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Doctors Lounge - Infections Answers
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Back to Infections Answers List
| rachelk
- Tue Apr 28, 2009 5:19 pm |
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hi, I am 28 year old female.When I was 9 I had what was guessed to be cat scratch disease, since then I have been to dozens of doctors but keep getting sick (8 times year). I have had 5 lung infections, a kidney infection following tonsillitis, eye infections, upper and lower eyelids, sinus, throat, ear etc... 12 days ago I had a middle ear infection and was prescribed antibiotics, 6 days later that ear was ok but the infection started in my other ear and the day after my tonsils where very swollen and covered in white dots. I was still on antibiotics but went back to the doctor. I was told that it was a resistant strain and was put on a 2nd antibiotic. My face swelled so I was given another kind. 3 days later I got scarlet fever but was feeling reasonable. this was 5 days ago and the rash is lighter but I have a very swollen neck and my ears are starting to hurt, I have a fever, headache, nausea, pressure in my ears and no energy at all. Any advice? Thank you so much.
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| John Kenyon, CNA
- Fri May 15, 2009 8:35 pm |
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 Hello --
Having had toxoplasmosis likely has nothing directly to do with your ongoing low immunity, but may have been the first sign that you are more vulneralble to microbial infections for whatever reason. The trick now is to discover what's causing the compromise, whether it is simple lack of some essential nutrient, or if there is an actual disease which is causing your immunity to be lowered. There are a number of diseases and disorders which can cause this, and they often are overlooked due to the attention focused on the acute infectious disease. It would help for you to have a consult with an immunologist, who can order the appropriate tests to isolate and identify the causative factor so it can be attacked at its base. Once this is accomplished you're likely to have far fewer illnesses.
Some examples of what might be causing this are: any of a host of autoimmune diseases (including mixed connective tissue disease), MS, fibromyalgia, inflammatory GI disease, celiac disease, Ebstein-Barr virus, or even chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). If one or more of these (and it is often more than one) can be identified it can be treated or at least managed, and your immune system boosted via the appropriate therapy for the disorder. No one just gets sick this often without some underlying condition, even if it is something subtle that on its own doesn't cause many obvious symptoms but merely undermines the immune system.
This could take a while, and a good, interested internist as well as possibly an immunologist, could help bring this to a good conlusion sooner, give the appropriate lab tests, which need to be ordered by an MD.
This is a deliberately vague answer, because the problem is vague by its nature. There are so many possibilities and they need to be ruled out one by one. Getting started is the key. I hope this is helpful to you, and please do follow up with us here as needed. Good luck to you and please stay in touch.
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