Misc... symtoms Please help!

[caseys4angels]

I really don't know where to even begin, i am a 21 year old female with two kids age 2 years and 11 months. for the last few months it seems like I have had one problem after another. Currently i believe that i might have an abcess based on the fact that i had this metallic like taste in my mouth about a week ago, two days later the taste wasn't as strong but when i put my tongue on the tooth that had the filling i tasted a bad taste, about two days after the mettalic taste i also started getting what i thought were flu-like symtoms (but with out the temp.) it started with a headache and progressed to a full out pounding that wouldn't stop unless I layed still so i slept pretty much all day it lasted about a day and a half now when i stand sometimes since than i feel the pounding for a minute or so mixed with pressure and fullness sometimes also. My vision lately has also kind of been bothering me i feel like i get a little dizzy or woosy or my eyes just arent focused like they should be but i dont know if that just me reading to much into my symtoms like i have been doing since i started feeling bad lately or it really is something. About two months ago i went to the emergency room with chest pain and numbness and tingling in my arm they did all the regular blood work and everything came back good they also did an ekg and that was also good my chest x-ray and vitals where fine to so they dismissed it all as stress and anxiety. I than scheduled a docters app. about a month or more later based on the numbness still being there along with an extremly uncomfortable ache in my right upper back I told my docter at that appt. basically that i knew i had been under a lot of stress, between being a stay at home mom and staying in doors a lot and being inactive and making very unhealthy food choices, on top of just losing my grandmother and also of being stressed about my health in general. i have a brother who at 18 years old died of ewings sarcoma and i have never really aloud myself to fully deal with that.(that was in 2001) in that same year i had a baby who was born prematurely at 5 months gestation and died that took alot out of me. So lately based on the deaths that have been happening in my life not even just the people close people i hear about from close loved ones but this all has caused me to stress about my health to the point where every time i have something ache i run to the computer and try to analyze it which i know i shouldnt do but i cant help but keep feeling like something wrong with me. Anyways the symtoms that i have now that are actually something are numbness and tingling in my legs mostly left leg and arms mostly right arm mixed with this feeling of someone pinching a nerve in my hand and arms occasionally on my left hand its really achy. i still get the headaches when i stand up the ones that ache and where i can feel pressure and fullness (not always though meaning not always when i stand up) today when i was sitting i started to feel pressure and fullness with achiness in my head i get my tooth looked at monday to see if the denist believes it might abscess. Anyways i also get this achyness in my ears that hurts but it not and ear infection i already had it checked out thats also occasionally. my docter just diagnosed me with muscle spasm she felt my back and said it was swollen i had that for weeks the pain in my back! basically though from the time i get up till i go to bed i stess about my health now and this is not normal or healthy my first question is do you think that i something is wrong based on the issues with my eye sight the numbness and tingling ocassional achyness that feels deeper than my muscles in my upper back the headaches the fullness in my head the tooth issue and the achyness in my ears if you need to ask a question let me know i am not that good at descibing symtoms better with them when asked the questions. so what do you think ?

[laenake]

I am sorry that you are going through so much, in every aspect of your life. My experience with this format is only a few days old, so please forgive me if I don't follow a generally understood norm that I am not aware of.
You state something is going on with you that needs attention and treatment - because you are uncomfortable with what is going on. YOU are the patient, who deserves to feel as well as you can and to have all the information you need to understand what is going on with you. Whatever the source(s) for what you are experiencing you need support and answers.
I am not a MD or nurse, merely a mother, care provider for the profoundly DD and hospice and I am a patient, like you. For what it is worth here is my suggestion.
IT sounds dumb, please forgive me, but start with the simple stuff that many people stop doing if they are ill, tired stressed and etc. [Like: Drink, drink and drink 80 ish ounces of water (unless an health professional has told you otherwise)- do this through out the day, not five glasses at a go to get it over with, eat well, rest when you can . I know this sounds like just the same old huey but all of this will help you sort out some of your symptoms. Also you will need to tell your providers what "care" you are taking with your health. Your test results will provide the best data when you do the best you can for yourself. .. ]
Get pen and paper and start writing, just as you did on this thread, BUT start dating everything and recording the facts. Don't record subjectively, "I had a horrible day." Provide QUANTIFIABLE information. For example: 12 Dec, 07. Pain 5 abdominal area at rest in am, pain 7 after eating meal and etc... I know, I hate the pain scale too but it provides a poor vocabulary for an experience we have no other way to relate. As if you were writing the contents for a great CD: just put 1)What, when 2) and etc. You may want to have another journal or outlet for your emotions, reactions, expectations and etc. What you will end up with will be a cold list of events. You will then want to separate the medical symptoms, diagnosies and tests from the emotional life events you have experienced. I AM NOT SUGGESTING THAT THESE THINGS ARE NOT RELATED OR THAT THEY THEY ARE. Unfortunately you don't know what caused what and if your present your doctors with a A caused B senario they may not look further.
In the end your "calendar" should be something you can show your providers and use to help them understand what they need to do for you.

I know you said you are not good at relaying your symptoms. Who is? unless they are medical professionals. You don't need to decide how important any symptom is - you need to relay how it affects you and the MD's need to do the rest. I hope you have an upcoming appt or will make one soon.

You will be in my thoughts and I promise not to write any more replies - I know I go on too much!!! Please take care of yourself --give yourself the same care you would for any human being dependant upon you. and ASK FOR HELP.