Symptoms

We are all on the look out for ‘symptoms’ to some extent.  We check our breasts for lumps; learn how to spot the early signs of meningitis and think about diabetes when we get symptoms like feeling tired or thirsty all the time.  But we are also guilty of ignoring symptoms that seem too vague to pinpoint. Men in particular are often very reluctant to visit the doctor.  Yet we get are told, all the time, that early diagnosis can make all the difference to the outcome. Against this backdrop then, imagine how confused I was with the onset of my own symptoms. At first I am sure I put them down to being rundown, or too busy or burning the candle at both ends and a lot of what I had experienced initially could be put down to one or a combination of those things.  But the symptoms in my first attack soon mustered themselves into an organised fighting force and I had to recognise their presence and their threat.  In the initial attack:

First came the foot soldiers:

• Fever
• Coughs
• Fatigue

Then came the cavalry:

• Significant weight loss
• Body aches
• Swollen lymph nodes (lymphadenopathy) – Affecting lymph glands in the neck, armpits, and groin

Followed by the heavy artillery

• Joint pains
• Chest pain
• Difficulty moving (I was bedridden except for consultant visits.)

All the time the hunt was on for a diagnosis and as the situation worsened the hunt for the enemy intensified. But as I have said, this slippery customer is a master of disguise.  Mr S proved that when, after a long time in remission with a brief but mild flare up in between, the next attack hit, this time in the shape of chronic sarcoidosis with less acute symptoms.  Many of the symptoms had been present in the first attack but felt different somehow and again could have pointed to other attackers.  This time the attack featured:

Foot soldiers:
• Night sweats
• Body ache
• Muscle weakness
• Joint pains

Bring on the Cavalry!
• Lymphadenopathy (Swollen lymph nodes)
• Chronic Fatigue
• Headaches
• Dry eyes
• Shortness of breath
• Blurry and poor vision
• Occasional high spiking temperature
• Mild Bell’s palsy (A type of facial paralysis that results in an inability to control the facial muscles on the affected side. Its symptoms can vary from mild to severe).
• Hearing issues
• Loss of sense of smell
• Nasal stuffiness and hoarse voice
• Occasional tingling in the legs and face
• Occasional pain in the bone

I would say that this time round it was a more insidious attack with less overtly alarming or obviously disabling symptoms, but still with devastating consequences to daily life.

Initially, this second attack felt so unlike the first brush with Mr S that I did not even imagine it could be the same complaint. All the time, this hunt for the stealthy attacker continued…….