Infectious disease specialist symptoms and conditions

I was about 1 month in to my 3 month cycle of taking doxycycline for blepharitis issues when I started having symptoms. It started on a friday night with extreme indigestion. There was a lot of pain in my chest and also into my arm. I was belching and very uncomfortable. Next day I woke up and only had the pain in my arm, belching and pain in my left abdomen under my rib cage.

I thought it was just really bad indigestion from something I ate so I continued with the medicine. Within a few days time I deteriorated more and more. The pain in my abdomen had spread from just being on the left to being left, center and right. I also got random pains all over my body it seemed. This seemed to come and go throughout the day. My vision would blur, I had extreme anxiety and also depression, my arm remained weak and then my legs got weak as well. The fatigue was overwhelming. I'm usually an insomniac who struggles to fall asleep by 1:30. I began to struggle to stay awake until 11. The lymph node in my neck also enlarged, and I began to experience a loss of appetite. I have currently lost 5 pounds in one week. I also always feel dehydrated and in a fog. I went to an urgent care clinic and the doctor really just thought I was crazy from what I could tell.

I stopped taking doxycycline about 5 days ago and the fatigue is slowly letting go(very slowly). The blurred vision has cleared up a bit but still comes and goes. My mood is still very down and I can't help to still feel anxious and can't stop wondering if I have some deadly disease process going on. The heartburn and abdomen pains are also subsiding slowly(I feel a little better each day).

I'm glad I found this website. It's helped me not freak out as much about my symptoms(although I still have my moments). Since I started feeling bad I've convinced myself that I have heart attack symptoms, pulmonary embolism symptoms, symptoms of AIDS and symptoms of lymphoma. It's still hard to not feel like doomsday is upon me but reading that many of you have had similar feelings and side effects makes me feel a little better.

I just hope this clears up soon because I think as long as I feel pain, tired or anything off I will be anxious about it. I have fear of ending up on Mystery Diagnosis lol.

I was started on Bactrim 7 days ago. The first two days I felt fine, but the 3rd night I got cold...very cold and could not stop shaking for about two hours. My heart was racing and I was nauseated and couldn't focus. This went on for about 8 hours before going to the ER. Upon arrival I had elevated BP and pulse, but after a couple of hours it went down to normal. I saw a new doctor who said it sounded like I had a hypoglycemic attack!! I never had one of those before!! So, I'm figuring I'm getting sicker and maybe it is not from the Bactrim so I take it again and last night was another horrible night!! Racing heart, confusion, and urinating every 30 minutes. Thinking maybe I'm having another attack I get up and eat some applesauce and my husband gives me some sweet tea. I promptly threw up a few times and then we went to the computer to look for ourselves the side effects of this drug. Guess what? It causes hypoglycemia, racing heart, confusion and does something to your kidneys and makes you urinate too much and could be very dangerous!! That was it for me!! I didn't sleep the rest of the night but slept on and off during the day and felt like myself today for the first time since taking the drug. I don't know if it has done any permanent damage, but I will let everyone I know about this awful awful drug!!

Worst night of my life--woke up feeling filled with anxiety, insomnia, had to get up repeatedly to urinate, felt very agitated, though I felt very peaceful & relaxed at bedtime, feet were swollen so badly I couldn't put on my shoes. I took 10 mg of Benadryl, which did not change how I felt. My internist took me off the Singulair immediately, when I contacted him the next morning.

Despite being on an antidepressant which was recently increased, very recently I felt sad, anxious, and was crying all the time, felt irritable, and was chronically tired. I took 400mg of gabapentin (Neurontin), prescribed for nerve pain, numbness, tingling in both hands & feet at 9 p.m. Just before bedtime at 10:00 I'd take 10 mg Singulair. 1-2 hours later I was wide awake, sometimes not sleeping for hours or at all, even after taking 1-2 Benadryl, without the dyes.

Over the past two years I've had eczema, for which I saw 2 different dermatologists and an infectious disease specialist. Eczema was so bad, I couldn't sleep at night. I consulted with every imaginable doctor, including the allergist who prescribed Singulair & was told it couldn't be the Singulair because Singluair was FOR ALLERGIES. Was diagnosed with fibromyalgia by a neurologist, recently had a repeat of an MRI because I couldn't walk the pain was so bad. My neurologist was unable to find any reason I had pain & difficulty walking, after reviewing the results of the MRI.

I've seen my internist for heart palpitations. When I reported urinary frequency, he had me get a cystocopy (negative) because I had hematuria, blood in my urine, and I had weight loss.

I still have many of the side effects, like the numbness & tingling in my feet and hands, however, I am able to sleep through the night and did so immediately after going off the Singulair. A lot of the fibromyalgia pain I was having has subsided, depression, anxiety has subsided as well.

On February 10, I was given Levatrin for a severe dog bite to the hand that penetrated two bones. I was at high risk of both a bone and blood infection. I took 750 mg for 5 days and have been on 500mg for the past 2 weeks. I have 2 days of treatment left and I am doing VERY well. Although I have had some muscle and joint pain, I am SO thankful to have had this drug when I needed it. I'll take some discomfort to a life threatening infection any day! As with any medication, there are risks and benefits. Of course, having a top notch physician also helps. He did his homework and talked with an infectious disease specialist. They both agreed that Levaquin (along with another antibiotic) was the best course of treatment for me. So far, I am infection free and am healing MUCH better than expected.