 my son complained of a sore throat and a head ache. Less than 2 hours after he woke up that morning his fever shot up and couldn’t move his legs. We rushed him to the E.R. There they did a spinal tap. C.T., urine, blood, strep, and mono test.  Nothing showed on any of those test. We were thin transported to a children’s hospital by ambulance 2 hours away. By the time we got there the meds for his fever kicked in and  hewasn’t as weak and could stand with help so they sent us home.  The next day he was sitting with me and his fever spiked once again only this time we were alternating Tylenol and Motrin. I could not get it down.  His head started jerking and his arms were shaking mostly on one side. To me it looked like a seizure. Back to the E.R. This time his fever was 104.2 and he was having a hard time breathing and serious head ache. Once again more test with no answers. They admitted him and put him on antibiotics for strep. The doctors never mentioned that he had a spinal head ache but I figured that one out. He could only lay flat to even be somewhat comfortable.  After an MRI and EEG were done 3 days later they took him off the antibiotics and sent him home.   Three days after he was released he along with his 2 sisters were sick. Their doctor told us they all had strep (with no test) and put them all on medication.  However that wasn’t the end of it for him.  The twitching behavior and the tremor like shakes have gotten worse.  I August of 2007 we went to a neurologist that ordered an EKG because he thought he might have rheumatic fever.  The EKG came back normal.  That doctor said he should just outgrow the side effect in a few months.  18 months later… they are STILL getting worse.  Now he has been diagnosed with asthma. I don’t know if it is related or not. He also has severe spells that last sometimes for hours.  He also collapsed at school and was sent back to the E.R.   The E.R. dr. said he has a seizure and ordered another EEG. That test came back normal. The head aches, twitches, tremors, now blacking out or collapsing seem to be more frequent and interfering with his developing.  He has grown much in the past year and a half.  My question would be what can be done? What else should I look for? Does anyone have any answers?

[ParodyofaGirl13]

It's called sydenham's chorea and it is a symptom of RHEUMATIC FEVER.  Rheumatic fever occurs in about 1 out of ever 1000 strep pyrogenes infections. Women are more likely than men to develop neurological problems if they develop rheumatic fever.  Rheumatic fever occurs when the body produces anti-strep antibodies that for some reason attack the body's own tissues in the heart, joints, and brain.  If you have had one attack of rheumatic fever you are very likely to have another one in the next 5 years.

I have lived with reoccurrances of this ailment for the past 4 years.  While the symptops were at it's worst I had a constant migraine with aura, uncontrollable muscle movements, psychological problems (the antibodies attacked my brain), fever, joint pain, breathing problems, syncope (I would pass out when I stood up because my heart was not working properly), kidney problems (the antibodies are too large to be filtered out through the kidneys properly and they become lodged inside causing blood to appear in the urine and give the appearance of a UTI without any bacteria in the urine).

Rheumatic fever was common over a century ago, but had become less and less prevalent because of antibiotic therapy for strep pyrogenes (the bacteria that causes strep pharyngitis which can lead to rheumatic fever).  It has been making a come back and the doctors do not know what they are dealing with.

I have to go home to visit my parents, but I will be online later to write some more about this.

[rose40]

Hello I was reading your story, that you have Sydenham's korea. My daughter is now 12 years old but was diagnosed with it at age 7 years old. I had taken her to the doctor before she was diagnosed with it becasue I suspected a strep infection but they did the throat swab test and it was negative, and the doctor said she did not have strep. I even asked for some antibiotics because her throat was really hurting.Well come to find out the test was really positive but gave a negative reading, that was in Feburary of 2001  and in June 01 she was diagnosed. We now have to take monthly shots as a prevenitive. They also did discoverd she had a small leak in her main artic valve, however with lots of prayer she went back for a check up on it 3 weeks later it was gone. The doctors could not explain it, I told them its not in your medical books, I thank the good lord everyday. Do you take any prevenitive? How has this effectied your life now?  


Sincerely,
rose40

[kdog17]

thanks for the avenue. i will check it out and keep you posted

[logansmom7402]

As a child, I unknowingly had strep throat which was never treated.  Apparantly, because of this, I had rhumatic fever, also unknowingly.  The rhumatic fever remained in my heart, AND brain, causing me to have a heart murmur, and an extremely RARE disease called Sydenham's Korea A.K.A. St. Vidas dance.  I suffered with Sydenham's Chorea when I was 13.  Mine was one of the worst cases my neurologist had ever seen, and she had saw it a lot in her native country of China.  I experienced many symptoms, such as clumbsiness, jerky arm movements, basically a total loss of motor functions! I was in the hospital a total of 6 weeks.  I was treated daily with Haldol, Attivan, and Depakote.  I was gradually "weaned" off the drugs as my symptoms slowly improved over about 7 days.  I was discharged from the hospital, but about 2 weeks later, I had a menstrual cycle, and had a relapse, and was readmitted to the hospital with much more intense and numerous symptoms.  I can't remember how long it took for everything to completely to resolve.  By the grace of the Lord, I have no lasting cardiac problems and live a perfectly normal life!  This is primarily a "child" illness, however I have heard of adults with the same thing.  I would suggest you see a neurologist.  I was finally diagnosed after an MRI and a negative spinal tap.  Best wishes, and keep me updated!