Several Symptoms No Answers HELP

[GregandLacey]

Hello,

My husband is 26 yrs old, 5'10, and recently 280 pounds.  He has always had back and neck problems with his first surgery being 2002, which was a fusion for a bulging disk.  He was diagnosed with degenerative disk disease which he  has always had issues with.  Three months ago he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder which he has never shown symptoms of before.  These episodes will include mania which he will start sweating profusely, be unable to concentrate, blood pressure will shoot through the roof, and he has trouble with slurring his speech.  He has gained 40 pounds in the last three months.  Within the last week he started swelling throughout his entire body.  He put on an additional 15 pounds in two days.  The PCP said it was due to some kind of renal failure.  He prescribed him Lasiks, Potassium, and Benadryl.  He is having to take three 40mg Lasiks per day to keep the swelling to a minimum.  He has stopped taking all meds other than the ones listed above and 175mg of Effexor a day.  He was taking 200mg of Librium, 50mg Tegratol, 50mg Metrotoprol, and Lorazepam as needed.  Please forgive the spelling.  He has horrible burning sensations all over his body.  His skin is HOT to the touch except for his face.  This is just all too crazy.  How can all these things happen at once and not have some underlying cause.  He was tested for RA, Lupus, all "blood work", has been done and nothing but his blood sugar was out of the ordinary and that wasn't bad.  I'm about to pull my hair out because none of this makes any sense to me.  If you can make any sense from my rambling, please give me something to go on.  Please if you have any kind of idea let me know and I will ask the PCP to test for it.

Thank you

Lacey

[Abhijeet Deshmukh, MD]

Hello.

I am not convinced that he has bipolar disorder. The typical symptoms of bipolar disorder are euphoria, agitation, feelings of grandiosity, over-talkativeness, aggression, reduced or lack of sleep in the manic phase. Are there any of these symptoms present in your husband?

Was an MRI of the brain taken? I was wondering about a possibility of a pituitary tumor. Here is an article for you to read. May be, you can ask his PCP to check for this.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0CYD/is_7_38/ai_100131464

Some extract from the article, " The problem is that many clinically significant pituitary adenomas go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed for many years, during which they wreak physical, psychological, and economic havoc in patients' lives. (See related story)

Rapid weight gain, fluid retention, sexual dysfunction, loss of libido, infertility fatigue, weakness, visual loss, headache, emotional lability, and distortion of body image can be utterly devastating, said Dr. Edward Laws Jr., professor of neurosurgery, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, and current president of the World Federation of Neurological Societies."

Let me know.

Regards

[GregandLacey]

Thank you so much for responding.  We are going to the PCP in the morning and I will show him your article.  I'll post as soon as we get home.  I really appreciate this.

[wingnut19]

I am praying for you both..Please keep us informed....


T.