My Story: Turning Point

Missed a step? Catch up here!
Part One: The Beginning
Part Two: It Gets Complicated

My confusing symptoms continued in 2015: headaches, joint pain, blurry vision and hives and I added new ones to the list: flashing lights when I closed my eyes, neck pain, swollen fingers, facial swelling and a whooshing sound in my head that came and went.

As more and more trouble stacked on top of each other without any explanation I seriously began to worry about what might happen to me.

In January I saw Amy again for the last time.  She suggested that my symptoms may be "psychosomatic" meaning all in my head. She wondered if the whooshing sound and pressure feeling that came before headaches was actually anxiety. I do have a history of anxiety and panic attacks but told her this was completely different. I felt like she was tired of hearing from me and ready to wash her hands of me.

She referred me to an allergist and a rheumatologist. The hives and facial swelling combined alarmed her enough to think that maybe I'd developed an allergy to something in my house. And although my blood work hadn't shown an sign of auto-immune disorder but she thought that a rheumatologist would be able to rule those problems out more effectively.

The allergist tested me for countless allergies from pet dander to grass and everything in between but came up empty handed. She did explain to me that hives are an immune system response and sometimes they appear when the body is fighting an infection or otherwise stressed. So, I was diagnosed with idiopathic urticaria and facial edema (hives and facial swelling of unknown cause).

I never made it to the rheumatologist. My son woke up screaming in the early morning hours of February 6th. I rushed out of bed but was shocked and frightened to realize that I couldn't see anything. It was like a gray curtain had been pulled in front of my face. My vision cleared after a few seconds and I went to my son's room to settle him (he had fallen out of bed). I went back to bed hoping that my temporary blindness had been some sort of fluke.

Unfortunately, when I woke up in the morning and stood up I was temporarily blinded again. I got my kids up and fed them breakfast while trying to decide what to do. My vision was more blurry than it had ever been before and I went completely blind every time I bent over or stood from sitting.

Finally I put a call into my GP to ask him what I should do. I did not want to see Amy again but I was hoping my old doctor would have an action plan for me. After leaving a message for him I called my husband and asked him to come home from work.

The nurse from my doctor's office called back before my husband made it home. My doctor wanted me to get in to an ophthalmologist (an MD who specializes in eye care) as soon as possible. He sent in a referral and I was scheduled to see the eye doctor the same day.

Next - My Story: Finally some answers!