Long story, assortment of symptoms, Health Anxiety, ALS/MS, Lyme's Disease?

Posted , 5 users are following.

Hi all, forgive me for this long post. This is the first time I have posted on here. 

I have had a ton of very weird symptoms and was hoping someone would be able to help me out. I am a 20 year old female at college and have had difficulties because I am far away from home without my PCP. 

About 1.5 months ago I was in an area with high population of ticks, with my dogs who often picked up ticks. I experienced a pain in my groin area that I attributed to maybe a yeast infection coming on or something of the sort, but when I went to look a day or so later it was a bump that I pulled off and it later scabbed. I was unsure what it was, I know it was black, but I attributed it to being an ingrown hair or something and didn't think much of it at the time. It stayed painful for a couple of days and scabbed up, however I experienced ongoing vaginal itching and redness for weeks after. I thought it was a yeast infection, possible BV, maybe even an sti but my gyno checked for everything and said it was just a little inflamed and suggested I use some cream until it got better. 

During these few weeks I also had some late afternoons where a bout of flu like symptoms would hit me. I would become very shaky, feverish, nauseous, almost to the point where I wondered if I needed to go to the hospital because I felt so horrible, but the symptoms would slowly subside after a couple of hours. My lymph nodes also swelled up. A day or two would pass and I would feel like the flu was coming on again and this turned into an overall exhausted feeling that has lasted up until now. During this time I also had random bouts of severe diarrhea that would come out of no where and very severe headaches where I'd have to sit in the dark to get to go away. During the time my vagina was still itchy so being anxious about my health I automatically assumed I had somehow contracted HIV even though I have has one monogamous sexual partner for 2 years. 

Continuing to about two weeks ago, I started experiencing muscle twitches in one leg that rapidly moved to different places over my whole body. I had had muscle twitches before but generally just in one muscle or my eyelid that wouldn't last for long. I went to do my usual workouts and experienced muscle cramping in one thigh which is also fairly unusual for me (I get cramps sometimes but usually eating a banana fixes the problem). But when I went to workout a couple of days later I got another bad muscle cramp in my thigh, and my muscles were abnormally sore after the workouts. This turned me to doctor google which was a HORRIBLE idea because it turned me straight to ALS, which my Aunt died from years ago and I have completely freaked myself out. I started having muscle spasms and cramps in my legs all night and I would wake up in a sweaty complete panic and barely slept for 4 nights straight. Then I started experiencing this excruciating neck pain that radiated into my shoulders and down my spine. This led me to a trip to the emergency room where they ran a CBX, mono tests, chest x-ray which were all normal. They told me I had some sort of virus and sent me on my way. At this point I felt like I could barely stand longer than 10 seconds because my legs would cramp and burn and my neck was on fire. (This ER visit was last Friday)

Since then I have felt like I've been in a never ending anxiety attack. Along with the muscle twitching/cramping/neck pain has come a feeling of weakness in the right side of my body? Things feel heavier with my right hand than my left hand and I almost feel like I am developing a limp in my right foot and have had some spotty/blurriness in my right eye. Of course the weakness freaked me out even more about having ALS or some other terminal disease. I felt completely out of my mind, I couldn't stop having panic attacks and crying because I felt like I was going to die (Even though ALS at my age is extremely unlikely and a very irrational diagnosis to turn to). I took it upon myself to research my symptoms and after thinking about all of my symptoms in the last month or so I thought maybe Lyme's Disease could be what was causing it? I was completely exposed to ticks all summer, and had the possible tick in my genital area. 

Anyway I wasn't going to class, wasn't eating or drinking much and returned to the ER on Tuesday of this past week where I told the doctor about the weakness and pain all over my body and he did a full exam and said I have same strength on both sides and basically wrote off my symptoms as a virus or anxiety, but I demanded a Lyme Titter test which won't be back until this Tuesday. I tried to convince myself my symptoms were from anxiety so I went to a step aerobics class on Wednesday and I felt like my right foot was completely out of wack, I fatigued extremely quickly, and had to stop the class early (very out of ordinary for me because I am usually pretty athletic and good at the class). This sent me more into a state of panic about having ALS or MS because my right foot just didn't feel right and my calves were cramping up and I felt like a 3lb weight was heavier in my right arm then left which is bizarre because I'm right handed. 

I finally ended up being able to get into a PCP this past Thursday who listened to my whole story and again gave me a full neurological exam and said all my muscles and reflexes felt fine. He wanted to have me take anxiety medication this weekend and sleeping medication because he wanted to address the extreme anxiety before we go into further testing. The anxiety medicine has helped a bit, but I am still having the overall body pains, fatigue, and on and off weakness on the right side of my body (worse in the morning and after walking for a while). I also wake up in the middle of the night often feel like my body is vibrating. 

What I'm wanting to know is, could these be early signs of ALS/MS or some other neurological disease? I know I am only 20 but those kinds of things aren't completely unheard of in people my age. Should I push for an MRI or CT even though my physical testing and reflexes are normal? 

Could what is going on with me possibly be caused by Lyme disease? I am not in a state where doctors know much about the disease and I hear the tests can often result in false negatives. If the test does come back negative on Tuesday do I need to still pursue the possibility further? 

Thank you for any advice you might have! I am pretty freaked and lost at this point in the process.

0 likes, 3 replies

3 Replies

  • Posted

    Obviously, I cannot tell you if it is Lyme or something else. It very well could be Lyme. It does a lot of weird things and affects people differently. Sometimes it is hard to get a diagnosis, especially with doctors who aren't really familiar with Lyme. I had it for over a year before I was diagnosed. And it has left me with some weird things. Just keep pushing till they find out what it is. I went thru a lot of tests, diagnosis and waiting until a neurosurgeon finally discovered I had Lyme. I still have vision and dizziness problems and now need a pacemaker. I wish you the best of luck and hope they come up with the right answer soon.

  • Posted

    Hello Andy!

    I have pins and needles sensation in my arms and legs for about 3 weeks along with tiredness ,

    I also have some blurred vission( could be the result of my 

    astigmatism increasing) and also shocks/spasms during my sleep(shocks/spasms are an old story from 5-7 yrs ago)

    Because i lost my mom from als i was extremelly worried i also have a neurological disease like als or Ms

    Checked it with an apointment with a neurologist and clinical exam was very good. Doctor insited that im healthy and i will not need an mri but i insisted doing it and i will go today. I did all the blood tests and they were fine. Im thinking of a test for lyme .\

    Good luck and i hope you will be fine soon

  • Posted

    Hey I have similar symptoms and I am better now that I have gotten a mri. I didn’t have anything and I’m perfectly healthy I would urge to go for a mri because you will have instant relief.

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.