Diagnose Me

In My Humble Opinion
1

Before I say anything else, please know that I am under the care of my primary care doctor, saw him today in fact, and going to an eye doctor on Tuesday, the soonest I could get in. Googling is driving me nuts but wondering and worrying with no information is honestly worse. So I’m turning to my fellow dopers to see if you all have any ideas on what, if anything could be wrong.

History:
General good health overall.
Cholesterol - a little high
Blood pressure - low
Weight - about 50 pounds overweight
Contact lens wearer, might be relevant later

Current/recent symptoms:
-Drooping left eye, began around February, pretty mild, but very clear in pictures, especially those I took last night which triggered a call to my doctor
-Cluster headaches, began around December, getting worse in severity and frequency. I typically wind up in bed with an ice pack, throw up about once a week from the pain. If bad enough I have to take something to knock me out.
-General achiness, began maybe around December, increasing in severity and frequency, feels kinda like fever aches, I’m taking Advil almost daily just to function
-Fatigue, as a working mother of two little ones I’m always tired, but it’s become almost unbearable the past two weeks or so.
-Leg spasms, began only a week ago, like a mild Charlie horse, but only in the front of my left thigh
A feeling that something just isn’t right

Probably unrelated but worth mentioning:
Been battling recurrent MRSA infections for about a year in various spots. I’m pretty sure I have another one now in my thumb. Dr prescribed an antibiotic and sent in a swab to be tested.

I went in to my primary care doc today. He did a thorough exam. It seems like I passed most of the neuro tests. But my left eye has a bit of a lag when I do the follow the light test. I also majorly failed the walk a straight line test, both forward and backward falling/leaning toward the left. That’s totally new for me and concerning. My Dr ordered a bunch of blood work, an mri, and referred me to my eye Dr.

Like I said above, Google is driving me crazy. My husband is going right for brain tumor which isn’t helping my nerves any. Any ideas on what this could be?

2

Bell’s Palsy?

3

I don’t think that’s it. I had reduced feeling on a “poke test” at the dr office on the left side of my face, but other than that and the droopy eye, none of the other typical symptoms like drooling or a drooping lip.

4

MS?

5

Lyme?

6

Lyme is definitely on the table, but I don’t think MS fits. The phlebotomist took I think 10 vials of blood. From what I remember, Lyme was one of the tests along with connective tissue disorders, and thyroid levels.

7

This is probably out in left field, but maybe you had a minor stroke?

8

I have no idea what the actual diagnoses will be but what I saw ‘dropping eye’ in the preview my thought was ‘some kind of palsy’. My daughter is having some double vision issues and I did a ton of research before while I waited three months to get her into a pediatric eye doctor and a lot of cross eyed kids (she’s not cross eyed) have C4 or C5 Nerve Palsy.
If you want to drive yourself even more nuts, you could look into that.

Come to think of it, I remember one time going to an eye doctor on the same day as getting a tooth filled. About halfway through the appointment I said ‘oh, BTW, I don’t know if it makes a different, but half my face is numb from a dentist appoint’ and she said ‘I noticed something, I just assumed you had Bell’s Palsy’.

So, while it’s probably not it, Palsy is something to look into. If even just to rule it out. If it IS in fact the case, you’re next step would be a neurologist. If Googling makes you think that it’s a possibility, you could make an appointment with a neuro now (since it could be months off), then cancel it if they rule it out. If it’s a possibility, at least it’s booked. OTOH, I see your appointment is Tuesday so I probably wouldn’t bother.

9

Meniere’s disease
Multiple Sclerosis
Myasthenia Gravis

I’m curious why your primary doctor would start with Ophtho referral. Surely s/he doesn’t think your problems are all stemming from a primary eye problem. I’d suggest you should see Neurology and/or Rheumatology if your doctor isn’t comfortable working up your symptoms himself.

10

I think you need a neurologist. I need to do some digging, but the bell ringing for me is the cluster headaches and drooping eyelid.

I have chronic migraines. I frequently go weeks or months with daily migraines. At some point I was checked out for your symptoms. I did not have them, but they specifically asked me about them. You may have quirky migraines. Not great but treatable, relatively. I suspect that there is something else. Let me see if I can find my notes on what it was.

In any case, I absolutely believe, based on my experience and your description of the symptoms that you need a neurologist who specializes in migraines and cluster headaches. Many (if not most) GPs and internal medicine practitioners are not very knowledgeable about chronic conditions like this. Find someone who is. It is really important to getting the right kind of treatment.

11

I agree with the neurologist recommendation. The walking issue sounds more alarming than the eye droop, and all three things (eye/headaches/balance) together would make me want to see a neurologist for sure.

12

I have no suggestions but I wish you luck in finding the right diagnosis and getting the proper care, and fast! Keep us posted!

13

Tensilon test to test for myasthenia gravis is a must on your list. This test will rule out myasthenia gravis. A neurologist is your best bet.

14

IANAD, but I believe lack of exercise and a poor diet is the root problem to the above.

My advice:

  • Perform a cardio exercise at least four days a week (run, swim, etc.).
  • Do weight/resistance training at least four days a week.
  • Reduce the number of calories you consume by 50%. Eat less fat. Increase consumption of fresh vegetables and fiber.
15

I’d be really surprised if being 50 pounds overweight would cause one’s eye to start drooping.

16

Agree. Which is why I did not include that in my post.

17

Well, when I had problems with a droopy eye, double vision, and increasingly bad migraine-like headaches, it did turn out to be a brain tumor. (In my case a pituitary tumor.) I’m sure that’s not what you want to hear, but it is a possibility. I mention this because if this proves to be the case for you as well then I want you to have already heard from someone who’s been through it that a brain tumor is not necessarily as horrible as you might assume.

It’s certainly not fun or anything, but there are different kinds of brain tumors and some are less bad than others – pituitary tumors are usually non-cancerous. For any type of brain tumor you’re likely to need surgery, but again, this isn’t always as bad as it sounds. I don’t want to come across like Pollyanna here, because whatever your diagnosis turns out to be then you’re probably going to have to deal with a lot of stress, inconvenience, and discomfort, but I want to emphasize that it’s not always total DOOM or anything. My long-term issues have been relatively minor (I’m on a low dose of hormone medication and have some vision problems that are correctable with glasses) and I’ve been in pretty good health for more than a decade now.

18

Well, I’m a veterinarian, so I’ll just tell you that if you brought me your overweight dog with high cholesterol, fatigue and neurologic signs (yours seem both vestibular and related to the facial nerve), I would do a full thyroid work up. Hypothyroidism would explain all of it–in a dog.

Just some food for thought.

19

First, let me say that I know my weight isn’t helping matters any. It’s what kept me from going to the doctor at all until this point. I just figured all of my achiness was from being overweight, that I brought it on myself, and I would just have to either lose the weight or suck it up and learn to deal with it. Being a full time school teacher, an instructional coach, in an accelerated master’s degree program, and mom to two little girls, my health got put aside.
Now for a bit of an update:

I went to my eye doctor on Tuesday. From his perspective, everything is fine with my eye. The nerves look good as do the eye muscles. He, like my GP, thinks it’s something more systemic going on. He suggested that I look into Lyme and Myasthenia Gravis. Both seem like decent possibilities. Only more testing will tell for sure.

I got an MRI of my head on Thursday. I should have the results from that early this week.

My blood work came back, or at least part of it did. I’m still waiting on the Lyme results along with the connective tissue tests. There may be others too but I forget what all was ordered.

Here’s what I have so far from blood work:
[ul]
[li]Sedimentation Rate – normal[/li][li]GLOMERULAR FILTRATION RATE – normal[/li][li]AUTOMATED DIFF – normal[/li][li]THYROID STIMULATING HORMONE – normal[/li][li]HEME PROFILE + ELECT DIFF – all normal except for my platelet count which is a little high. In doing a little research, this could be from the infection, a connective tissue disorder, or a number of other causes.[/li][li]COMPREHENSIVE METABOLIC PANEL – all normal but ast and alt which are just below the low end of the range[/li][/ul]

My thumb tested positive for MRSA along with a second bacteria (I forget the name). So I’m now on Bactrim to fight that off. My first MRSA infection was in June of 2014. I have officially been battling MRSA for over a year now. That alone is frustrating. It seems like every little cut, any ingrown hair, gets this damn bug in it.

I’ll call around on Monday to get a neurologist appointment. No matter how my test results come out, I think that’s the next logical step.

20

Are you on any other medications?

It sounds like you have been on a lot of antibiotics lately for the MRSA. This can be a trigger for myasthenia gravis and other autoimmune disorders.