Beefany
22-02-15, 12:30
I've been a lurker on here for quite some time, maybe four days or so. But I've finally cracked and am looking for some support from those in a similar position. So basically the last 5 weeks have been hellish, been to my local GP's more times than I can count and am still confused. I had a kidney infection waaaay back all those weeks ago, and did the whole antibiotics thing which I expected to go just like it always had done in the past: totally without complication. Ahh the wrongness, I had an allergic reaction which left me with a suspicious rash and a stabbing sensation in all my muscles. The stabbings did eventually drift off after stopping the antibiotics, but of course I still had a kidney infection so I went back to the doctors for more. Couldn't take these ones either, then the next ones weren't alleviating symptoms, then the next ones brought on a sensation like my nervous system had lost it's bloody mind, and for all I knew so had I.
Obviously I had been to the doctors on and off throughout this time, but they had brushed off my symptoms as side effects, you know, stuff to be tolerated if you wanted to get better. Blood tests and ultrasounds were done to make sure it was in fact a kidney infection we were fighting, all clear. I felt as if I was unable to illustrate how terrified I had become at how I was feeling and felt completely alone. I ended up ringing an out of hours service on the NHS and saw a primary care doctor there. I had convinced myself that I had developed serotonin syndrome from the last round of antibiotics, I knew there had been a correlation between the condition and the drugs and reading about it helped me to describe my symptoms more clearly to him. He looked up at me after doing some simple tests and said "you don't have serotonin syndrome, you do however have hyperventilation syndrome". I asked him if it had caused the problems and he said "yes, it could have caused aaall your problems". He then went on to say he couldn't find any evidence of a kidney infection either. I was in complete disbelief.
The doctor was an abrupt kinda guy and did little in the way of explaining what all these sensations meant but being fairly flummoxed and generally spaced out I didn't think to retaliate. I was sure he had misunderstood, or I hadn't explained properly, or maybe we hadn't done the correct tests. Because, there was no doubt I was in pain, and nothing I've known of anxiety has included physical symptoms outside the usual shortness of breath, chest pain etc etc. Even then, I thought, I don't even feel anxious right now? What is this man talking about? I'm going to die if we don't find the cause!
I tried sticking with the thought it was anxiety, although my mind kept trying to work out the past weeks, trying to find plausible explanations and linking symptoms together. I think it's far to say I have been pretty consumed with this and had no doubt the anxiety had been exacerbating things, but not the bloody cause...
Two days after that, I caught what I assume to be a viral infection. Nausea, muscle pain, headache all hit me like a bus. Being the, now, hypervigilant health warrior, I galloped back to the GP. Nothing to see really, urine was fine, glands were swollen, took some more blood and told me they'd get back to me in the morning. Found nothing expect small traces of a viral infection. Despite the 'small' diagnosis I had started to feel sharp pains all over my body, in particular my right hand which at times felt like it was joint related, other times muscular. But this happened everywhere. The pain in my lower back was still there too, which had me convinced the kidney infection had returned down to never finishing a course of antibiotics. I scoured the Internet, looking for flu symptoms and taking solace that maybe the flu could have caused all of this. But it didn't seem to match, why would the pain be localised? Specifically in my damn hand and lower back? The pain too, was at times a stabbing pains, not just muscle aches. God damn it, I'm going to have to go to an out of hours doctor again.
Now it's strange. I found that whilst waiting to be seen in the hospital, my symptoms would lift slightly. And as the doctors checked me over, he was flippant and to a degree I can understand. They're looking for the life threatening stuff and to him, there was nothing to be concerned about. But then, why did I feel this way! I would find blood in my urine and go to get it checked only to find nothing! Blood was fine too. My relationship with my mother was on thin ice, she scolded me for wasting everyone's time and I was distraught that she couldn't believe there was something going on that wasn't yet explained.
I then stumbled upon a more insidious explanation. I had been experiencing some bizarre neurological sensations that were akin to the serotonin syndrome I thought had been caused by the last lot of antibiotic. I would go to bed and wake up in the middle of the night with vertigo, and an unexplainable sensation like I was going to convulse. My muscles would be twitching quite noticeably and I would be jerked awake by it. My brian felt fuzzy and I felt like I would go away for a second or so and I'd be shocked back into reality by this strange mental sensation. This would happen without feeling anxious. Couple this with the muscular and joint pain and I was seriously concerned. Rang 111 again, the guy suggests SLE. Lupus. Like, other the phone dammit. I suggest this to my GP who said my blood being normal kinda went against that diagnosis (although you have to be looking specifically for it). I did some reading, and the first antibiotic that gave me the allergic reaction and rash, had links to drug induced lupus. I thought I had come across the explanation. It even explained the rash, the neurological issues, the pain, everything.
I have since been told the rash on my back looks more like an allergic reaction than lupus and that for them to be concerned I'd have to be losing consciousness and having serious muscle weakness. I've been referred by my GP to a hospital doctor who deals more with 'medically unexplained symptoms' although I have no idea how long that'll take. As it stands, I'm a total mess.
I still have physical symptoms which ebb and flow and don't always stay for very long, but they are at times severe. They are as follows:
Sharp muscular pain
Hip pain
Aches
Some joint pain, particularly in hands
Electric shock feeling
Nausea
Lower back pain
Spine pain
Neck pain
Tingling feet
Fuzzy head
Muscle twitches and trembles
Hyperactivity
Depression
Headaches
Abdominal pain
Lack of appetite
Burning sensation on skin
Strange feeling in head - perception suddenly changes and I feel like I go blank for a second, there is a Nausea and a fuzziness that accompanies this. Has anyone experienced this? It feels like a small seizure.
Wet feeling on skin
I would say I was concerned about the neurological issues. But it's all completely overwhelming and I feel at a loss for what to do. The pains come and go, but there's always something there even if it doesn't last too long. I do find relief by deep breathing but my blocked sinuses prevent that from being a permanent go-to. I am really hoping this is anxiety, although I still cannot for one moment believe it could cause all of this.
I guess my question is, if you've read this far, you patient lovely person, is this the nature of the beast? Can it cause all of this? My life has become consumed by this and I'm feeling alone.
I've suffered from anxiety for as long as I can remember but it never interfered with my life the way it's appeared to have done these past few weeks.
---------- Post added at 12:30 ---------- Previous post was at 12:16 ----------
P. S. I have yet to receive any kind of Neurological exam. Can doctors do anything akin to this, or must I see a Neurologist? I ask because the waiting list can at times be very long.
Obviously I had been to the doctors on and off throughout this time, but they had brushed off my symptoms as side effects, you know, stuff to be tolerated if you wanted to get better. Blood tests and ultrasounds were done to make sure it was in fact a kidney infection we were fighting, all clear. I felt as if I was unable to illustrate how terrified I had become at how I was feeling and felt completely alone. I ended up ringing an out of hours service on the NHS and saw a primary care doctor there. I had convinced myself that I had developed serotonin syndrome from the last round of antibiotics, I knew there had been a correlation between the condition and the drugs and reading about it helped me to describe my symptoms more clearly to him. He looked up at me after doing some simple tests and said "you don't have serotonin syndrome, you do however have hyperventilation syndrome". I asked him if it had caused the problems and he said "yes, it could have caused aaall your problems". He then went on to say he couldn't find any evidence of a kidney infection either. I was in complete disbelief.
The doctor was an abrupt kinda guy and did little in the way of explaining what all these sensations meant but being fairly flummoxed and generally spaced out I didn't think to retaliate. I was sure he had misunderstood, or I hadn't explained properly, or maybe we hadn't done the correct tests. Because, there was no doubt I was in pain, and nothing I've known of anxiety has included physical symptoms outside the usual shortness of breath, chest pain etc etc. Even then, I thought, I don't even feel anxious right now? What is this man talking about? I'm going to die if we don't find the cause!
I tried sticking with the thought it was anxiety, although my mind kept trying to work out the past weeks, trying to find plausible explanations and linking symptoms together. I think it's far to say I have been pretty consumed with this and had no doubt the anxiety had been exacerbating things, but not the bloody cause...
Two days after that, I caught what I assume to be a viral infection. Nausea, muscle pain, headache all hit me like a bus. Being the, now, hypervigilant health warrior, I galloped back to the GP. Nothing to see really, urine was fine, glands were swollen, took some more blood and told me they'd get back to me in the morning. Found nothing expect small traces of a viral infection. Despite the 'small' diagnosis I had started to feel sharp pains all over my body, in particular my right hand which at times felt like it was joint related, other times muscular. But this happened everywhere. The pain in my lower back was still there too, which had me convinced the kidney infection had returned down to never finishing a course of antibiotics. I scoured the Internet, looking for flu symptoms and taking solace that maybe the flu could have caused all of this. But it didn't seem to match, why would the pain be localised? Specifically in my damn hand and lower back? The pain too, was at times a stabbing pains, not just muscle aches. God damn it, I'm going to have to go to an out of hours doctor again.
Now it's strange. I found that whilst waiting to be seen in the hospital, my symptoms would lift slightly. And as the doctors checked me over, he was flippant and to a degree I can understand. They're looking for the life threatening stuff and to him, there was nothing to be concerned about. But then, why did I feel this way! I would find blood in my urine and go to get it checked only to find nothing! Blood was fine too. My relationship with my mother was on thin ice, she scolded me for wasting everyone's time and I was distraught that she couldn't believe there was something going on that wasn't yet explained.
I then stumbled upon a more insidious explanation. I had been experiencing some bizarre neurological sensations that were akin to the serotonin syndrome I thought had been caused by the last lot of antibiotic. I would go to bed and wake up in the middle of the night with vertigo, and an unexplainable sensation like I was going to convulse. My muscles would be twitching quite noticeably and I would be jerked awake by it. My brian felt fuzzy and I felt like I would go away for a second or so and I'd be shocked back into reality by this strange mental sensation. This would happen without feeling anxious. Couple this with the muscular and joint pain and I was seriously concerned. Rang 111 again, the guy suggests SLE. Lupus. Like, other the phone dammit. I suggest this to my GP who said my blood being normal kinda went against that diagnosis (although you have to be looking specifically for it). I did some reading, and the first antibiotic that gave me the allergic reaction and rash, had links to drug induced lupus. I thought I had come across the explanation. It even explained the rash, the neurological issues, the pain, everything.
I have since been told the rash on my back looks more like an allergic reaction than lupus and that for them to be concerned I'd have to be losing consciousness and having serious muscle weakness. I've been referred by my GP to a hospital doctor who deals more with 'medically unexplained symptoms' although I have no idea how long that'll take. As it stands, I'm a total mess.
I still have physical symptoms which ebb and flow and don't always stay for very long, but they are at times severe. They are as follows:
Sharp muscular pain
Hip pain
Aches
Some joint pain, particularly in hands
Electric shock feeling
Nausea
Lower back pain
Spine pain
Neck pain
Tingling feet
Fuzzy head
Muscle twitches and trembles
Hyperactivity
Depression
Headaches
Abdominal pain
Lack of appetite
Burning sensation on skin
Strange feeling in head - perception suddenly changes and I feel like I go blank for a second, there is a Nausea and a fuzziness that accompanies this. Has anyone experienced this? It feels like a small seizure.
Wet feeling on skin
I would say I was concerned about the neurological issues. But it's all completely overwhelming and I feel at a loss for what to do. The pains come and go, but there's always something there even if it doesn't last too long. I do find relief by deep breathing but my blocked sinuses prevent that from being a permanent go-to. I am really hoping this is anxiety, although I still cannot for one moment believe it could cause all of this.
I guess my question is, if you've read this far, you patient lovely person, is this the nature of the beast? Can it cause all of this? My life has become consumed by this and I'm feeling alone.
I've suffered from anxiety for as long as I can remember but it never interfered with my life the way it's appeared to have done these past few weeks.
---------- Post added at 12:30 ---------- Previous post was at 12:16 ----------
P. S. I have yet to receive any kind of Neurological exam. Can doctors do anything akin to this, or must I see a Neurologist? I ask because the waiting list can at times be very long.