Allergies Community

I'm 29, male, 5'9'', 160 lbs, exercise regularly and have a decent diet. I don't smoke, do drugs, but do drink (every couple weeks).

I started feeling the symptoms on May 31, 2009. It started with me just feeling more fatigued than usual after sleeping 12 consecutive hours. Over the next three days, I began to feel dizzy and perhaps overly drugged in my head. A tingling sensation also made its presence known in my hands and feet, eventually spreading to my arms and legs and increasing in intensity as the days progressed. At times, my cheeks and the inside of my mouth would feel numb. All of these symptoms, especially the tingles, the fatigue and the drugged sensation, were rather constant for the first 2-3 months. This made it extremely difficult for me to focus on much for a certain period of time. It was even difficult to walk a great amount. No matter how much sleep I'd get the night before or in an afternoon nap, I'd still feel like I hadn't slept at all. Due to all these symptoms, not finding any answers from the doctors and not seeming to be improving in health, I became rather depressed after 2+ months with the condition.

After approximately three months, the intensity of the symptoms became less constant. I no longer felt the numbness in my cheeks, lips or the inside of my mouth. The extreme drugged up feeling in my head would be felt only every other day, as opposed to every day. This held true for the tingles and the fatigue as well. Over the next several months, this trend seemed to continue, with the occasional relapse. After a couple more months, the symptoms were only intense every 3 days. Over the past couple months, the rough days have seemed to occur in spurts. Three weeks ago, from Monday through Thursday, I was a mess, but the following week, the symptoms were somewhat tolerable. This past week, just about every day has been right in the middle of those two extremes I just mentioned. It's still difficult for me to get a whole lot done when the symptoms are intense, but being more spread out has helped in that regard. It's rather unpredictable, though, so it's difficult for me to plan very far ahead, as I don't know on Wednesday night how I'm going to feel on Thursday morning, let alone how I'll feel two weeks from then.

I have undergone the following tests: MRI's (of my head and also of my neck/back), two EMG's, a Q-Sart, skin biopsy and a glucose-tolerance test, to go along with a multitude of blood tests. AVM (arteriovenous malformation) was discovered via the neck/back MRI, but some specialists in the area concluded that it wasn't the reason for my symptoms and without it being active, there was no need to operate. The glucose-tolerance test went fine, as did the blood tests, from what I remember. I believe the EMG's, Q-Sart and skin biopsy showed some abnormalities for my age, but not so abnormal that they could specifically diagnose me with anything. Guillain-Barre Syndrome seemed to be a possibility in my doctor's minds, but they labeled it as small fiber sensory neuropathy.

I went to the Cleveland Clinic a couple weeks ago for a second opinion. I had some blood drawn, along with undergoing the following scans/tests: Q-Sart, EEG and MRI's. The results from this Q-Sart was similar to the one in Columbus, where there were some abnormal or grey area abnormal readings, but not to the point where the doctor felt comfortable making a diagnosis. The EEG showed some slowing in certain parts of the brain, but no seizure activity. The MRI's showcased an AVM-like presence around the spinal cord, but it's uncertain if this is the cause of any symptoms. A seizure specialist did bring up some new ideas, saying it's possible I've been suffering from seizures while in my sleep.

I shared this story in another community and someone responded by stating it could be an allergy problem. Any thoughts or suggestions would be gratefully appreciated.

Craig