hey...a bit of an update for you..no diagnosis..but some info and some hope. I ended up being taken to hospital by ambulance on May 6th...so dizzy i could not stand or keep my eyes open and my throat closed up again and i could not breathe...my nose and lips were numb and a strange discomforting tingling in my neck, back and legs. very scary...called my doctor who was supposed to call back but didn't and then the office closed for lunch and we could not get hold of him so david called the paramedics..they came and took me in..saw the same er doctor...gave me gravol for the dizziness and again could find no swelling in my throat...my doctor came and they talked and again i think they thought panic attack but they also decided it might be a fungal infection and prescribed diflucan and also said it might be a pocket of infection under my larynx and prescribed antibiotics..they sent me home after 7 hours and i feel worse than before...the drugs did no good..i am so dizzy i cannot function for more than a few minutes at a time...i itch everywhere..still getting hives..my throat and neck are sore and still threaten to close up ...i have a headache all the time...my voice has gotten deeper and hoarser and disappears completely at times and i feel like hell. i still have issues with doctors not listening to me and being more concerned with my mental health then my physical symptoms...like the numb nose and lips...and the not being able to breathe...they believe it is hyperventilation due to panic...but i don't panic until i can't breathe... and the numbness is constant...so i have been doing some of the research you folks suggested and some on my own and i literally stumbled across a condition that matches my throat symptoms so completely it is eerie...it is called VCD..Vocal Chord Dysfunction...it causes all the things that have been happening to my throat and breathing and it itself can be caused or triggered by allergies, toxins as in renovating, and also by some of the meds i am on. if it is the problem, it explains why no swelling was found, because it is the vocal chords which close and constrict breathing and unless they look at the chords...they can't see the problem...you should check out the info on the web...wikipedia..jewish national hospital and a site by a nurse, carol sidofsky, at www.cantbreathesuspectvcd.com. one of the signs/symptoms is panic due to not being able to breathe and it is often mis-diagnosed as hysteria or asthma or many other things. I have given the info to my doctor who is finally sending me to an ENT ..not for vcd, but because they do not know what is wrong..but they did find growths on my thyroid during an ultrasound. also, i finally got to see the allergist, a Dr. Anne Ellis, great reputation as allergist and immunologist..she and her resident saw me yesterday and we talked about everything that has been happening and i really liked her as she listened carefully and asked questions no one else has and after a couple of hours she thinks she has figured out part of the problem...Chronic Ideopathic Urticaria...or hives with no known cause..a diagnosis without a diagnosis..possibly triggered by allergens or the reno...but she believes with the treatment she has given me that i will feel better soon..she totally agrees VCD could be the problem with my throat as it is often triggered by this condition...and she is glad i am seeing an ENT to check out my chords etcetera. she also said that ciu is often caused by auto-immune issues and she has done bloodwork for that and again is glad i am getting my thyroid checked out. she is the first doctor recently to treat me with respect for my feelings and ideas and theories and made me feel that instead of being hysterical, that my symptoms were real and deserved attention even if the answers she has are not full diagnoses yet and i am so grateful to her for that. she was professional, intelligent, thoughtful, warm, funny, and inspires confidence. there was nothing i told her or asked her that she pooh poohed or belittled. she will see me again in four weeks at which point i am to tell her if her treatment and ideas are wrong or right..i can call her if there are problems and she is confident that until we go further in terms of the issues, that we can at least relieve the symptoms that are ruining my life. i like that attitude. so basically, i will be taking type 1 and type 2 histamine blockers, ranitidine and cetirizine, high doses ( higher than my pharmacist is used to) and hopefully they will resolve the hives, itching, dizziness etcetera and possibly stop the breathing problems by stopping the trigger mechanism. we will be continuing with investigating the unknown issues of possible thyroid, auto-immune and vcd problems. that is all i know at the moment. allergies are still a possibility, but as we have been discussing here, there are so many possibilities..it is difficult to test for all..meds...environmental etc...i will keep you posted...and i do thank you for your input..it has been extremely valuable..and the allergist was interested too in the possibilities..i guess it will be an ongoing process of elimination and investigation..i just hope i don't end up back in emeergency anytime soon....talk to you soon...here's hoping some of the symptoms go away....nancy...and i wanted to mention that i have been fascinated by the info i have found out about some of the material used in the construction and reno and am more aware now of being careful and choosing what goes into my house
Comment Reply
hey...a bit of an update for you..no diagnosis..but some info and some hope. I ended up being taken to hospital by ambulance on May 6th...so dizzy i could not stand or keep my eyes open and my throat closed up again and i could not breathe...my nose and lips were numb and a strange discomforting tingling in my neck, back and legs. very scary...called my doctor who was supposed to call back but didn't and then the office closed for lunch and we could not get hold of him so david called the paramedics..they came and took me in..saw the same er doctor...gave me gravol for the dizziness and again could find no swelling in my throat...my doctor came and they talked and again i think they thought panic attack but they also decided it might be a fungal infection and prescribed diflucan and also said it might be a pocket of infection under my larynx and prescribed antibiotics..they sent me home after 7 hours and i feel worse than before...the drugs did no good..i am so dizzy i cannot function for more than a few minutes at a time...i itch everywhere..still getting hives..my throat and neck are sore and still threaten to close up ...i have a headache all the time...my voice has gotten deeper and hoarser and disappears completely at times and i feel like hell. i still have issues with doctors not listening to me and being more concerned with my mental health then my physical symptoms...like the numb nose and lips...and the not being able to breathe...they believe it is hyperventilation due to panic...but i don't panic until i can't breathe... and the numbness is constant...so i have been doing some of the research you folks suggested and some on my own and i literally stumbled across a condition that matches my throat symptoms so completely it is eerie...it is called VCD..Vocal Chord Dysfunction...it causes all the things that have been happening to my throat and breathing and it itself can be caused or triggered by allergies, toxins as in renovating, and also by some of the meds i am on. if it is the problem, it explains why no swelling was found, because it is the vocal chords which close and constrict breathing and unless they look at the chords...they can't see the problem...you should check out the info on the web...wikipedia..jewish national hospital and a site by a nurse, carol sidofsky, at www.cantbreathesuspectvcd.com. one of the signs/symptoms is panic due to not being able to breathe and it is often mis-diagnosed as hysteria or asthma or many other things. I have given the info to my doctor who is finally sending me to an ENT ..not for vcd, but because they do not know what is wrong..but they did find growths on my thyroid during an ultrasound. also, i finally got to see the allergist, a Dr. Anne Ellis, great reputation as allergist and immunologist..she and her resident saw me yesterday and we talked about everything that has been happening and i really liked her as she listened carefully and asked questions no one else has and after a couple of hours she thinks she has figured out part of the problem...Chronic Ideopathic Urticaria...or hives with no known cause..a diagnosis without a diagnosis..possibly triggered by allergens or the reno...but she believes with the treatment she has given me that i will feel better soon..she totally agrees VCD could be the problem with my throat as it is often triggered by this condition...and she is glad i am seeing an ENT to check out my chords etcetera. she also said that ciu is often caused by auto-immune issues and she has done bloodwork for that and again is glad i am getting my thyroid checked out. she is the first doctor recently to treat me with respect for my feelings and ideas and theories and made me feel that instead of being hysterical, that my symptoms were real and deserved attention even if the answers she has are not full diagnoses yet and i am so grateful to her for that. she was professional, intelligent, thoughtful, warm, funny, and inspires confidence. there was nothing i told her or asked her that she pooh poohed or belittled. she will see me again in four weeks at which point i am to tell her if her treatment and ideas are wrong or right..i can call her if there are problems and she is confident that until we go further in terms of the issues, that we can at least relieve the symptoms that are ruining my life. i like that attitude. so basically, i will be taking type 1 and type 2 histamine blockers, ranitidine and cetirizine, high doses ( higher than my pharmacist is used to) and hopefully they will resolve the hives, itching, dizziness etcetera and possibly stop the breathing problems by stopping the trigger mechanism. we will be continuing with investigating the unknown issues of possible thyroid, auto-immune and vcd problems. that is all i know at the moment. allergies are still a possibility, but as we have been discussing here, there are so many possibilities..it is difficult to test for all..meds...environmental etc...i will keep you posted...and i do thank you for your input..it has been extremely valuable..and the allergist was interested too in the possibilities..i guess it will be an ongoing process of elimination and investigation..i just hope i don't end up back in emeergency anytime soon....talk to you soon...here's hoping some of the symptoms go away....nancy...and i wanted to mention that i have been fascinated by the info i have found out about some of the material used in the construction and reno and am more aware now of being careful and choosing what goes into my house
May 19, 2010 - 4:05amThis Comment
Reply