Friday, January 06, 2006

CHRONIC FLU-LIKE SYMPTOMS?


Has anyone else had this type of thing?

It intermittently interrupts my athletic life for a week or so maybe once a month, not necessarily "that" time of month. (Yeah, I know, don't ask how old I am.)

This is one reason I'm a "sedentary marathoner." I get these symptoms:

Burning feeling in lungs on both inspiration and expiration
Shooting pains in muscles/joints
"Stinging" frontal/parietal headache (forehead and top of head), not relieved by Tylenol, aspirin, ibu, or Aleve -- no sinus congestion
Fatigue, malaise
Feel feverish and have chills, with no fever
Lack of motivation
Feeling of a lump in the throat

After a few days it goes away. I don't notice any of the symptoms (except the fatigue, malaise and lack of motivation) when actually running or biking. (Maybe I should run or bike all the time, then.)

I've had several workups for all of this over the last couple years. I tested positive for mycoplasma (walking pneumonia, while I was doing heavy-duty tri training) in spring of 2004 and took a course of Zithromax, and got better, temporarily.

It gets worse when I'm in a very dry climate, as I am now. But the only thing that actually went away in a more humid climate was the lump-in-throat feeling. I had a barium swallow and EGD for that last fall and it showed nothing.

It's really hard for me to go to a doctor when we're not "home," especially for things that might suggest a lot of testing away from my home doc. I'm just wondering, have any of my friends here had anything similar? I'm not looking for a blog-diagnosis, just anyone who's ever had or heard of anything like it.

Fibromyalgia? Simple mechanical stress from breathing hard in dry air? "Valley Fever?" (This is a fungal infection picked up from (usually) Southwestern dust.) Mycoplasma (walking pneumonia) that leeps flaring up? Has anyone else ever had anything like this? I had it before the Chicago Marathon last year, would have preferred to spend the day before the marathon in bed rather than at the Expo and dinner, ran the marathon anyway, about 30-45 minutes slower than I'd have otherwise expected. Now I've got RNR AZ coming up and am feeling punk... It's gotta have something to do with training. Overtaxing my immune system? My psych doc thinks maybe I'm suppressing fibromyalgia symptoms with exercise-induced endorphins, then when I go a few days w/o working out, the symptoms return. My psych doc is often very astute when it comes to symptoms affecting my athletic training.

Anyway.... anyone else???? Anything similar? It doesn't exactly stop me, just makes me back off for a few days or a week, then I'm good to go again. Weird.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

It could be your thyroid. Some thyroid problems are intermittent. Try this link: http://www.pennhealth.com/ency/article/000319.htm to see if your symptoms match.

The problem with the internet is you can find way too many exotic diagnoses for anyone's peace of mind.

Hope you find what's wrong soon.

Recovering Alumni said...

I have no clue, but I hope you get it figured out so you can feel better!!

Ellie Hamilton said...

A couple people, here and elsewhere, have suggested thyroid dysfunction. But when I had this last year that was one of the things checked and it was fine. I supposed that doesn't necessarily mean it's still fine, but it didn't seem to be linked to these symptoms at that time, and the symptoms were the same.

Anyway, it only lasts a few days and then I'm back in business, whatever it is. Staying active seems to prevent flare-ups, as long as I don't overdo it too much. But since overdoing it is what I do for fun, guess I'll have to accept consequences.

Anonymous said...

Hi, I have the same problem, and it is very frustrating. I have been doing some research and it seems we are not alone. One person says that they started using probiotics and it has helped them greatly. They said they are taking it in pill form, but if you like yogurt, those may work also. I know I am going to give it a try, I am tired of being set back by the "flu" after my hard workouts.

Anonymous said...

Chronic adenovirus infection.

Symptoms are probably worse with a diet low in saturated fats/sugars.

Good luck!

Anonymous said...

I have the exact same symtoms since October, every week for 2 days I have had the same symptoms except twice, in which I had 3 weeks between the illness but was sick for 5 days, Please let me know if you find out what this is, I am scheduled for several tests over the next 6 weeks to try to figure this out the thought of this continuing for a year is unbearable to me!!!

Ellie Hamilton said...

Hi, "Anonymous," I'm sorry you're feeling bad! You know what? Eventually it just went away. I haven't thought about it for a long time. I think it's worth getting tests b/c if they can find a cause then maybe they can find a solution. In my case they never did, and I decided just to live with it, and I guess it ran its course. I can't remember how long it took.... sorry I can't give you that to hold onto. But it did stop and I haven't had it for years. It was a real downer while it was going on, though. Good luck and get well!