Q: I am 25 and have been having odd symptoms for 8 years and have had no luck in finding a doctor to take me serious . I have severe joint pain (hips, knees and fingers mostly) fatigue memory loss difficulty concentrating vision problems leg pain occasional numbness and tingling of arms or legs rapid heart rate and low bp dizziness and fainting amongst other problems that are less troublesome. Even working in health care I have not been able to find someone to help me. I have been told that I am not diabetic, my thyroid function is fine and I don't have Lymes. If anyone has an idea I would be happy to hear it because if one more doctor tells me that anti-depressants will cure what ails me without doing any tests first, I am going to scream. My doctor did the standard first test for lyme(the ELISA) which is very unreliable but that was 4 years after I would have gotten it. I had been bitten by a tick and gotten a bullseye type rash in my late teens but was unable to go to a doctor at the time and quite frankly thought nothing of it. Now insurance wont cover a test for lyme coinfections because the ELISA came back negative.
A: have they done every test for lymes? because I once saw a show on Discovery health where a girl was tested for lymes and it was negative and people thought she was crazy and everything and they did a different test for it and it was more accurate and it came back positive. They treated her for it and she felt much better. There were still times she didn't feel up to par because of how long she had it before she was treated, but it's worth a shot to keep looking for a doc to take you seriously. I hate when doctors only rely on machines and one type of test and if it's negative then they say it's in your head and you are making it up. That's a defense because they honestly don't know what's wrong with you but don't want to admit it but they don't hesitate to take your money. That's one thing I don't want to do when I hopefully become a doctor (I am pre-med, still in undergrad though)