For at least 5 months now, I've been having recurrent 'attacks' of weakness, dizziness, chest pains, and breathing difficulties. They don't have a set pattern, and are extremely debilitating. In June, my chest pains were so severe I ended up in the ER. I've had multiple tests and everything has come back normal. EEG, MRI, blood tests, chest x-rays, EKGs, and more -really I've had basically every test done. I've learned to somewhat cope with these 'attacks' and basically deal with them whenever they come. When they do strike, I have to lie down somewhere so I don't collapse (I feel that exhausted). The dizziness doesn't relieve itself when I lie down, annoying to some degree. Chest pains seem to start a few minutes before the fatigue/weakness and get worse until they subside hours later. My breathing is hard to describe...it's like having to work hard to breath. This could be attributed to my asthma, but I doubt it, I've had these 'attacks' even after I've taken my inhaler. Everything takes a few hours to calm down, my fatigue/weakness is almost gone with 2-3 hours but my chest pains will remain for about 5 hours. I do have a history of panic attacks, but these are completely different, even I can tell the two apart. I also have a history of simple partial seizures (from a head injury in 2005) but I'm on an anti seizure medication. I'm doubting that it's a seizure as well, the ones I've had were completely different and took a shorter amount of time to recover from. I'm struggling to deal with these 'attacks' and they are starting to ruin my life, I don't fear them but I can't function very well with them. My doctors don't have any answers, and I'm getting rather annoyed that no one can give me a diagnosis. I really don't expect any answers to this, but I'm getting frustrated as time goes on. Has anyone heard anything that could even somewhat relate to my symptoms? I've searched the internet for months and found nothing really significant. I'll look up anything that could potentially be causing this.
Do you ever have "migratory pains" - meaning a joint or body part will hurt one day and then not another - or you'll get a new pain in another part etc? Ever have ringing ears or blurry vision? Any digestion problems? Sugar cravings and/or issues after eating sugar?
Have you ever had an attack while under a doctors super vision? Have they ever kept you in hospital to monitor you to see if one happened? Have you ever had to wear portable heart monitor around for a couple of days?
Well it breaks my heart to see you this way,
The beauty in life, where's it gone?
And somebody told me you were doing okay,
Somehow I guess they were wrong.
I guess I've had some migratory pains, moving from my knees to my lower back then is goes away. Sometimes I'll have ringing in my ears, about every week or so. And no to everything else.
The one time I went to the ER with the chest pains, I was clearly weak (and in pain), but they did not admit for the night. I've never had a doctor witness one start, but have went to them during attacks. Was always sent home, because I was 'fine' and it was 'probably just a flu'. I never had to wear a portable heart monitor either.
you know it might worth asking your doctor to place a halter monitor ( heart monitor) on you for a few days to get a record of your heart rate rythm around the clock. during the time you wear this you have a record you keep of all activities and symptoms you have and what time they occur. this may be very helpful since if you are experiencing varied heart rythms and such it would show be better conclusive than an ekg and such since if they are irratic in there occurences by the time an EKg is given it may have cleared up.
I've got an appointment with my doctor in two weeks, I'll discuss the heart monitor with her then.
Medication wise, I only take one daily. I've been on and off several medications for the past few months. But, even when I was not on anything for 3 months, I was still experiencing these attacks.
I guess I've had some migratory pains, moving from my knees to my lower back then is goes away. Sometimes I'll have ringing in my ears, about every week or so. And no to everything else.
The one time I went to the ER with the chest pains, I was clearly weak (and in pain), but they did not admit for the night. I've never had a doctor witness one start, but have went to them during attacks. Was always sent home, because I was 'fine' and it was 'probably just a flu'. I never had to wear a portable heart monitor either.
Right now I think there's a good chance you might have Lyme disease. Your area is full of it. Contrary to popular belief, people don't always get a rash, and the test for Lyme is only accurate around half the time. I've seen people with Bells Palsy (left side of face paralyzed) from Lyme but the dont show it on a test.
I was once losing my vision and hearing from a case that went undetected for 3 years. I started clearing up as soon as I finally went on antibiotics. Until then I was having faint spells, stiff joints, mental fog, severe lethargy, migratory pains, irritability, emotion swings - all sorts of things. I spent 6 months choking in my sleep and/or hesitant to make the slightest move because my heart felt like it would explode.
Keep in mind a tick anesthetizes a person when they bite so you dont have to recall feeling anything. There are also jillions of ticks in the grasses and dunes on the shore. I got mine at a beach in Cape Cod (I went to get a kite from some brier bushes).
If a doctor doesn't see a lot of Lyme they tend not to diagnose or handle it very well. If a test doesn't show Lyme they dont want to make a clinical diagnosis using other info. I can find out about a doctor in your area and PM you. Here is a link to symptom list:
I hadn't ruled Lyme out; but I've been tested mltiple, multiple times. All have come back negative, I'm aware that the test can be highly inaccurate, but my doctor has tested different times using different tests, and has even sent it my blood out of state for testing. I'm not ruling out, I just think it's highly unlikely I have it. My doctor sees a ton of Lyme cases, considering the area I'm in is basically a bunch of trees and farm land. I'm considering asking my doc (in 2 weeks) to run another Lyme test, because I know she'll be taking blood again, just to re-check that it isn't Lyme. I doubt it would come back positive though.
What a doctor really experienced with Lyme would do if your having many symptoms but testing negative is make a clinical dignosis based on observations and put you on a course of Amoxicillin to see what happens. Often people with Lyme get worse whan that happens because when the bacteria die they put off toxins and a person symptoms worsen (its called a Herxheimer Reaction).
See this is the problem - doctors prescribe treatment based on what they call "standard and usual" treatments that the medical boards and insurance companies agree upon. Some doctors are nervous about using antibiotics without a positive test. They are especially nervous because often people who had Lyme awhile will be on antibiotics for a lot longer than what is considered "standard and usual". Like tuberculosis the Lyme bacteria replicates slowly and they can show up in waves of a couple months.
When I woke up losing hearing and vision I knew I had Lyme after many months of researching/wondering. The first 2 doctors I saw wouldn't give me antibiotics because I didnt have the cherished "rash". When I went to a third docotor I told him I had had a rash (I didnt) and that it went away. He put me on antibiotics and I got sick as a dog for a few days and then I got better. In three weeks my hearing and vision were normal again (I was still stiff as a board though).
My problem was that after a month the doc took me off antibiotics and within 2 weeks I was back in troubles. That's when I found a doc who specialized just in Lyme (and he used to run the "National Task force on Aging" in Washington so he was no slouch) and was willing to put me on antibiotics for more than a month.
Its unfortunate, but doctors, insurance companies and agencies like the Center For Disease control have been fighting with each other for awhile and its very easy to fall between the cracks. Like me, you might have to keep knocking on doors until you get a doc that will try antibiotics on you. The longer you wait the worse it gets because the bacteria fears heat and oxygen and it burrows down into gland tissue where oral antibiotics have a hard time reaching it. Thats when a person will need IV antibiotic and even that can be hard to use.
I've got an appointment with my doctor in two weeks, I'll discuss the heart monitor with her then.
Medication wise, I only take one daily. I've been on and off several medications for the past few months. But, even when I was not on anything for 3 months, I was still experiencing these attacks.
I''m having a portable heart monitor in a couple of weeks for 48 hours... your just attched to some wires and have to keep a diary. I hope things go OK for you.
