Joined: 15 Jun 2006 Posts: 2 Location: Southern Arizona
Undiagnosed Condition - Need Help, Please! Posted: 06-16-06 00:00am
I've been in an out of hospitals now for
five months, or since february with a
yet-to-be diagnosed condition that is not
getting better. Every time I end up going
to the hospital, I end up losing ground
and my condition gets worse. I’m 26
years old, five foot, ten inches tall and
I weigh 212 pounds. I do not smoke, drink
or do drugs. I have a mild case of asthma
and have had surgery for a torn labrum in
my left shoulder, lateral release on my
right knee and three eye surgeries for
strabismus.
Originally, back on january 9th, my
primary care physician diagnosed me with
mononucleosis. With the mono I have not
had the typical case. I’ve had fatigue,
weakness, chills (including low grade
fevers), swollen lymph nodes and joint
pain and almost all symptoms except throat
related (strep throat) with the
mononucleosis. On february 2nd, things
changed a bit when I had severe upper left
quadrant and flank pain that radiated down
my side and into the back. I went to the
emergency room where they did blood tests,
urinalysis, ct scans and all looked normal
for that visit. The pain was so severe
that I had to take off two weeks of work
afterwards due to its unpredictable
nature.
For a few months afterwards the pain
subsided enough so I could return to work
where I work a sedentary job working in a
call center for six to ten hours a day.
On may 2nd I had severe right side pain
that sent me to the hospital. They had
determined that I had passed a kidney
stone, but found no stones. They found
blood in my urine and as the doctor
released me said they were still finding
blood in my urine. After being released,
I proceeded to return to work. Despite
trying to move on with my life the pain
continued to get worse. I ended up going
back to the emergency room on may 13th.
At that time they just attributed the pain
to irritable bowel syndrome, which I have,
but the pain was not manifesting like my
ibs typically does. With my ibs, usually
relief of the pressure relieves the pain.
On may 18th, due to an episode of severe
pain while at my doctor’s office, he
directly admitted me to the hospital where
I had stayed for six days. During that
time they did a colonoscopy, egd, ct scans
with and without contrast and even a
series of mri scans on my lumbar, thoracic
and cervical regions of my spine. In my
lumbar region they found mild stenosis but
not enough to account for the pain i’m
still having. With every excursion to the
hospital my condition worsens. I also
seem to have a regular pattern to my
visits. My first visit this year was to
the emergency room on february 2nd, the
second three months to the day was may 2nd
where I had a four-day stay, then on the
13th of may to a different emergency room
and on the 18th of may I stayed for six
days as a result of my pcp directly
admitting me. My most recent visit was
early this morning on the 15th of june.
With every stay and visit my condition
worsens. After my may 18th visit, I
essentially “lost” the ability to sit
up without the pain getting worse. My
condition is not getting better, and my
chronic pain is getting worse.
Here is a lost of my persistent symptoms:
· chronic/continued pain on the upper
left and right quadrants of my abdomen,
spreading down the sides (flank region)
and into the back mid to lower back, with
radiating pain into the left and right
groin and down into legs with severe
episodes.
· with each episode/excursion, the pain
is worse then the previous attack.
· after my may 18th episode, lost ability
to sit up with and without assistance
where pain increases to intolerable
levels.
· after the most recent episode, on june
15th, can hardly bend over without pain
getting worse.
· chills
· low to moderate fevers
· drops in potassium, as found with blood
tests.
· joint and muscle pain during episodes
of severe pain.
· easily agitated, aggressive, during
bouts of severe pain that send me to
hospital.
· evidence of having past a kidney stone
(may 2nd), with hydronephrosis (enlarged
kidney) and blood in urine at that time.
· periodic burning when urinating, or in
urethra while sitting and not urinating.
· sometimes a strong ammonia smell from
urine.
· mild headaches.
· dizziness
· intense nausea when pain is severe.
· periodic vomiting when pain is
severe.
· weight loss, despite regular or
over-active appetite.
The frustrating part, despite the symptoms
described, is all of the tests run come
back negative or normal. The only thing
that has been persistent is a slight
elevation to my liver functions, which
everyone says is normal. The only test
that has shown anything was an x-ray done
during my may 18th stay in the hospital
where the x-ray technician said he saw a
large kidney stone but two radiologists
said it was just a gas bubble. The egd
they ran found mild gastritis and a small
hiatul hernia. My colonoscopy came back
completely normal.
On the release of my may 18th stay in the
hospital, I left with a temperature of 100
with an infection in my arms from iv
sites. I was on cephalexin for fifteen
days to combat the infection. More then
anything I want to know what is wrong, or
what I can do to resolve my condition.
They have run a 24 hour urine collection
for cystinuria (cysteine levels) and that
came back normal. All tests they have run
for my kidneys have been normal, as has
most of my blood work.
Is there any help out there? Please, any
suggestions or recommended tests would
greatly be appreciated.
|
ambrosine
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 11 Jun 2006 Posts: 9 Location: london
Hi Posted: 06-18-06 04:30am
I was just wondering if you urinate a lot,
or not at all. If all tests are clear,
maybe looking into a form of long uti,
like an e coli? Have they done these
tests? I would like to know, and sorry
if I can be of no help at all