I don't even know where to start.....I am so desperate for some advice , right now any type of advice is helpful. I am totally at my wits end and don't know what to do anymore. Some mornings i can't even get my self out of bed it is that bad. Yes some of it is emotional but i think the emotional is due to the health issues i am having.
So to start off i will list off my symptoms and the diagnosis for each one that has been diagnosed ( although i don't believe all of them are correct ). The list will go from worst symptoms to the mild ones.
Swelling in both knees, now spread down to ankles and toes:
The swelling started about 2 months ago and it began in my right knee. It just started around the knee cap. The pain was pretty intense but bearable. so i went and saw my family doc and he told me it had to be an injury. I argued with him and explained that at no time did i injure my knee. About 3 weeks later my left knee began swelling up. This time it was swelling all around my knee, front and back and on top of the cap. I began losing feeling in my left knee to the point i collapsed numerous times in a span of 3 or 4 days. I was told to put my feet up and rest with ice packs so i did that but saw absolutely no changed at all.
I went and saw my doctor again and was told he thought it could be gout ( but i don't eat red meat nor do i drink alcohol AT ALL, and i don't eat seafood ). So this really didn't make much sense to me. The swelling is still there and getting worse day by day. Now i have noticed it is moving above my knee caps and down to my ankles and toes.
If i walk on them too much it cause intense unbearable pain. The swelling is HUGE......my knees look like cantaloupes. Sometimes i get complete numbness and other times just a pins and needles feeling. I am still waiting to hear from my doctor about the gout results. I have booked an appointment to try and get in as soon as possible but it is a 3 week wait .
Chest pain /Restriction
Sometimes , usually at night, I get this chest pain......maybe not so much a pain but it feels like there is a restriction and i feel my heart pumping harder in my chest. This has been going off and on for a few months now. But whenever i bring it up to my doctor he says that my blood pressure is fine and i had an ekg that came back normal. so i have no explanation for it at all. My doctor started me on monicore 10 mg but it doesn't seem to help. Yes i am a smoker but i have cut back from a pack a day to about 8 or 9 a day. It seems when i began to cut back is when the chest pains began.
Persistent cough
I have had a persistent cough for about 2 months. It isn't all the time nor is it all day long. It kind of comes and goes through out the day but worse at night. A greenish colored flem comes up every time i cough. That is one of the main reasons i am wanting to quit smoking. After 4 visits to the doctor about it i was told everytime it has to do with the smoking and not to worry.
Tiredness
I am ALWAYS drained and tired. I have no energy at all. This has been going on for 6 or 7 months. My doctor just tells me it is raising 4 kids and having Ehyler danlos ( a connective tissue disorder i was diagnosed with about 4 years ago. Prior to this diagnosis they thought i had marfans syndrome).I don't see it being the disorder because prior to the last 6 or 7 months i was very energetic. I would take my kids hiking everyday for 2 to 5 hours ( depending on weather) and we were always out doing things. Now i can't even get changed into clothes and out of my jammies i have that little energy. I have pretty much been in jammies now for 6 weeks or so. I use to never be able to sleep and if i did i would get 6 hours and be fine for the day. Now i can't get enough sleep it seems like. all i want to do is lay around, curl up in a ball and cry. I think this may be a slight case of depression sinking in due to the amount of health complications i am having.
Brain numbing
Sometimes ( about twice a month ) i get a numbing feeling in my brain. When this happens it only lasts about 45 seconds or so but while it happens i lose my vision and it seems to pass and i get my vision back. It almost feels like i my head gets electrocuted.
Tumor in my uterus
I found out about 4 months ago i had a "small slow growing tumor" in my uterus. I booked an appointment with a gyne and was told i had surgery to have it and the fibroids removed on the 21st of January. Due to complications it has had to be postponed. But when i went to the gyne ( which was only a month after they found the 2 inch small tumor ) the tumor had grown to the size of a baseball.
Sudden Weight Gain
I use to be very tall and thin ( 6 feet and 110 pounds maximum ). Even after i had my kids i would fall back to my usual weight very quickly. I was told i had a high metabolism. no matter what i ate or how much i ate trying to gain some, i never would. Till recently. In the last 6 months i have gone from 108 pounds up to 172 pounds. I don't eat very much at all. not enough to gain that amount of weight. It was enough to concern my doctor and he figured my thyroid. when that came back negative he just sluffed it off. He told me this time it was normal.....a totally different reaction then the first one he gave me. I am still gaining but not as quickly. I have also pretty much lost my appetite this last couple of months . I literally have to force myself to eat everyday.
Brown Skin Rash / Spreading
For about 3 years now i have had these brown spots all over my chest. They are all different sizes but the same color of brown. My Doctor told me it was this and that and so on. He has had me try 3 different creams and NONE of them have done anything. Now these brown spots have shown up down around my "women parts ". They don't really show up until i pull my pants down and the air hits it. then they get darker and darker. When i saw him last week he said a yeast infection and gave me cream but again no results. The thing i don't get is my daughter started getting the same thing on her chest about a year ago. but hers show up white because she is darker skinned. now my 2 year old has them around his penis and balls. My other 2 children have not had any of these spots show up on them. So i am at a loss as to what it is, how my 2 kids have it and why we cant get rid of it .
Swollen lymph nodes
I have had 1 swollen lymph in my neck for the last 10 years. I was told it was just a sack of white blood cells. It doesn't usually bug me unless i am sick, then it just feels kind of irritated. Now i have 4 swollen lymphnodes and that just started about 2 months ago.
Can't catch my breath
I have troubles even catching my breath. Just a trip up the stairs ( and there are only 10 or so ) leaves me breathless. I feel like i can't catch a deep breath and when i finally do my heart thumps pretty hard in my chest.
Irritability
I am very VERY irritated lately. to the point i have secluded myself to the house, i don't go out , i rarely talk to people, i don't like being touched, loud noises set me off and give me a massive headache. This only started about 4 or 5 weeks ago and it is really hard to handle especially when you have 4 kids.
Those are all the things i can think of right now. I don't know if they are all related and i feel like i am talking to a brick wall when i bring it all up to my doctor. He seems to just pass it off. I have tried to get a new family doctor but they are so hard to come by in this city. I have gone to a walk in and they did some blood work that came back showing there was inflammation but that's about it.
I have been diagnosed with Ehyler Danlos syndrome and due to that i am on some medications.
Here is a list of the medications i am on :
Monicore 10 mg ( for a prolapsed metro valve )
Oxycodon ( for chronic pain and issues i have due to my disorder)
Zoplicone ( to try to help me sleep through the pain )
I have been on all of these medications for 3 years plus. so i don't think they are causing these symptoms but could it be a possibility?
I am begging anyone out there, if they have any advice on anything ( whether it be tests i should request ,or what they may be or if these are all linked to one thing) any advice would be helpful. I am so lost and i feel like it is starting to affect my parenting. I feel like these health problems are consuming my world and i don't know where to go or how to change it.
PLEASE PLEASE help me!!!!!
So to start off i will list off my symptoms and the diagnosis for each one that has been diagnosed ( although i don't believe all of them are correct ). The list will go from worst symptoms to the mild ones.
Swelling in both knees, now spread down to ankles and toes:
The swelling started about 2 months ago and it began in my right knee. It just started around the knee cap. The pain was pretty intense but bearable. so i went and saw my family doc and he told me it had to be an injury. I argued with him and explained that at no time did i injure my knee. About 3 weeks later my left knee began swelling up. This time it was swelling all around my knee, front and back and on top of the cap. I began losing feeling in my left knee to the point i collapsed numerous times in a span of 3 or 4 days. I was told to put my feet up and rest with ice packs so i did that but saw absolutely no changed at all.
I went and saw my doctor again and was told he thought it could be gout ( but i don't eat red meat nor do i drink alcohol AT ALL, and i don't eat seafood ). So this really didn't make much sense to me. The swelling is still there and getting worse day by day. Now i have noticed it is moving above my knee caps and down to my ankles and toes.
If i walk on them too much it cause intense unbearable pain. The swelling is HUGE......my knees look like cantaloupes. Sometimes i get complete numbness and other times just a pins and needles feeling. I am still waiting to hear from my doctor about the gout results. I have booked an appointment to try and get in as soon as possible but it is a 3 week wait .
Chest pain /Restriction
Sometimes , usually at night, I get this chest pain......maybe not so much a pain but it feels like there is a restriction and i feel my heart pumping harder in my chest. This has been going off and on for a few months now. But whenever i bring it up to my doctor he says that my blood pressure is fine and i had an ekg that came back normal. so i have no explanation for it at all. My doctor started me on monicore 10 mg but it doesn't seem to help. Yes i am a smoker but i have cut back from a pack a day to about 8 or 9 a day. It seems when i began to cut back is when the chest pains began.
Persistent cough
I have had a persistent cough for about 2 months. It isn't all the time nor is it all day long. It kind of comes and goes through out the day but worse at night. A greenish colored flem comes up every time i cough. That is one of the main reasons i am wanting to quit smoking. After 4 visits to the doctor about it i was told everytime it has to do with the smoking and not to worry.
Tiredness
I am ALWAYS drained and tired. I have no energy at all. This has been going on for 6 or 7 months. My doctor just tells me it is raising 4 kids and having Ehyler danlos ( a connective tissue disorder i was diagnosed with about 4 years ago. Prior to this diagnosis they thought i had marfans syndrome).I don't see it being the disorder because prior to the last 6 or 7 months i was very energetic. I would take my kids hiking everyday for 2 to 5 hours ( depending on weather) and we were always out doing things. Now i can't even get changed into clothes and out of my jammies i have that little energy. I have pretty much been in jammies now for 6 weeks or so. I use to never be able to sleep and if i did i would get 6 hours and be fine for the day. Now i can't get enough sleep it seems like. all i want to do is lay around, curl up in a ball and cry. I think this may be a slight case of depression sinking in due to the amount of health complications i am having.
Brain numbing
Sometimes ( about twice a month ) i get a numbing feeling in my brain. When this happens it only lasts about 45 seconds or so but while it happens i lose my vision and it seems to pass and i get my vision back. It almost feels like i my head gets electrocuted.
Tumor in my uterus
I found out about 4 months ago i had a "small slow growing tumor" in my uterus. I booked an appointment with a gyne and was told i had surgery to have it and the fibroids removed on the 21st of January. Due to complications it has had to be postponed. But when i went to the gyne ( which was only a month after they found the 2 inch small tumor ) the tumor had grown to the size of a baseball.
Sudden Weight Gain
I use to be very tall and thin ( 6 feet and 110 pounds maximum ). Even after i had my kids i would fall back to my usual weight very quickly. I was told i had a high metabolism. no matter what i ate or how much i ate trying to gain some, i never would. Till recently. In the last 6 months i have gone from 108 pounds up to 172 pounds. I don't eat very much at all. not enough to gain that amount of weight. It was enough to concern my doctor and he figured my thyroid. when that came back negative he just sluffed it off. He told me this time it was normal.....a totally different reaction then the first one he gave me. I am still gaining but not as quickly. I have also pretty much lost my appetite this last couple of months . I literally have to force myself to eat everyday.
Brown Skin Rash / Spreading
For about 3 years now i have had these brown spots all over my chest. They are all different sizes but the same color of brown. My Doctor told me it was this and that and so on. He has had me try 3 different creams and NONE of them have done anything. Now these brown spots have shown up down around my "women parts ". They don't really show up until i pull my pants down and the air hits it. then they get darker and darker. When i saw him last week he said a yeast infection and gave me cream but again no results. The thing i don't get is my daughter started getting the same thing on her chest about a year ago. but hers show up white because she is darker skinned. now my 2 year old has them around his penis and balls. My other 2 children have not had any of these spots show up on them. So i am at a loss as to what it is, how my 2 kids have it and why we cant get rid of it .
Swollen lymph nodes
I have had 1 swollen lymph in my neck for the last 10 years. I was told it was just a sack of white blood cells. It doesn't usually bug me unless i am sick, then it just feels kind of irritated. Now i have 4 swollen lymphnodes and that just started about 2 months ago.
Can't catch my breath
I have troubles even catching my breath. Just a trip up the stairs ( and there are only 10 or so ) leaves me breathless. I feel like i can't catch a deep breath and when i finally do my heart thumps pretty hard in my chest.
Irritability
I am very VERY irritated lately. to the point i have secluded myself to the house, i don't go out , i rarely talk to people, i don't like being touched, loud noises set me off and give me a massive headache. This only started about 4 or 5 weeks ago and it is really hard to handle especially when you have 4 kids.
Those are all the things i can think of right now. I don't know if they are all related and i feel like i am talking to a brick wall when i bring it all up to my doctor. He seems to just pass it off. I have tried to get a new family doctor but they are so hard to come by in this city. I have gone to a walk in and they did some blood work that came back showing there was inflammation but that's about it.
I have been diagnosed with Ehyler Danlos syndrome and due to that i am on some medications.
Here is a list of the medications i am on :
Monicore 10 mg ( for a prolapsed metro valve )
Oxycodon ( for chronic pain and issues i have due to my disorder)
Zoplicone ( to try to help me sleep through the pain )
I have been on all of these medications for 3 years plus. so i don't think they are causing these symptoms but could it be a possibility?
I am begging anyone out there, if they have any advice on anything ( whether it be tests i should request ,or what they may be or if these are all linked to one thing) any advice would be helpful. I am so lost and i feel like it is starting to affect my parenting. I feel like these health problems are consuming my world and i don't know where to go or how to change it.
PLEASE PLEASE help me!!!!!
