dizziness, nausea, fatigue, light sensitivity, headache, cold hands/feet, joint/muscle aches, weakness, What is it?

[trixi138]

I am a 26 y-o- Female. For the past 3 months now I have been having strange symptoms like nausea, dizziness (extreme at times), headache behind the eye and sensitivity to light, joint/muscle aches and stiffness mostly in hands and feet but occassionally like a full body flu-type attack, weakness in wrists, cold feet and hands that feel like they are plunged in ice water whenever I take a hot bath/shower, constant feeling of cold so that I just can't get warm, occasional hot flashes and chills, exhaustion and sleepiness all day but hard to stay asleep, and memory problems/disorientation like a brain "fog", flashes and shadows out of the corner of my eyes, and some other symptoms not listed. I have a history of Graves Disease diagnosed at 12 years old and treated for several years with PTU. I had a relapse at the age of 18 and had radioactive ablation of the thyroid done. I have recently seen a rhuematologist due to a slightly elevated RH factor (14) and he drew more labs to detect Lupus and other autoimmune connective tissue disorders, all of which came out negative or normal including the CCP test for rheumatoid arthritis. Though my TSH levels have been hard to keep stable (recently miscarried at 8 weeks with a TSH of 40), this last test was normal (Currently taking thyroxin 100 mcgs and Cytomel 10 mcgs) including antibody and FT4 and FT3 levels. Blood count and lIver tests were also normal. Xrays of hands and chest were normal. Opthamologist visit reported normal eyes except for slight dryness. Other than these, I have a history of repeated low vit D levels, atypical PCOS as determined by cystic ovaries on ultrasound and borderline insulin resistence, but no androgenic factors. I go to neurology in a month's time and also back to rheumatology. I know there are autoimmune disorders of the nervous system that can cause some of these symptoms, but I have not noticed numbness or nerve-like pains or extreme muscle weakness that seem to be found in most of them. I know it is possible that I have the early stages of rhuematoid arthritis as I do have a family history of it, but some of these symptoms don't seem to fit. Any ideas about what could be going on with me and further testing I need to pursue? Thank you.

[hbee96]

I'm a 15 year old girl and I've been having these symptoms for about a year now and I'm not sure whether to go to a doctor or not - I could just be being silly (my mum would only ever take me to the doctors if something was actually wrong). The symptoms are:

- Dizziness
- Fatigue (EXTEMELY tired everyday and sleeping doesn't help)
- Nausea
- Abdominal pain
- Weakness in arms and legs
- Occasional Migraines in my right eye
- Headache
- Frequent UTIs
- Loss of Appetite
- Feeling sick after eating and sometimes even looking at / smelling food

Also, I was treated for lower back pain about 4-5 months ago and they didn't know what was wrong but they gave me 3 doses of antibiotics on separate occasions but they only provided temporary relief, then i was given an ultrasound to inspect my kidneys (there is no possible way i could be pregnant - still a virgin) but nothing showed up and then I was sent to a physiotherapist who helped for a bit but my mum didn't want to travel the distance to the practice each week so I stopped. The doctors also said they would give me an MRI if it persisted but I haven't been back and its not as frequent as it used to be.

Can anyone help me please? I'm scared

[SMG247]

Help! Im a 22 year old woman who is otherwise usually helathy until this past year! It all started back in November with a simple suposed Bronchitis Infection. The infection was treated and went away. Shortly after I started getting daily headaches, feelings of extreme tiredness, moments of moderate to severe dizzy spells, and achey/tender feelings all over my body.Also included,seeing blurry spots in my vision, my eyes feeling weak/heavy,and sometimes its hard to visually focus on objects or things. The headaches range from a 5 to 10 on a pain scale and never seem to completely subside. When first seeing these sympotms my doctor diagnosed it as a sinus infection, but since november I have been back to her at least once a month. Every month up until this last visit in February 2012, she prescribed me a different antibiotic and dismissed it as a sinus infection. I HAD ENOUGH. This past visit I went in telling her all of these sypmtoms over again, insisting that the antibiotics were not working and that I did not believe I had a sinus infection anymore, and that I would not keep putting antibiotics in my system if they werent  needed or helping the cause of my problems. She became very testy, short winded and sent me for blood work and a cat scan. After she had promised she would call with the cat scan results she never called and still has not to this day even after I picked up the results myself ( it has been 4 days) I am still waiting on my blood work results which should suposedly be ready today Friday February 24th, and I have a feeling I will have to get my own answers on that as well since I believe my doctor will not call. Aside from her incompetence and unprofessionalisim.. Im very worried about my symptoms and what could be wrong. So many people on different health forums have similar if not the same exact symptoms as I describe, and theyve never been treated or found answers! I feel as if the symptoms grow slowly worse.. I have trouble completing the daily tasks that usually Id have no trouble with. I have pain in what feels to be the middle of my back..possibly my spine, my lower back, and the base of my neck. The headaches range from the frontal location, to both temporal lobes, to the top of my head, and really never stay in one set location.Ive tried tylenol, aleeve, excederin, and buterol with caffine which is supposed to help headaches and has caused no relief. Ive found I cannot take excederin or any sort of sudafed medication because it makes my heart race, and causes more sleeplessness, and irritability than I already expreience. My dizzyness also causes extreme nausea in some cases. Two seperate ocassions within weeks of each other, I had experienced pins and needles like never before in my face, nose, and  hands, both times my body felt numb, and I lost feeling in my hands. They became clenched in a locked position fingertips touching the inside of my palms. I experienced heavy breathing, chest pain, dizzyness and vomiting. The most recent ocassion that this happened I did take excederin, so im not sure if it was a reaction the the meds or that this is indeed part of my symptoms unrelated to the medicince. Please if anyone has any knowledge..help! Thanks.

[CL90231]

I have had bouts of all of the symptoms listed in this thread for the last 30 years (since I was 35). I will just say for a quick response to you regarding the hands clenching - I am positive that is from hyper-ventilating (not all your other symptoms which I am sure are real and have another cause), but specifically the hand clenching is a definitive sign of too much carbon dioxide in your blood caused by hyper-ventilating (which you might be doing, and which I was doing for  many years, when all of my other scary symptoms occured. I am now 65 and for the last 15 years I have been able to control my hyper-ventilation and panic attacks through mindfulness, meditation, slow deep-breathing exercises etc.  I am telling you all this, not to imply that all the other very real symptoms are caused by the panic attacks, but only that as a result of the scary symptoms you are experiencing, you may be also having panic attacks and hyper-ventilation. Best of luck. :))

[CL90231]

I have had bouts of all of the symptoms listed in this thread for the last 30 years (since I was 35). I will just say for a quick response to you regarding the hands clenching - I am positive that is from hyper-ventilating (not all your other symptoms which I am sure are real and have another cause), but specifically the hand clenching is a definitive sign of too much carbon dioxide in your blood caused by hyper-ventilating (which you might be doing, and which I was doing for  many years, when all of my other scary symptoms occured. I am now 65 and for the last 15 years I have been able to control my hyper-ventilation and panic attacks through mindfulness, meditation, slow deep-breathing exercises etc.  I am telling you all this, not to imply that all the other very real symptoms are caused by the panic attacks, but only that as a result of the scary symptoms you are experiencing, you may be also having panic attacks and hyper-ventilation. Best of luck. :))

[krys126]

Has anyone ever heard of Scleroderma also known as C.R.E.S.T. Syndrome? I've had all of the symptoms and also discoleration of the skin. I found out about three years ago but then gave up on doctors. I felt like nothing was changing and I was terrified of all the meds I was supposed to take. Now I have relocated and started to get worse so I have returned to the doctors. Does anyone know of any good Rhuemotologist in New Jersey?

[donjoe341]

I agree with better testing. Our lyme md had to go by our symptoms alone because testing for co-infections is even worse then lyme testing. I feel sometimes like we are getting no where. We were in treatment for bartonella for 4 months, switched to levoquin for 6 weeks and it nearly killed us, went back to treating bart with antibiotics and herbs for 2 months, my husband is now in treatment for babesia, I am taking many antibiotics for lyme but possible babesia as well. It is very frustrating. I am in a down period right now do to die off. I am at the 4 week marker. We are still doing much better then a year ago. We are very thankful we found a doctor that knows what he is doing.

[NEB_O]

And, I'd like to add that there are many, many kinds of tick borne diseases that the lyme test doesn't test for.  It only tests for the bacteria in a lyme infection.  It's almost impossible to get a definitive test, but if you find a lyme specialist he or she will know which antibiotics to use for your specific infections.  I wish they would come up with more testing for these diseases, as it wastes a lot of time and money trying to find out whats wrong when a course (sometimes a long course) of antibiotics could help people out.

[donjoe341]

lyme disease causes the body to become deficient in many vitamins minerals and even hormones. I started taking all kinds of supplements when I was very ill. It helped some but didn't fix my health condition. I was tested for lyme through a lyme specialist and found it was positive. Western blot testing is not very accurate either. A lyme specialist will test you through IGENEX labs. They are the best testing facility for lyme disease and other tick infections.
I was where you are now and I am doing much better because I am in treatment for lyme disease. Lyme will make you very emotional, depressed, fatigued with never ending tiredness. These are just a few symptoms. There are about 95 more. You can contact me if you want directions on how to find a lyme specialist.