Hello everyone, I want to personally thank you for taking the time to read my post because I am at my wit's end with figuring out what the heck I have. The sooner I find out the sooner I can treat it and get better! I know worrying about it and getting stressed out will only make my condition worse and I am aware of that!
So here's my story.......I woke up on September 26th with huge swollen painful neck glands, achy all over and a fever. My first thought was strep throat since my friends had it a few weeks before. I went to the doctors on Oct. 5th and they gave me antibiotics. Finished them and went back to the doctors still not feeling better but the fever and aches were gone. They gave me a second course of stronger antibiotics, didn't work. Then they gave me Prednisone for about 10 days to reduce the swelling, which it did but as soon as I came off of it, they swelled right back up, bigger this time! Nov 1st-Nov 10th Took Claritin from doctor 5mg/day-small blue pill(he thought it might be allergies). Nov. 10th: Started my period and I felt like I was coming down with a sinus cold because I felt like my head was floating like a balloon and I could feel my sinuses filling up. I believed I caught this from my boyfriend and also because my immune system was weakened from fighting off whatever I have been fighting off for 10 weeks now! I was blowing out yellowish-green colored mucus from my nose for a few days but then finished the cold off with healthy clear mucus! It is December 7th now and I sometimes get mucus in the back of my throat but I think some of the mucus got caught in my swollen neck/throat glands while I was sick and is still slowly draining out when I sneeze or something like onions/jalepenos opens up my sinuses.(When you look down my throat you can see how swollen it is...the doctor said it looks like golf balls.) Some days I can feel my neck glands changing size or at least getting ready to....when they grow they are painful and very tender. When they shrink it's a relief and I seem to have a little more energy too!
My CBC was normal. My sedementation test was normal. I tested negative for mono, strep, anemia and lyme disease. Since my cold went away, I've been having dizziness, forgetfullness, short term memory loss, poor concentration, bloating/gas/digestion problems, severe sudden back pain(different places) that comes and goes, always thirsty, always tired, weak and malaise feeling, cold then hot/feverish (my temp is actually low), cold sweats and cold chills and hot flashes, ringing in my ears few times per day. I gained 10 lbs. the first month I was sick and now I have lost over 10 lbs. and have a poor appetite.
I had a frightening episode the other day where my heart started beating faster or I had shortness of breath while I was sitting on a couch doing nothing and then both of my hands went numb and tingly. Then my hands came back to normal feeling and both of my feet went numb and tingly. This happened twice in a row and then I had bad cold chills. I had chest pain in my left side of my chest (I have been getting this for a few weeks now) for about 10 seconds and dizziness before I had the numb hands and feet.
So I have an appointment with an Ears, Nose and Throat Specialist on December 14th at 1pm....CANNOT WAIT THAT LONG AHHHHH this is driving me crazy not knowing what is going on with me and the possibility of it being serious! IF it turns out serious I wanna catch this as early as possible so I can treat it ASAP and hopefully cure it! I am waiting on my HIV Test to come back but I don't think I have HIV, although it is a sad possiblity. But I would really really really LOVE and appreciate any and all advice/thoughts/comments/etc. from anybody willing to try to help me figure this out!
Worried and Waiting..............
So here's my story.......I woke up on September 26th with huge swollen painful neck glands, achy all over and a fever. My first thought was strep throat since my friends had it a few weeks before. I went to the doctors on Oct. 5th and they gave me antibiotics. Finished them and went back to the doctors still not feeling better but the fever and aches were gone. They gave me a second course of stronger antibiotics, didn't work. Then they gave me Prednisone for about 10 days to reduce the swelling, which it did but as soon as I came off of it, they swelled right back up, bigger this time! Nov 1st-Nov 10th Took Claritin from doctor 5mg/day-small blue pill(he thought it might be allergies). Nov. 10th: Started my period and I felt like I was coming down with a sinus cold because I felt like my head was floating like a balloon and I could feel my sinuses filling up. I believed I caught this from my boyfriend and also because my immune system was weakened from fighting off whatever I have been fighting off for 10 weeks now! I was blowing out yellowish-green colored mucus from my nose for a few days but then finished the cold off with healthy clear mucus! It is December 7th now and I sometimes get mucus in the back of my throat but I think some of the mucus got caught in my swollen neck/throat glands while I was sick and is still slowly draining out when I sneeze or something like onions/jalepenos opens up my sinuses.(When you look down my throat you can see how swollen it is...the doctor said it looks like golf balls.) Some days I can feel my neck glands changing size or at least getting ready to....when they grow they are painful and very tender. When they shrink it's a relief and I seem to have a little more energy too!
My CBC was normal. My sedementation test was normal. I tested negative for mono, strep, anemia and lyme disease. Since my cold went away, I've been having dizziness, forgetfullness, short term memory loss, poor concentration, bloating/gas/digestion problems, severe sudden back pain(different places) that comes and goes, always thirsty, always tired, weak and malaise feeling, cold then hot/feverish (my temp is actually low), cold sweats and cold chills and hot flashes, ringing in my ears few times per day. I gained 10 lbs. the first month I was sick and now I have lost over 10 lbs. and have a poor appetite.
I had a frightening episode the other day where my heart started beating faster or I had shortness of breath while I was sitting on a couch doing nothing and then both of my hands went numb and tingly. Then my hands came back to normal feeling and both of my feet went numb and tingly. This happened twice in a row and then I had bad cold chills. I had chest pain in my left side of my chest (I have been getting this for a few weeks now) for about 10 seconds and dizziness before I had the numb hands and feet.
So I have an appointment with an Ears, Nose and Throat Specialist on December 14th at 1pm....CANNOT WAIT THAT LONG AHHHHH this is driving me crazy not knowing what is going on with me and the possibility of it being serious! IF it turns out serious I wanna catch this as early as possible so I can treat it ASAP and hopefully cure it! I am waiting on my HIV Test to come back but I don't think I have HIV, although it is a sad possiblity. But I would really really really LOVE and appreciate any and all advice/thoughts/comments/etc. from anybody willing to try to help me figure this out!
Worried and Waiting..............
I had a light case of shingles caught very early. It's gone now, but a few weeks later, I am getting the swollen glands back, starting at my neck. What could be happening?