I neeeeeed Helppppppp!

[medimystery]

I have been from doctor to doctor, and no one can figure out what is wrong with me.  These are my symptoms:

-Abdominal swelling
-Severe swelling of one leg to the point where it is two and a half times the size of the other
-shortness of breath
-periodic joint pain
-always fatigued
-inability to sleep
-always conjested (have to blow my nose at least fifteen times when I wake up every morning, and  
        still have to throughout the day)--  Has gone on for years
-eye floaters
-psoriasis
-loss of hair on the head along with no hair growing out of one leg
-burning tongue
-swelling of the fingers
-continuous neck crackeling
-a lesion on the finger that has been there for close to a year and a half
-acidy feeling in the stomach
-feeling of fullness in the stomach
-had a dry cough for almost six years which is beginning to come back
-strong anxiety
-lymphnodes hard in pelvic/ upper leg area (biopsy showed benign)

History
- I was bitten by a venomous spider but received no treatment as the doctor deemed it not important
- was treated for lyme disease with one month oral antibiotics
- was diagnosed many years ago with heavy metal poisoning
- previously I had lost completely both my sense of smell and taste for over two months straight
- with antibiotics symptoms start to disappear, but as no doctor I can find is willing to continue antibiotics for more than a few weeks, symptoms eventually come back, or a new symptom develops

If anybody has had similar experiences or can offer any help, please write back.  I would really appreciate the help and am feeling like I am out of options as the doctors are completely out of suggestions.

[Jnette1]

Hi,
Just a thought to help with the swelling. There is a technique in the field of Cranio-Sacral Therapy for limph drainage. I have seen a report with photos of a severe case of swollen leg which was dramatically helped with this technique. You can get in touch with the Upledger Institute in FL to find a practitioner near you. The toll free number is 1-800-233-5880.
Good Luck!

[Dylan338]

I am writing just in case it can help you -- because I had a big mix of symptoms -- but I was able to determine the cause.   I had tingling headaches and bad ear ringing for months.  I had bouts of nausea, acid reflux, sleep problems, night sweats as well as a heavy foggy headed feeling. My eyes would occasionally go blurry.  I felt anxious although nothing was so stressful in my life.   I had pains in my facial bones.  It took me a long time to realize that I was reacting very strongly to radiation from cell phones (and antennae towers), dect phones (powerful cordless phones) and wifi systems -- all radiate a lot of radiation and my body just couldn't take it anymore.   Basically I had sharp pains when I used these devices but it still took me a long time to make the connection.   I didn't believe it but a friend recommended to literally turn them all off for a few days and I began to feel a bit better – it took a week to feel more myself again.  

I learned that I was so sensitive that I was reacting to most electronics that cast an electromagnetic field -- all I can say is that I know it sounds crazy and most doctors know absolutely zero about it.  The following sites helpful in just understanding what the hell was going on  electrosensitivity.org and weepinitiative.org  and I joined health.groups.yahoo.com/group/emfrefugee/   where I founds hundreds of people around the world suffering from exactly the same symptoms  – I learned what to stay away from – it is still a struggle but at least I know what it is I suffer from and how to feel better -- of course their are cell/micro/tv/radio waves all over -- but proximity to a device makes all the difference in the power that goes through you/us.
I hope this helps you -- and feel better in any case.
Dylan338

[jr0926]

Wow, you are certainly going through a lot! One thing I would suggest is that you not search for a single diagnosis to explain all your symptoms, as some of them may well be unrelated to each other.

Like lumbarworry, I'm guessing that you've had a lot of medical investigations, but I would certainly want to know your B12 level (burning tongue), would test you for h. pylori (acidy feeling in stomach), and would want to know your thyroid, kidney and liver functions. I'm assuming, also, that you know for certain you don't have diabetes, since that alone could account for a number of your symptoms. If your swollen leg is on the same side as the scarred lymph nodes, you may have had some kind of infection there that damaged the lymphatics, and this has resulted in the swelling. Like lumbarworry, just throwing out thoughts.

I might visit an infectious disease specialist to see what he/she thinks of your history; assuming you tested positive for Lyme at some point in the psat, your antibody will remain positive indefinitely, but this doesn't indicate whether the disease might still be active. Unless it was detected and treated right after you contracted it, your Lyme disease may, in fact, still be present - a single month of antibiotics doesn't sound adequate, in my experience.

Good luck

Jr

[RRBerdine]

Do not combine meds with aspartame.  (Equal-Splenda)  I'm sure many will kick their heals up at this one, but many will find the relief they are looking for.

[lumbarworry]

Sounds like you're having a really tough time.  If you are often on antibiotics, even if they help, not doubt they are leaving you open to yeast infections.  This may be causing some of the digestive symptoms.  Are you taking probiotics such as acidophilus?  These may help and certainly will do no harm.  Antibiotics long term can cause their own problems with the kidneys and blood etc., so you may also be reacting to these, which is possibly why your doctor is reluctant to prescribe them long term.  Regarding everything else, who knows?  If you have had heavy metal poisoning you may want to think of completely detoxing with the advice of a good nuitritionist or naturopathic practioner, maybe some problems could be solved with changes in diet.  Just guessing here.  It does sound as though your body is struggling to fight some chronic infection, or maybe has even triggered an autoimmune response from a previous infection.  I don't know what tests you've had but I assume you've had all the blood, urine, hormone levels etc done eg thyroid, cortisol levels etc?  Sounds like maybe you need to be your own doctor on this one.  Get all your information together, do your research, and also maybe look for alternative practitioners who can raise your general health to a level you can start to fight this with your own immune system.  Sometimes things just improve on their own, or they don't worsen and you learn how to mnage things.  Here is a lay person just throwing out suggestions, but you're doing the right thing by asking around.  Hope you feel better in the near future and please post if you get a diagnosis, could help some other person with the same problems.