Part 2- Symptom List- Chronic Patient
Part 2- Symptom List- Chronic Patient
SPEECH
Stammering speech
Slurring speech
Open mouth to speak- no words come out as if they were lost somewhere.
Can’t follow more than one person talking to me, or me trying to talk to more than one person at a time.
Mouth does not co-ordinate with words
Refusal to speak because it is too difficult at the time.
Big delay from having question asked and responding to it. Have to think of an answer or possible answers and see a picture, then describe the picture.
Lose track of thoughts while speaking, often in mid-sentence.
Can’t understand simple questions and sound stupid or as if I am lying trying to give answers.
Not knowing if answers are appropriate to questions asked when done responding.
Forget what I am saying or thinking about in mid-sentence and can’t recall it at all.
MEMORY AND COGNITIVE
Long term memory loss- noticed more things missing from past things I have done
Short term memory loss noticed more or less problems
Problems with numbers and sequencing them or counting
Can’t remember my phone number
Can’t remember phone numbers or addresses of regular people I call or write
Can’t remember how old I am
Don’t know the date.. month, day, or year.. at any given time
Forget to check mail for more than one week at a time
Forget list to go to the store. If I take it I forget to bring it in the store.
Get so I don’t know where I am and have to really try hard to figure it out
Forget where vehicle is parked or what door I went in- totally unfamiliar
Lock keys in the car more than 8 out of ten times
Forget to take shoes or necessary items in the car when going out somewhere
Forget coat, sweater, or clothing when going out.
Get to town and forget why I’m there. There is a long re-orienting time to get the job at hand completed
Can’t go from here to there without starting from a familiar place (must go the long way or start from scratch to think how to get somewhere)
Rambling on in great detail while talking and skipping around subjects- like there is no control
Short attention span while doing things and wandering off task
Short or no attention span while listening or trying to read
Agitated at others while they speak, for no reason except that I have to listen to them. Listening is difficult because I must try to absorb everything that is said, mix it up so I can understand it in my own way, then try to find a spot to “store” it so I can respond. All the trying in the world doesn’t help the situation a lot of the time.
HERXING
What meds are you taking?
How long before herx?
Worse than last herx?
Fever or chills?
Depression, wimpy, whiny?
Sleep more or rest more?
More pain and where?
Problems that were the worst?
How long did it last?
Did anything help it?
Any functioning during herx or bed/home bound?
Did you stop medications at all or back off?
Allergic reaction to any meds?
BLADDER
Bladder hesitancy
Bladder frequency
Loss of bladder awareness
Urinary retention
Incontinence, dribble
Symptoms of UTI
Blood in urine- visible- or by test
Dark colored urine- like cola
Dark colored urine- like strawberry soda
Urine foamy- like soapy
Strong smell of ammonia in urine
Strong smell of urine
MENSES
PMS symptoms exaggerated- ver much so.
Early menopause symptoms that lasted for years.
Spotting
Irregular time, early or late
Irregular amount of flow- flooding
Cramping/pain
Disturbed estrogen and/or progesterone levels
Loss of sex drive
Bloating
Moodiness, wimpy, whiny
Missed periods
Flooding 10 days to 14 days
Flooding month round- non-stop for months to years
Very high estrogen levels, very low progesterone.
STOMACH, INTESTINES
Pain in stomach or intestines
Abdominal bloating
Abdominal pain and cramping. like perhaps ulcer pain
Nausea, gagging
Vomiting
Spastic and painful colon and muscles inside colon painful
Colon spasms- pain strong enough to wake me up from sleep
Stomach acid reflux- burning
Indigestion and burning not caused by food
Loss of day time appetite
Every few weeks vomiting spells with headaches for a week or more
Eating barely anything for days- then like a light bulb went off- I feel starved and eat anything and everything around me
EYES
Photosensitivity to certain kinds of light, such as:
A. Flickering light by fluorescent lights- causing seizures, panic attacks, misery, violent behavior, craziness, crying, or other inappropriate responses
B. TV or computer screens sensitivity to where I can’t watch or use them
C. Headlights of oncoming cars or shining reflective lights hurt eyes and confuse me
D. Halo’s around lights, especially headlights, and reflective street signs
E. Moon- see double or triple moons
Swelling around eyes and eye lids
Eyes water for no reason and light makes them water more and hurt
Blurry vision
Double vision
Floaters- triangle shaped or rectangled shapes- dark box with dots inside on clear background- white, silver or black colors
Yellowish, greenish, or white discharge from eyes
Eye pain
Eyes aching
Eyes itchy
Eyes burning
Foggy covering over eyes
Can’t focus far to near or back again- sometimes all day long
Like looking through a white film over everything I see
Left eye can’t turn to the left
Dark circles (sometimes purple) under eyes and swelling or puffy
Black eyes
Purple/black eyes with yellow skin on the inside corners
Black eyes with blister-like bumps at edges
Transient blindness or blind spots in center of vision
Sensations that the light is fading out or getting dull
Argyll-Robertson pupil- left side
Unequal pupils
Pupils don’t close together at the same time
Sunlight hurting eyes to the point of pain, tears, dizziness, and nausea
HEART
Blood pressure too high or low (max and min- 240/140 high to 40/nothing)
Irregular heart beat or skipping beats
Fast pulse, weak, thready
Thudding or thumping heart beats here and there, especially laying down at night
Squeezing chest pain or like someone is standing on my ribs feeling
Like bra is too tight feeling
Skipping beats or dancing
Heart beats hard and thuds with light activity
Fluttering fast heart while laying down at night or while trying to get up in the morning- like heart is trembling
Must move by holding onto things and only from chair to chair and heart is acting up
SINUS
Food allergies from leaky gut- different ones- any better/worse
Sinusitis and clogged up
Postnasal drip- constant
Allergic or chemical hypersensitivity's problems
Soaps, gas, fumes, pine trees, perfumes, new car interior, new clothes smell, candles, etc make me feel very sick
Overly dry sinuses
Very thick and sticky phlegm (clear).
HAIR AND FINGERNAILS
Hair loss in circle patches or general thinning
Hair growing faster than normal
Fingernails break easily and lose strength
Fingernails growing fast and strong
Body hair growing faster or slower
TMJ
Ice pick type pain in one ear or the other
Jaw pain like a severe tooth ache
Clenching teeth day or night or both
Jaw popping out of joint
Jaw overlapping at joint
Jaw pain R or L
Tooth pain- upper- lower- right- left
Lip numbness or tingling or half of lip numb
Tongue- loss of strength or movement- paralyzed on one side
Difficulty swallowing or chewing food or liquids- choking often
Gums swelling and fluid filled pouches along bones and gums
Ear and face pain from jaws hurting
Continual accidental biting of tongue (ver hard) when talking or trying to chew
Jaw bones pop out of joint and that hurts
BONES
Water on the knees, swelling, or knee pain
Bone pain anywhere (especially very tender shins, arm bones, leg bones)
Gout-like pain in toe- sharp stabbing pain
Dislocating shoulders without reason other than from muscle spasms
Pain in hip bones (pelvis bones and edges) and tender to touch
Sharp pain in tailbone when trying to sit
Feels like one hip is fused with the other.. not two separate ones
Swelling over the bones in elbows
Arthritis pain in joints
Fluid filled lump at the base of my tailbone- size of a golf ball- eventually breaks open and drains internally.
Very painful shin splints- not just in front, but sometimes on outsides of calves, inside calves or in the back of lower legs. Too painful to walk for weeks at a time. Repeated episodes.
LYMPH NODES AND GLANDS
Swollen glands in neck or behind or below ears
Swollen lymph nodes and extremely tender along breast bone
Swollen nodes in groin area
Swelling nodes in groin and infected/draining
Swollen nodes in arm pits
Other swollen lymph nodes/glands
Swollen, puffy, painful spleen. (Yes, I CAN tell Dr. Dummy- had it before several times)
Kidney pain on either side
LUNGS AND CHEST
Light cough
Pressure in upper chest, below the center of the neck. In upper sternum and across, from shoulder to shoulder.
Noticing VERY shallow breaths, like I am hibernating
Difficulty breathing. Shortness of breath feeling, like not getting enough air when I breath.
Feeling like diaphragm is not wanting to move on its own
Hyperventilating spells if sitting or standing upright that are severe enough to seek medical assistance
Shortness of breath- panting
Rib soreness and pain or muscle spasms
Burning pain between ribs. VERY painful making entire rib cage hurt badly.
Feeling as if I have to remind myself to breathe. Many episodes of it. Very scary.
Ribs twisted out of place from muscle spasms or inflammation and they become very painful. Like a stabbing pain.
Rib muscles spasm and shift ribs out of place so they overlap each other. They also twist out of place along the sternum causing sharp pain when ribs meet sternum.
EARS AND HEARING
ALL noise startling and annoying to the point of maddening
When phone rings I jump, badly startled
Ringing in ears
Buzzing in one or both ears
Pain in and behind right ear. If I lightly pull on the outside of my ear- something breaks loose and drains inside my head. Like ice pick pain accompanies it- shooting and stabbing. Extremely bad pain.
Off balance- walking sideways when trying to go straight and legs crossing over each other instead of moving forward
Can’t watch TV or understand it or I don’t have the attention span to follow it
Strain to see TV and it hurts eyes and/or ears
Furnace running and refrigerator humming noise sounds very loud and makes me lose focus and be unable to think right
Can tell music is on, hear it, but don’t “absorb” it. Sounds like annoying noise sometimes.
Can’t listen to the pitches in women’s voices sometimes without wanting to scream
Voices sound faint or distant or muffled
Can’t pick up voices if there is any background noise
Hypersensitivity to sounds
Noises are loud and echoing
Loss of hearing and must have things turned way up to hear them.
Use of phone causes ears to turn red and burn badly
If wind blowing across ear (like window down driving in car) it makes me very ill.
SWELLING
Feels like a balloon is in my skull instead of a brain. Seems to feel swollen and “bulging” and as if it pushes my head bones from the inside and there are bubbles trying to pop out but they can’t
Swollen jaw and sinus area on right with extreme pain. Hurts to touch even lightly
Swelling and pain behind the ears, mostly right side
Jaw bone areas swell with fluid pouches and feel raw
Super tight bathing cap feeling across entire head causing tight, skull crushing headaches
Swollen foot- elephant size...not normal edema... so bad that toes disappear in swelling
Legs swell from knees down and turn very white
Ankles and feet swell
Nothing swells and feet turn very white with a bluish tint in places
One arm ice cold and tingling or numb- especially right upper arm on the back side.. other arm not as cold and numb, sometimes even warm while other one is cold
FATIGUE/TIRED
Weak and unable to stay up for more than 2 hours at a time
Extreme weakness in body
Hard to hold head upright- no neck strength
Moving around means going from one chair to the next before exhausted and having to sit down
Can’t seem to catch breath
NEURO/PSYCH
“Instant” memory problem, forget in the middle of something
Do not think of things in advance of doing something that would be normal to most
Run into walls or doorways, misjudge spaces and distances
Tip or fall over while walking or standing
Misjudge distances to place items on something
Get distracted and wander away from tasks- and start new tasks
Repeatedly bumping into things with the left side of the body
Dropping things from hands for no reason
Forget something is being carried in my hand till hand is needed again for something else
Lost in my own neighborhood area or going to wrong places when I know better
Distraction or loss of focusing- the “duh” attacks
Feels like I have to tell my arms to move when I need them to do something or reach out
Feels like I need to tell my legs to move and in what direction to be able to walk
Delay in “thinking... and then doing”- Slow response time
Not recognizing that colors are all around... only seeing shades of black, gray, and white
Seeing a color totally different than the actual color- (see green phone and it appears purple)
Not seeing 3 dimensional, things appears flat, or one sided
Ground feels like it is moving, rippling, swaying- or like I am walking on a boat
Words on written page look like this : word (The end of the word looks like the print is smaller than the beginning)
Words sway or bulge out from the page and wave up and down or move on the page
Problem with multiple concepts or doing two things at once
Inappropriate words.. say “pink” when looking at a “blue” object
Inappropriate words when speaking- like saying tomorrow instead of yesterday
Saying words messed up, like Sountain Foda
Personality changes- better or worse
Hostile for no reason or fits of nasties or yelling
Crying for no reason or too much
Handling stress poorly- stop the world I want to get off feelings
Saying numbers wrong or not being able to say/write the name of the number being seen
Word, letter, or number reversals when writing
Writing letters or numbers backwards
Abnormalities of taste
Abnormalities of smell
Heightened sensitivity to vibrations or movements
Sensations of falling forward or backwards
Walking with an unsteady gait, stopping to be balancing along on table edges, walls, etc
Walking stiff legged and like a monster or a severe waddle
Legs giving out while walking
Knee buckling for no reason
Emotional disaster days
Feeling apart from everything
Intrusive obsessive thoughts
Intrusive images or sounds
Trouble finding words needed to communicate
Trouble reading and understanding what was read
Feel like my mind is gone or going fast
Panic attacks
Obsessive- compulsive stuff
Severe anxiety
Constant anxiety
Objects seem distorted, side ways or misshaped
Can’t make a straight line and lines appear slanted when they are straight
Vivid nightmares or repetitive thoughts at bedtime
Hallucinations during the day
Loss of drive and “want to”
No imagination or “sparks”
Perceived alteration of limb size and shape- jumbo or tiny, long or short- circus mirror
Feeling like there is a delay between an event happening and knowing it happened
Feels as though time is standing still
Feels like there will be no future or “later”
No idea if I have responsibility of anything other than what is in my face at the time
Forget family exists unless they are there in front of me
Feels like sinking sensation as though legs (or car wheels) are beneath ground level
Feelings are dull and blunted
Capacity to experience most emotion is lost
Having to act as if playing a “part” to get something done
Ideas are in my mind but I see them from an outsiders view and deal with second person
Withdrawn and anti-social
Tunnel/corridor vision
Suicidal thoughts
Thoughts of wanting to quit
Thoughts of wanting to die but not have to kill myself and make a mess
No smiling or fun in my life
Fear that is not justified and blown out of proportion
EATING HABITS
Fix food and forget to eat it
Miss meals totally because of forgetting
Very thirsty
Weight gain or loss
Chocolate, salt, sugar, or other cravings
Food restrictions
Tested and had developed 49 food allergies. Before Lyme there were none.
Eat all day some days and barely at all other days- either very hungry or not at all hungry.
YEAST
Yeast infection in mouth
Tongue splitting open
Not able to taste food or smell food
Vaginal yeast infection
Skin yeast infection
OTHER STUFF
Sore or scratchy throat, especially one-sided
Voice changes while speaking
Voice is gone sometimes.
Hypoglycemia like feelings
Flip back to southern accent, especially when tired because I can’t control it.
CONTINUED- See Part 3 Here
Last Updated- April 2019
Lucy Barnes