[TuRc]

Hello, maybe someone here can help me with this. I'm having trouble figuring these symptoms out, my GP and now a neurologist I saw recently weren't much help. Symptoms started about two years ago. A strange pain affects my entire body but its most prominent on my torso, mostly affecting my shoulders/arms, upper-back, chest and stomach.
Any slight stimulation or change in temperature can illicit the pain and it can feel hot and burning sometimes but also like a chill that will present with goose bumbs everywhere (sort of like when you have a fever.) Night sweats are another one, every morning I wake up in sweat. And a hyper-sensitivity to sound and smell. This one can be difficult to be objective about because once you realize your bring startled easily you become hyper-aware, but I believe the degree to which moderate sounds and smells/tastes can irritate me is not normal and is not something which was always present.

Two major events preceded the symptoms. First, in November 2010 I was hospitalized when septicemia from an unknown infection apparently got into my blood causing septic shock. I was treated with wide-spectrum antibiotics (which exactly I'll know soon when I get the reports from the hospital) and spent two weeks in the hospital. I was also treated with methadone for these two weeks related to complications from the septic shock.
The other thing I can remember which happened around this time was I was put on lamictal about two weeks after release from the hospital. This was for bi-polar depression, I was already on seroquel and geodon at this time and the psych dis-continued the geodon and started lamictal. I can't remember exact dates but it was around this time that I started to have (I think) neurological sensory symptoms. I started to feel pretty bad on my last day before I was even discharged from the hospital.

I thought I was feeling withdrawal since they had stopped the methadone but the Dr.s said I wasn't on it long enough to cause dependance. Basically what happened from then until now is that the feeling of "withdrawal" never truly went away, but of course now it is far too long to be withdrawal. The neuro did some blood work. Vit D(15) Vit B12(392) Hemoglobin(17.2) Hematocrit(52) TSH(4.58) Free T4(4.2) T3 uptake(36%). I started supplementing D3 and B-12, Dr said hematological stuff is because I smoke, and to repeat thyroid tests in four weeks. Everything else was normal.
Neuro didn't order any other tests and didn't seem to concerned or interested. I had Lyme in 2008 when I was 16 which was treated, that was also tested for and came back negative. Any comments or insight is appreciated, I've been researching a lot and its quite frustrating as my symptoms don't seem to really "fit" anything. Thanks for reading.

[mrsD]

Welcome to NeuroTalk:

Well, the antibiotics for Lyme, and your septic shock problem, could have been a trigger.

Also the drugs you are on, the Geodon or Seroquel, can cause
abberations in blood sugar. The night sweats could be a sign of this. If you are swinging from high to low in a cycle, night time is a common time for LOWs which give symptoms of sweating. Not sure about the Lamictal however.
But aseptic meningitis is a possiblity:
http://journals.lww.com/intclinpsych..._a_case.8.aspx
There are some links discussing Lamictal as a trigger for drug induced
lupus...which is difficult to diagnose because ANA's usually are normal.
more here:
http://www.lupus.org/webmodules/weba...=377&zoneid=17
Please notice that the list on this link shows that the antipsychotic
drugs like you are taking may also cause drug induced lupus.

Some of the antibiotics, are neurotoxic. So finding out what you were given is important. (fluoroquinolones, metronidazole, Tindamax)

I hope you are using the methylcobalamin form of B12. Taken orally on an EMPTY stomach.

You'd have to consult a Lyme doctor for evaluation of neuroLyme, which may be hidden in you and not showing up in testing. From the little I know, NeuroLyme is diagnosed by symptoms only.

Do you know your A1C value, for blood glucose impairment potentials? Have you had a 4 hr glucose tolerance test?

Do you have fluid retention with this pain? Does it come and go?
Swelling?
Do you use an ACE inhibitor for blood pressure? These drugs can cause reactions including pain.

[TuRc]

Originally Posted by mrsD

Welcome to NeuroTalk:

Well, the antibiotics for Lyme, and your septic shock problem, could have been a trigger.

Also the drugs you are on, the Geodon or Seroquel, can cause
abberations in blood sugar. The night sweats could be a sign of this. If you are swinging from high to low in a cycle, night time is a common time for LOWs which give symptoms of sweating. Not sure about the Lamictal however.

There are some links discussing Lamictal as a trigger for drug induced
lupus...which is difficult to diagnose because ANA's usually are normal.
more here
Please notice that the list on this link shows that the antipsychotic
drugs like you are taking may also cause drug induced lupus.

Some of the antibiotics, are neurotoxic. So finding out what you were given is important. (fluoroquinolones, metronidazole, Tindamax)

I hope you are using the methylcobalamin form of B12. Taken orally on an EMPTY stomach.

You'd have to consult a Lyme doctor for evaluation of neuroLyme, which may be hidden in you and not showing up in testing. From the little I know, NeuroLyme is diagnosed by symptoms only.

Do you know your A1C value, for blood glucose impairment potentials? Have you had a 4 hr glucose tolerance test?

Do you have fluid retention with this pain? Does it come and go?
Swelling?
Do you use an ACE inhibitor for blood pressure? These drugs can cause reactions including pain.

Hi mrsD thanks for responding. I am taking the methylcobalamin form of b-12. No ACE inhibitors. I don't know my A1C value nor have I had a 4 hour glucose test. My glucose was at 99 when tested a couple weeks ago. My endocrinologist knows about my problem so I hope she tested for everything relevant. I thought about the aseptic meningitis but I was examined by my GP and no swelling or similar symptoms were present. Often I think I've found a potential diagnosis but then one thing will totally not fit. There is no fluid retention either, the pain comes and goes in intensity but there's never a day where I don't feel it. One other thing I can think of that seems important is that all symptoms were much more intense while I was on a plane 4 months ago. I was sweating, rapid heart rate, and terrible chills/cold sweats like I had a flu.

[pabb]

Your H+H is at the very max of normal, have you checked out hemochromatosis?

[TuRc]

Originally Posted by pabb

Your H+H is at the very max of normal, have you checked out hemochromatosis?

I know my iron levels were normal. Also my liver enzymes were actually low AST(13) ALT (8). I was wondering why H+H was high. I told the Dr I smoke only socially but she said that's likely why.