Please Help! I have an Ilness or Disease that no doctor can diagnose!?

Question

I have been to 3 doctors. X-rays come back normal. Regular blood tests come back normal. EKG came back normal.
Here are the symptoms I am experiencing. I am in my early 30's...
*Extreme Fatigue
*Difficulty Concentrating, Cloudy Thinking
*Joint Pain (similar to what I would think Arthritis would feel like)
*Numbness (my whole left leg is numb now)
*Tingling of finger and toes (not all the time)
*Skin Sensitivity to touch (intermittently)
* Muscle cramps and aches
* My ankles had swollen to twice the size suddenly (1 1/2 weeks ago- was given diruetics to help swelling go down)
*Sometimes Naseau, Sometimes Constipation - but not always
* Rapid Weight Gain (15 pounds in 1 week -no change in diet - went from 140 to 155)
* No fever ( I may have had low grade a couple weeks ago but no sign now)
Please it anyone has experienced any of the symptoms please give me ideas. One doc said maybe Lyme, the other doc said no idea, the other doc said maybe liver related. Plz help! Thxs

I am seeing some answers about seeing a diagnostician, I have never heard of that before? Are they more qualified than an MD? Special Certifications?
Also.. I just need suggestions... I don't expect anyone to have the magical answer, however, I want to be proactive and do research on my own. I have been searching on the internet for days now and can find nothing... So the suggestions I am getting so far ARE helping me sort through some different options I did not think about.
Whatever I have is Severly affectiong my career and personal life and the corporate world is not very compassionate about an "unknown" condition that makes it almost impossible to work...
I forgot to add two other symptoms

*Shakiness of hands and develping a sort of "tic" in my eyes

Thank You!

Answer 1

Disney,
That's a lot of symptoms you've come up with- clearly I can see you are concerned- as well as observant of things that are different, which certainly can be of help to the people traeting you.
As you seem to be aware- your symtoms don't point to a specific cause (they point to a lot of things)- let me give you an example of one of your symptom that's the easiest to focus on (that is: it's not very subjective, and someone looking at you can physically see it): ankle swelling on both sides. That explains the weight gain (you're holding on to water causing your legs to swell) Five things come to mind with this sort of fluid retention (or 15 pounds of it anyway) kidneys not getting rid of water well, liver not making protein, heart not pumping well, lymph ducts or veins clogged due to obstruction from tumor or less likely exotic infection (only if you've been traveling to 3rd world places), or finally my garbage basket- low protein in your blood from any number of causes of inflammation (infection, pregnancy, endocrine abnormalities such as low thyroid, etc...)
Any of the above 5 causes can cause your other symptoms- fatigue, difficulty concentrating, muscle cramps, nausea...see how this works? The symptoms unfortunatley could be anything...
I have two key suggestions for you: 1- have a doc look into a "rheumatologic (vasculitic)" cause- since your looking on the web: look up things like PAN (Poly Arteritis Nodosa)
And number 2...with such a complicated set of symptoms, it will be ESSENTIAL for you to return to the SAME doctor every time. As respondents above have indicated, I would look for an internal medicine (internist) doc as they see adults (age 18+). They are not subspecialists however (rheumatologists, neurologists), and after they order their initial battery of tests (and you come back to them so they can tell you what they found and what tests they will order next as a result of their findings or lack thereof) they can refer to to the appropriate subspecialist for further management.
Since you have 62% of the best answers on your avatar, I assume you follow up and will read my message. If you have additional information or a doctor does finally arrive at a diagnosis- email me and let me know if I may answer a question you have (codessuck@yahoo)
=)

Answer 2

It could be Lyme Disease. Of the 11 symptoms you listed 10 show up in a check list in a book called Coping with Lyme Disease. There are 69 yes / no questions. I would try to get that book and see if you have more symptoms that you don't realize. Show it to a doctor and see what you are told. The blood tests for Lyme are very inconclusive and most times a doctor will treat the symptoms. What ever it is, it has to be treated.
You can email me at [e-mail] if you want more information on Lyme.

Good Luck, John

Answer 3

So 3 doctors couldn't diagnose you. You think a bunch of people with nothing better to do on a Monday night will be able to?

Extreme fatigue, difficulty concentrating, cloudy thinking are pretty much all the same thing. You're physically exhausted from whatever you have and this is a symptom of that.

I have heard of Skin sensitivity being related to Lyme disease. You need to find a doctor who has treated this before. They will know the difference better than us.

I'd go to a hospital to see a specialist (diagnotician or better) before i saw another doctor.

Answer 4

Many of your symptoms are consistent with Lyme and its co-infections. But there are other things it could be as well. Unfortunately, most regular docs aren't familiar enough with Lyme disease to be helpful. And the typical Lyme test such a doc would give you actually has high false negative rates--meaning many people test negative, even if they have the disease. I'd recommend getting a western blot from Igenex (it's a waste of money to have it done elsewhere) and see what that may show. You also need to find a doctor who is willing to work with you eliminating the possibilities until you find the culprit.

Answer 5

the person or people that said you see the specialist are right . yes a specialist is trained in one area more so then just the over all GP. now a family doctor is a speciality but in your case not the right one at least at this point .
a speciality can involve 5 or even 10 more years of study as well just the fact that they work on one type of problem or part of the person all the time leads them to know much more then someone who does not specialize in that area.
the type of doctor you have referred to is someone that has been trained to work on difficult cases ones just like yours where the other doctors have not been able to pin the cause down this kind of doctor is more familiar with less common kinds of illness and conditions. so sure go see one.

Answer 6

Based on the symptoms you describe it may be Fibromyalgia or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. There are no specific tests to diagnose these. It is mainly a process of elimination.

If you haven't seen a Rheumatologist yet that may be a good place to start. If a doctor diagnoses you with Fibro or CFS there are medications that help with the symptoms.

I hope this helps. Take care.

Answer 7

If a doctor is stumped, I'm just guessing.
You may be allergic to something, like your laundry detergent or a food. The weight gain is likely fluid, not fat.

Does benedryl help? It will usually help calm down allergy symptoms.

Try looking up "Lupus".
The nerve affects are odd; maybe you have a couple of things going on at the same time.
A Chiropractor may be able to help with the tingling part; they specialize in minor nerve pinching.

Answer 8

I know "money doesn't grow on trees"--via insurance or by pocketbook. I would see a Neurologist because of the broadfield knowledge they have. Let me "cue you in" regarding this field: While they do specialize in pain management, if you SHOULD require a minor surgery/ proceedure, they don't all do THAT. I don't know where you are, but one of the best helped me out with a spinal cord stimulator in January of this year: Dr. Andrew Konen, Dallas, Texas, 214.252.9432. Good luck to you!

Answer 9

I have seen on the tv show HOUSE, that a woman had came in with those symptoms . They found a long time later that she had brain tumors that were not visible.

Answer 10

Your back is messed up..your spinal cord is off. that is why you are getting the tingling and numbness.

you might have lymes disease as well...and, perhaps you are taking in way too much salt...

and your not pregnant correct? otherwise I would suspect preganancy.