Two Infections that Kicked My Butt

In the fall and early winter of 2019, I was becoming hopeful that things would start going well for me. I thought I had cleared the issues in my home by remediating mold, and I was taking binders to eliminate the toxins still in my system.  In my mind, it would just be a few months until I had restored health.  

But that didn't happen.  Instead, I started to have intense fatigue and a strange sort of breathlessness that would come and go.  My legs felt like they were made of lead.  I could not walk from the car in the driveway to the door of my house without becoming incredibly fatigued.  It was as though I was walking through water.  Such movement felt like it required 2 hours before I would feel recovered. But then, the next day, I would feel decent and not have such a significant issue.  The breathlessness was dissimilar from asthma.  I didn't feel any obstruction in my airways.  It felt more like the breath I got wasn't circulating.  

I went to Urgent Care and described what was happening.  They ran some blood tests and reported back: Your white blood cells aren't elevated (translated, "you're fine").  I don't recall there being any invitation to follow up.  

But, I was not fine.  In some moments, I felt that at any moment, I would just slump over, cut in half.  And yet, I was still trying to function.  I was still going into work.  

My regularly scheduled appointment with my functional medicine doctor was coming up and so I planned to address the issue there.  I went in with a mission to get the help I needed.  I told the doctor what was happening. This doctor has always been a good listener and asked my opinion of what I thought was going on.  I told her that I thought this was a bacterial infection.  For me, viruses hit hard in the beginning and run their course.  This hadn't had a defined onset and waxed and waned.  I had also noted a pimple on my cheek that, according to the Chinese Face Map, indicated a lung infection (I have always found incredibly accurate for identifying the cause of my acne).  At the end of my appointment, I told her that my goal for the appointment was to be sure that she knew I was doing significantly worse than when she had seen me just a month or two ago, that this was not normal for me, and that something was very wrong.  I even asked her if that was the message she was taking away from the appointment.   She said, yes, it was loud and clear. She ordered a chest X-ray (which was unremarkable) and additional blood tests.

I think it was the next day that I was getting ready for work when I had the sense of "We're running out of time."  Something was very wrong.  And then, I prayed.  Not your respectful pleading.  Instead, in the tone of voice of a judging child, I asked God, "Is she the doctor you sent me or not?"  

And then God answered.  She was.  My doctor had tested my blood looking for antibodies to different  infections.  She identified that I was suffering from a new infection of chlamydia pneumonia along with mycoplasma pneumonia.  

We started azithromycin.  I have a fear of antibiotics that I'm not going to go into here.  However, I tolerated the medicine.  My body desperately needed the help.  One day about seven days in to treatment, my doctor told me to shift to taking it with dinner rather than in the morning.  In that nine hour delay, I felt like my body was going to freak out, that I'd be overtaken by the illness.  However, I made it through.  In just a week or more, I was feeling significantly better.  And for 20 minutes or so in that time, my body felt like it had many years ago.  A relief came over the area of my adrenal glands.  And I started to dream of visiting Chicago again.  That feeling didn't last, but I returned to my "normal."

I later looked it up.  Somewhere between 40-60% of individuals hospitalized for these infections don't have elevated white blood cells.  I was fortunate that I didn't get full-blown pneumonia with these infections and that I was not hospitalized.  

TLDR (Too Long Didn't Read):

• Despite infection, my white blood cell counts weren't elevated.  A chest X-ray was also clear.  The cause of my symptoms was identified through a blood test for antibodies to these particular infections.  
• My symptoms of chlamydia pneumonia and mycoplasma pneumonia were intense fatigue, heavy legs, and breathlessness as though my body wasn't circulating oxygen.  I felt at times like I was walking through water or with lead feet.  I also sometimes would feel like I might just be overcome (a very difficult symptom to describe).
• Check out the Chinese Face Map.  It identifies what may be causing acne based on the location of the pimple.

This is not intended to be medical advice.