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Weird Symptoms

Sat, 02/18/2006 - 05:21
I've been going through loops of seeing different doctors for the past 6 months. It started with my physical. I saw my doctor and everything seemed okay--except when I told him I was having joint pain he seemed really concerned, because I had no family history of early artheritis and I'm only 32. I didn't know anything about it before so I thought that it was normal. I also had some weight gain. Anyhow, after I saw him and took some blood tests I went from experiencing mild artheritis to all sorts of crazy things. First, I had some really extreme mood swings...lots of rage and anxiety. It was like I had PMS x 50. My husband told me I was becoming a totally different person. Then the joint pain started getting really bad--sometimes it'd practically be crippling and it'd be accompanied by fevers. It was in all joints but my back, and really hurt the most while I was driving. Then, over a two week period I started seeing little black shapes that resembled shadowy things four different times. The two that really stick in my mind is seeing a black cat in our yard that wasn't there and seeing the silloute of a person in a parked car. Each time, I did a double-take to see these things really weren't there. So, my doctor thought I had a pituitary tumor (very treatable). However, the bloodwork and the MRI didn't pick anything up. The endocrinologist also didn't find anything. I was sent to a gyno to look for ovarian cysts, but she didn't find anything either. I'd been temping and actually had to take a over month off for my health. It was the first time I ever did that and I hated being being at home, but my job was over an hour away and the pain was unbearable. For the joint pain, my doctor referred me to a rheumatologist. He may have been good if I really actually was just suffering from artheritis, but he was a lousy listener and we did not get along. Because he couldn't find anything he wanted to sit around and do nothing, and see if things got worse. Finally, I got him to listen to me just long enough for him to understand I was not just experiencing joint pain. I was having weird numbness at that time, too. One one side of my body, my face and limbs would be really numb in the morning. I guess he realized this wasn't a joint problem and told me to go see a neurologist. So my general practioner (who I trust) referred me to one. Getting these appointments with specialists always takes a little time. Because it was the holidays, it took me two months to see the neurologist. Within that time, the joint pain went away, but I had hallucinations again. One day the ground looked like it was shaking, but it really wasn't. The other day (the same week) I came home, shut my car door and the car looked like it was rocking (bouncing) side to side like it was attached to its tires by springs. If I was taking recreational drugs (never done--had a sheltered life) or if I was seeing it on TV, I would have laughed because it looked so weird and ridiculous, but this really scared me. Another day, I totally lost 10 minutes. I was going to the store from another store, but somehow blanked out and found myself cleaning my house. I didn't even remember getting out of the car and walking into the house. I hadn't been to the store...or I probably didn't buy anything, because I couldn't find any bags. It was really freaky. For all I know, I could have done something really crazy and not even known it. Even though I wasn't in pain, I found this memory lapse and the hallucinations more disturbing than being crippled with artheritis. I never had anything happen like that happen in my life, and I thought I was losing my mind. This all happened over a month ago. After that nothing happened and my pain became really mild. I even went back to work 1.5 months ago, and love my new job. It was nice to forget about all this for a while, and have a little time of peace from it. Anyhow, by the time I saw the neurologist (last week) I was sort of hoping he'd tell me he couldn't find anything (like the other doctors did), and then I was going to be done with the stupid tests and feeling like a hypochondriac and a lab rat. I was hoping whatever this crap was would go away. My sister had endomitriosis that really caused her a serious amount of pain. Her doctors were even about to get her an appointment to have surgury, but then it went away on its own for no reason. I was really hoping this was sort of the same kind of situation. Well, my neurologist actually seemed to be the first doctor who wasn't completely befuddled by all my symptoms accompanied with normal bloodwork. Unfortunately, he told me I've been having seizures and that he wanted me to have an EEG, a VER, and a full MRI. I either have epilepsy or some sort of neurological condition. The EEG and VER was on Wednesday. It was very hard on me. I got jerky during the strobe part...it was like someone was hitting my shoulders with a rubber mallet. After the 3 minutes of hyperventhilating, I feel asleep during the rest of the test. I felt like I had a hangover the next day...I was achy and sick in the morning. I was hoping to find out my results yesterday, but it's been delayed until Tuesday. I'm hoping they are normal...that if they were really bad the doctor would have called me immediately. To say I'm a little scared isn't true. I'm terrified. I hate this. I hate worrying and I hate making my family worry.

Comments

Re: Weird Symptoms: JOINT PAIN

Submitted by lkw787 on Tue, 2012-05-22 - 14:51
Hi, I am a 46 years old woman and have been on keppra (anti-seizure medicine) for two years since suffering a stroke brought on by HELLP Syndrome (a rare, extreme form of eclampsia, often fatal.) HELLP ruptured my liver and gave me a stroke that put me in a month long coma. I spent six months in hospitals after undergoing an emergency c-section, craniotomy and a tracheotomy and after being weaned off of life support I did 18 months of cognitive and physical therapies. (I had to relearn how to breathe, swallow, speak, walk, talk, and remember, and I still have some lingering cognitive disability--mostly short term memory issues and some trouble with path-finding.) I am finally being weaned off of the Keppra but in the last six months have noticed increased joint pain (swelling and stiffness in the joints, very uncomfortable.) My mother suggested I look up keppra to see if it may cause joint pain as a Side FX and when I did so I noticed that some people who have taken it report that it can. So now I wonder: is this damage reversible? I do swim aerobics 3 x a week (easy on the joints) and am taking naproxen and calcium as I am being weaned off of the keppra but I worry that the pain will never go away. My GP says I have borderline osteoporosis and thus I have increased my calcium intake (I have been vegetarian for ten years but do eat eggs, chicken , seafood and dairy and have long taken calcium supplements). However, I doubt that osteoporosis is the cause of the pain since my mother has that condition but no swelling or pain, and thus, I appreciate any feedback. Sincerely, Lisa lkw787@me.com

Re: Weird Symptoms

Submitted by mrsluvbug on Mon, 2006-10-16 - 10:29
What were your results? To your testing?

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