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What could cause all of these serious symptoms?

I'm sorry this is so long, but I've been sick for weeks with no answers. Anxiety has already been ruled out. Almost nine weeks ago I started having vision impairment and a headache. I thought it might have been delayed whiplash from a car accident I had about 10 days before on 10/29/16. I was checked out at the hospital after the accident and CT of neck, chest and abdomen looked fine. Since I was still having vision problems, I saw my neurologist 11/14/16 and had an MRI and CT of the head. I was at work on 11/23/16 and I got very lightheaded and almost fell over when standing up from the floor. About 30mins later I got an awful sharp pain in the top of my head that felt like a knife going through to my jaw. I became ice cold (a lady told me I was like ice when I handed her change) and shaky. I called my husband to stay the 45mins until I went home. My heart then began racing and pounding and I felt like I would pass out. He took me to the ER where they said I wasn't having a heart attack and sent me home. The entire next day I could not get out of bed and my heart was racing and pounding. I could see my heart beat when I closed my eyes and feel it in my head. I was sick like this for three full days. 11/27/16 I went to the ER again and they told me the same thing. They also told me on 11/29/16 my magnesium was 1.4 and my bilirubin was elevated, but did nothing. I was having headache, palpitations, low blood pressure, vision impairment, and shakiness. I can not stand up without my pulse shooting up to 130. It's exhausting. One more trip to the ER told me I probably had esophagitis. My GI had me scheduled for an endoscopy on 12/8/16 and with my heart being so fast and blood pressure being low, I was admitted to make sure I remained stable. I was given a magnesium IV in the ER, but it made my stomach sick and I had pure liquid bowel movements. I had the scope the next day and it showed nothing. No esophagitis, but very mild irritation so they gave me Protonix. During my stay, my bilirubin stayed elevated but fluctuated. My magnesium was low, and the attending doctor said 1.4 is low and I should have been given magnesium. I got magnesium IV once a day because it didn't go up much. It was 1.3 and went up to 1.5 when I left on 12/11/16. I was having episodes, when trying to fall asleep, of warm tingling sensations in my chest and abdomen which would cause me to wake up and shake/contract my muscles. I started having burning pain across my chest, like sunburn. They kept wanting to give me Protonix and I couldn't stress to them that it was not heartburn, but more nerve related. The tingling started on my eyebrow and moved up to my forehead. I told the nurse, but she didn't care. Over a couple hours it moved to my jaw and neck. I told the nurse again and she said, "Still?" I saw a neurologist there who ordered an MRI and MRA of my brain. The report came back unremarkable. It did not even note a calcifying mass I have had and saw on the 11/14/16 MRI. I had another CT of chest, abdomen and pelvis just to make sure they didn't miss anything. That looked fine, and I was discharged on 12/11/16 with a prescription for Mag-Ox 400mg. I still had all the symptoms including the tingling burning feeling when falling asleep. My symptom list increased over the next week, adding muscle twitches and almost like convulsions. I would wake up and rock my hips or clench my butt. I felt very shaky inside, like I am shaking, but you can't tell unless up close. I notice when I'm holding my phone it shakes. My balance has deteriorated. My 16mo daughter can push me over just wanting to be picked up. My PCP had me tested for GCA since my hospital bloodwork showed giant platelets and my arteries on my temples/by my ears became raised. My bloodwork for that came back low, and I saw a rheumatologist who said I don't have it. I saw my regular GI who ordered a liver ultrasound and tons of bloodwork for liver diseases and tick illnesses. My liver looks beautiful on ultrasound, but my bilirubin was 2.7. 12/23/16 I went to the ER because my pulse went to 120 while lying down and my mom said I was pale. I had my sugar checked in the ambulance and it was 95. I had just eaten an hour before. At the hospital my sugar was checked and it was 45. Three hours after eating. I was given juice and grahams and it went up to 116. My magnesium and potassium were low so they gave me suppliment pills. My PCP wanted to test my adrenals. I had an ultrasound which showed a swollen kidney, a cyst in the kidney, and something appeared to be in the ureter. I did an adrenal cortex test and had blood tests for my hormones and a 24hr urine collection on 12/30/16. I haven't gotten a call about the results, but it's probably negative if they didn't call. I have been continuing to wake up and have shakiness and mild convulsions. My husband would give me orange juice in case my sugar was getting low, since it was so low in the hospital the one time. I had taken a hot bath with epsom salts before bed three nights in a row and noticed I didn'the have the problem in the night. I also have a 30-day holter monitor on because of the tachycardia and increase when standing or sitting up.
1/5/17 I went to the ER for chest pain. It was deep and not on the surface that I could rub. In the ambulance, the medic gave me asprin to chew because he saw something very minor but concerned him a little. He said, "it means a part of your heart is angry." A cardiologist looked at it in the hospital and said it was okay. At the hospital I had a chest x-ray which looked good and blood work. My enzyme test was good and they said the EKG looked okay. Magnesium was 1.3 so I'm not absorbing the mag oxide. When I was leaving, I started having stomach pain across my whole abdomen and to the back. I went home and prayed it would just go away. Yesterday I went to a cardiologist I see and had an EKG, which he said looked good. I was still having stomach pain and it became unbearable, so my husband took me back to the ER. I had a CT of abdomen and pelvis. My kidneys looked good in that and there was no hernia.
Today I woke up around 6:30am and could not fall back asleep. My chest hurts and when trying to sleep I get the burning and tingling feeling that causes me to wake up. I don't believe it's sleep paralysis because I can move, which is how I shake myself out of it. My face, tops of feet, and upper arms have a tingly burning feeling. I keep thinking I might die because it's been over two months and no one knows what's wrong. I'm scheduled for a sleep study on 1/21. The only thing I can think of is it's something neurological causing nerve problems making my heart race and low blood pressure, or it's my heart and lack of blood flow causing the tingling sensations.
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Avatar universal
I agree Magnesium Oxide is awful. I use magnesium chloride topically and internally.

I don't have kidney issues.

Did they check your Vitamin D levels?

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Avatar universal
Hi there, I am so sorry you are going through all these terrifying health problems. It's so incredibly draining dealing with all this, never mind the fact that no one can give you an actual answer.

I want to first say that Magnesium Oxide is the worst form of magnesium to take. It essentially is nothing more than a laxative. It doesn't get absorbed in the body well at all. That could be one reason why you don't feel you are absorbing it. All the cheap drugstore brand magnesiums are made with Magnesium oxide. The best forms of Magnesium are Magnesium Glycinate and Magnesium Citrate. You can buy them at health food stores or vitamin shops. They actually get absorbed into the body.

I think what you have sounds like it could indeed be Lyme Disease , which I see they have tested you for. Lyme is a tick-borne disease. However, testing for it is incredibly inaccurate. The Lyme Disease tests only detect 50% of cases of it. Lyme Disease is known for attacking the nervous system, and it seriously depletes magnesium in the body, which could be the reason you are so deficient in magnesium right now.

There is a great Lyme Disease section right here on Medhelp.  I would post in there. Many knowledgeable people on there. I had Lyme Disease undiagnosed for months and I had many of the same symptoms as you. I got tested a ton of times for it and the doctors all said I was negative for it. I was in and out of the hospital like you trying to find answers. It ended up in the end being Lyme Disease.

Definitely look into it.
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Thank you so much for answering. I had a Lyme panel done by my nerve doctor since he's also a Lyme specialist. He said the ELISA is only 40% accurate and mine came back negative. This was sometime before Christmas and I'm scheduled to see him on the 9th to go over results. I also purchased ionized magnesium chloride liquid to add to water. The doctor who developed it emailed me back after requesting counsel and told me only 4% of magnesium oxide is absorbed into the body. Only 1% of the body's magnesium is shown in blood, so it could show normal range but be lower since the blood levels stays up by pulling it from bones and tissues.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and answer me. I really appreciate it.
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