Too many symptoms PLEASE help

Hi well lets see how I start this . . . When I was about 17 I got "diagnosed" with anxiety and put on effexor xr. This was after I had a panic attack when I was away and then came home and had brain MRI's and they came back negative. Well a couple years ago when I was about 23 I decided to get off of Effexor because of the terrible withdrawal effects and fact that it made me gain about 70 lbs. :( Getting off of it wasn't easy but I did not want medicine in me forever anymore and I started working out a lot and lost about 55 of those lbs. Fast-forward to sometime this year when I started having headaches and I made my mom take me to the neurologist and I had another brain MRI and still nothing there. The reason I had this done was because my back was burning and I was getting a lot of headaches and what not. Fast-forward to 1 month ago. Now this is going to sound weird but . . . I was watching Avatar for like the 3rd time with my friend and let me just say that earlier in that day I worked out and then went in the sauna (not sure if thats relevant) and all of the sudden while watching I started getting an uneven sick feeling in my head. I tried to just let it go but it kept on keeping so I started to get nervous of course. Let me also tell you that my lower back still burns daily. Anyway, my head started feeling like it was always tilting back and I decided a week afterwards to go see my ENT. I went to the ENT and he checked my ears, and sinuses and what not (I had the swine flu a year ago which made me partially deaf in my right ear and made me have the worst most painful ear infection I've ever felt in my life) and sent me for an ENG. The ENG came back normal so I'm guessing it wasn't related to that? Funny enough the first ENT I went to recommended I get an inner ear MRI done to make sure its nothing more serious (i guess inner ear tumor) which I sort of wish I had done now...So back to currentish time. About 2 weeks ago I woke up and my eyes had that sour, tired feeling to them. I thought it was just for the day but to no avail my eyes have been tired 24/7. Then my stool started to turn green. I know this is all a lot to read and take in but just imagine how I feel :-/ . Well while that was happening I also started experiencing a feeling of fullness in my upper stomach without even eating. Shooting pains going up the sides of my body by my rib cage. One night the upper ab pain got so bad I had to go to sleep and I went to the Gastro the next day. The gastro just did a gastroscopy today and found I have an inflamed esophogus and some gastritis. I still feel like this doesn't explain the "fatigue" I have in my eyes. I'm thinking that could be some kind of allergy because I have been sneezing a lot so maybe my eyes are dry??? I really don't know guys I'm just concerned with all these symptoms. I keep thinking I have stomach cancer, and then bone cancer, and then MS...I don't know what to think anymore. I have trouble catching a nice clean deep breath also which concerns me as well because that tells me that not enough oxygen is getting to my brain. Has anyone else ever experienced these shooting pains up the sides of the body, with constantly tired eyes, and trouble breathing? Any help would be incredibly helpful. Also, I have had blood tests and they all come back normal which I guess means something?

PLEASE HELP ME THANK YOU.
 
Achilles, you may have gotten the infection years ago, not now. And fatigue(yawning) is part of any kind of inflammatory arthritis.

You just need to take this one day at a time and get some answers slowly but surely. If it's something lke MS, it can take years to diagnose and you can live a pretty normal life with it if it is. My best freind has had it for over 30 years, raised 2 kids and is now raising some of her grandchildren. Just got her degree as a pastor.

If it's cancer, you will find out soon enough with that too. It will make itself known. It doesn't try to hide. But your symptoms sound far more like something insidious and that means an autoimmune disorder....like reactive arthritis. An infection sets your body off attacking itself by mistake.

You'll find out...relax. Stress makes everything worse.

Jenny
 
achilles

An inflamed esophagus would cause pain in your back and possibly the shooting pains in your side. Did you receive any reason why your esophagus is inflamed?

Your eyes could be bothering you because of the hot summer weather we have been experiencing this year. At least in the East we have had a rather hot summer, unlike last year where we only had a handful of warm days. You can get some over the counter eye drops to help keep your eyes moist.

Do you have a primary care doctor? Have you sat down with this doctor and gone over all the test results? This is where having all your medical records on hand to help you ask questions on some of the results of your exams.

I hope you find answers, it can be very frustrating, I know, I was in the same predicament in 2006 and never really got any answers. Things did eventually begin to clear. So all I can guess is that I in fact had some type of virus that just took its time to clear.

Let me know how you are doing

Brenda
 
Hey Brenda,

I also live in the east coast but don't think the eye thing is due to the weather because I really haven't been going outside much...I'm going to the optometrist today to get an eye-exam so maybe they'll be able to give me some eye drops or something? I really don't know but my next plan is to go to the Rheumatologist, and then to go to a completely new GP to get blood work done on every single thing. I'll let you know how everything goes..

Thanks.
 
Just concentrating on the 2 big problems you first mentioned...eye problems and back pain...have you had any other joint pain? So far you have 2 of the 3 criteria for an arthritic disorder called Reactive Arthritis. And it can cause all sorts of other problems with the gastric system and pain in other areas. If often follows a bout with an STD or food poisoning.

So any other joint pain you've experienced?

Jenny
 
Honestly I think I have noticed joint pain in my knees and elbows . . . I just started seeing my chiropractor again this week and he said he thinks my lower back might be compressed together or something? I'll ask him exactly what he said again tomorrow but is this something I should ask him about?

Thanks for the reply I really appreciate it.
 
Yeah, ask him if you have sacro-iliac joint pain.

If he says yes, then get to a rheumatologist...arthritis specialist. This can be self-limiting or chronic and the faster you get diagnosed and treated the better.

If you want to search it, look for Reactive Arthritis or Reiter's Syndrome(old name).

Jenny
 
I mean the only thing that tells me its not this based on the symptoms and what not I researched are that my urinalysis came back clear. And I'm not sure I'm really having pain or burning peeing. The things I'm most concerned with right now is the trouble taking deep breaths, constant feeling of fatigue,dryness,burning in my eyes and the shooting pains up my sides. I'm really nervous its like some sort of cancer or MS :-/
 
thanks Jenny . . . I mean I'm trying to find out but theres only so many tests they can do? The craziest part about all of this is if it is all anxiety/stress/depression and what that stuff can do to a person physically . . . its like i want them to find something wrong with me so they can treat it you know what i mean? What other tests can I get I've had blood tests, BRAIN MRI's, gastroscopy . . . anything else?
 
eye doctor clear . . . 1 down i guess . . . eyes still feelings tired/burning all day though even after eye drops who knows . . . i'm going to the rest of the docs this coming week
 
achilles,

You need to slow down. Jenny has given you some great suggestions. If it is some sort of arthritic ailment, then seeing a Rheumotologist would be the first logical step. This type of doctor will know what test to run and which blood test would give the correct information to rule in or out any type of auto-immune disorder.

You mentioned being ill either last year or the year before, sometimes virus can lay dormant in your system and then resurface some place else. Take Lyme Disease for example. The first signs of lyme's is flu like symptoms and a strange looking rash. Some people have the rash and no flu, others have flu symptoms and no rash, so they do not get diagnosed with lyme disease, they go on to get better only to develop arthritic symptoms a few years later.

You need to step back, maybe get a hold of your medical records from all of your providers, read them and then bring them with you when you see someone (rheumotologist is a very good start) so that the doctor has a complete picture of what has been done, what may need to be redone and where they may like to begin to determine what is really going on.

Let me know how you are doing

Brenda
 
Hi Brenda,

Thank you for your reply. I'm just really scared and feel helpless. I've been to so many doctors in the past month alone that I don't know what to do next. I've been to 2 regular docs, a gastro, chiropractor and all their tests come back clear except for the "inflamed esophagus." I just still don't understand the back burning, shooting pains up my sides and now today in my elbows. I think the symptom I'm scared of the most though is my eyes being constantly "tired/burning/sour." My mom got me claritin-d today but I feel like its really doing nothing for me (maybe its the wrong type of allergy med?) What do I do next? My family has said I've been to every possible doctor which they're basically right about and my dad thinks until they find something really bad wrong with me I won't be happy. i just can't believe this can all be due to anxiety/stress...I feel like these feelings have made me more depressed/anxious and probably vice versa too? I appreciate all the responses.
 
I went through very much of what your talking about. Doctors don't seem to pay any attention to this problem at all. It's called Candida. It has a whole bunch of symptoms that the doctors skirt right through. It's an overgrowth of yeast in your body that does horrible things usually caused by to many antibiotics somewhere in your life. I'd do some serious reading up on it and get a good doctor that's up on this problem. It took 5 years to discover my problem. Dr. Colbert in orlando Florida is the guy. Good luck!
 
went to rheumatologist today . . . she was very thorough and does not think its anything serious however i'm still skeptical of course . . . she took about 7 vials of blood to test for i guess like everything . . . i'm nervous lately that i have this weird taste in my mouth and its watering a lot . . . i got another appointment in 2 weeks to check how the blood tests were and i guess see how i'm doing . . . she wants me to see a psychiatrist and gave me a prescription for muscle relaxers . . . told me to get back to the gym too . . . still freaked out about my eyes though and side pains that still shoot around . . . i got a gallbladder ultra sound coming up monday so i guess we'll see what that says? this candida thing is interesting maybe i'll test myself for it with that saliva thing . . . its like everyday i develop a new symptom its crazy lately its been this dry cough i can feel coming from my chest . . . i don't know this just sucks maybe i'll try the psychiatrist
 
now i have a pain when i press behind my left ear like where you get your haircut . . . my fingers are sore, my feet are cramping, eye burning comes and goes now but i've had pain behind my eyes now lately . . . i get the rhumo results for the blood work wednesday and i booked "the number 1 rated" neuro doc for next monday . . . i'm just starting to think it could be some kind of brain tumor or spinal tumor even though i had a brain mri last year and they said it was fine (i had in a permanent retainer on my bottom teeth and just read it can distort the image :-( ) so i don't know what to do anymore really as i feel like my joints and everything are getting worse as time passes, a ton of muscle twitches . . . i just can't convince myself that its anxiety/stress/panic . . . its too many physical symptoms

sorry for bothering everyone
 
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