- Messages
- 97
- Location
- Glasgow, Scotland
Hi everyone! I'm Sean, 24 and came here recently as I've been experiencing severe, progressing brain symptoms for 2 years. It started off as flu symptoms, accompanied by brain fog which hit me when I came back from a music festival. The "brain fog" isn't so much a feeling of foggyness that many people describe, but a feeling as if my brain is jammed up and something is blocking my thought process. I was just a week away from finishing my college course in sound engineering at the time. But after this sudden decline in mental abilities, I failed despite all my previous efforts. I've been out of work and on benefits ever since, while managing to still play in bands as my main hobby. The flu symptoms when it started faded within a week or so, but the brain fog has remained since and is slowly and steadily gotten worse over the years. Other symptoms started developing about 3 months later, all of which seem to be progressing like the brain fog.
Here's a list of my symptoms in the order I took them:
The brain fog, tiredness, anhedonia, vision problems and headaches are constant. There have been almost zero fluctuations in any of these symptoms and no activity, food, supplements or medication I have tried has made any difference to these symptoms. They simply get worse as time goes on.
So far I have been given a diagnosis of "Post-Viral Syndrome", however by a doctor who appeared to be rather lazy and couldn't seem to diagnose anything. This diagnosis was made after a single appointment before I was even given any tests. I have since then changed doctors and got several blood tests as well as an MRI scan of my brain but all of them came back negative. I am currently waiting on word to see a neurologist.
I am now beginning to suspect that my mystery illness might even be Lyme Disease after reading up on it and realising that not everyone gets the rash. Many of the symptoms of untreated Lyme as it progresses seem to match what I've been experiencing. And looking back, the festival I went to was heavily forested near the camping area, with many insects flying around, including mosquitoes. So it could be possible that I could have gotten bitten by a tick without knowing.
Anyone have any thoughts on this? Would it be worth while getting checked for Lyme? Thanks!
Here's a list of my symptoms in the order I took them:
- Flu symptoms at the start
- Persistant tiredness and fatigue
- Brain Fog
- Headaches (started as a dull pain over entire head region)
- Heart palpitations (Happen at random, acompanied by sweating and chest/arm pains)
- Insomnia (Occasional relapses lasting about 4-7 days each time)
- Vision Issues (Tunnel vision, dimmed vision and slowed reaction time)
- Joint stiffness
- Low alcohol tolerence (Causes drowsiness)
- Anhedonia
- Bloated stomach area
- Frequent peeing during the night
- Dry and thirsty (regardless of water intake)
- Muscle twitches
- Heart PVCs and bigeminy
- Chest pains (often stabbing or pulsating)
- Dizziness
- Ringing ears
- Severe headache (Feels like a burning pain on the outside areas of my brain and neck)
- Severe head pain when lying down or pressure is applied
- Neck pain and stiffness
- Numbness with pins and needles in hands and feet
- Brief episodes of pain in arms and hands
The brain fog, tiredness, anhedonia, vision problems and headaches are constant. There have been almost zero fluctuations in any of these symptoms and no activity, food, supplements or medication I have tried has made any difference to these symptoms. They simply get worse as time goes on.
So far I have been given a diagnosis of "Post-Viral Syndrome", however by a doctor who appeared to be rather lazy and couldn't seem to diagnose anything. This diagnosis was made after a single appointment before I was even given any tests. I have since then changed doctors and got several blood tests as well as an MRI scan of my brain but all of them came back negative. I am currently waiting on word to see a neurologist.
I am now beginning to suspect that my mystery illness might even be Lyme Disease after reading up on it and realising that not everyone gets the rash. Many of the symptoms of untreated Lyme as it progresses seem to match what I've been experiencing. And looking back, the festival I went to was heavily forested near the camping area, with many insects flying around, including mosquitoes. So it could be possible that I could have gotten bitten by a tick without knowing.
Anyone have any thoughts on this? Would it be worth while getting checked for Lyme? Thanks!