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Traveling induced breakdown. Twice?
December/January:
Took a trip from Houston to New Zealand and on the second day came down with crippling fatigue and nausea. My symptoms were on and off, but mostly "off". I spent tons of time in bed, but I never felt rested. The thought and smell of food made me sick and I could only stomach bananas and rice every once in a while. I lost a lot of weight. I had intermittent diharrea and ended up gettingan IV after 7 days to rehydrate. Finally, 11 days later I was out of bed and feeling normal and able to eat normally. We just figured it was some intense gastro bug.
January-May:
Sick sporadically and missed a combined several weeks of work. In March/April I noticed a small bump behind my ear and went to my GP who said it was a lymph node. I took some antibiotics but it persisted.
Mid May:
Out of nowhere I got hit with a massive fever and chills. All the lymph nodes on the back of my head and neck swelled up. GP took blood and saw eosinophil levels almost triple the normal as well as a low white count. He suggested an ENT, who perscribed a more intense dose of antibiotics. There were no visible signs of infections in my ears, nose, or throat. This sickness was not accopanied by couching or sneezing, just intense weakness.
Mid June:
Took my first trip since New Zealand, because I have been kind of paranoid of going through the same nightmare of getting sick on vacation again. I arrived at the airport and was feeling incredibly tired. Got an okay amount of sleep then started driving the next day. By evening I was a wreck. My energy went from 75% to 15% in a matter of hours. My appetite vanished and even the smell of food made me nauseaus. Exact same symptoms as my New Zealand sickness (no vomiting in either occurrence). Occasional spotty vision and cold sweats when outside moving around. So much so that I was barely able to read the book I had with me. I had the runs for the first few days, but it cleared up quickly. After about 4 days of bananas and rice my appetite returned to normal-ish. After two weeks of this I have lost 12lbs (down to 155lbs now and I'm a 6'1 male) and still suffer from fatigue and utter exhaustion. no matter how much sleep I get, it still doesn't feel like enough. We left our trip after 5 days of battling this. It has been 11 days total and I'm finally able to function somewhat normally.
I went to my GP again three days ago and my blood work came back normal, with eosinophils only being slightly elevated now, but doc thinks "it's just allergies"... Thyroid, kidneys, and liver- normal. CBC- normal. etc.
Today I returned to work and was winded after climbing one flight of stairs and have been having trouble catching my breath. Any physical exertion leaves me catching my breath and feeling VERY light headed. I even noticed that standing up and having a long conversation made me start to get light headed and have spotty vision.
I have an appointment in three days with an Oncologist. The concern is Lymphoma, due to the frequent sickness, occasional loss of appetite, occasional crippling fatigue, weight loss, and persisting hard lymph node behind my ear.
I hope it's not cancer, obviously. But, if it's not I have no idea where to look next. I'm not a very stressed out person (or at least I don't think I am...), but could these symptoms be an indication of depression or anxiety that trigger my body to go into meltdown mode when I do something stressful like traveling? Other options don't look as treatable (MS, anemia, etc.). Any thoughts, opinions, or advice would be much appreciated.
Took a trip from Houston to New Zealand and on the second day came down with crippling fatigue and nausea. My symptoms were on and off, but mostly "off". I spent tons of time in bed, but I never felt rested. The thought and smell of food made me sick and I could only stomach bananas and rice every once in a while. I lost a lot of weight. I had intermittent diharrea and ended up gettingan IV after 7 days to rehydrate. Finally, 11 days later I was out of bed and feeling normal and able to eat normally. We just figured it was some intense gastro bug.
January-May:
Sick sporadically and missed a combined several weeks of work. In March/April I noticed a small bump behind my ear and went to my GP who said it was a lymph node. I took some antibiotics but it persisted.
Mid May:
Out of nowhere I got hit with a massive fever and chills. All the lymph nodes on the back of my head and neck swelled up. GP took blood and saw eosinophil levels almost triple the normal as well as a low white count. He suggested an ENT, who perscribed a more intense dose of antibiotics. There were no visible signs of infections in my ears, nose, or throat. This sickness was not accopanied by couching or sneezing, just intense weakness.
Mid June:
Took my first trip since New Zealand, because I have been kind of paranoid of going through the same nightmare of getting sick on vacation again. I arrived at the airport and was feeling incredibly tired. Got an okay amount of sleep then started driving the next day. By evening I was a wreck. My energy went from 75% to 15% in a matter of hours. My appetite vanished and even the smell of food made me nauseaus. Exact same symptoms as my New Zealand sickness (no vomiting in either occurrence). Occasional spotty vision and cold sweats when outside moving around. So much so that I was barely able to read the book I had with me. I had the runs for the first few days, but it cleared up quickly. After about 4 days of bananas and rice my appetite returned to normal-ish. After two weeks of this I have lost 12lbs (down to 155lbs now and I'm a 6'1 male) and still suffer from fatigue and utter exhaustion. no matter how much sleep I get, it still doesn't feel like enough. We left our trip after 5 days of battling this. It has been 11 days total and I'm finally able to function somewhat normally.
I went to my GP again three days ago and my blood work came back normal, with eosinophils only being slightly elevated now, but doc thinks "it's just allergies"... Thyroid, kidneys, and liver- normal. CBC- normal. etc.
Today I returned to work and was winded after climbing one flight of stairs and have been having trouble catching my breath. Any physical exertion leaves me catching my breath and feeling VERY light headed. I even noticed that standing up and having a long conversation made me start to get light headed and have spotty vision.
I have an appointment in three days with an Oncologist. The concern is Lymphoma, due to the frequent sickness, occasional loss of appetite, occasional crippling fatigue, weight loss, and persisting hard lymph node behind my ear.
I hope it's not cancer, obviously. But, if it's not I have no idea where to look next. I'm not a very stressed out person (or at least I don't think I am...), but could these symptoms be an indication of depression or anxiety that trigger my body to go into meltdown mode when I do something stressful like traveling? Other options don't look as treatable (MS, anemia, etc.). Any thoughts, opinions, or advice would be much appreciated.
****ADDITIONAL INFO****
I'm a very healthy 28 year old male. I usually run or do weight training 3 times per week.
After I visited the ENT and took my new antibiotics all of the tender swollen lymph nodes on my head and neck subsided, with only the original node behind my ear still being slightly swollen, but not tender like the rest were.
I'm a very healthy 28 year old male. I usually run or do weight training 3 times per week.
After I visited the ENT and took my new antibiotics all of the tender swollen lymph nodes on my head and neck subsided, with only the original node behind my ear still being slightly swollen, but not tender like the rest were.
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