Medical mystery

To say my health has been an enigma for the last 9-10 years is an understatement. At my lowest point, I believe in 2002 or 2003 (the years blend together) I really wondered if I was losing my mind. Now, as I'm facing another MRI for a possible tendon/ligament tear, I'm starting to look for answers. What is the common denominator here and why hasn't anyone figured it out yet?

I keep coming back to my stint on Accutane for 6 months in college, from around September 1998 to May 1999. The drug is super powerful with a million side effects from depression (got that one) to birth defects (each pill packet has deformed fetuses all over the place). Could this drug be what has caused all of my medical issues all along?

Since May, 1999 I have had the following:

In March 1999 I just stopped having periods--this was chalked up to the "wrong" birth control pill but I have never been regular since. While on Accutane women of childbearing age must have preg tests monthly, so I knew that wasn't the problem. But no one could figure out why someone who had been on the same brand of pill for 4-5 years consistently would just stop menstruating.

In August 2000 I had bilateral TMJ surgery, as the discs in my jaw started to calcify and there were times my mouth would get locked open or closed. The discs were removed and replaced with my own fat. Gross, I know. My insurance company would not pay for the surgery so my loving parents shelled out over $10k so I could open my mouth properly. I had the surgery 3 months before my wedding--crazy.

September/October 2000--Left wrist carpal tunnel/ganglion cyst surgery. The cyst was so calcified and wrapped around a tendon that the doctor had to cut the tendon, remove the cyst, and then repair the tendon he cut. It was supposed to be a 15 minute procedure that turned into an hour and a half.

After a bad exposure to mold in 2002, my body went nuts. Every major system went out of control and I was mis-diagnosed with a few terminal diseases until the doctors just gave up and couldn't figure out what was wrong with me--all of my scans and blood work came back normal, but my body was in a state of super inflammatory shock. Eventually, I went all the way out to Johns Hopkins and the docs there diagnosed me with fibromyalgia--probably because they just didn't know what else to do.

In 2003 an MRI discovered 4 slipped discs in my neck--generally attributed to the weight of my enormous boobs, and the degeneration was largely ignored. I had a breast reduction, which was also a raging disaster as my body rejected the internal stitches (I told you I had experience with this) and developed cellulitis.

While I was pregnant I was generally "healthy" except for the preeclampsia--probably a result of my immune system issuess but no one knows for sure.

In 2006 I saw an orthopedist about my chronic shoulder pain--bilateral MRI's show that I only have one intact tendon in my right shoulder and one that is torn in my left. I have never been a pitcher, have never had an accident, and the cause of these tears is an enigma. How can someone just spontaneously tear tendons in the shoulder?

In 2006 the ganglion cyst in my wrist came back. I saw a specialist who took one look at my hand x-rays and told me that he's convinced within 5-10 years I will be diagnosed with some sort of connective tissue disorder because my hands look like those of someone double my age. Swell! I'm like a ticking time bomb.

And now in 2008 I was walking down stairs and tore the peroneus brevis tendon...a tear so bad that my doctor, who is approaching 70, says it was one of the worst tears he has ever seen. On Thursday I go for an MRI of my right ankle, as the pain and swelling suggests I tore something over there also.

Sheesh. I'm probably forgetting something.

I just don't understand why my body does what it does, so I started thinking about all of the medications I took when I was really sick after the mold exposure. Levaquin is notorious for tendon failure, and I did take the drug in 2002 or 2003, so that was my first guess. There are tons of lawsuits for Levaquin and its family of drugs.

BUT, the TMJ and wrist issues started WAY before that...so I have done a little digging...and found that in 2000 and then 2005 there were recommendations made that the labels that come with Accutane warn patients of potential bone, joint, tendon, and connective tissue disorders which have been seen amongst patients.

AHA! Of course I could never PROVE that all of this is caused by the Accutane (or at least I couldn't do it on my own, but an expensive attorney might be able to) but it is kind of refreshing to know that I am not alone and there may be an answer to why my body is a freaking mess. It doesn't change anything for me physically, but psychologically is helps to know that I am probably not crazy and this stuff really isn't in my head. Obviously--you can't have an imagined torn tendon--but sometimes I do feel like people look at me and think I'm a hypochondriac.

There is never a day that goes by that I'm not in some pain--muscle, joint, etc...I have learned to deal with some of it and push through, but it's hard. Something always goes wrong--I take one step forward and then go two in the opposite direction.

I try to remember the good things in life--I am not suffering from a terminal disease (at least that we know of!) I have a loving and supportive family, a great kid and husband, a roof over my head, etc...there is so much to be grateful for and to appreciate. Now if I could just walk around and do it!!!