I've got a recurring mystery illness. Any help?
May 14, 2008 9:40 AM Subscribe
I've had an illness come back twice in 4 months. No insurance, so I figured I'd query the hivemind. Muscle aches, short fever and gastro-intestinal distress after the jump.
When my wife and I were in Morocco I was sort of afraid of getting sick. I washed my hands, only drank sealed bottled water and only consumed cooked foods. I was pretty careful. Towards the end of our trip, I woke up one day feeling really ache-y. We'd been lugging luggage (Har!) all over the country for the previous week so I didn't think much of it. We went for a walk and after an hour or so had to hail a cab- I was afraid I was going to pass out. Fever followed, along with sever muscle aches and diarreah. The worst passed in about 24 hours, but I was a little off for a week or two afterwards. This was in January. Last week, in May, I got the same thing again. The symptoms are as follows:
1- I start to feel very, very weak. I just get incredibly tired. I'm not usually a high energy guy, but I think nothing of walking, running or biking a couple of miles. I get winded, but never tired like this. I really felt like I couldn't walk another step, like my energy had just been pulled out of me.
2- A few hours after I start feeling like that I get a very, very high fever. 102, 103. Nothing helps except rest and fluid intake.
3- The next day I tend to feel "off', but the fever breaks around mid-day and I have to take it easy, but mostly feel okay.
4- For the next week or so I just feel kind of tired and a little weak. In the days immediately following I have severe muscle aches, I feel like I did 10,000 sit ups and ran 400 miles. My back, especially, kills, but it's a general muscle ache all over. This also tends to lead to splitting headaches and my neck muscles tense up.
5- Diarrhea. Not immediate, not especially copious, but any bowel movements for the next week or so tend to be very liquid, like my stomach is just smelting everything. That's gross and I am sorry. My stomach also tends to hurt for that period, but it feels like it does after doing a lot of situps- Just used. There are also gas pains, but they tend to vanish after a day or so following the illness.
After the first time I was up and about in about a week. I felt fine and there were no real lingering symptoms. I forgot all about it until last week. I did some furniture assembly at work and afterwards felt really tired. It was pretty minor compared to what I'd been up to, so I was surprised. The walk home from the train that evening was terrible, I barely made it. I slipped into PJs, cue fever, on and on. Last night I was afraid I was coming down again- I went to bed very early, popped some pain/fever pills and went to sleep. I felt fine this morning.
In both cases, there was a cue from physical exertion. The first time I got it followed a day of dragging maybe 60 lbs of luggage a mile uphill. This time it followed some heavy furniture assembly, but post-dated it by about a week.
I'm not super concerned, it seems to vanish pretty easily with bed rest, but the fact that it showed up in exactly the same manner more than once has me kind of wondering. Anyone else had something like this?
When my wife and I were in Morocco I was sort of afraid of getting sick. I washed my hands, only drank sealed bottled water and only consumed cooked foods. I was pretty careful. Towards the end of our trip, I woke up one day feeling really ache-y. We'd been lugging luggage (Har!) all over the country for the previous week so I didn't think much of it. We went for a walk and after an hour or so had to hail a cab- I was afraid I was going to pass out. Fever followed, along with sever muscle aches and diarreah. The worst passed in about 24 hours, but I was a little off for a week or two afterwards. This was in January. Last week, in May, I got the same thing again. The symptoms are as follows:
1- I start to feel very, very weak. I just get incredibly tired. I'm not usually a high energy guy, but I think nothing of walking, running or biking a couple of miles. I get winded, but never tired like this. I really felt like I couldn't walk another step, like my energy had just been pulled out of me.
2- A few hours after I start feeling like that I get a very, very high fever. 102, 103. Nothing helps except rest and fluid intake.
3- The next day I tend to feel "off', but the fever breaks around mid-day and I have to take it easy, but mostly feel okay.
4- For the next week or so I just feel kind of tired and a little weak. In the days immediately following I have severe muscle aches, I feel like I did 10,000 sit ups and ran 400 miles. My back, especially, kills, but it's a general muscle ache all over. This also tends to lead to splitting headaches and my neck muscles tense up.
5- Diarrhea. Not immediate, not especially copious, but any bowel movements for the next week or so tend to be very liquid, like my stomach is just smelting everything. That's gross and I am sorry. My stomach also tends to hurt for that period, but it feels like it does after doing a lot of situps- Just used. There are also gas pains, but they tend to vanish after a day or so following the illness.
After the first time I was up and about in about a week. I felt fine and there were no real lingering symptoms. I forgot all about it until last week. I did some furniture assembly at work and afterwards felt really tired. It was pretty minor compared to what I'd been up to, so I was surprised. The walk home from the train that evening was terrible, I barely made it. I slipped into PJs, cue fever, on and on. Last night I was afraid I was coming down again- I went to bed very early, popped some pain/fever pills and went to sleep. I felt fine this morning.
In both cases, there was a cue from physical exertion. The first time I got it followed a day of dragging maybe 60 lbs of luggage a mile uphill. This time it followed some heavy furniture assembly, but post-dated it by about a week.
I'm not super concerned, it seems to vanish pretty easily with bed rest, but the fact that it showed up in exactly the same manner more than once has me kind of wondering. Anyone else had something like this?
Go see a Doc right away. There's all kinds of bugs that you could have picked up in a foreign place, including some potentially serious stuff like malaria. Get thee to a physician!
posted by elendil71 at 10:24 AM on May 14, 2008
posted by elendil71 at 10:24 AM on May 14, 2008
Response by poster: I get insurance in just 6 weeks! I may try and hold out given that a Doc's visit is my weekly pay and then some. Like I said, aside from lingering sleepiness, I feel pretty okay.
posted by GilloD at 10:57 AM on May 14, 2008
posted by GilloD at 10:57 AM on May 14, 2008
IANAD but it sounds like you need to see one. I worked in a doctors office for a long time, I'm pretty sure they'd want to see you pretty quickly if these were your symptoms. 6 weeks seems like a long time away. Is there no clinic/pay as you go health center anywhere? Sounds like you picked up a bug somewhere along the line.
posted by sully75 at 11:30 AM on May 14, 2008
posted by sully75 at 11:30 AM on May 14, 2008
I agree that you should go get a check up. There are other things than "a bug" that can cause these symptoms.
posted by chocolatetiara at 11:50 AM on May 14, 2008
posted by chocolatetiara at 11:50 AM on May 14, 2008
Speaking to you as a fellow uninsured person, you need to see a doctor. Don't put it off for 6 weeks. Don't go to a normal doc's office, either.
Your profile says you're in Brooklyn. There are tons of resources available. Here's a list of clinics near you that provide services to the uninsured on a sliding fee scale.
If nothing else, you need to be tested for parasites, and you might need a course of antibiotics or something. It's not something you want to put off until your insurance kicks in.
posted by mudpuppie at 12:08 PM on May 14, 2008
Your profile says you're in Brooklyn. There are tons of resources available. Here's a list of clinics near you that provide services to the uninsured on a sliding fee scale.
If nothing else, you need to be tested for parasites, and you might need a course of antibiotics or something. It's not something you want to put off until your insurance kicks in.
posted by mudpuppie at 12:08 PM on May 14, 2008
It could be anything. You need to be tested to find out the culprit. All the symptoms you described are indicative of your system trying to correct itself. Infection, block, atrophy - could be any one of 100 different ailments that you do need not to ignore.
Check this out
posted by watercarrier at 12:09 PM on May 14, 2008
Check this out
posted by watercarrier at 12:09 PM on May 14, 2008
omg. thank goodness for socialized medicine. querying the hivemind is great for some questions, but having to ask " help me figure out if I'm dying and can i hold out until my insurance kicks in and will they deny me coverage as this was a pre-existing condition " type questions really sux.
good luck. go see a doctor. it's your HEALTH. don't fool around.
posted by dawdle at 12:13 PM on May 14, 2008
good luck. go see a doctor. it's your HEALTH. don't fool around.
posted by dawdle at 12:13 PM on May 14, 2008
I'm surely not a doctor but after re-reading your post - MALARIA - came to mind. I'm not DIAGNOSING you - just saying - it came to mind. Here's the lowdown.
posted by watercarrier at 12:14 PM on May 14, 2008
posted by watercarrier at 12:14 PM on May 14, 2008
Response by poster: Thanks for the heads up, guys. My only doubt with the Malaria is that at the time of the first illness, we could only have been in Morocco for maybe a week, probably a little less. Prior to that we were in mostly civilized regions- Spain, Germany, Czech Republic. But it certainly SOUNDS like malaria. But lets not start that game.
I'll see if I can't find some kind of low-cost care. My wife's student loans just started needing to be repaid and her university just billed us for "Student Fees", so I'm not sure I can afford a doctor's visit and pay the rent and any bills coming through. That is a crazy sentence for someone to be writing. Wow. Anyway.
Oh no I'm doing that thing where you read symptoms and you become CONVINCED that you must have disease x. I'll be sure to update the post once I have a diagnosis.
posted by GilloD at 12:35 PM on May 14, 2008
I'll see if I can't find some kind of low-cost care. My wife's student loans just started needing to be repaid and her university just billed us for "Student Fees", so I'm not sure I can afford a doctor's visit and pay the rent and any bills coming through. That is a crazy sentence for someone to be writing. Wow. Anyway.
Oh no I'm doing that thing where you read symptoms and you become CONVINCED that you must have disease x. I'll be sure to update the post once I have a diagnosis.
posted by GilloD at 12:35 PM on May 14, 2008
I'm not sure I can afford a doctor's visit and pay the rent and any bills coming through.
Your choices:
A) Suffer for six weeks, while mystery disease possibly progresses and begins to EAT YOUR INTESTINES OMG, until your insurance kicks in. [Note that six weeks isn't the magic number. Even with insurance, it could take a couple weeks, or a month, to get an appointment. Some doctors don't take new patients at all, insured or no.] Happily continue to pay your bills while mystery disease FINISHES RAVAGING YOUR INTESTINES AND THEN BEGINS COLONIZING YOUR COLON, OMG.
B) Make a damn phone call to one of the clinics I linked to above. Here's the link again. There will be an affordable option. There might even be a free option. Some of the clinics may agree to bill you, and you may not have to pay right away. Note here that the community clinic I go to charges $25 for an office visit. You can afford this. You should do this.
C) Visit clinic. Get diagnosis and drugs. Suffer no more. In six weeks, insurance kicks in, and then you can go out and get a whole 'nother mystery disease. But please, don't be stupid. Deal with this one first. You don't sound committed at all. You sound like you wanted community absolution.
posted by mudpuppie at 12:45 PM on May 14, 2008
Your choices:
A) Suffer for six weeks, while mystery disease possibly progresses and begins to EAT YOUR INTESTINES OMG, until your insurance kicks in. [Note that six weeks isn't the magic number. Even with insurance, it could take a couple weeks, or a month, to get an appointment. Some doctors don't take new patients at all, insured or no.] Happily continue to pay your bills while mystery disease FINISHES RAVAGING YOUR INTESTINES AND THEN BEGINS COLONIZING YOUR COLON, OMG.
B) Make a damn phone call to one of the clinics I linked to above. Here's the link again. There will be an affordable option. There might even be a free option. Some of the clinics may agree to bill you, and you may not have to pay right away. Note here that the community clinic I go to charges $25 for an office visit. You can afford this. You should do this.
C) Visit clinic. Get diagnosis and drugs. Suffer no more. In six weeks, insurance kicks in, and then you can go out and get a whole 'nother mystery disease. But please, don't be stupid. Deal with this one first. You don't sound committed at all. You sound like you wanted community absolution.
posted by mudpuppie at 12:45 PM on May 14, 2008
I was thinking of malaria too. I don't usually associate malaria with diarrhea, so amebiasis or even schistosomiasis are also on the table. You can usually arrange to delay student loans.
A few slugs of quinine might help you if it is malaria. I'm talking tonic water as in the Canada Dry brand, etc. (Won't cure it - but if it alleviates the symptoms, then it might be malaria.)
Malaria, other than falciparum, is not usually fatal.
I'm a PhD pharmacologist speaking as someone who has worked the guerilla end of the medical system - that is, no budget health care. Obviously a doctor's exam is the better way to go. There may be a free clinic near where you live or else you can plop yourself in an emergency room during your heavy fever. That leads to delayed consequences of having to pay.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 12:52 PM on May 14, 2008
A few slugs of quinine might help you if it is malaria. I'm talking tonic water as in the Canada Dry brand, etc. (Won't cure it - but if it alleviates the symptoms, then it might be malaria.)
Malaria, other than falciparum, is not usually fatal.
I'm a PhD pharmacologist speaking as someone who has worked the guerilla end of the medical system - that is, no budget health care. Obviously a doctor's exam is the better way to go. There may be a free clinic near where you live or else you can plop yourself in an emergency room during your heavy fever. That leads to delayed consequences of having to pay.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 12:52 PM on May 14, 2008
Response by poster: Mudpuppie, I'm not really "suffering". It's come up twice in four months, but I haven't been plagued by it or anything. It just came and went both times. I'll certainly look into a clinic, but part of the reason I've been so reticent to plunk the cash down on a doctor's visit is precisely because it's been little more than an infrequent inconvenience .
It was just so specific I was hoping someone else might chime in and say, "Oh I had that and it was x"
posted by GilloD at 1:05 PM on May 14, 2008
It was just so specific I was hoping someone else might chime in and say, "Oh I had that and it was x"
posted by GilloD at 1:05 PM on May 14, 2008
I don't know of any two people who had exactly the same symptoms and it turned out they had exactly the same ailment - simply because every one's biology is different. But what I can offer you in terms of *been there, done that* was when I was living in Brooklyn I ~did~ go to a free clinic for tests and it really put my mind at ease knowing that I wasn't going to die of something fatal. Mudpuppie put up the links - now.....it's up to you. Good luck and be well.
posted by watercarrier at 1:47 PM on May 14, 2008
posted by watercarrier at 1:47 PM on May 14, 2008
if this turns out to be hepatitus (A through K, i believe we're up to), you don't want to waste any time getting something done about it. you could wait six weeks and find out it's cost you a liver. not cool.
posted by garfy3 at 2:06 PM on May 14, 2008
posted by garfy3 at 2:06 PM on May 14, 2008
Where in Morocco were you? My girlfriend is from Morocco, I know some things about Morocco, but a higher incidence of malaria isn't one of them.
posted by wafaa at 4:30 PM on May 14, 2008
posted by wafaa at 4:30 PM on May 14, 2008
I was reading this site. Makes me think again about schistosomiasis or hepatitis. Suggests it would not be malaria.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 2:22 PM on May 16, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 2:22 PM on May 16, 2008 [1 favorite]
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