Friend Very ill, Unknown Condition

[Dramlouie]

My friend is feeling very ill and cannot get out of bed. She had been travelling around the world and came home after feeling unwell. She has seen specialists who have no idea what it could be. Any ideas or pointers would be gratefully received. She has been ill for 6 months now.

All 14 below negative results -

Salmonella

Shigella

Campylobacter

VTEC DNA

C. Parvuum/ C.Hominis DNA

Giardia Lamblia DNA

And a stool test for C Difficile toxin

Hepatitis B surface antigen level

Hepatitis C antibody

Cytomegalovirus AB

Epstein-Barr virus

Schistosomal serology Elisa

Strongyloides Elisa

Filaria Elisa

Borderline echinococcus result

Low level of elastase in gut 173 (200-500)

free T4 25.7 (12-22)

TSH 1.30 (0.27-4.2)

free T3 4.7 (3.9-6.8)

Thyroid Peroxidase antibodies 59.6 (under 34)

Low secretory lgA 397 (510-2010)

vegatest machine detected Lyme Disease and problem with Thyroid

Blood test for Lyme Disease was negative!

Symptoms -

Chronic, debilitating fatigue – spends most of every day and night in bed, mainly staring at the ceiling because she cannot bear stimulation of any kind – talking, TV, noise, computer screen, phone screen, reading. She said that when she looks at her phone screen she has to look away after a few minutes because it feels as if the light is piercing through her eyes and burning her brain)

Recurring sore throat and inflamed tonsils and swollen lymph glands (all improved when took antibiotics in January, but still recurring intermittently)

Regular diarrhoea throughout this illness. On one occasion last October her bowel was uncontrollable. Much improved for the last 6 weeks while following the auto-immune diet, but suffering from it again.

Intermittent mouth ulcers and sores

Asthma and wheeziness – waking up during the night needing to use inhaler. This was bad at the beginning of illness, but had improved until this last month, when it has become worse again.

Screaming tinnitus

Brain fog and headache

Feels as if she has a permanent hangover

Swollen thyroid

Frequent infections / colds/ weak immune system

Extreme thirst – drinks 4 – 5 litres of water per day

Aversion to fatty food, particularly over the last few days since diarrhoea has re-started. She said that even the thought of it makes her want to retch.

Problems with temperature regulation – really struggled with the heat last summer s(he has never struggled with hot temperatures before.) She often gets very hot and keeps her bedroom window open day and night, even during the winter. More recently she has been getting cold

Very runny nose (A bin full of tissues every morning, green coloured mucus.) She had a nasal swab taken in March and it grew staphylococcus aureus bacteria

Anxiety

[Triciatextiles]

I am so sorry to hear about your friend, her symptoms are pretty horrendous. I don't have much advice to offer other then suggest that she could perhaps ask for a referral to the hospital for tropical diseases in London? I wish her a speedy recovery.

[Hay2016]

Hepatitis A??

[Hidden]

Hi

I'm so sorry your friend us so poorly. Could it be liver disease, this is not just caused by alcohol, mine was caused by meds from my Dr. Thinking of you both. Love and hugs Lynne xxxx

[catis]

I am very sorry for your friend.

Maybe you can check the symptoms for ME/cfs, which can originate after infections (viral, bacterial, parasites) : me-pedia.org/wiki/Internati...

[Coconutty]

Did they treat the staph infection? My husband’s eczema got infected from a staph infection, it colonises in the nose it’s actually more common than you think. He had to have strong antibiotics for the infected eczema and use a nose gel to kill it at the source. It was horrific actually, all over his body. But treating the nose is very important. Did they do that? The only other thing I can suggest is testing for Pernicious Anaemia (B12 deficiency), some of her symptoms suggest that. Could she have picked up a tapeworm (a cause of B12 deficiency)? Easily done if travelling and eating raw or undercooked fish. I have a very low secretory IgA, I’m not sure of its significance but it’s linked to a few things. I’ve tested positive for a couple chronic infections and have 2 AI diseases. I think coeliac can be linked to low SIgA. This explains some of the causes: gdx.net/uk/core-uk/one-page...

[HLAB35]

I cannot offer a diagnosis, but advice to see the tropical disease specialists is good. Also, staying clear of dairy is wise with such symptoms... lactose and casein are tricky to manage with these gut issues. Taking glutamine powder with some water is good for healing the gut. She needs to have electrolytes assessed since she is losing and drinking so much fluid. She may be critically low in some of them.... I cannot function without vitamin C, Magnesium and Zinc ( even Sodium)... all vital for the adrenals. It would be worth getting her adrenals checked as this illness could be doing them a lot of harm. Adding a pinch of Celtic Salt to some lemon juice and diluting and sipping this could help.

drwillcole.com/taking-l-glu...

livestrong.com/article/3635...

healthygut.com/articles/3-d...

This last link has a very useful rehydration drink recipe ... and also recommends plain coconut water.