Is there a Doctor in the House?

Rot 911 · 03-14-2007, 06:27 AM

This is a bit long, but I am at the end of my rope. Any and all suggestions greatly appreciated.

Back in July I posted this thread: "Yesterday I woke up and all my joints felt achy. As the day went on I got a fever that by evening was up to 103. Horrible headache and my joints felt even worse. Took some aspirin and went to bed. This morning it is as if nothing had ever been wrong with me. I feel fine, temperature normal. Any of you ever have this happen? What would cause it?"

The fever went away that day. However every 2-6 weeks the exact same symptoms come back and last from 24-36 hours. As I type this my fever is 102.5 and, based on past history will probably peak at that and go down. All my joints ache. Hell even my eyelids ache. A couple of months ago, after a couple of rounds of this, I went to the doctor and they did a complete blood work up including blood cultures and testing for off the wall diseases like malaria. Everything came back negative yet the symptoms keep coming back. If I go back to the doctor I suspect they will just do the same tests with the same results. For you doctors, and what the hell anyone else, got any suggestions as to how to approach the doctor and suggest some other tests? There is no way in hell this is normal! Thanks one and all.

on-ramp · 06:35 AM

if everything came back negative in your bloodwork, then this is definitely a good thing. your blood is your lifeline.

are you under stress lately. are you losing sleep, etc? you might have the flu that comes and goes. any digestive problems like const. , vomitting, etc?

it may not be that serious. I personally suffered from panic attacks in the past and some of the physical symptoms are really bad, although I never really had a fever.

You may consider going to another doctor for a fresh approach to your problem.

Rot 911 · 03-14-2007, 06:38 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by on-ramp
are you under stress lately. are you losing sleep, etc? you might have the flu that comes and goes. any digestive problems like const. , vomitting, etc?

No to the stress and losing sleep. no stomach or digestive problems.

on-ramp · 03-14-2007, 06:39 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Kurt V
No to the stress and losing sleep. no stomach or digestive problems.

did they do ultrasound of your abdomen, MRI, or x-rays?

Rot 911 · 03-14-2007, 06:45 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by on-ramp
did they do ultrasound of your abdomen, MRI, or x-rays?

No to all of the above.

Joeaksa · 03-14-2007, 06:45 AM

Been bitten by any ticks lately?

on-ramp · 03-14-2007, 06:51 AM

another wild guess. you might be very allergic to something you're eating.

KFC911 · 03-14-2007, 06:54 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Joeaksa
Been bitten by any ticks lately?

That's what I was thinking too, but it's a bit too early for "tick season"...

Rot 911 · 03-14-2007, 06:57 AM

I think they tested for lyme disease last time, but definitely need to find out about that.

Not sure about the food allergy as I tend to eat the same things over and over and have been for years, but again, something to ask the docs about.

Guys I really appreciate your help. When I was laying in bed awake at 4 a.m. I was about as low as I could get thinking I am going to have to live with this forever.

Moses · 03-14-2007, 07:19 AM

You need an Infectious Disease specialist pronto. It's not a common specialty so you may need to travela bit to find one. Get started. This can be serious.

From your description, malaria was the first thing that came to mind. Good luck. Get busy finding an ID specialist.

Joeaksa · 03-14-2007, 07:26 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by KC911
That's what I was thinking too, but it's a bit too early for "tick season"...

Never know, the season in mid-Missouri has been going up and down and he could have been bitten somewhere. Kurt lives in a rural area and its been warm there lately, so I would put this high on the list of possible things.

Kurt,

Not to worry, after your Johnson falls off in a week or so I have heard that it subsides!

Keep us appraised on how its going.

Joe

widgeon13 · 03-14-2007, 07:26 AM

I would also be tested for Lyme's disease.

RickM · RickM's Garage

Tick season is all year round. Just a bit slower during the winter. Some people are misdiagnosed for quite some time.

I'd go with Mose's suggestion and see an IDS. Hope you get to the bottom of this.

Here's some reference Material: http://www.fda.gov/medbull/summer99/Lyme.html

"The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is concerned about the potential for misdiagnosis of Lyme disease based on the results of commonly marketed tests for detecting antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi, the organism that causes Lyme disease. It is important that clinicians understand that a positive test result does not necessarily indicate current infection with B. burgdorferi, and a patient with active Lyme disease may have a negative test result. (1-5)

The tests should be used only to support a clinical diagnosis of Lyme disease and should never be the primary basis for making diagnostic or treatment decisions. Diagnosis should be based on a patient history, which includes symptoms and exposure to the tick vector and physical findings. The most definitive diagnostic procedure is biopsy and isolation of B. burgdorferi in culture."

"Several factors contribute to the limitations of using ELISA, IFA, or Western blot tests for supporting a diagnosis of Lyme disease. The stage of disease in which the specimen was taken is critical. Many patients with active or recent infections do not have detectable anti-Bb in a single specimen. This happens because such antibodies often develop after manifestations of early infection or because detectable anti-Bb may diminish or never develop in patients treated with antibiotics."

Test interpretation guidelines: http://www.cdc.gov/MMWR/preview/mmwrhtml/00038469.htm

einreb · 03-14-2007, 07:39 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Kurt V
I was about as low as I could get thinking I am going to have to live with this forever.

If you are going to live with this forever, you may want to consider not getting 'cured'. Unfortunately, I suspect that you will eventually die.

I can't imagine that this 'work up' didnt include lyme disease since your symptoms are a bit of a match, but it sure wouldnt hurt to ask.

Rot 911 · 03-14-2007, 08:41 AM

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions! Now to try and get into see the doctor without having to wait 6 weeks.

KFC911 · 03-14-2007, 09:19 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Kurt V
Thanks for all the helpful suggestions! Now to try and get into see the doctor without having to wait 6 weeks.

If you tell 'em your profession, you'll have to wait 12

. Seriously, good luck, and please follow Dr. Moses' advice...

rhjames · rhjames's Garage

do your symptoms include any viral (upper/lower respiratory) infections/issues?

Blood pressure numbers??

had a HIV test lately?

I really hate to suggest that, but it is a reality in this day and age......

I could forward your symptoms to my recently graduated Emory nursing sisters (yeah, both of them are brand spankin' new nurses), but they'd probably say you'll be dead in short order.......

fever---even coming and going---usually has more to do with (bacterial) infections that anything else----so I've been told, but what the hell l do I know, I'm just a dumb truck driver with a Porsche in the garage.

let us know what it is you've got---cause I sure as heck don't want any part of it......

Get well---

regards---rhjames

RickM · RickM's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by Kurt V
Now to try and get into see the doctor without having to wait 6 weeks.

If going to a specialist ask your primary (or one of his/her more personable staff) to call and ask for an appointment. They will likely have more pull.

If you live nearby an in person visit may help as well.

livi · 03-14-2007, 12:10 PM

Kurt,

Being the resident kids doc, I should probably shut up but,

Recurrent fever, joint affection and general malaise.

Possible causing factors:

Infectious disease - viral, bacterial or parasitic. Only a few will cause a relapse after several weeks. Certainly some of the zoonoses (caught from animals/insects etc). In this case parts of US have diseases I have only read about. Lyme disease being one and might BTW not turn up in regular blood samples.

Inflammatory diseases: Generated by your own immune system, like rheumatic diseases, certain bowel diseases etc.

More or less malign disease: Again, not that likely with several weeks of well being in between.

Now, if they did a thorough blood work, most likely the two latter groups would show, but several infectious culprits would not. I would however not rule out any of the above at this point - and I could list analysis's that I would perform in such a case, but I better not as I should not play adult doc. I will say however, that a spinal tap analyzing for cells, protein, glucose and cultures would be a part of my work up.

livi · 03-14-2007, 12:20 PM

Sorry, I can not be more specific. Kurt, you know how difficult it is to diagnose one of my newbie Porsche tech questions just from a written description - no matter how good a tech you are, there are just too many variables and every car is unique. Well, the biological system of a unique homo sapience is a million times more complex and even with the person in front of you it can often be very tricky.