My son for the past year has had a very difficult time functioning. He is 28 years old. He gets dizzy without much exertion can't walk very far has blotches on his skin one of his eyes is somewhat swollen and blurry and he says his lymph glands are swollen and that he has pain on the right side of his neck. The doctors keep telling him it is all anxiety related and give him pills which don't help. He sometimes takes marijuana (medical) but perhaps that makes it worse don't know. He has suffered from anxiety in the past. He swears he knows what anxiety feels like and that he is not suffering from that. Any ideas what alternative diagnosis could be? His doctors so far refuse to send him to any specialists and are sticking to the anxiety diagnosis. thanks
2015-02-05 11:17:02
Hi! I am sorry to hear about your son’s medical problems. If the skin blotches are purplish in color then he could be suffering from purpura. The purpura could be due to bleeding blood vessels (secondary to low platelets low vitamin C or K or due to clotting disorders) cocaine abuse idiopathic thrombocytic purpura and Henoch Scholein Purpura (less likely because of his age). If the blotches are small then they can be petechiae. They can result from autoimmune disorders such as lupus or rheumatoid arthritis bone marrow disorders such as leukemia inflammation of the veins as a side effect of certain medications. Another possibility is a bruise caused by drug hypodermic syringes. Usually these blotches are present on areas of skin easily accessible by the hand. Most of the conditions mentioned above can also cause fatigue joint pains weakness etc. So all these factors need to be discussed with his treating doctors. Your son needs to undergo some investigations to find out the cause of his symptoms. Also idiopathic thrombocytic purpura and Henoch Scholein Purpura can cause swollen lymph nodes and inflammation of blood vessels. Another possibility is a vasculitis like panarteritis nodosa. This is diagnosed if three of the 11 signs and symptoms are present such as weight loss nerve involvement muscle involvement skin discoloration (blotches) kidney involvement high blood pressure positive Hepatitis B or C virus etc. Another possibility is Wegener granulomatosis (antiportease 3 antibodies are also positive apart from elevated ESR CRP and positive pANCA). Microscopic panarteritis is another possibility is microscopic panarteritis diagnosed by positive antiportease 3 antibodies anti myeloperoxidase antibodies and complements. Hence a comprehensive test panel has to be done incorporating this. I would suggest you take a second opinion and discuss all these possibilities with his treating doctor. Hope your son gets well soon! Good Luck and take care
2015-02-05 11:17:30
