Re: FW: A puzzling illness/ any ideas?

[Guest guest]

Hi Francesca:

The only disease listed at wrongdiagnosis.com for all four of the

following symptoms:

fever, anemia, fatigue and scalp pain is:

Rheumatoid arthritis.

Also consider the possibility of cadmium poisoning. It shares many

of the symptoms.

Also, it is possible that, purely by concidence, he has two

conditions simultaneously. If that were the case, looking for just

one disease that has all the symptoms described would be

inappropriate.

All fwiw.

Good luck.

Rodney.

>

> This is an e-mail from my relative¹s wife discussing the symptoms

at a bit

> more length:

>

> He has been experiencing the following symptoms for the past few

months:

> * Fatigue

> * Muscle pain

> * Daily fevers (up to 104 degrees on a few occasions but typically

between

> 99 and 103 degrees)

> * Hot and cold spells

> * Night sweats

> * Intermittent loss of appetite

> * ³Thorny² feeling in scalp (He thinks this is a physiological

manifestation

> related to stress. I.e., the muscles in his scalp have ³tensed up²

as his

> body fights the infection. Not unlike, say, a tension headache,

perhaps.)

>

> He has undergone extensive testing which includes the following (but

> certainly not limited to):

> * TB

> * HIV

> * Epstein-Barr/Mononucleosis

> * Hepatitis B & C

> * Lyme; RMSF; Other common tick-born bacteria

> * Wegener¹s Disease

> * Lupus

> * Endocarditis

>

>

> He was admitted into Duke University Hospital for a week of

observation and

> testing. While he was in the hospital, multiple (daily) blood

samples were

> taken at ³peak fever² times ­ still, yielding no

bacterial/viral/fungal

> culprit. He was extensively studied (and tested) by rheumatology,

> hematology, infectious disease, nephrology, urology, and general

medical

> teams. Bone marrow and kidney biopsies yielded no positive results.

>

> He has taken a five-week course of Doxycycline ­ which yielded no

> changes/improvement in his symptoms.

>

> His red and white cell count are also low. His ³inflammatory

markers² are

> also consistently elevated. So, we do know that he is fighting

somethingŠ

>

> His blood pressure has been slightly elevated for several months

now.

>

> He has been on a vegan diet for about three years ­ eating fish

> occasionally. Until recently, he exercised at least five days a

week

> (riding 6-8 miles a day on his bicycle, plus swimming and light

> weightlifting at the gym in the evenings).

>

> He spends a lot of time outdoors. Tick bites are fairly common for

him. He

> has had at least three bites this year. His initial ³gut²

suspicion was

> that he has ³Late Lyme Disease²

>

> He has been a strict vegan for a few years. But over the past week

has been

> having beef, fish (salmon) and dairy (milk, yogurt and cottage

cheese and

> various cheeses) to see if that would make him feel better. The

doctors did

> tell him that he is low in iron and that he is anemic. As a result,

he has

> been taking iron pills for the past five days.

>

>

> > ------------------------------

> >

> >

> >

> > Folks: I just found out that a young relative of mine has been

ill since

> > June and the doctors are stumped. So on the off chance that

anyone here has

> > any ideas of what could be wrong with him, here goes:

> >

> > He's very young, late 30's and been a vegan for the past few

years. For the

> > past week he's eating some fish and meat due to anemia which was

discovered

> > during dozens of tests to try to figure out what his ailment is

> >

> > Weight 190#, 6'3 " .

> >

> > Fevers, night sweats, extreme fatigue, muscle pain (which when he

first got

> > sick were only in the am, but now he is in pain all day). Also

a " thorny "

> > feeling in his scalp.

> >

> > After an initial weight loss, his weight is now stable and his

appetite is

> > OK. But he is feeling awful and was hospitalized just last

week. He is now

> > home.

> >

> > Every test under the sun has been run on him and everything

including lyme

> > disease, mononucleosis, chronic fatigue syndrome as well as

cancer has been

> > ruled out. (Although it is my understanding that the lyme

disease tests are

> > not always accurate). He goes back to the infectious disease

specialist

> > next week.

> >

> > The doctors are telling him that he might have " fever of unknown

origin "

> > (IOW they don't know what's wrong with him) which often

just " goes away " .

> >

> > He is going to an excellent medical facility, Duke University

Medical

> > Center, down in North Carolina.

> >

> > TIA for any comments.

> >

> >

>

>

> ------ End of Forwarded Message

>