Strange symptoms following deployment

[help4mydaddy]

My father is an Army Special Operations combat veteran of 30yrs. Since his last deployment he has been experiencing some strange symptoms. He has been to numerous doctors and was beginning to think others thought they were all in his head until recently a lab test found he had very high titre coarse speckled ANA's as of yet the doctors have not pinpointed the reason for them. Keep in mind up until these symptoms started appearing he was very active running several miles a day and lifting weights. He is 48 years old and has had numerous army deployments and has been exposed to many toxic chemicals. Here is a list of his frequent symptoms, but maybe not even complete....................benign bladder tumors
                                              benign lymph node tumors
                                              numerous malignant melanomas
                                              subeaceous cysts (sometimes grwoing as large as golfballs overnight)
                                              Severe bradycardia (often in the 20-50 range even with caffeine)
                                              erratic blood pressures
                                              low core body temps (94.9-96.9)
                                              severe allergies (never had them before)
                                              tremors
                                              temporary paralysis lasting for hours to a week
                                              seizures
                                              suddenly stopped producing testosterone
                                              weight gain
                                              sudden greying and thinning of hair
                                              confusion and dementia like symptoms
                                              extreme fatigue
                                              muscle aches and spasms
                                              joint inflammation and pain
                                              chronic diarrhea
                                              sudden onset resparitory symptoms like bronchial spasms
                                              sudden severe hearing loss and tenitus
                                              severe vertigo
                                              frequent mouth ulcers
                                              muscle deterioration
                                              chest pain
                                              palpitations
                                              fever like sypmtoms with low core temp
                                              weakness
                                              vision suddenly changed from 20/20 to 2/200
                                              frequent nausea
                                              testicular and groin pain
                                              miagratory numbness and tingling
                                              frquent infections and viruses( never experienced this before)
                                              fainting and black out spells
                                              insomnia
These all come and go but he is never without some symptoms. The doctors have ran test after test and cannot figure it out. They thought it was MS but the mri didnt show leisions. Any ideas? Anyhting that may point us in the right direction would be extremely helpful. His doctors and us are at a loss and the only help has been finding out there is an auto immune thing going on, but maybe you have some insights we all have over looked. Thank you very much for reading this.
                                                                Sincerely,
                                                                   Krystal
                                              
                                              
              

[karajo]

Hi and welcome to MedHelp.  
I am around your dad's age and have girls your age.  How precious of you to care so much about your daddy.  When I was so sick I couldn't function, it wouldv'e been sonderful to have someone doing the research for me.  What a blessing you are to your dad!

You dad has so much going on.  I wouldn't dismiss the thought your dad was exposed to something that could be contributing to this.  I don't quite know what to tell you.  Many sound like lupus, while some sound like MS.  Although, it's possible he has both.  And a negative MRI doesn't totally dismiss MS.  I would certainly post your question on the MS forum.  

Please define "very high ANA titer".  Could you give me a #?  Specked pattern is seen in SLE (systemic lupus), numerous other autoimmune diseases and in some healthy individuals.  (I laugh at this because why would they be checking a "healthy individual's ANA???)  But that's what the textbook says :o)  The amount is going to tell if it means something or possibly nothing.  

I don't know what to think about the bladder cyst and lymph node tumors, and no testosterone.  But the other symptoms I had before I was put on lupus medicine.  With everything your dad has been exposed to, I wouldn't doubt if your dad is not dealing with several things.  I know you all are frustrated with the run around you are gettin.  This is very typical.  Drs. don't rush into autoimmune diagnosis quickly.  

There are 11 criteria for a lupus dx.  You must have at least 4 of the 11 to recieve a dx.

They are:
1. malar rash over cheeks (butterfly rash)
2. discoid rash, red raised patches
3. photosensitivity - reaction to sunlight, resulting in skin rash
4. oral and nose ulcers
5. arthritis
6. serositis - inflamation of the lining of the lung or heart
7. reanl disorder - excessive protein in urine and/or cellular casts
8. neurologic disorder - seizures, or psychosis
9. anemia or low white blood countor lymphopenia or low platelet count
10. positive ANA
11. positive anti-DNA or anti-Sm, or antiphospholipid antibody or false pos. syphilis test

Other symptoms are:
fever
abdominal pain
chest pain
shortness of breath
blood in urine
hair falling out
fatigue
muscle pain and weakness
dizziness
poor memory
headaches
poor circulation in fingers and toes
tingling in extremities
diarrhea
bloating
nausea
weight loss
abdominal pain
blurred vision
depression
palpitations
raynauds (where fingers turn white when cold)
intollerance to cold
sore throat
...to name a few

Keep in mind that fibromyalgia, CFS, MS and lymes disease also have similar symptoms.  

How many of the 11 does your dad have?

Praying for your dad.  We are all so very grateful for his unselfish sacrifice for our freedom and other countries to have freedom.  
Freedom is not free.
Kara

[want2bik1]

I experienced many of the sympthoms you list and my last trip to the emergency room was told I showed sympthoms of MS in my upper body.  They could not find anything with the MRI so they put me on blood pressure medicine and told me to take an aspirin everyday.  They seem to think it was old age.  Investigating these sympthoms lead me to believeing I had mercury poisoning.  I had many amalgam (mercury fillings) in my mouth and had gingivitus.  If you father is in the military he has probably had many vaccinations which are full of mercury.  If you want to try something get the book "Prescription for Nutritional Healing".  It will give you a list of supplements your father can use to get the mercury and other toxins out of his body.  If the supplements work then you can examine other things to free your body of mercury.  I do not do vaccinations anymore and do not have any amalgams in my mouth now and all the sympthoms I had are gone.  Check out the Paleo diet which has shown success in treating autoimmune disease.