Many symptoms, chest pain, throat infection, glands

[december.rain]

Hi, so recently I have not been feeling my best. It all started ~3 weeks ago. I started having bad nightmares every single night and then one day I had this really really bad migraine type headache that featured stabbing/shocking pains that lasted about 5 seconds and occured every 2 - 10 minutes all day.

Then about 2 weeks ago I started waking up in the middle of the night from pain that was under my armpit on my left side, I didnt really think much about it, thought maybe it would go away after a while. Anyways it didn't get better and then seemed to move up to my neck on the left side which was waking my up as well.

Then Wednesday of last week (6 days ago) I started to feel really horrible around 5, like I was exhausted, lightheaded, so I thought I might be dehydrated so I tried drinking water and got extremely chilled. I jumped into bed and had rigors and shaking and chattering and then got a fever. I booked an appointment with my family doctor Thursday morning, as i was worried because I had a high fever and no real symptoms - just a fever. He didn't really know so he prescribed a bunch of blood work.

Friday was a holiday so the results weren't back in and I started to get a sore right tonsil, had the first nosebleed of my life after only wiping the tip of my nose and noticed small red/purple dots on my arms (really tiny like 1-2 mm). Saturday I could hardly swallow anything even liquids so I went to the ER at a small hospital, the doctor looked in my thoat and said "thats bad, you definitely need an antibiotic" He prescribed Avelox 1pill X 7 days which I started taking at noon that day.

Sunday came around and I had a lot of chest pain though the sore throat was a lot better. The stuff at the back of my throat was now blood, and I had a really bad headache that was at the base of my head, I lay on a heating pad which helped. Felt like chest tightness all the time mostly on the left underneath my breast almost and occasional squeezing or twisting feelings every so often that weren't related to what i was doing. I thought it might be the Avelox ( I took it at 8am that day), so I waited it out, but at 8pm it was still significant so I thought I should get it checked out. Went to the larger hospital had bloodwork, chest x-ray and ecg, all turned up fine I think, no pneumonia, no visible infection in the blood, but she said that there might be some swelling possibly from an infection that the avelox has started to kill, she pumped me full of painkillers and sent me home.

So Monday I got called to my family doctors office, my white cell count on Thursday had been high so he was going to prescribe antibiotics, I told him the story about how I started antibiotics Saturday and he said that we should keep going with the antibiotic see if it gets better. I still have chest pains. I had my wisdom teeth out on Dec 16/08 could it be from that? I am really at a loss for what can cause all of these random symptoms. It is unlike any sinus infection, flu, cold, pneumonia, or throat infection I have ever had. The chest pains are really scary and interfering with my life.

Are there any other tests you would recommend? Do you think I am safe until Friday when it's my last antibiotic and I am supposed to call my doctor? Sorry for the essay

 

[♥ Kaytee ♥]

Many of your symptoms are symptoms that people with lyme/coinfections present with...they treat people who have lyme/coinfections with antibiotics and sometimes those people feel worse because the antibiotics are working (herxheimer reaction). Perhaps this is what happening to you.

If your doctors don't find anything, I would suggest seeing a Lyme Literate Medical Doctor...tests for Lyme would do little if nothing as antibiotic treatment is one thing (of many) that can interfere with an accurate result.

You may have to do a lot of reading to learn more...unfortunately economics and politics are intefering with people getting an accurate diagnosis and effective treatment.

Bethsheba

 

[CZAR LOGAN THE GREAT]

Thanks for the lyme disease advice! My father has gotten lyme disease before from visiting the States. I did just pull >5 ticks off of my dogs in the last 3 weeks, but I haven't been anywhere really that ticks hide. That's too bad that the test would be inaccurate as I am on antibiotics. I am still feeling pretty horrible with chest pains and pains under the bottom of my ribs on both sides. I am extremely tired as well. Thanks a lot! I hope that they figure out whats wrong with me

 

[twistedangle8]

If your dogs have been bitten by ticks, you may have been as well. Dogs (and mice) and other critters can carry ticks into the house where they drop off of the host animal when they are done with their meal! Some ticks are as small as the period on the end of this sentence so there's no guarantee you would see them on your body, especially if they found their way to your hair or a fold in your skin.

Again, those horrible symptoms you may be experiencing now may be herxheimer reactions as people with Lyme can feel worse, sometimes much worse, when on antitiotics as these drugs kill the bacteria, and the dead bacteria give off toxins that overload the liver and the kidneys.

Short term antibiotic treatment is usually not long enough to kill Lyme/coinfections and for that reason people with Lyme may see a temporary improvement after treatment...but if the treatment isn't adequate (and most docs don't have the knowledge to treat this disease adequately), symptoms get worse or new symptoms appear.