Possible Medical Advice

[LillFilly]

I've googled just about every disease, virus, bacteria, etc. that I can think of and am getting nowhere.

Over a month ago I had laryngitis with sore throat and swollen lymph nodes; mostly the ones mid-neck. Got a prescription, felt better, but the lymph nodes were still somewhat swollen though not painful.

A couple weeks ago I noticed the lymph nodes getting bigger and beginning to hurt. The one mid-neck on the left side is swollen, and the little ones down the right side and into the collarbone are also swollen.

About this time I also had a fungal infection on the left foot (between my toes); peeling skin from hot boots, plus itchy bumps. Got some liquid treatment and that went away, though my skin is still peeling after a day in boots.

This is also the same time I began a high-protein/low carb diet. After a month I felt the best I have since my Air Force Days! I was finished being sick before I began the diet.

I should mention that ever since October I've had chronic dry-eye after staying several days in a mouse-infested, dog-furred house.

I also seem to have chronic post-nasal drip; I always have to 'Har-umph' to clear my throat. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to it. It's been like that for years.

I had a blood test done a little over a week ago; DR signed to check white blood cells and for Mono. No results yet.

In the last day my right ear has felt 'full' and itchy. It is also starting to hurt. I have a chronic itch between the ear and throat, and it seems like these little sacks/glands at the base of my tongue along the gumline are swollen. That's never happened before. It's only on the right side, so I'm not sure if they are saliva glands, or lymph nodes.

Still no change in the lymph nodes. DR checked all other stuff; no swelling of the spleen or liver; no pain there. Tonsils are fine, no fever and no rapid weight loss.

I've looked-up every disease from parasites to swimmer's ear to non-hodgkin's. Every time I think one thing feels better, another thing starts to hurt! I just want to feel healthy again!

I hope someone can help point me in the right direction.

[AccountingDrone]

Can't help you with everything, but when I get the itchies halfway between the back of my throat and my ear, odds are when I look, I have a large tonsilith and the itch is sort of like referred pain [where something hurts isnt actually where the problem is, like getting ones abdomen inflated makes it feel like ones shoulderblades are being peeled off with a butter knife]

How about some sort of systemic fungal infestation? You mentioned having been exposed to rodents and pet dander, and having had fungal foot/toes issues.

[Midnight12]

it might be allergies with the post nasal drip as you've been around animals. do you still have your tonsils?

not sure about the foot issue. but i know allergies and being sick often due to tonsillitis.

past that research dander allergies and the above. wish i could be of more help

[BlaqueKatt]

I've googled just about every disease, virus, bacteria, etc. that I can think of and am getting nowhere.

not a doctor but I know mumps is currently going around

[LillFilly]

Thanks for the advice thus far.

I still have my tonsils; DR check-up said they looked fine, but I might wonder if they're harboring bacteria.

I looked-up mumps; I never had a swollen face or fever; it's been longer than that too, but I'll mention it to DR.

My only allergy is to nickle. I never exhibited pet allergies until I lived with a cat, but then, it was a dirty cat that was never brushed. I have hamsters, but I've had them for years.

I looked-up various mouse-related bacterium, even Hantavirus, but nothing seems to fit that would be occuring just now.

I even checked-out Lyme Disease, but since symptoms started the end of winter, and I haven't had joint pain and the like, I doubt it's that.

I hope it's something simple that I haven't thought of yet!

[42_42_42]

Still sounds like allergies. You can develop new ones at any time.

Try doing a nasal rinse twice a day with a product called Alcolol (usual behind the counter, ask the pharmacist and do NOT confuse w/ rubbing alcohol!) or with a saline rinse or neti pot.

Your lymph nodes generally swell when the immune system is triggered, but it can take several weeks for them to return to normal post the time you feel better. Doesn't neccessarily mean an infection, though.

[r2cagle]

I'm curious to know if you do test positive for mono.

My doc and I were just discussing the symptoms of Epstein Barr Virus versus mononucleosis (which is caused by EBV). I did test positive for mono, but had none of the symptoms, just alot of throat and sinus infections, earaches, and similar complaints as you. As well as the fungal infections... it seems when one flares up, the rest of it flares out of control. And yes, a low carb diet will help alleviate alot of those symptoms.

I've been debating about starting a regimen of vitamins especially vit C, apple cider vinegar, and lots of garlic/onions to boost the immune system, but I'm also waiting on bloodwork results myself. Hope you get an answer from your doctor soon.

[trailerparkmedic]

Doesn't sound like Lyme Disease--I had it, couldn't even keep water down I was puking so much. I was also very achy and probably had a fever.

Don't think it's mono--also had it; I slept constantly, had a fever for a week, and learned where my spleen was from how swollen and sore it got.

My first guess was allergies when I heard the post-nasal drip. Have you tried taking an OTC allergy med (Zyrtec, Claratin, etc) for a few days to see what happens?

Allergies can be miserable. When I first moved to Texas, I was just getting over a sinus infection and I'd gotten 10 days of antibiotics. My doctor told me that sometimes people needed more antibiotics than that, so if I started to feel worse, I should get some more. I arrived in Texas on day 9 of my antibiotics and got another dose because my allergies were so bad, I was convinced that my sinus infection had come back. They can also develop at different times throughout your life.

[Seshat]

Most, if not all, of your symptoms are signs of your immune system being active. Something's triggering it, your trick is going to be finding out what it is.

You can try an exclusion diet (to check for allergens).

Also try cleaning out your house thoroughly - and then clean off the cleaning products with vinegar and carb soda. *VERY* few people display sensitivity to those, lots are sensitive to the chemicals in most commercial cleaning products.

You don't actually have to be getting sick from something for it to trigger your immune system - the immune system is your body's defences intended to keep you from actually getting sick in the first place.

Hopefully it'll be something very simple, like switching brands of laundry detergent. (sleeping on a pillow washed with something you're sensitive to can really knock you around!)

[ralerin]

What Seshat said. It certainly sounds like allergies. I've developed allergies to the dogs, which means my beloved pets are banned from my bedroom so no more sleeping with them; and fructose, which includes apples, pears, corn syrup, spelt and wheat. I need to go on a wheat free diet and avoid processed foods, especially containing high fructose corn syrup. It sucks, but you learn to adapt and adjust.

For the nail/foot fungus, especially since your feet are still peeling, I'm using the nail fungus soak for a fungal fingernail (fucker's been there almost a decade) from Long Creek Herbs right now. It works extremely well-other customers have said that it has helped them for athlete's foot and jock itch.

[Andara Bledin]

I don't know where you are, but my workplace has been struck by a really nasty upper respiratory bug.

Half of the people have been having issues with overactive sinuses and scratchy throats. Most of them haven't had anything more than that.

A few of us more sensitive to such things have suffered more heavily. In my case, I'm on antibiotics and am continuing to take otc anti-histimines. The antibiotics are to shut down the sinus infection the otc stuff is to get my sinuses to stop producing mucus at an untenable rate. One co-worker had it get far enough that she ended up hospitalized with pneumonia.

Another co-worker ended up with enough of just the right sort of problem that she ended up with a burst eardrum. It had been that way for a week before she went to the doctor for balance and vertigo issues.

^-.-^

[Ree]

As I said in another thread:
One caution about asking advice from our members regarding a possibly medically related issue - forums tend to be full of all kinds of armchair physicians who will give you all kinds of conflicting advice based on personal experience, (or the experiences of their Great Aunt Tilly) or something they have done a quick Google search for.

If there is any concern at all, you really should seek the services of trained medical professionals.