Depression Forum - Confused

Hi,
i am writing to this forum as a final plea to anyone that will listen in trying to determine some answers regarding my health over the past year. What I am about to write is rather lengthy, but will give you a pretty solid background into what has been going on.

I was diagnosed with mitral valve prolapse (mvp) in 2002 and also had been suffering from panic disorder at that time. Since then, the anxiety has lessened and has not been too problematic. Now, I only have the occasional re-occurrence of anxiety symptoms.

I don’t have a family doctor, and haven’t had one for almost two years now. Instead, I have no choice but to goto drop-in clinics and in more drastic cases, the emergency room of one of the local hospitals.

In october of 2005, I underwent a 2-week cleanse that involved major diet changes, plenty of juicing, supplements, etc. I also had two colon irrigation treatments during this time. It was very draining to continue with the cleanse, but following the two weeks, I felt pretty good.

In november of 2005, I went to the doctor’s and presented with a rash confined to the trunk, thighs, and feet. The skin seemed very dry and scaly. The doctor initially diagnosed it as being eczema, but after several visits later, seeing how it progressed, he was certain that it was scabies. He gave me a prescription for nix cream, but after speaking to a colleague of mine and reading a little bit about the treatment options on the internet, I felt that using a pesticide on my body was a little too harsh, and instead chose to find other alternatives. In the end, not having a lot of money on hand, I opted to use both apple cider vinegar and tea tree oil several times a day. It didn’t do much at first, and in fact, I thought it was getting worse for a while. But using it more and more, I eventually managed to eliminate the rash 5-6 weeks later (around christmas). I didn’t experience any problems with rash since that time. I did notice that I would occasionally have muscle spasms, tremors, and fatigue, which all seemed to only be on the left side of my body. My doctor was concerned that it was multiple sclerosis. So he made a referral to a neurologist.

Around that very same time, is when things began to worsen otherwise. Over the christmas holidays, I spent the better part of 8 days in bed, just unable to get enough energy to do anything that required effort. And other than the fatigue, the only other symptom I experienced was this feeling of being cold all of the time. The fatigue passed and finally I was able to take part in regular activities.

Still, I was always cold all of the time. And this was very bothersome as it was the middle of a very cold winter. I spent a lot of time in bed because I couldn’t stand being anywhere else. Then eventually, some very peculiar symptoms began appearing. I experienced numbness and tingling in hands and legs, but mostly only on my left side. The problem seemed to worsen when exposed to the cold weather. I would wake up in the morning and my veins in my legs would be very prominent. I noticed what seemed like blood spots on my left ankle and foot. I started to gain a little weight. I experienced severe muscle weakness in my arms and legs. I noticed loss patches of hair loss on my thigh, my eyebrows and one on my scalp. My skin appeared very dry, and rough. I began experiencing really painful headaches that lasted most of the day. And inevitably, I became very depressed, unable to concentrate and focus, and just didn’t feel very well all over. When I went to the doctor, he was almost positive I was experiencing hypothyroidism and tested me immediately. The test (tsh only) came back negative (1.54) and it has been about the same in 3 subsequent tests.

One doctor suggested that I have a complete work-up done, including tests for diabetes, hiv, and liver function. All of these tests came back negative. As time passed, things began to worsen, and I didn’t know where to turn to. I figured all I could do was wait out, and to try and do some things that I did have control over (such as diet). I began eating as healthy as I possibly could, attempting to eliminate as many toxins and allergens from my food source. This didn’t do much though.

It became very difficult to go outside because my hands seemed to spasm uncontrollably when it was exposed to the cold air. I also started developing. A constricted feeling in my left leg, and it became very obvious to both me and the doctors that I had poor circulation in the leg (given the appearance of veins and the tingling).

In april of 2006, things changed yet again. Now I was still experiencing the same symptoms, but things got even more strange. I would have these massive hunger attacks and I almost felt like I would throw up if I didn’t eat. I experienced what seemed like excessive urination (12 – 20 times a day) and the urine was for the most part, always clear. I noticed that my eyes seemed very blurry. It was especially hard to focus on written material and sometimes faces. My fingertips became very sensitive to touch (mostly on left hand only). I find it hard to even type this letter without experiencing a great deal of sensitivity. They also exhibited a change in color – I noticed the fingertips and part of the hand appeared blotchy with white and red pigments. These would sometimes go away and the hand would turn completely white. The colour, texture, shinyness and turgor were and are easily influenced by external events (temperature, holding objects, etc) when I would hold something heavy (like a 4l bottle of water), my hands would get very sore and the fingertips would turn almost dark purple. The skin would bunch up (crease) and wouldn’t return to it’s normal state for an hour or so later. The palms of my hands would turn all shiny and red, as if it was inflamed. The skin on my hands and legs seemed almost stretched and inflamed at the same time. When i’d talk on the phone, the skin on my face would crease and wouldn’t return to it’s normal state for quite some time.

In late april, I started having problems with a pain in the back of my throat, but it didn’t really seem like pain on the inside of my mouth… more like an area that I could not see inside of my neck. Sometimes the pain would radiate to my left jaw and ear. I also noticed a growth that extended from my left tonsil. I went to the clinic again and the doctor said that the growth was a “tonsil flap” and that it required no treatment. As for the soreness in the throat, he said he didn’t see any bacteria in the mouth and that I should just take tylenol to “heal the pain”. He took a mouth swab, just to be on the safe side. A week later, he calls me and tells me that the mouth swab results came back and it showed a positive culture for “strep throat”. He prescribed me a strong antibiotic for 7 days.

In may of 2005, I started noticing significant changes in my oral cavity. I had many problems with acid reflux, and suffered with a lot of indigestion. There was a great deal of white, thick phlegm at the back of my throat (and still is). My saliva was very thick. Upon inspecting the mouth, I noticed grooves on the laterals of my tongue. The grooves were slightly discolored and no amount of brushing would really get rid of it. The majority of the inside of my mouth looked very pale and pink, but the entry-way to the throat looked inflamed and dark red. My tongue seemed slightly coated and there was a mild amount of whitish-growth on the very back of my tongue where the large taste buds sit. I started thinking that I was maybe dealing with a case of candidasis, so I focused on dealing with that (i used garlic, grapefruit seed extract, tea tree oil, oil of oregano, and probiotics) but had no success in eliminating the growth. I later came to understand that as long as I was dealing with the acid reflux and the phlegm, that there would always be a significant amount of bacterial and fungus growth in my mouth. Then I noticed some “raw and inflamed” tissue on the hard palate that to this day still has not disappeared. The gums nearing the spaces in my teeth would become sore and painful. One day, I woke up with a painful sore on the gums above one of the teeth in the front of my mouth. The sore appeared to be patchy and white. The area surfacing the tooth bled when I touched it and when I ate. It disappeared 4 days later after applying tea tree oil to it. Since then, I have had periods, on and off, where the gum tissue seemed to be inflamed. On a final note, I noticed that there seemed to be a “slight” englargement in the gland on the left side of my neck… not enough to call it “swollen”, but compared to the gland on the right, it was definitely larger. It continues to be like this to this day.

I had a brain mri in the late of may, and received the results in september. The mri showed no signs of nerve damage, or the beginning stages of ms. The neurologist was positive that there was no neurological development, but wanted to test me for nutrient deficiencies (b12, folic acid, iron, etc) before resting his case. I am still awaiting the results for these tests.

The doctors I spoke to believed that I could possibly be dealing with one of the following problems / conditions: systemic inflammation, connective tissue disorder, vasculitis, ms, malnutrition, or lupus. But they didn’t offer any suggestions on how to go about investigating these matters. All of them felt it was best to wait for the results from the mri before going any further.

In the meantime, the doctors at the clinic gave me another complete blood work-up with the following results: very low fasting glucose (3.2), abnormal egfr, abnormal hdl, ldl, and chol/hdl ratio, very high albumin, very high potassium, abnormal mch (high), low esr, rheumatoid factor within range (<20), ana negative, and tsh of 1.52. The remaining tests all showed results within the normal reference ranges. The attending physician believed there to be no cause for concern and sent me on my merry way.

In july, I underwent a series of evaluations with my cardiologist to 1) check on the status of the mvp and 2) to determine if there was any cardiological involvement in my current state of symptoms. I had an ekg, a holter monitor, and several other tests. The cardiologist determined that the mvp had not changed since my original diagnosis, and he said that my vital signs were really good (avg blood pressure of 103/75 and heart rate of 65). His only concern were the “blood spots” on my ankle, the constricted feeling in my left leg, and my slightly elevated cholesterol. He referred me to a vascular surgeon which I will be seeing in december, but told me that the surgeon would probably only recommend wearing supportive stockings. In the meantime, one doctor concluded that the spots on my ankles and foot were a sign of “venous stasis” and they recommended that I definitely consider seeing a vascular surgeon.

The pain in my leg seemed to worsen substantially and at times I felt like my legs were jell-o. It hurt to walk, and it hurt even more to sit. When I went to the drop-in clinic, the doctor told me flat-out that someone my age could not experience such dramatic symptoms related to poor circulation and that I should stop concerning myself with it.

I experienced a sense of being “too cold” all throughout the entire summer. Even on the hottest days, unless I was standing directly in the sun (which is hard to do when you’re cooped up in an office building all day), I would always be cold. For a period of 10 days, I used a digital thermometer to measure my temperature. To get a consistent reading, I would test both my oral temperature and also under the armpit twice a day. With the oral temperature, my readings varied between 96.9 and 98.1. Under the armpit, the readings varied between 96.2 and 97.3. I have yet to get an optimal reading of 98.6.

At the same time, I continued to suffer from severe headaches on a daily basis. Sometimes they would be so strong that I couldn’t bare to do anything but sleep. I thought maybe I could do some investigation to see what made it worse and what helped them to get better. After playing around a bit, I noticed that the headaches would get better if I ate and sometimes when I drank. Sleep would always make them better. Physical exertion tended to worsen them, especially when getting up from a seated position to go do something. I would get a throbbing pain in the head, that felt as if all the blood was rushing to my head. The headache would usually get stronger and stronger as the day goes on. Other than that, I couldn’t develop any more insight into the characteristics of the headaches.

On another matter, I had just realized that the last time I was every sick with a cold or flu was back in october 2004 – almost two years earlier. It didn’t make a whole lot of sense, because although I don’t get sick very often, I usually come down with something once a year. And besides, with all that I had been going through since last christmas, you’d think I would suffer from the cold and flu much more frequently.

My hands have been noticeably dry. The fingertips look as if several layers of skin have been taken off. No amount of lotion or moisturizer seems to do anything.

Finally, in august and september, I developed this odd pain in the middle of my lower back, on both sides, which seemed to be worse in the mornings when waking up. When I took a breath, it would hurt even more. The pain would sometimes begin to subside after urinating for the first time of the day. Then in september, I started having problems breathing. It hurt upon breathing and moving my torso. The pain didn’t seem so obvious in the front on my chest (except in my chest bone area upon exertion), but more so on my back. It seemed tight and the pains were stabbing. There is really no cough (if any, it results in no production of phlegm, etc) and no wheezing. Sometimes I notice a very heavy pulse in my back when the breathing becomes difficult. The stabbing pain in the back disappears from time to time. Upon visiting the drop-in clinic, the doctor told me that it wasn’t the kidneys causing me pain, but my back muscles, and that it wasn’t my lungs causing me pain, but that I was just being overly sensitive and aware of my “thoracic cage”. He even suggested that I may be suffering from “somatization syndrome” and referred me to a psychiatrist! He told me to go home and stop concerning myself with the pain.

Here it is october 2006, and I still have made very little progress in determining where this is all coming from. It seems like there is no cardiovascular problems (although small vein tissue involvement hasn’t been ruled out). The neurologist is positive there is no neurological damage. The clinic doctors are certain there is no lung or kidney involvement. The blood tests don’t point to anything in particular. Yet, I am still experiencing a great deal of problems. I just don’t know what else to do. I know this all seems very unbelievable (how could one person go through so much?!?!?) and I realize that some of this could very well be “psycho-somatic”. I mean, the mind is a powerful thing and ofcourse, with the amount of fear and worry that a person would experience after all this time, not knowing what is happening to them, it’s only apparent that the body would start creating it’s own set of problems. But the fact remains that prior to this, I was relatively very healthy, and many of these symptoms are just not normal. Also, a lot of these things are not things I could just so easily “make-up” (ie. Oral cavity involvement, varicose veins, skin turgor, etc) do you have any other suggestions?