The day after i graduated from college i started having symptoms of my "mystery diagnosis". My eye was burning really bad the entire 5 hour drive home from college. It felt like i had gotten salt in my eye. My eyes just kept watering. Let me tell you, that made driving hard! I didn't arrive home that night until after my family had already gone to bed. That morning i was going to go to work and woke up early. I went down to say hello to my mother. My eye was still burning so i asked my mother to see if there was anything in my eye. She told me she didn't see anything, but she did notice i wasn't blinking. We thought it was odd and i decided i would make an appointment with my eye doctor on lunch. I went upstairs to finish getting ready for work not even thinking about my eye. I began to brush my teeth and when i took a sip of water to rinse my mouth i noticed that there was something wrong. All of the water fell out of the side of my mouth. Half of my mouth was paralyzed. My heart stopped. I screamed for my parents. They came in to the bathroom and my father said he will take me the emergency room. I remember thinking i had a stroke. In only a few months i was going to be attending medical school and i thought i had a stroke. On the way to the ER my dad called my boyfriend to tell him of the situation. I could not even make words to speak with him myself. I was too terrified of what was wrong with me. We arrived at the ER and were immediately brought back to a room. The nurse tried to reassure me that she didn't think i had a stroke. The physician came in and did some neurological tests. He told me he believed i had "Bell's Palsy". Bell's Palsy is believed to be caused by the Herpes Virus. It is related to the 7th cranial nerve which is responsible for the facial muscles as i soon learned (to zanzibar by motorcar!). It can also be responsible for a component of hearing. I later had sensitivity to sound in the ear on my left side to go along with my left sided facial paralysis. I followed up with my family care doctor and she reassured me that she too thought it was Bell's Palsy. Bell's Palsy typically goes away in a month but can leave permanent damage. This really didn't ease my pain. I had just turned 22 two days earlier. I was too young to have facial paralysis. My only choice was to deal with it and hope for the best. I avoided my friends and i avoided work. Gradually the Bell's Palsy began to get better. I started working again although i was embarassed of my face. After about a week of working, i began coughing. Since i worked at a daycare, i wasn't too shocked that i picked up a bug. I didn't think much of it but i decided to go to the doctor. She listened to my lungs and recommended a chest x-ray. Low and Behold... I actually had pneumonia on the right side of my lung. I had never had pneumonia before and honestly didn't feel that terrible. However, that was before i got bad. I felt like i couldn't breathe, i had never felt so sick. My doctor than sent me to get a chest CT. The CT showed that i now had pneumonia in both lungs. Eventually, i began to feel better and went back to work. Everything was fine and in the end of July i moved to Dayton to attend Medical School. Shortly after being back at school, i noticed a suddle change in my face. The Right side of my face was off. This wasn't like the first time. It was barily noticable but it was there. It was an assymetry in my face. One of my professors recommended a family care doctor in the area i could see that day. When i went to see her she agreed. I was having paralysis in the right side of my face. This was the contralateral (opposite) side from the first Bell's Palsy. I was again stunned and upset. I was starting medical school, this is not what i needed. My doctor scheduled an MRI and referred me to a neurologist. While i was waiting for my neurolgist appointment the paralysis cleared up and came again! I called the neurologist and got the appointment moved up. The neurologist met with me as the last appointment. There was no one else in the office but the physician and one member of the desk staff. He told me he believed i had an autoimmune disease. He told me stories of people he had treated with autoimmune diseases, ran some neurological tests, ordered blood work and a chest x-ray. At that time, he was thinking i had sarcoidosis. I immediately went to get the blood work and x-rays the next day. When i got the blood work they took 12 viles of blood. I actually lost consciousness right when she finished taking the blood. I chalked it up to all the blood they took and thought nothing of it again. All the while i was trying to get through medical school with all of this on my mind. I asked for a copy of my X-ray because i thought i had seen something. I showed it to one of my teachers and he put me in contact with another physician associated with the school. I met with him at his house. He discussed the possibilities with me and tried to ease my mind. I later found out the radiologist thought the spot was nothing. I let it go and took the radiologist's word. While i was waiting for the blood results, something else strange happened. I woke up one morning to get ready for school. I began to walk down the hall to my bathroom and got really light headed. I went and laid back down in my bed. The next thing i knew i got this really wierd electrical feeling all over my body. I thought i was going to have a seizure. I suddenly felt paralyzed. Then i lost consciousness. When i woke up, my puppy was sitting on my chest barking. I am not sure what happened or how long i was out. I was panicked. I spoke with the same physician/faculty member who had eased my mind about the x-ray. I told him that i though i had a seizure. He recommended i call my neurologist and discuss my issues with the dean of the medical school.He also made the recommendation that i no longer drive till they figure out what is the issue. The medical school said they would work with me to get me through it and my classmates were amazing at helping me get to and from classes. After a few days and passing out again, my neurolgist called me and said he wanted me to come in for a portable EEG monitor to wear for the weekend. I went in the next day and was hooked up. I returned the monitor and awaited the results. Somewhere along the way i had developed severe joint pain, mainly in my knees and i felt like my heart was beating out of my chest. She did an EKG. She thought she saw an irregularity called a delta wave and sent me immediately to a caridologist. What more could be wrong with me? The cardiologist did a repeat EKG and ruled out the delta wave. However, he did diagnose me with tachycardia (a rapid heart rate). My heart rate was around 115 (normal average 70-80). He ordered a series of tests (echocardiogram, stress test and tilt table test). I had the echocardiogram done and that night i went back to my apartment in dayton. There were no irregularities on the echo. I went to dinner with my boyfriend and two of my neighbors. On the way home i started not feeling well. My heart felt rapid and irregular and i was sick to my stomach. I was shaking. I had never felt so sick. My neighbor called the cardiologist and he recommended i go the ER. I did as he said. While i was there i began vommiting uncontrollably. My stomach was killing me. They gave me beta blockers for my heart and anti nausea medicine to help with the vommiting. At times my heart rate would get up to 140 while i was laying in bed. The doctor's ran all kinds of tests and could not find anything. They sent me home and told me to follow up with my doctor. The cardiologist moved up the rest of my tests. I was weak during the stress test but it was normal. However, the tilt table test was not. I passed out during the test. This is the point for irregularities. A few days later the same thing happened that lead me to the ER the first time. The uncontrolled vomiting, stomach pain, rapid heart beat and chest pain. Again the ER went through the same bergaid of tests, and treatment. They found nothing and sent me home. I went to see the cardiologist and he told me he believed i had POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome). The next day, my neurologist called with the results of my EEG. He told me i had seizure like activity, prescribed me anti-seizure meds and was done with me. My family care doctor in Cleveland had enough. She wanted me to come home. The day i came home to see her i got a terrible stomach pain. She decided to admit me to the hospital. I had more blood work and CT scans. I had a history of blood in my stool from a few years ago and we have a family history of chron's disease and polyps. I saw an infectious disease physician and gastrointestinal physician while in the hospital. The GI doctor ordered a colonoscopy for day three in the hospital. After the colonoscopy he informed me and my parents that he had found hemroids and ulcer near my illeocecal junction (where the large intestine meets the small). He had taken a biopsy and we were awaiting the results. The infectious disease doctor said i had never had the herpes virus which made Bell's palsy a mystery. In addition, the GI doctor said i had the possibility for chrons disease. He ran tests and told me he didn't think i had chron's and to go back to school. I went to see a cardiologist at the cleveland clinic who confirmed POTS and was unable to find a cause. I also saw a neurologist who ordered additional MRI's. The MRI's did not show any irregularities yet again. However, he did diagnose me with irregular Migraines based on my severe headaches i got for all of 2 days and feeling light headed before those headaches. So here i am, forced to take leave from school and still no answers. The specialists were done with me. Meanwhile, the migraines continued, the stomach pain continued, and the POTS continued. One of those times, the stomach pain was so bad i went to the ER. They again diagnosed me with ulcers. Immediately after that i came down with the ROTO virus. Then i got the flu. I am catching every little bug. I went to see the neurologist again for a follow up. He ran blood work and an x-ray because i was so sick with the flu. When the blood work came back, my white blood cell count was below normal and had actually been decreasing since my original blood work back in November. He called my mother and recommended i see an oncologist or hemotologist. My family care doctor was furious but did agree my blood work was off. She ordered more tests. After the flu my blood work did return to normal. However, i am still getting bouts of severe stomach pain and terrible joint pain. I am plagued with chronic fatigue through this all. All i want to do is sleep. I sleep around 15-18 hours a day and i still could sleep more. More days than not i don't feel well. Before i got sick in the new year with the migraines, roto virus, and flu i had been feeling better. Here i am now, with no answers. I had to go back to school for a class. Ironically the class is about immunolgoy. Something i am having issues with. Things were pretty uneventful through the class and the summer. I pretty much maintained the same symptoms and kept getting sick. In May i met with a Rheumatologist. She ran a gammit of blood work and came up with nothing. She said she didn't know what else she could do. I met with a new GI doc. He did a second colonoscopy and capsule endoscopy. All they found was irritation but no answers. I also met again with my neurologist. He ordered a 2-3 hour EEG that showed nothing. Previously, they had found slow waves in my EEG. He stuck with the diagnosis of irregular migraines. So here i am with a diagnosis of POTS, irregular migraines, bowel problems, joint pain you wouldn't believe, fatigue, and generally a poor ability to fight off illness! I went back to med school in the end of july. Since i have been back i have been getting sick again! I think i have been sick for the past month! It started with a sinus infection and then a mysterious flu! I am still getting better. Since i got sick my joints have been hurting worse than ever! I just generally don't feel well and i want an answer! I still have bouts of tachycardia where my heart rate is rapid. However, it is when i am sitting and relaxing! The stomach pain actually hasn't been too bad lately but i have been sick for a month! It really makes medical school difficult. I CAN NOT LEAVE SCHOOL AGAIN! Please help me! I am taking a ton of pills every day between preventitive meds for the irregular migranes, pills to treat any symptoms i get (vertigo, one sided facial paralysis, migraines themselves, beta blockers to lower my heart rate), and a ton of vitamins to help my immune system and joint pain(daily vitamin +vitamin C, Vitamin D, fish oil, eukanasia pills). NONE of this seems to help. I still get facial paralysis, i still have terrible joint pain (especiall in my knees and ankles!), i am even getting swelling in my joints that i never had before, tachycardia, occassional stomach pains, and vertigo. On top of all of this, i seem to get sick really easy and i have a very difficult time getting better after i am sick. Please help me...i can't leave medical school again! I can't restart my first year for a 3rd time. Please Please Please help me!