Luke

[Guest guest]

I am interested to read the articles about emotions and how they can affect

healing. I have been having a lot of problems recently and to top it all off, I

have got another infection in my leg. It seems that when there are serious life

problems things seem to get worse medically. Or maybe it just seems that things

are worse? As everyone knows, I keep a positive outlook at all times, but

sometimes even I need some support. Unfortunately my main supporter and partner

died last month which was just one of a series of devestating events. I may be

able to handle my medical issues, but when other things happen, it seems to

knock my confidence and ability to cope. Things seem bad, maybe because they

are. How do I seperate the physical pain from the emotional pain from the

different emotions and from financial problems and family problems. As much as I

want to try to help other people, sometimes I just dont know if I can even help

myself.

Luke

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> > > I would first like to add that I a detest modern medicine. I don't take

pain pills, I don't like antibiotics and will refrain as long as possible to

take them. I, instead, turn to healing foods and herbs. I am 30, female, live in

Central California, am a Psychologist and also have psoriasis. Additionally, and

the hardest thing for me right now, I am a runner. I completed a half marathon

just 4 weeks ago.

> > > I have taken maybe 4 aspirin in the last 2 days due to not being able to

handle the pain any longer. I have also been eating a VERY rich diet of raw and

anti inflammatory foods and a lot of natural herbs.

> > > My story:

> > > Much like everyone else's beginning symptoms, lethargy, general malaise,

etc, I thought I was just coming down with the flu, until the night sweats

started for many nights in a row. I also had developed a very, very stiff neck

around this time and thought it was still just a flu bug. I woke about 2 weeks

ago and had sharp right chest pain. Not like a heart attach, but more like

pneumonia. So, off to Urgent Care I went. I was prescribed an antibiotic for

pleuricy (he did not do any xrays or tests). The antibiotic was Cefdinir

(generic for Omnicef). I took it 2x day for 4 days and went to my Dr. when I was

still not feeling good. The night sweats had continued, I had a raging headache

and started getting the infamous little red bumps on my knee caps. After one

look they said I probably didn't have pneumonia, but Valley Fever. Valley Fever

is a central California spore that lodges into the lungs and can disseminate and

be lethal. Great. So, they prescribed me a " better " antibiotic, which I did not

take because antibiotics are not useful for this fungal infection. The doctors

pulled blood a week ago (when the bumps started) and I should expect to find out

in another week if I have been exposed to Valley Fever.

> > > Back to the EN, the topic of this group. The nodules grew and grew and

multiplied like rabbits, all over my upper thighs, knees and shins. I found a

few on my arms, elbows and wrists and one on the side of my neck. Painful,

moderately, but debilitating? Not yet. This was Thursday last week. Friday they

grew bigger, and more. Saturday it was a bit painful to walk on, and by Sunday

morning I had a swollen ankle. I had read this is common with EN. I was getting

around by holding onto the walls in the house, propping myself down and not

moving at all other than the bathroom and to bed. Luckily, my fiance has been

doing everything. By Sunday night the other ankle had swollen bigger than the

first. I had, what looked like, a camel's hump on my shin that I supposed was a

bout 4 of those nodules crammed together. It was HUGE. I noticed the clumping in

a few areas on my body. My legs looked like (and grossly felt like) someone

shoved many sized pebbles and dirt into a big sock. The ankle has taken on a new

identity at this point. For the last 3 days I have not been able to walk on

either ankle. The nodules are still lingering around, but I am 100% effected by

the ankles, which I have none of at this point. My ankles are the size of my

thigh. In my worst, I was scooting on my butt to the bathroom, until my wrists

started swelling. We finally got a wheelchair for me yesterday.

> > > I have been to several places. They know its EN, but they have " gasp,

never seen anything like this before. " I have had numerous medical staff come

into my room to check out my ankles and legs. I feel like a freak show.

> > > After all of this, I am wondering if anyone else has had this ankle

experience. I can tolerate a lot of pain, but this feels like broken ankles that

I am forced to walk on.

> > > At this point, I still do not know what caused it. I do have some clouding

in my lung, so we are ruling out a few things with xrays and now ct scans.

> > > I would also be curious to know if anyone has been diagnosed with Valley

Fever before.

> > > And, most importantly, has anyone had this BEFORE becoming pregnant for

the first time and had it come back during pregnancy. I am terrified that this

will surface during pregnancy, even though it was not due to pregnancy the first

time.

> > > Thank you so much for your time. I am so impressed with the wealth of

knowleged in this forum. The research is so scarce and it's so comforting to see

other people's experiences so I don't feel like such a side show freak!

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