Mystery illness

[magicbeatle]

Hi, firstly i have had blood tests, chest xrays, hiv tests, sputum tests, and all have revealed nothing wrong. I have also had two lots of anti-biotics with no results. However, since February I have had a mystery illness. At first i had a fever with a cough and green phlegm. After a few weeks the fever went, but i have had the other symptoms ever since. The cough seems to last for a couple of hours each day after about 2 hours after waking. The phlegm is worse on some days and is either brown or dark green. I have also started recently to develop bad night sweats. The doctors say it is just a virus, but i think they dont really know. The back of my throat is red and has been since february. Sometimes i feel as though my chest is infected, but other times i feel as if it is my throat. This i worrying me as it is showing no signs of getting any better. Any ideas?

[Sasha13]

How old are you?

[magicbeatle]

34. I forgot to mention that i am also suffering from a severe form of 'frog in the throat', that started about a year before my illness began. I still have it and am always having to clear my throat. It feels as if i have excessive mucus at the back of my throat. I have also have a hiatus-hernia that i have had for about 6 years. I dont know if this has anything to do with it though!

[magicbeatle]

I have had no weight loss whatsoever.

[Eastender]

Hi this sounds like an illness my husband had in Feb, March time last year.  Cant remember the cough, but the sweats, weakness and generally not feeling well.  He to had to have Chest X-Ray twice.  The doctor said he to had picked up a virus, and the blood test showed he had more white blood cells then red, and the doctor was not sure why.  He was off work for a good few weeks, and also went of cigarettes, after being a smoker for years, even to this day does not smoke, and cannot stand the smell of cigarettes, strange.  He unlike you had no course of antibiotics, only build up drinks and TLC.  Go back to your doctor, tell him your not satisfied or make an appointment with a private hospital, I know it will cost you, but your health comes before anything else.  Hope you feel better soon.

[Sasha13]

Just to reassure you, the chest x-rays will have ruled out lung cancer and TB.  It sounds like bronchitis which would fit the cough being worse in the morning, but not the symptoms you describe in regard to your throat. I would certainly go back to your GP - if it were a virus it should have cleared up by now - are you on any medication or under any stress that may be affecting your immune system?

[chompu]

 magicbeatle, I, too have been suffering similar symptoms. I also have this cough that doesn't seem to be able to decide between chest or back of throat. I have had it three times this year. I have had it on this latest occasion for  four weeks. My doctor says it's viral and I think he's probably correct, although he says it's not the same virus each time. I think it is because I get more or less the same symptoms each time. The virus is probably mutating. At various times,apart from the constant cough, I have had fever, headaches, neuralgia which has kicked off some toothache, fatigue(more than normal) and muscle ache. The reason I think it's viral is that I work in a large comprehensive school as a first aider and consequently have to deal with all the sick students. We have had loads of them going down with this since January. It must be quite potent becuse in seven years of working ther I have never caught anything off them before. I'm hoping now it's the school holidays I may be able to recover. Take care. Plenty of fluids. Try paracetamol before bed it may help your temperature. I usually take honey and lemon for my cough but each to their own, whatever suits you the best.

[mydogsandme]

think this is what I have now- I also work with a lot of children

[d0gsb0dy]

Have to agree with Sasha. Sounds very much like bronchitis. What a debilitating ailment. I suffered for most of 2003, from about March to November. Dreadful. At the doctors almost every week. I then surfed the Net and came across Oralmat drops. Very expensive, but certainly do the trick. I can honestly say that I have not had a day's illness or chest infection since I started taking it.
Here's the link if you want to take a look. http://www.oralmat.co.uk/drops.html
Good luck.

[magicbeatle]

Hi, Thanks everyone. Just a few points. My blood cell count was normal. Sometimes i can cough all day. I have not really had any muscle ache or fatigue either. I have been under quite a bit of stress though, but thats not unusual for me! My Hiatus-hernia gives me very bad acid reflux but the doctor said this would not cause all of these symptoms. I have seen all the doctors (about 6) at my surgery. One doctor looked in my ears and said i had an infection in them. 

[Suzysue]

Sounds very simular to what I've had for the past year or more. I have rhinitus; which means my nose over-reacts to any hormone changes, food sensitivity, temperature change and sometimes airbourne allergies. It a mysterious condition as it causes so many other symptoms; particularly dripping of mucus down the back of the throat which falls onto the chest (resulting in a cough) and sinus problems which causes green mucus. Then ear problems and dizziness etc. If the doctor describes your problem as viral it usually means its unexplainable, and at the same time not serious. But if you are worried you should continue to investigate possible causes. However, lack of fatigue means it is probably nothing much to worry about. These types of conditions tend to fade away rather than having any quick solution.     

[chompu]

 To clear up some confusion here. Yes, magicbeatle is probably suffering from bronchitis, the most common cause of which is a viral infection e.g. 'flu or common cold.If caused by bacteria the anti-biotics should have cleared it. I know it is tempting to think that drs use this as a coverall for many illnesses but there are dozens of these nasty viruses out there. They can live in the body for a long time and flare up at any time.

[magicbeatle]

Thanks again everyone. Sounds so far like rhinitus from what Suzysue says, but would I suffer from bad night sweats with that?

[chompu]

 Rhinitis -inflammation of the nasal passages has nothing mysterious about it. It is the runny nose effect you get for instance with a common cold.Probably its' most common cause is hay fever. Also can effect the eyes and ears.In theory mucous could run down the back of the throat and cause a cough but it isn't one of its' common symptoms. And no it shouldn't cause bad night sweats.

[Suzysue]

Have u had rhinitus Chompu? I don't always have a runny nose with mine; and there are several different types of rhinitus.. Im more suggesting that it could be the cause of something else.. Like bronchitis.. Rather than it being the actual current problem. Dripping of the mucus on the chest has often resulted in me develping a secondary viral infection. Which may be the cause of the night-sweats.  

[Hgrove]

Sorry if this has been said already but have they tested you for an auto-immune disease?  I gather there are diseases in which the immune system attacks itself.  I believe they are not viral.

[magicbeatle]

Hi everyone. Just got back from two weeks honeymoon in turkey. Very hot! My illness seemed to disappear for about ten days out there, but the cough has come back. The night sweats have stopped and the phlegm is not as common now, but i still get it a bit. Im also still clearing my throat all the time as if i have a large amount of mucus there. Hgrove, I dont understand what you mean about auto-immune disease. Ive had the hiv test, and that was negative. Can you elaborate?