I am going to try to provide many background as well as relevant details here because nobody can figure out what's wrong with me:
24 year old Female - living in central Pa- never been out of the country - white - 1 child who is now 5
Family history of breast cancer(maternal grandmother), mental illness, alcoholism (mother and father), dementia(maternal grandmother), and colon cancer(paternal great grandfather)
I currently take 30mg of Paxil daily for PTSD associated with childhood abuse and I have been taking Paxil (starting at 10mg) for over 10 years now, stopping only for my pregnancy
I smoke about a pack of menthol cigarettes every 3 days, and I have so for about 10 years, quitting only during my pregnancy
I also have MIRENA IUD that has been in place (almost) 5 years- (which I am aware I need to make an appointment soon to get a new one put it)
I have a history of anxiety and heart palpitations since childhood and when I was young I used to have strange episodes (only at night) where I would wake up with my heart beating out of my chest and extreme sensitivity to sound, and numbness. Those episodes stopped before I reached puberty, though.
Other than that, I have been pretty healthy and my pregnancy (2008-2009) was rather uncomplicated except for extreme siatica to the point where i could barely walk- as well as sickness throughout all 3 trimesters- and somewhat low BP during delivery.
I didn't breastfeed as I wanted to get back on my Paxil, so I formula fed and when my milk FINALY started to dry up - THAT'S WHEN THIS NAGGING, DULL yet VERY UNCOMFORTABLE PAIN started occuring (what felt like) deep within the tissue of my left breast.
I attributed it to a clogged milk duct at first, but a few months later it didn't go away, in fact it was worst and beginning to radiate throughout my left breast and into my upper pectoral region above my left breast, as well as on the side of my left breast, underneath my armpit deep within the tissue.
My first doctor's visit i was diagnosed with Tietz Syndrome and given Naproxen. Well, that was awful because then I found out that i was allergic to naproxen and so i basically gave up on getting any type of relief and didnt go back to the doctor for this pain again for another YEAR.
A year later after the naproxen incident, I was really beginning to become alarmed at how much the pain was still present, but also at how much more it SPREAD. Now, it was starting to radiate toward my back and especially the outer parameter of my shoulder blade. it was also radiating downward more into my rib cage on the left side.
Another thing that startled me at this time was that my sciatic pain was back! It completely went away after my pregnancy for over a year and all of a sudden it was back- not as extreme as when i was pregnant but still very painful and the worst at night.
So, I decided it was about time for another trip to the doctor's. When i got there i literally explained everything that i have explained above to him, and so he did some X-rays and blood work.
My X-rays were normal (but i shudder to even say that bc xrays are such a crude and inaccurate measure of what's going on in there)
My blood work was nothing to be alarmed about but my liver enzymes were a tad elevated (even though i do NOT drink AT ALL)
My BP was low but not too low to be alarmed (it usually always is low actually- since I had my child)
- i drink A LOT of caffeine like A LOT so i was also thinking that my natural BP may even more lower than on readings bc i am always heavily caffinated.
But the blood work WAS able to rule OUT common myalgia's as well as Lupus.
My blood sugar was also a TAD high but nothing of concern.
Anyway, my doc ended up referring my to a rheumatiod specialist and when I saw him- well let's just say this guy wasn't my favorite.
He was very spaced out and seemed like he wanted to get out of there more than anything else- he did a full body exam VERY quickly and then asked my if i ever had Psoriasis. I told him that I wasn't sure but I have had this strange buildup on my SCALP since i was like 13 years old and it wasn't dandruff. HE SAID HE WOULD CHECK MY SCALP AND NEVER DID!
SO, the Rheumatiod specialist's diagnosis was that I have significant hypermobility in all of my joints and that i have mild scoliosis. He said that was what was contributing to all of this chronic pain for the past 3 years!
I didnt really believe him but he prescribed my tramadol for the pain- which KIND OF worked to dull the pain but mostly just made me sick rather than making me feel any type of pain relief.
So now present day- almost 5 years later- I FEEL AWFUL- it is all so much worse- and Iam beginning to feel like I picked up another (possibly underlying or as a result of) condition in these past 2 years because my list of current symptoms are long, extremely annoying and very concerning to me.
SO PRESENT DAY:
The pain that i described above is pretty much everywhere now. still the strongest where it originated in that left breast/chest area but LITERALLY all over my body. The pain feels sometimes like burning, sometimes like stretching or muscles that are too tight, and then other times it's just the sore, unbarable pain that kind of feels like maybe a pinched nerve but it is SO HARD to describe
The pain is releived MOST when i put INTENSE pressure on it! Yeah, that's the weird part- the places where i am perceiving/experiencing pain are relieved when i push on or massage it (temporarily- the pain comes right back when i am no longer pushing) but certain areas that DO NOT experience pain actually HURT when i press on them- such a my sternum and this one area of my spine below my neck that pokes out the most. I also still have that sciatic pain but now it feels more like pain where my leg bone is meeting my hip joint. just so intense and i cannot stand for long periods of time without it hurting tremendously.
Pain medication DOES NOT WORK AT ALL. Hot compress works somewhat and temporarily. Cold compress DOES NOT WORK.
Worse at night- accompanied by RLS quite often and sometimes severe insomnia
OTHER SYMPTOMS I'VE BEEN HAVE THIS YEAR (but may not be related- as I do smoke cigarettes and occasionally weed)
- extremely irritable bowel (diarehia at least once a day if not more especially exasterbated when I am NOT smoking weed)
-diarehia episodes have been so painful before that it caused me to throw up, and then PASS OUT COMPLETELY WHILE POOPING.
- cannot stand for long periods of time (not only does it really hurt my thighs and buttocks and hips, but also , if i stand for a long time, i SERIOUSLY feel like I am not getting enough oxygen! and it ONLY goes away when I sit down.
- dizzy and lightheaded easily- blackout if i stand up too fast and sometimes pass out
- dull, tight, almost CONSTANT (80-90% of the day) headache
- excessive sweating for no aparent reason- even sometimes when it's cold
- tightness feeling in chest that comes and goes but when it gets really bad it feels like my muscles are too tight to let my lungs expand all of the way when i breathe in
- extreme fatigue out of nowhere= even if NOT precipitated by exercise
- irregular heart rhythms- my heart 'skips a beat' more often than i feel like it should
- mucusy cough that isnt that bad but it just won't go away
PLEASE SOMEBODY TAKE ALL OF THIS INFORMATION I HAVE SHARED WITH YOU AND TRY TO MAKE SENSE OF THIS FOR ME! PLEASE I NEED HELP! THE DOCTORS AROUND HERE ARE AWFUL AND THEY DO NOT LISTEN TO ME AT ALL!
PLEASE HELP~ I will keep updating and adding symptoms in the comment boxes as the arise or if i think of ones i forgot!
THANK YOU SO MUCH
Another Symptom I forgot to mention is how easily my extremeties go numb and my muscle twitching and shaking
I experience my legs and arms falling asleep if only in a somewhat compromised position for any longer than like 30 seconds they start to get numb and when the blood rushes back in it almost has a paralyzing effect on my limbs and it actually physically HURTS A LOT
I also experience a lot of muscle shakyness in pretty much all of my muscles = but mostly my legs and feet, fingers and hands- but I often attribute that to caffiene consumption
AND FINALLY I often experience involuntary muscle twitches in my face, legs, arms and hands.
Also, sometimes my headaches change into an extremely painful (I can't describe it at all) feeling localized to the left of right side (at any given episode) and instead of it beeing a tight, tension feeling around my whole head, these are deep within my brain- almost like someone is stabbing me or that my brain is being starved of oxygen up there or something- it is a really bizarre pain to describe
Sounds exactly like me! It is probably the Mirena! Take it out and then do a detox...that is what I am about to do. There are many women out there that share our story....negative tests and no one believes us. There is hope...will just take time to get the toxins out apparently.