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Difficulty diagnosing, children involved, help appreciated

Hi,

Thanks for reading. There is a LOT that happened here, so I am going to try to reduce it to the important details.
About 3 months ago, sexual activity (kissing / oral, then protected vaginal) with a woman who said she had been in the hospital a few weeks ago for bad kidney pain after anal sex. Figured it was a UTI or something that was not contagious. They did extensive testing and never found anything, and said to stay hydrated, and she seemed to recover.

About two weeks later, went on a trip and had really bad congestion and cold/flu. Didn't think much of it as this has happened a lot when I travel. Could have passed something to children at this point as we were all in close contact.

2-3 weeks later, my children got ill, sore throats, feeling very bad, stayed home from school a few days. Eventually got better, but still some unusual fatigue the next couple of weeks, and sore throat that took a whiel to go away. My son still has a bit of phlegm and cough in the mornings.

I got slightly sick a few days after they did, and was also worried because their sore throats lasted so long. Did throat culture, nothing.

I started dealing with Urethritis in the midst of this, which also spread into prostatis. Presumably I acquired some bacteria from the oral. I should note that I have tested for basically all STDs/STIs outside of window period (latest HIV at 12 weeks), except for HSV which could be 4-6 months I hear, but negative at 3 months.

I took Doxycycline as prescribed, and had a horrible reaction. Felt like my blood was poisoned (found out later that's actually a thing) and almost called the ER, switched to Azithro. Very bad fatigue for 2-4 weeks, bad flank pain, major nocturia, horrible sleep and massive stress for 2-3 weeks. Lost 10-15 pounds.

Blood test showed Neutropfilis, Gilbert's Syndrome (high bilirbubin) - doc said 'fighting something' but wasn't worried - I said I've never pulled a bad blood result in my life before thise.

At some point after the Doxycycline incident, my throat got way worse and I noticed veins and red patches all over my sore throat. Cultured at ENT and came back with Klebsiella and Serratia. Prescribed Bactrim. Took for two weeks - most bodily symptoms went away (flank pain, episodes of increased pulse and headache, occasional left leg pain). Still left with occasional lung/heart pain, though its better.

So seems like a Klebsiella/Serratia infection that disseminated through my body? Problem is, even after meds throat looks bad and I feel 'something' in my throat - not blocking, but its there and gets better or worse. Also have bad bumps on back of tongue, plus the aforementioned red lesions (?).

My two older children have recovered, but my two year old still has very unusual fatigue, and has days where she won't eat. They were all throat swabbed and came back clean. But I KNOW something is wrong with my daughter.

I feel like it is viral, because I still have days where I'm tired, throat hurts, and some sort of head tiredness. Maybe my immune systems was weakened from fighting multiple things and the wrong medicine, and she just had a weaker immune system due to being two.

I had EBV in college and had tonsils out. Wondering if it could have flared up, but probably just some diagnosed virus? No one really had badly swollen lymph nodes, or fevers. Just the fatigue, lack of appetite, and moodiness. I'm at a loss here.
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1415174 tn?1453243103
COMMUNITY LEADER
Hi, and welcome. We are not doctors on these sites. But I can give you some advise. Are you male? It sounds like a bad reaction to the antibiotics at first and then the normal bacteria got wiped out and you got the oral infection after that. Why don't you try taking probiotics for  a month and then see how you feel. Any fever? If you still feel bad after that I would see a infectious disease doctor. They may be able to put together what happened. But it doesn't sound like an exposure due to sex . Rather that you had a virus from the flight and then it spread to the children and you and / or they got a secondary infection possibly. Too many antibiotics and a reaction to them possibly. If you had strep throat you usually have a high fever and sometimes/usually pus in the throat. Then if you are not treated you can get other things. Have you retested the liver enzymes since all this happened? Did you take a lot of Tylenol to feel better or get a fever down? That would raise your liver blood enzymes a lot. Those will go back down if you go off it. It is possible you got hepatitis A from food poisoning or contaminated food. This can come on after it happens. Were you tested for this? I am glad and surprised you haven't been exposed to HSV after three months you are negative for both HSV 1 and 2? Most people are positive as adults.
regards,
mkh9
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4 Comments
No, there never really were fevers, that’s the weird thing. We all just have low grade ear/nose/throat/head symptoms that have lasted 1-2 months so far that aren’t really debilitating, but sort of cause this constant low level fatigue all through the day.

I definitely caught some bacteria or infection that disseminated through my body, and definitely agree that my microbiome was thrown off. I just got off meds and my plan is to try to rest, take probiotics, Keifer etc and try to get right.

But there was definitely at least one other virus going around, and I can’t tell if it started with me or the kids.

I can’t rmemdber having this “angry” sore throat and hoarseness for so long, and all the kids having something in their throat too. Again, not debilitating and not strep. All of us were throat swabbed. Klebsiella and Serratia were found in me only, only definitive thing that was ever found. I also smoked  weed throughout the whole period which could have exacerbated my symptoms. So my children’s are much milder, but still there.

One other weird thing - we seem to have all become more sensitive to the sun. I feel like I’ve developed more moles and brown spots on my skin. My kids seem to have doubled the freckles on their face. All got the worst sunburns of their lives a few weeks ago.

Could be coincidence, but thought it was weird. None of them have had any meds during this period (because nothing was ever found).

I’m going to do another blood draw soon, wanted to be off meds for a week first, and see how I feel. Then maybe see an ID like you recommended
Oh, and only bilirubin was high, other liver enzymes were normal. That and some Neutriphilis and low electrolytes.
And yes male. And also surprised I haven’t been exposed to HSV at this point
Hi feverdreams,
A lot of antibiotics can cause sun sensitivity. It usually says on the bottle of the pills. It is a good rule to not got out too
much in the sun when taking antibiotics. Or cover up. Not all of them do that but a number of them do.
Not sure why your bilirubin was high in particular.  high neutrophils are usual with an infection.
mkh9
Avatar universal
Oh, and strongly wondering about HPV as well
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